I’ve written thousands of blog posts spread across various blogs (mostly this one).
Blogging is an industry where most people grind for several years and then hit their breakthrough. It’s possible to hit your breakthrough and reach 6-figures in 6-12 months, but it’s not very likely.
A while ago, I set the goal to write a new blog post every day for the entire year. I’m having second thoughts on my approach. Here’s why…
Opportunity Cost
The time you spend doing one activity can’t be spent doing everything else. Every minute I commit to writing blog posts is another minute I can’t promote my business.
The focus of every business owner needs to be sales. The more time you can commit towards that area, the more successful you will become.
If you create free content every day, that’s time you can’t expand your business. One of the biggest misconceptions you can make is believing that your business expands as your content library expands.
Some people are crushing it with very few blog posts. Others publish free content at a very inconsistent schedule.
More content creators are looking towards their past content than investing additional time towards creating new content.
In Tom Morkes’ $100K Launch School, successful entrepreneur Matt Stone who blogged his way to success said that if he could go back, he wouldn’t have blogged if he could have started over again.
It takes a while to grow with a blog. Some see the time investment as an over-investment. You can spend that same time focusing on your email list and attracting customers and clients.
Content Shock
Content shock is a topic I’ve frequently discussed on this blog and even in my book Content Marketing Secrets. Mark Schaefer first coined the term to describe the increase in content output and the fixed amount of time we have in a day.
We don’t have enough time to go through so much content, and the content output is only increasing.
There is no one who can look me straight in the eye and honestly say they have read all of my blog posts, watched all of my videos, and listened to all of my podcast episodes. Not a soul.
Depending on how much content you’ve produced, chances are most or all of the people in your audience haven’t read most of the content you’ve created. That’s the power of content shock.
Showing Up At The Right Pace
The argument for frequently producing free content is that you show up more often. People know, like, and trust the people who frequently show up.
That’s why we need to treasure weekly content. Free content will always be essential for our businesses.
If you publish a free piece of content every day, opportunity cost prevents you from addressing other areas of your business.
The Rise Of The Binger
You may think that some people in your audience may get overwhelmed by the daily content. Try keeping up with your favorite TV show…except now new episodes come out every single day.
Does that sound overwhelming? I’d be overwhelmed.
But blogs, videos, and podcasts are different. There are people who will discover you today. They wouldn’t have seen any of your previous content.
Guess what they do if they enjoy the first impression? If they have time, they’ll binge.
People watch entire series on Netflix and get through seven years of an old TV series in a few months. Virtual summits are an attractive business model because the deadline before session expirations enforces binge watching.
This is why you can create new content every day. But the gist of this blog post has been all about why it’s overrated to create free content. Why would anyone consider daily content?
Stop Doing It All Yourself
This is where we reach the climax. You yourself need to stop creating content for your brand. At the very least, you should significantly reduce the amount of time you create content.
You need other people to create the content for you. That’s the secret.
I’m experimenting with shooting short videos and having a ghostwriter turn it into a blog post. My ideology still resides in the blog post, but someone else writes the 1,000+ words.
This is my next step to delegation. Soon I’ll create the content from a macro standpoint and have someone else finish all of the details.
I’ll provide an outline that doesn’t exceed 100 words. Someone else takes that 100 word outline and turns it into 1,000+ words.
I also have contributors come on the blog and publish their guest posts on my blog. In those cases, I get valuable content without paying a penny. In return, contributors get exposure and a valuable backlink.
You business can create new content every day. You shouldn’t. Understanding this statement is important for you to achieve next level success with your content brand.
In Conclusion
Free content will always be critical to the success of any brand. The free content sets people up for your products and services.
You can even use your free content to promote your offers and other people’s offers.
However, you need to promote that content for it to make a bigger impact. It’s more difficult to promote your existing content when you’re too busy creating new content. The end result in a library of hidden secrets and a time consuming hobby.
Creating free content yourself is overrated. Just do the big picture stuff and have ghostwriters handle the rest.
What are your thoughts on creating free content? Do you think we should create more free content or that it’s overrated? Do you have a question for me? Sound off in the comments section below.
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