How to create engaging content as a beginner (without faking it 'till you make it)
Hi again,
I'm just surviving the hurricanes and heat in Southern California.🙂
To prepare for the expected 30 mile-per-hour winds we removed the cloth top off of our gazebo the night before the storm. It took hours.
The next day I looked in our backyard and everything seemed normal. I wondered if we wasted our time. Then I went on a run in the neighborhood and saw two trees uprooted on our street. I guess I slept through all the chaos. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Anyhow, let's get on to today's topics.
In this issue, I discuss:
I. A brief update on my Email Coaching business test
II. How to create engaging content as a beginner (without faking it 'till you make it)
Let's get started!
I. A brief update on my Email Coaching business test
Last week, I began an experiment in which I offered 30 days of unlimited email coaching for a flat fee. Each client can submit one question per email and as many questions as they want.
My goal was to see if this is a viable business model since I can take on very few one-on-one clients.
My hope is that I can learn a lot from the questions people ask and maybe get ideas for future products and services I might create.
So far two people have taken the five email coaching spots.
One joined within minutes of my last newsletter dropping with an announcement about the email coaching program. The other came in just a couple of days ago.
Of those two, one has asked a few questions. The other hasn't yet.
However, I want more questions.
It might seem nice to get money and not have to do much work for it but I really want to answer more questions and see what I can learn.
So one change I'll test is giving each participant a question storming process I learned years ago. It helps you generate high quality questions in about 10 minutes.
I'll report back next week about how that went.
And if you want to check out the email coaching experiment, you can check out my original announcement here.
II. How to create engaging content as a beginner (without faking it 'till you make it)
As a content creator, you'll make at least two kinds of content
Those based on things you know how to do
Those based on things you're in the early stages of learning how to do
Today's article will focus on how to teach when you are still a student.
Why would you do this?
While it's great to share your expert knowledge, if you wait until you are an expert, you may never get the chance to share anything.
In fact, people love to get insights from someone only a few steps ahead of them. We just have to learn how to package these insights so they are a) useful and b) interesting for others to read.
Let's find out how to accomplish both, shall we?
There are three steps in this process.
Distill
Apply
Share
Distill
You've found an idea or a strategy you want to apply. Before you do, you often need to distill the strategy to it's essence. List the main concepts and how-tos. Turn the information into instructions you can follow.
Apply
Next, you apply what you've learned. Give it a test run. Put it into practice. Make sure you record your frustrations and mistakes along the way. These are gold as they will help others avoid the same errors.
Share
Finally, you share what you've learned. Tell people about your experiment. Share with them the principles you distilled and how you applied them. Tell it as a story they can follow and learn from.
How I've used distill, apply and share
When Tiago Forte's book Building A Second Brain came out, I was really excited by a strategy he shared called The Hemingway Bridge. It's a way to keep your place as you work on a project long-term by answering a series of simple questions.
I started using it every time I worked on a project and it was very helpful to me. So I shared what I learned on Twitter and LinkedIn. After sharing it, I started getting notes back from people who continued to use the strategy.
Another example. When I took Ship 30 For 30 in October of 2022, I decided to use a strategic thinking framework from an acclaimed business author named Rich Horwath called GOST (Goal, Objective, Strategies, Tactics).
I wrote my ideas for each part of that framework. It was one of my more popular articles at the time. Not only did writing about my application of that framework help me create an engaging article but it also helped me get the most out of the Ship 30 program.
OK. Now that you see how to use this strategy, you still may have one concern.
But what if what I did sucked?
It's uncomfortable to talk about things we did that didn't work but many people want to hear about them anyway. Some of my most popular posts are about things that didn't go my way and mistakes I made.
We don't always want to hear success stories
Some of us want to know what nasty things may be lurking around a corner so we can avoid them. You help others by sharing your challenges. But you may also find support. You're probably not alone in your struggles. And you may even hear from someone who solved your problem that can help you too.
What to do
Distill your insights. Apply what you've learned. Share it with others. Do that and you can make great content even when you are just learning.
Still here?
I love that. One thing you can do for me is leave a comment or reply to this email and say hi. When I read your reply it makes my day.