Good Life Project - The Content Marketing Delusion: Work Still Matters
Episode Date: March 25, 2016There’s this unfortunate delusion that’s gaining credibility in the world of entrepreneurship and careers.The road to growth is paved with "content." Write, film, record and produce content and th...e world will rush to your doorstep.You don’t have to put your “self” out there anymore, just put your content out there.Problem is, it preys on a particular fear, and it’s based on a lie. At least, in part.Content, done right, can be a fantastic mechanism to build an idea into a platform, a brand, a reputation, position, entity, business or organization. But, it’s also a way to hide from the other piece of the launch and growth pie. The side of the equation that is about something else. Something that scares us. Something that, skipped, will still leave you playing a losing game. That's what today's GLP Riff is about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Today's riff is called the content delusion or why you still need to hustle. So there's this unfortunate delusion that's been sold in the world of entrepreneurship, especially
in the online space. And that is that the road to growth is paved with
content. You can write, film, record, produce killer content, put it out there, and the world
will rush to your doorstep. You don't have to put your quote self out there anymore. Just put your
content out there. Boom, success, instant winning. But then there's this nagging little thing called reality. So forget the fact
that I actually really struggle with the word content for the moment. The problem with this
strategy and the claims that go along with it is that it preys on a particular fear and it's based
on a partial lie. The fear is exposure and judgment. We're terrified of exposing ourselves to in the flesh
failure and rejection. We don't want to go, quote, out there or be, you know, in a room or even in
the world when the light bulbs don't go on and everything we've worked to create falls flat.
So it's easier to just put out our content into that scary space. And that way, you know, we can stay cloistered and protected in our little content creation
caves and have everybody come running to us.
And if it fails, well, it'll still hurt, but not nearly as badly as if we've been face
to face talking to someone and being rejected by them out there in the bountiful yet exposed badlands.
So we tell ourselves when people reject content, it's about an idea. And when they reject
conversation, it's about us. And it's easier to handle a failed idea than a denied self.
So we hide, not just behind the idea, but behind the screens that
serve as both a shield and a sword, because we're afraid of being in the room when the other shoe
falls. So that's the fear. But what about the lie? So the big content fib is that it's the end-all
be-all. It's that content done well is all you need. Content is king. I'm sure you've
heard that. And it is indeed a fantastic mechanism to build an idea into a platform, a brand, a
reputation, position, an entity, business, organization. This in fact is a partial truth,
you know, crafted and curated and distributed the right way over a window of time, it can make a huge difference.
I mean, I've certainly leveraged the power of editorial, video, and audio to build what I'm
here to build with great effect. And it's taken me eight years. Actually, now that I think about
it, it's taken me closer to 10 years. And I'll continue to do more and more of it. But that said, with the exception of the
unicorn rare and largely non-reproducible viral outlier, content is more about sustained growth
and positioning and trust, and yes, eventually leads, than it is about a high probability
vehicle for launch and accelerated growth. So it's important, but increasingly, I wonder if it's also
a way to hide from the other piece of the launch and growth pie, the hustle side of the equation.
Content is your long game, but hustle is your now game. And by hustle, I'm talking old school or
what the cool kids now call outbound marketing. And that includes things like street teams and guerrilla marketing or advertising.
Yes, despite rumors of advertising's demise, it actually still works phenomenally well done right.
Or hosting and attending meetups or gatherings, events, engineering publicity opportunities,
speaking to the right people in the right place about the right things,
building and participating in groups, you know, online and offline, having coffees and lunches
and brunches and drinks and just being stunningly generous and building meaningful relationships and
calling everyone you've ever known and sometimes begging for help, also known more officially as
inviting partnership. So when you're looking to go from
zero to real, unless you're either willing to risk an extremely low probability viral moonshot,
or take a longer, slower path to growth, you can't just put videos and podcasts, editorial images out
there and hope that someone will discover them
and follow you back and fall in love and pay you money.
Yes, those things all have power.
Create them, use them as levers to move people,
but don't rely exclusively on them
and don't hide behind them
because you're afraid of the more deeply felt pain
of a failed hustle.
So you've got to understand that with rare exception,
these elements, they're players in a longer, more nuanced content game, not an instant path
to attention or sometimes even income or impact. So when you're in launch mode, content does not
let you off the hustle hook. Both matter and both operate most effectively over different time horizons. Hustle is your now game
and content is your medium to long him with the occasional now game hit. So are there outliers
to this? Yeah, of course there are outliers. And might you be one? Sure. Maybe you're that person,
you know, and we all love to point to the successes of those outliers in defense of our desire
to hide behind the page or the screen or the mic in our little protected rooms and to lean
solely on the desire to create assets that go out into the world and do the work rather
than getting off our own keisters and do the same in real life.
So if taking a content-driven moonshot, if that were the only approach to launching something
that you want to launch a livelihood, a career, a business or brand or practice, I'd say, well,
have at it, but it's not. So I'm so often asked to advise authors and consultants or private
practice professionals, wisdom workers on how to launch a book or a practice or a company or a product or brand.
And for the most part, they all want to go big fast.
But I'm not actually all that interested in those conversations, you know, conversations
about how to invest a lot of time and money into a 0.0001% chance to virally explode.
When the truth is, a much higher probability path to success exists, even if that path requires
you to do things that force you to drop the delusion, to leave the cave and get past the
fear of the hustle. And as an introverted and kind of sensitive maker, I don't like the fact that I
have to go out there and do that any more than you do it, but it doesn't change the reality on the ground. Content is a compliment to hustle, not a replacement for it. My friend Lewis Howes
is a great example. Actually, when he launched his book, School of Greatness, he'd already spent
years building an audience around content in the form of a popular podcast, but the book was a new
product. It was a new venture. And he knew he wanted to hit the New York Times bestseller list. And that was measured in sales over a single week. So he didn't just rely on
content. He hustled like I've never seen in one hustle before. He got on planes and trains and
automobiles and traveled to where people were and pitched himself all over the place and made deals
and trades and spoke and consulted. He pushed so hard in mainstream
media and created incredible opportunities. We're seeing the same thing actually in real time as I
record this with another legendary content creator, Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as kind of the king
of hustle. So he rose to digital fame as the host of Wine Library TV a few years back. And
he built this huge keynoting business
and then launched a couple of giant bestselling books, got a new one coming out, Ask Gary V.
And then he leveraged his notoriety to co-found a digital media agency called VaynerMedia with
his brother. And he now produces a live streaming show and an advice series. And he's built a
sizable audience along with a podcast.
But the thing is, even though they're creating a maniacal amount of content, and he always has,
he and his team didn't build VaynerMedia, they didn't build a world-class speaking career,
didn't launch giant selling books by creating content and waiting for people to just show up.
As is Gary's mantra, he worked fiercely, he hustled pretty maniacally. And even fellow
introvert and quiet author Susan Cain stepped into the hustle mode to make the leap from
aspiring author to international circuit speaker and then bestseller and then the founder of this
enterprise level consulting firm around quiet leadership. So yeah, she wrote a tremendous book
that gave voice to millions,
and she hired a crew to create a website and populate it with editorial content and a podcast.
But that wasn't where she stopped. She traveled almost nonstop for the better part of two years,
speaking at large organizations and events and building relationships that could eventually
turn into allies and evangelists and
introductions and clients. And this was both before and after the book and the brand hit.
And she built a team to continue on the seeds that she planted with her own just totally fierce
blend of content and hustle. Hustle still matters. That brings up a couple of interesting
questions. So what if you're an introvert and being out there really empties you out? And I'm raising my hand as I say that,
because that actually is me. So do you still have to do it? And the short answer is, well, yes,
but there are ways to actually do it in a way that's humane. So you can do it in a way
that honors your own engagement style, build opportunities to step pretty fiercely out, but then step as fiercely back in and create deliberate windows and activities that let you refuel your tank. group of my team, you know, for my business, who I then empower to step into a bigger world
and create an expanded and delegated, what I would call a hustle ripple, so that, you
know, I can sort of step out and in not all the way public, but in sort of safe, protected
places and empower my team to continue to create the ripple of impact.
It's also really important to know that your definition of hustle, well, it's not the same
as anyone else's.
What's sustainable for one person might destroy another.
So be sure to do it in a way that moves the needle, but also lets you be okay physically,
emotionally, spiritually, and energetically.
So keep it aligned with what matters most to you.
And that brings us to that second question.
What if you just don't care about going fast?
So if you have all your needs covered, if you have alternative sources of business and
revenue that allow you the gift of breathing room for a longer, slower launch and build,
you may be able to rely on really well-crafted content to play a much bigger role in not
just your positioning, but your audience
building and lead generation. So if you have the runway for a slow build, hustle becomes less of
an issue. But if you have limited financial or temporal space to play with, if you've got to get
things to happen quickly, if you have to pay the bills, or if you have expectations and commitments
to meet, with rare exception, content alone is not
enough. And if you're looking towards content as a way to not just grow, but also hide, it's a pretty
safe bet that will eventually catch up to you. So you might as well explore how to peacefully
navigate the hustle now when the stakes are lower and room to breathe is more available. So think of it this way,
content and hustle are the flour and the yeast in your launch bread. Together they rise,
divided they fall. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you found something valuable,
entertaining, engaging, or just plain fun, I'd be so appreciative if you take a couple extra seconds
and share it.
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Or even be awesome if you'd head over to iTunes and just give us a rating.
Every little bit helps get the word out and it helps more people get in touch with the message.
I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project. to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that
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Peloton at onepeloton.ca. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever.
It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever,
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And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch,
getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes.
The Apple Watch Series X.
Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum.
Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required.
Charge time and actual results will vary.