Here’s a question: the success you’re looking for as a content creator—how badly do you want it?
At some point, I think it’s a point every aspiring content creator needs to consider.
If you think about it, and if you’re serious, I’m not sure there’s any skipping this question. I know because I tried, and—well, let’s just say it didn’t end well for me.
Back in late 2009 when I initially started out, I thought I knew better. I thought I had everything worked out. I thought I was pretty hot stuff. me? How could I possibly fail?
Answer: ROYALLY!
I screwed up MASSIVELY!
Looking back, I’m embarrassed to admit how much of a mess I made of things.
Thankfully though, now I know better. That’s not to say I know it all, because I don’t. Let’s just say I’m better prepared these days than I was back then.
So again, how badly do you want it?
How much planning and preparation will you put in? What will you put aside to focus on whatever needs to get done to get you where you want to go?
Here’s why I’m asking these questions:
Back in 2001, an aspiring fashion design student I knew of was going to be the next big name in clothing. She collected all the glossy magazines and oohed and arrghed at all the fancy dresses on the awards shows. That Christmas, she received a sketchbook and a set of coloured pens as a gift. “Oh, wow!” she beamed, “This is great! Thank you so much! Now, I can do my fashion!”
And off she trotted. Giddy with delight!
The next time I saw her mum I asked how the fashion drawing was going?
“Nowhere!” was the reply.
The sketchbook and pens had been pushed aside, forgotten, never to be used.
While this young creative was undoubtedly enthusiastic about pursuing her passion, what she hadn’t taken into consideration was the amount of effort she’d need to put in to create a portfolio that would get her onto a fashion course at an accredited college.
Despite having her dream, the reality was that the prospect of the amount of work involved completely overwhelmed her, so she quit.
Sadly, while the advice of “follow your passion” is cute, it isn’t enough! In the real world, passion isn’t enough. Enthusiasm isn’t enough.
You’ve got to have a plan and you’ve GOT to take action on that plan to make it a reality. While the advice to follow your passion sounds good, it isn’t enough.
Likewise with becoming an online content creator. On the surface, it looks easy. You make a video or write an article, it goes viral, you become famous, you make a lot of money. There’s just one tiny problem with this process. Its rarity.
Creating online content is hard work!
And because it’s hard, and while lots of people start out full of enthusiasm, as I’ve already mentioned, being enthusiastic isn’t enough.
What’s the solution? Obsession. You need to be OBSESSED with creating content.
You need to create a list of the things you’ll be creating content about.
You need to know what kind of content you’ll be creating (videos, podcasts, articles, graphics), and you need to learn how to create this stuff.
If that means upping your skills game, that’s what it’ll take.
If that means staying up late, getting up early, and putting in the time, put in the time.
If that means failing again and again and again—you need to get comfortable failing again and again and again … BUT … and this is the critical part, when you do fail (and you will), the difference between you and the other hopefuls who fall by the wayside is that you need to get used to the idea of GETTING YOUR ASS BACK UP AGAIN, dusting yourself off, and going again!
On top of this you need a basic strategy outlining who you’re talking to and why they should care; you need a simple, actionable plan that you can easily work and that you can adjust as you make progress; you need an aim, and you need an objective.
You need to know what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for, why you’re doing it, where you’re heading, and how you’re going to get there.
With your obsession and with these simple pieces of the puzzle in place you become unstoppable.
If you’re just starting out it’s likely that you have little by way of a structure in place to guide you and keep you focused. The points outlined above ought to at the least get you up and running and on your way. The rest is up to you. What are you waiting for?
Go and get busy!
As always, thanks for reading.
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree … Say no to trolls!