I Spent 70 Days Working on My Content Strategy
And 6 unexpected things happened (get inspired by these)
70 days ago I set out to nail down my writing habit.
Here are 6 things that happened.
1. I won Employee of the Month
There I was in the virtual All-Hands Meeting.
I was sitting back and sipping matcha.
Then I was staring at myself.
My profile photo was blown up on screen for everyone to see.
“Ryan Porter: Monthly All-Star”
It’s true. I’d been working my ass off:
Fostering direct reports
Delivering huge projects
Writing SOPs for the company
What nobody knew was I’d also doubled down on writing.
I was writing on Medium and in my newsletter again. I was engaging on Twitter and tweeting 3x/day.
You'd think my career would suffer the more I focused on my own brand, but the opposite happened.
Solid work ethic spills over to other aspects of life. It could be parenting or building a solo biz.
Whatever the case...
You can have a successful career while building a personal brand.
2. I was more machine than human
Over the last 70 days I wrote:
1,000+ X comments
200+ tweets
18 Articles
8 emails
I was focused on volume to render my limiting beliefs obsolete.
I needed to feel what it’s like to be a consistent creator.
And in that time I developed a system that will help me create 131 pieces of original content every single week.
Don’t worry.
I plan to dish out some how-to videos.
So make sure to follow me if you don’t already.
3. I started waking up earlier
It's not easy.
Most days I don't want to get out of bed. I want an extra hour of sleep.
But waking up early is a superpower. There’s a distinct advantage to writing in the morning vs the late evening.
Your brain is active before your body is. If you just sit and type for an hour, you can blink, and before you know it, you've spit out words all over the page.
Waking up early is a simple way to get your first win of the day.
Get the writing done, now you can have a great day at work knowing you have more time in the evening to work out, make dinner, chill, and do tasks that build up your business.
Get the early dub. Set out to conquer the day.
4. I discovered my ideal transformation
Picking a niche is the hardest part of writing.
I’m very good at looking at somebody’s interests and saying, “You should totally write about this. Here’s how you’d make a business doing it.”
But when it came to me, I had no clue what to narrow my scope to.
Is it health and fitness?
Is it personal finance?
Is it video editing?
Is it writing?
I landed on “helping writers write more content in less time.”
I still think that's a viable offer, but it’s missing something. I don’t want to write to sell writers writing courses.
Then I had a eureka moment in the shower,
I rushed out, almost slipping on the floor to get to my phone.
“Teach people what I do for work.”
It’s. So. Simple.
I was my company’s first “content strategist,” and now I manage four of them.
I’m still working out the bugs but that’s part of the process.
Give yourself time to develop your direction.
That’s what transformations are all about.
5. I started lifting heavier in the gym
The more optimized my content calendar the more I wanted to optimize other areas of my life.
For over a year, I've gone through the motions in the gym. Lifting the same weight, not making progress because I thought I'd reached my genetic potential.
I was a walking excuse.
So I downloaded the PUSH app (not an affiliate) I needed something to track my progress and tell me what to lift and how much weight to use.
Now I don’t have an excuse. I just have to show up and pick up the weights it tells me to, and I will grow as a result.
It’s a simple and effective solution.
Put yourself in a position to win, and you're more likely to. Just like waking up earlier, I'm more likely to write content because I'm giving myself more time to do it.
6. I adopted a “just do it and F your excuses” mentality
Comfort and discomfort come in seasons.
In a way, I think the longer you remain in the comfort zone the more uncomfortable you become.
I could just work my job.
Clock in. Clock out.
Then veg on video games and call that my life.
But I want something bigger. And because I want it I need to have the mentality that nothing can stop me from getting there.
The first step is removing any roadblocks.
The second step is making an action plan.
Do one thing at a time to achieve the ultimate goal.
It started with 70 days to get my content strategy locked in. Now I'm moving into other aspects of the business.
Nailing the actual content I write
Switching newsletter providers
Creating free courses
Taking more calls
This will lead to the ultimate goal: monetization (And I think it'll happen faster than I expect)
To conclude…
Everyone needs a period where they just do things…
Even if they're just learning and not taking courses or focusing on growth or money.
Content creation is a core skill. Learning how to do it efficiently but well is an advantage that 90% of creators don't have.
So if you want to learn more, message me. Let's chat and see what I can help you with.
So inspiring to hear your progress in your business and fitness.
Keep going Mr. Porter!