5 REASONS YOUR CONTENT SUCKS
[and what to do about it]
People are very choosy what they spend time reading. And as we rumble another year deeper into the 21st century, you’d better get your creative ducks in a row, and fast.
[Anyone else think that’s a ridiculous metaphor? Who would spend time lining up ducks? Why?]
Neat and tidy waterfowl aside, here are some destructive habits you should be expunging:
1: Lack of emotional investment AKA Going Through The Motions. If you’re not obsessed with your topic, with providing solutions to the people who need them, and with turning that into personal wealth, why the hell should anyone else bat their eyelid at you?
2: Poor consistency AKA Random Ramblings. Dribbling out your opinions on world affairs, whining about your various life experiences and constantly sharing other people’s posts is a sure fire way to confuse the hell out of your target audience. Decide who you are speaking to, and why. Go all in to entertain and enthrall them with what matter most.
3: Creating in an echo-chamber AKA Darkened Room Syndrome. If you rely on your own brain to inform all your ideas and writing, you’ll burnout quicker than a woke activist working for Elon Musk.
Use Other People’s Ideas. I’ve been saying this for years, but in 2024 it’s not a nice-to-have. It’s the ONLY way to create vibrant, inspirational content.
And no, don’t steal, plagiarise or copy. Just get triggered by something and expand the concept in your own words. If you’re enraptured by someone’s work, namecheck them and credit them with the thought.
Doesn’t matter how you do it, so long as you accept there are smart thinkers everywhere, and you can stand on their shoulders as you build and scale your empire.
4: Playing it safe AKA Not Wishing To Offend. This might sound dangerous. It might make you feel like the night before your first solo sky-dive. Remember that? I don’t either.
But take it from me. Ain’t nobody got time for another nicey-nicey, polite, weasel-worded tomato-soup of an essay.
Put some oomph behind it. Call a spade a f***ing shovel. Get in, make your point and get out. If people get triggered, good. Very good, actually. Well done.
5: Thinking it’s not working AKA Giving Up Too Soon. I’ve written 2398 Daily Brain Tattoos since March 2017 and I can tell you for sure: it gets easier. And another thing: it gets better. You get better. More people read, respond and buy from you.
Decide who you are, what your value is to the people you serve, and keep at it. Aim to be half as relentless as the 9 year-old tugging my sleeve to go play football every ten minutes since daybreak, and you’ll be annoying, polarising and unmissable.
Your true fans will get hooked on your content, not because it’s professional, well-written and packed with useful information.
But because they feel your passion, your obsession and you make them laugh, cry and squirm in equal measure.
The best news of all?
You’ll get paid because they won’t be able to help themselves.😎
Love you lots
Jonny
PS: If you’re a bit miffed you haven’t seen a monkey on a canon-barrel recently, here’s one I met earlier. 🐵🙈🙉