Creating content worth publishing
The point of an awareness strategy is not to capture dollars by selling a thing. The point of an awareness strategy is to capture attention by selling an idea adjacent to that thing.
By capturing attention with ideas you own that idea. By owning the idea, you own the audience.
By owning the audience you can tell the audience what to pay attention... See more
By capturing attention with ideas you own that idea. By owning the idea, you own the audience.
By owning the audience you can tell the audience what to pay attention... See more
Steve Bryant • “You don’t get it. You aren’t the point.”
Every next question you ask and every next thing you publish is a chance to further develop your IP and become known for your ideas. Those ideas and that IP supersede every project or offering for your business. In other words, upstream from what you're selling and the content you create is the premise you wish to own and the surrounding material... See more
Jay Acunzo • A Prompt from John Mulaney: How to Come Up with Better Ideas for Content in Less Time
Pressing your curiosity through a premise
What is this piece of content going to do? The before and after of consuming your content should change at least one of three things:
Think, feel, do
The way someone thinks about something.
The way someone feels about something.
The way someone does something.
Narrative-market fit is that intersection between:
Questions your audience is asking
Questions you can credibly answer
Topics that are valuable for your business.
When you have that figured out, you know which topics to write on and which to decline.
Novel content angles
Counter-intuitive – “Oh, I never realized the world worked that way.”
Counter-narrative – “Wow, that’s not how I was told the world worked!”
Shock and awe – “That’s crazy. I would have never believed it.”
Elegant articulations – “Beautiful. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Make someone feel seen – “Yes! That’s exactly how I
“So what?” is the common refrain of writing teachers. “Why should your reader care?” A key way that good writing achieves connection is by creating stakes, or engaging the reader by showing them why your ideas matter.
Fiction creates stakes through establishing consequences — what does the protagonist stand to lose in their journey? Argumentative... See more
Fiction creates stakes through establishing consequences — what does the protagonist stand to lose in their journey? Argumentative... See more
Laura Hartenberger • What AI Teaches Us About Good Writing
Content gets shared when it...1. Make readers look smart → So give them insights they can't find anywhere else)2. Create conversation starters → So plants discussion points that spark natural debate in your content3. Design for sharing context → "Thought you'd find this interesting because..."4. Has built-in replay value → So build in layered... See more
Tommy Walker • Tommy Walker on LinkedIn: Content is NOT king. Content is 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. (And most B2B brands…
The secret to a truly impactful content strategy lies not in the individual blog posts, videos, or social media updates you churn out. It's the overarching idea that guides and connects all those pieces. When you treat content as a vessel for distributing a central idea rather than a series of one-off pieces, you unlock a new level of impact and... See more