GNT #008: Do I Need to Create Content?

Read time: 3 minutes

Content creation. A distraction or necessary?

As a solopreneur or small business, it can be challenging to stay focused on the right priorities that align with your goals.

If you've been getting these newsletters for awhile, you probably know I create content weekly. I write this newsletter and I also post daily on LinkedIN.

This might have you thinking...

"Do I need to create content to grow?"

This is a really important question, because taking the time to create content doesn't make sense for everyone.

In this article, I'll break down content and the scenarios in which content creation might and might NOT make sense for you.

I'll also ask you a critical direct question to get at the heart of this debate. 🫵

Understanding this will allow you to make confident time and resource decisions when it comes to content.

Let's dive in.

 
What Do I Mean By Content?

First of all, let's get on the same with the phrase "create content."

Very generally here, I'm referring to:

     1. Identifying a topic that helps your audience and aligns with your business

     2. Deciding what form you want the content to take

     3. Producing the content

     4. Promoting the content

Many people who regularly create content have a system and consistent medium (blog, podcast, newsletter, etc.) for producing content.

This helps an audience become familiar with the content (think "your regularly scheduled program").

And also helps the creator systematize the creation.

5 Scenarios When You Might NOT Need Content

I'll start with this...

If it's not broke and it's easily giving you the new business you need to meet your goals, I wouldn't recommend drastically changing things up with a new content strategy.

This might look like the following:

     1. You have a nice big budget to spend on advertising (congratulations!)

     2. You have a truly out-of-this-world product (your customers probably already create content for you)

     3. You aren't interested in growing or scaling your business (totally fair)

     4. You know each of your customers personally (some businesses talk to customers on a daily basis)

     5. You have a healthy sales team and funnel, and you're good with that model (rock on)

4 Scenarios When Content WILL Help You

The best approach for you will always depend on your goals, target audience, and the type of business you are building.

But generally, content creation can help you in the following scenarios:

     1. When website traffic and search ranking are important to getting new business (your customer is looking for a solution to their problem)

     2. When you want strong brand awareness (do you want your ideal customer to know you exist?)

     3. When you need to build trust and authority (vital to making more sales and growing your business)

     4. Indirect customer conversations (positive association + interactions over time leads to more sales)

I also want to be clear.

None of the elements discussed above will happen overnight.

The reality of content is that it takes time to see the benefits. You'll often hear people associate the effort/benefit cycle of content with a FLYWHEEL.

At first, it takes A LOT of effort just to get the wheel turning. However, over time the wheel's own momentum requires less of your effort to get the same or bigger results.

>> Read more about my 5 Favorite Tools for Creating Content

THE BIG QUESTION - Do You WANT to Create Content?

(Shoutout here to GNT subscriber Ryan McKesson. He and I had a great conversation about content and he brought up this great point!)

If you enjoy writing, write.

If you enjoy a meaty conversation on a topic that interests you and aligns with your business, start a podcast.

If you enjoy traveling to new places, taking video of your adventures, you might enjoy a creating a travel video series.

Many content creators that I talk to really enjoy the creative process. I've only been writing this newsletter for 8 weeks and I've loved digging into these topics.

If this isn't you, that's totally OK.

There are many options and outsourced partners that can help you create content, whether it's a podcast, newsletter, or social media posts.

And remember...

Creating content might not make sense for you anyway as we learned in the scenarios above.

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My newsletters are meant to be short, helpful, and straight to the point. 

There's lots more to be learned about content creation.

But I hope this helps you answer the question - "Do I need to create content."

See you again next week!



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