#34 - Reenvisioning Content

Hey Friends 👋

Having spent the last few weeks away from creating content almost entirely, apart from the odd blog post here and there for clients, I've had more time to think about how I want to proceed going forward with content creation.

So, this week I wanted to share my plans for content creation going forward, how I want to structure it, where I want to do it, and most importantly, the topics I want to do it around.

The Where 🌎

Since the start of the year, when I started creating more content, I have been exclusive to Twitter, although I did expand out to other social media platforms around April time.

And, upon reflection, I do wonder about the effectiveness of this decision; was it time well spent? I'm not sure if I'm honest.

Ask anyone who creates content on social media about the longevity of their content, and I'm sure you'll get a similar response that the content only lives for a day or two at most and then fades off into the abyss.

This is what I've been pondering over for the last few weeks; I would spend hours working on content that almost literally had 5 minutes of success and then dropped off the face of the earth.

At the time, I was okay with this, but now looking back I don't think it was a great trade-off. The return on investment was pretty poor for these pieces of content and when time is limited, you want to be getting that as high as possible.

So, naturally, the question becomes, if I'm not going to create content specifically for social media then where am I going to going forward?

If I'm being perfectly honest, I haven't quite decided where but I know it's going to be in the form of either blog posts, YouTube videos or maybe both. This means the content has a lot more longevity and doesn't disappear after its 5 seconds of fame (if any).

The What ❓

With the platform and location largely decided it leaves me with one major decision left to make, what do I want to create content around?

Unfortunately, this is where I'm stuck.

There are a few ways to go around this problem, some I'm fond of, some I'm not fond of and, others I'm not decided on, these are:

• Follow the money 💰
• Stick to what you know 👩‍💻
• Enjoy the journey 🌎

Follow the money 💰

It's well known that you can make a serious chunk of change on YouTube, especially if you're in the right niche and building a good size audience. Now, while I don't blame anyone for following this route of letting money dictate the content they make, it's not for me. If my heart isn't in to something, it shows and then the content I produce would be sub-par at best and awful at worst.

So, for me to enjoy the process and make content that is helpful to the people watching, following the money simply isn't an option.

Stick to what you know 👩‍💻

I'm a full-stack developer by trade, working in TypeScript, AWS, and React primarily but with a few other things thrown in for a good mix. The second option in this list is to stick to what I know; that is make development content for developers.

Now, I'm all for this option, I love the development community; I've made some amazing friends through it so I'd love to give back with content to help developers.

My only reservation with this method is pigeonholing. My interests and what I'd like to make content around goes beyond just development and being a developer so I don't want to force myself to make development content and not branch outside it, which leads me nicely onto...

Enjoy the journey 🌎

The final option in the list is just to enjoy the journey, don't stress about what content I'm going to create and in what category or industry, just start making content and see how and where it goes, letting it develop and evolve as time progresses.

This is the option I'm most attracted to and what I'm going to start exploring more in the coming weeks. My plan is every day sit down and write out ten possible ideas for videos/posts, then pick my favourite and write 500 words about it.

There are no restrictions, just whatever comes to mind as I note down the ideas and write about them. I'm hoping this level of freedom will let the creative juices flow and hopefully, after one or two weeks of this exercise I'll have a good idea if any common themes or directions are appearing for me to pursue.

I look forward to sharing with you how my first week of this exercise goes in next week's edition. But, until then, as always, thank you for reading.

Coner x

Thought, Question, Challenge 🤔

• Thought: The best content is made with passion so before committing to a type of content. Make sure your heart is in it.
• Question: Are you thinking about creating content? If so, where and what about?
• Challenge: This coming week, follow along with the challenge I'm doing, ten ideas per day and write 500 words about one of them. See where you end up and what content you'd like to create.

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Questions

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