The Content Snowball & How to become a content machine
It is pretty common that people ask me if I am writing and creating all of my own content.
The answer is yes.
While I am beginning to experiment with writers who will be supporting me through turning interviews into content, as of today, I write it all.
This leads to the next question, "How do you create so much?"
That is what I seek to answer in this article- My process around content creation and the concept of "The Content Snowball."
My journey into content creation
On January 3rd, 2011, I launched the first ever post on my website called "Why am I blogging?". (I've included the link so you can see just how bad I was at the start.)
At the time, I had no idea what I was doing or what would become of this website, but I just wanted to put something out there.
Over the next several years, I haphazardly created content. Then, around 2015-2016, I started getting more serious and aimed to produce one article per week.
Phase 1: For almost half a year, I just kept in the habit of producing one article per week. This was great and got the ball rolling.
I didn't start collecting emails or sending updates to an email list for the first 3-6 months of publishing articles.
Phase 2: About 6 months after consistently blogging, I launched a podcast called Working Without Pants.
Somewhere in the mix of this, I started building actual processes around sharing my content on Facebook & Linkedin.
Also, around this time I began hiring out assistants to support me in my content publishing and promotion process.
Phase 3: About 3 years after launching the podcast, I created The Daily.
This started off as me literally just writing daily posts directly onto Linkedin every morning.
Eventually, I wanted to post it to Facebook as well, but I didn't want to be copying and pasting every morning.
I also wanted visuals to go with it, so I eventually hired a designer and assistant to help manage this process.
Today, I continue building the snowball...
Just a few weeks ago, I launched a second podcast called The B2B Lead Generation Show. This is a second podcast that I am co-hosting with one of Lead Cookie's lead outbound strategists.
Do you notice anything here?
The Content Snowball
The key to becoming a content machine is to start small.
Focus on building one simple basic habit.
Then build another. And another. And another.
Most people get totally overwhelmed when they think about content. They see all of the opportunities and possibilities and then they freeze. They never start creating because they feel like it has to be perfect.
Here's the truth...
It's not going to be perfect from day one.
You won't have your message refined.
You won't be perfect at articulating what you want to say.
But by building the habit of regularly publishing and putting your thoughts out there, you begin to build a habit.
You begin to build the snowball.
Focus on the habit
They say it takes 60-90 days to build a habit. So when you start out in content, don't worry about perfection.
Instead, build the habit of publishing on a consistent schedule NO MATTER WHAT.
When I started publishing one article per week, I made that my target and I published EVERY WEEK.
Some weeks, I hated what I put out there. I wasn't proud of it.
Other weeks, I was excited and happy with what I had to say.
But today, none of that matters. The quality of one post over another doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of my life and business.
Because I built the habit, and I kept creating...
And as a result, I like to think that I'm pretty decent at writing and articulating ideas these days.
Don't let perfection get in your way.
Start creating content now.
Publish it no matter what.
Then iterate and improve along the way.
Build one habit.
Then the next.
And eventually you will have a Content Snowball and be producing more than you ever imagined possible.
And trust me when I say that having a Content Snowball is worth it... for proof. Just read this article on how my personal brand drives 68.56% of Lead Cookie's revenue.
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