Don't worry about the order of your content
A common creative block is worrying about the sequence in which you should be creating your content.
Having written a thousand blog posts, self-published four books, created a dozen online courses, I can tell you this:
Do not be concerned about the order of your content. Just start creating.
Why?
Having written a thousand blog posts, self-published four books, created a dozen online courses, I can tell you this:
Do not be concerned about the order of your content. Just start creating.
Why?
You think you can create a perfect ordering of blog posts, or book chapters, or online courses, before you’ve begun writing?
Throughout your content creation journey, especially in the first years, new ideas will emerge that will have you questioning your entire framework and message. That is normal. You are simply learning and discovering, and the best way to learn is by creating… not just consuming other people’s content.
Therefore, the only way to get started is to get going with creating.
Don’t worry about future content, and what order they should be in, because no matter how much you plan, it is going to change mid-way.
Free content isn’t usually consumed in order anyway.
Most people aren’t going to consume your free content in a specific order. They will come to your Facebook Page, or your Website, and expect to see what the latest blog posts are. Or they’ll go to your Youtube channel and click on the latest video. Or if you’ve published books, they’ll read your latest book, not usually your first. That’s how content consumption is done these days.
People want the latest, freshest content, so they will start with the newest piece that you have.
For every piece of content you create, just show up as authentically you, and share whatever message you have at the time.
If someone is meant to be part of your ideal audience, they will be intrigued by your energy signature, no matter which blog post or video they start with. They will want more.
This applies to blog writing, video creation, book writing, and course creation.
For example, I should’ve written my fourth book (Principles of Authentic Business) first.
But without having created enough content, I wouldn’t have realized that I had enough material for a book about the Principles of Authentic Business!
So… when is it time to put content in order?
The first stage of content (anytime you create that is new) is exploratory and casual. The second stage is to improve on what your ideal audience is responding to, and to further distribute it.
The third stage, finally, is the integration and monetization of your Stage 2 pieces. To understand this better, read about The 3 Stages of Content.
What this means is that you don’t have to be concerned at all about the ordering of your content in Stage 1… which is anytime you write a new blog post or make a new video.
You’re simply ensuring that your idea or story gets out there, so the audience can give you initial feedback.
Once the idea or story has been proven to be interesting for your audience, and if it eventually makes it to Stage 3, then you can put that piece of content in the right place in a Book or a Course, or a special blog or video series.
For example, this very blog post you’re reading should’ve been put towards the beginning of my posts about content creation. But only recently did I realize that I needed to write about this. So I’m writing about it now. This post might eventually become a chapter towards the beginning of my next edition of Authentic Content Marketing.
Every piece of free content should stand on its own.
Any blog post, any video, anything that is free that you put online, should stand on its own, without having to be consumed within a series.
It definitely takes practice to chunk down your knowledge into a single 500-1,000 word blog post that is understandable by itself.
Trust that the audience has enough background knowledge to understand what you’re saying. You can always link within your article to other posts for background info. You may also get audience questions that will help you improve your content.
If some piece of knowledge cannot be understood without a lot of explanation, then it should be part of a Course or Book. Even so, I would encourage you to practice packaging knowledge into bite-sized chunks as much as possible.
Dedicate yourself to consistent content creation, and you’ll be giving yourself a lot of needed practice!
Throughout your content creation journey, especially in the first years, new ideas will emerge that will have you questioning your entire framework and message. That is normal. You are simply learning and discovering, and the best way to learn is by creating… not just consuming other people’s content.
Therefore, the only way to get started is to get going with creating.
Don’t worry about future content, and what order they should be in, because no matter how much you plan, it is going to change mid-way.
Free content isn’t usually consumed in order anyway.
Most people aren’t going to consume your free content in a specific order. They will come to your Facebook Page, or your Website, and expect to see what the latest blog posts are. Or they’ll go to your Youtube channel and click on the latest video. Or if you’ve published books, they’ll read your latest book, not usually your first. That’s how content consumption is done these days.
People want the latest, freshest content, so they will start with the newest piece that you have.
For every piece of content you create, just show up as authentically you, and share whatever message you have at the time.
If someone is meant to be part of your ideal audience, they will be intrigued by your energy signature, no matter which blog post or video they start with. They will want more.
This applies to blog writing, video creation, book writing, and course creation.
For example, I should’ve written my fourth book (Principles of Authentic Business) first.
But without having created enough content, I wouldn’t have realized that I had enough material for a book about the Principles of Authentic Business!
So… when is it time to put content in order?
The first stage of content (anytime you create that is new) is exploratory and casual. The second stage is to improve on what your ideal audience is responding to, and to further distribute it.
The third stage, finally, is the integration and monetization of your Stage 2 pieces. To understand this better, read about The 3 Stages of Content.
What this means is that you don’t have to be concerned at all about the ordering of your content in Stage 1… which is anytime you write a new blog post or make a new video.
You’re simply ensuring that your idea or story gets out there, so the audience can give you initial feedback.
Once the idea or story has been proven to be interesting for your audience, and if it eventually makes it to Stage 3, then you can put that piece of content in the right place in a Book or a Course, or a special blog or video series.
For example, this very blog post you’re reading should’ve been put towards the beginning of my posts about content creation. But only recently did I realize that I needed to write about this. So I’m writing about it now. This post might eventually become a chapter towards the beginning of my next edition of Authentic Content Marketing.
Every piece of free content should stand on its own.
Any blog post, any video, anything that is free that you put online, should stand on its own, without having to be consumed within a series.
It definitely takes practice to chunk down your knowledge into a single 500-1,000 word blog post that is understandable by itself.
Trust that the audience has enough background knowledge to understand what you’re saying. You can always link within your article to other posts for background info. You may also get audience questions that will help you improve your content.
If some piece of knowledge cannot be understood without a lot of explanation, then it should be part of a Course or Book. Even so, I would encourage you to practice packaging knowledge into bite-sized chunks as much as possible.
Dedicate yourself to consistent content creation, and you’ll be giving yourself a lot of needed practice!