Byrne Hobart has articulated the content strategy nearest and dearest to my heart probably better than I ever have, and I very literally write memos on this sort of thing for a living:
marker.medium.com/the-marker-gui…
marker.medium.com/the-marker-gui…
Write more than you think is reasonable. A lot more.
Write at the intersection of two hard and valuable things.
Write somewhere you can own the things.
Write on the same themes or using the same words more than feels natural.
Write at the intersection of two hard and valuable things.
Write somewhere you can own the things.
Write on the same themes or using the same words more than feels natural.
That last one probably requires an elaboration:
We are taught to optimize for novelty. We spend *a lot* of time with our output. We have *extremely good* recollection of our own artifacts.
Your audience is not like you in any of these respects!
We are taught to optimize for novelty. We spend *a lot* of time with our output. We have *extremely good* recollection of our own artifacts.
Your audience is not like you in any of these respects!
Your audience gets novelty by consuming the work of many people. They can get Game of Thrones or Beyoncé any time they want it, or “Charge more” from me, or your greatest hits from you, and never feel bored. Indeed, they often want the greatest hits so much you’ll struggle.
The people in your audience who give you an hour of their lives every week, who hang on your every word, who write you letters saying you changed their life... they spend maybe 2% as much time with your work as you do. Possibly less.
Your audience doesn’t remember it all, and can’t. They have several relationships in their life more important than the one with you, plus they have *their own* work, which has a universe of fascinating detail to it that you will never appreciate as much as they do.
