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Do you take longer than 1 day to post your content?

I know I've personally struggled with creating content and having the confidence to share it, and I know a few people in a similar position to me, so I thought we could get together to think about this and how to get better.

@mattcrail and I spoke about this last week and considered getting a group together to write and share content. Do you also struggle with content writing? Do you think you could benefit from teaming up with others in a similar position?

We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic!

  1. 5

    Hi Krupali,

    I'm particularly interested in this topic, so much so I wrote a book to help people (namely devs, but it's applicable to anyone) create and publish their content more regularly.

    I'd love to get your thoughts on the following:

    • What is your biggest pain point with writing content? Is it finding the time to do it, losing motivation, running out of ideas?
    • Do you share your content once you've created it, or do you hold back?

    I'd be happy to share some tips that have helped!

    1. 1

      Hi Stephanie,

      That's pretty cool, thank you for sharing!

      • My biggest pain point with writing content is keeping motivated with the writing e.g. I'll read my draft and then question whether it's good enough and whether people will want to read
      • I've started writing about 5 pieces and only shared one piece, so I'd say I do hold back from sharing and only recently feel like I'm getting better at it (at a slow pace though)

      The main thing that has helped me is knowing there are others in a similar boat, and a few experienced marketers have advised me that I need to get over that hump and start sharing content in order to get better. Hence why I feel grouping together and finding a way to keep motivated would be helpful.

      1. 3

        This makes a lot of sense, thank you for sharing! I think the idea of having a community of folks who are in similar circumstances is incredibly helpful; there's an opportunity to hold each other accountable and offer encouragement. :)

        I'm in agreement with the advice from other marketers to just start publishing. You won't actually know what resonates until you start sharing content (I wrote an extended thread on Twitter about this if you're interested.).

        If my perspective in any way helps, I can share that even content creators with a lot of experience still can't predict with 100% accuracy what will or won't land with their audience. :) I look at my site analytics as well as engagement (comments, likes, retweets) on tweets where I promote my posts. Even so, I've published blog posts that I was certain people would love—only to get a lukewarm response. And I've published posts that I thought were just OK—and got an incredible reaction.

        Sometimes the things we think are "just OK" are what ends up making a splash and being the most helpful to our readers. I almost didn't write my book on content creation for developers; I assumed it was too "basic" or "obvious" and wasn't sure if there was an audience for it. But when I announced it, I got hundreds of retweets and follows. I ended up with almost 300 pre-orders, and to date have sold over 1,100 from two ebooks since January. All from things that I thought people wouldn't like, but they did.

        Put your content out there and see what your users say! If you get feedback in the form of comments and suggestions, those are worth their weight in gold—it means people care enough to want to engage. You'll grow more confident and you'll develop a better understanding of what people like over time, but you won't always accurately predict what will work—this is true for the experts, too!

        I look forward to seeing what you share in your content journey. Thank you for starting this discussion.

        1. 1

          Thanks a lot for this insight, particularly from an experienced perspective. It certainly is reassuring for me, and hopefully for others in a similar position to me.

          I think the next step is to work on how exactly to get over the hesitation of sharing - for me a review of my content within a small group helped to push me to get my content out there but I know that might not work for others.

  2. 3

    Following a great discussion on this post, @mattcrail and I have created the Content Support group which we'd love for you to join if you'd like to grow with us and others on your content writing journey.

    I'm tagging a few of you on here who previously showed interest 😊
    @radiomorillo
    @DailyDevTips
    @craftworkgames
    @jsjoeio
    @brunor
    @lai
    @LouTromans
    @vaibhavThevedi
    @JohnDE
    @mauricewbr

    1. 2

      Thanks! will join the group!

    2. 2

      Sounds good. Just joined!

    3. 2

      Thank you for the mention! Just joined - looking forward to sharing my content journey with you!

  3. 3

    I write content every day https://daily-dev-tips.com/

    So normally each article is written 1 day before, but sometimes like now I'm going away for the weekend so wrote 3 articles extra so the weekend is "off".

    As for the "bigger" ones I try and write them over time, so I have about 5 bigger posts I'm working on but they need massive content, and demo's etc.

    1. 2

      Wow! I'd love to reach a point where I'm able to get one piece written a day. Great job and well done for keeping up this pace!

      If you don't mind, would you be able to share any tips and/or obstacles in your writing process? I'm sure many of us could learn from you.

      1. 2

        I think my biggest obstacle is coming up with new topics to write about, I find it very helpful to ask people what they are struggling with.

        And incorporation everyday problems I find in my job (hence the broad aspect of topics)

        As for the dedication, that is just really making yourself do it, can't really put any magic on that.

        1. 1

          That makes sense, I certainly agree with your approach to finding new topics. I've heard great success stories with this method!

          I know what you mean regarding dedication, I think it's about getting your mind in the right place to focus.

          Thanks.

  4. 3

    Yes, absolutely. So much.

    Weirdly, I don't have a problem writing answers on forums. In fact, I love answering questions. I think it's the sense that someone is actually listening.

    Count me in.

    1. 1

      I know what you mean, I feel like I've built the confidence to use my voice in some spaces but I know there is room for improvement. Thank you for sharing!

  5. 3

    Sounds like an accountability group! That's cool.

    I would say struggling with this discipline or sitting down to do it. This is the first month where I sat down for hours and planned one tweet for each day of the month. It was a little tiring but I think it will pay off.

    Do you think you could benefit from teaming up with others in a similar position?

    Possibly! Part of the reason I joined IH was to meet other Content Creators. I have a few friends on Twitter who I DM separately about content stuff. I have started writing more and always thought it would be cool to have a "tech writers guild" or something. Essentially a small group of people to hold each other accountable.

    I've seen a lot of people writing ebooks lately and it's something I want to eventually do so my hope was to join IH and meet others who might be doing the same!

    1. 2

      Yes, something like an accountability group could work.

      I agree, making the time to focus on writing can be a struggle for me as well. I'm sure your tweet planning will pay off - I'm a believer from learning from each situation.

      Thank you for sharing what you've been doing so far and I hope we'll find a way to group together!

    2. 1

      did you felt any difference by scheduling like this? I used to do it too. But I have consistency issues that I need to work on.

      1. 1

        Eh, yes and no. I mean it was nice having a tweet out and feeling like things are active without having to be on Twitter and think of something. But only some of the tweets did well so I guess it's hit or miss. The consistency is nice though!

  6. 3

    For me it's more lack of time and self discipline to sit down and write. Have some idea bank but still...

    1. 2

      Seems like a common theme, thank you for sharing!

  7. 2

    Creating Contents can be difficult but when I have enough insights on what I'm about creating around it makes it more easy. and also I share a my copy to mates for review

    1. 1

      Sounds like a great approach, thank you for sharing 😊

  8. 2

    What do you mean by teaming up? and what exactly do you struggle with? The ideas, the actual creation of content, the time taken to do this, etc... What is the main issue with content creation?

    Great idea tho :)

    1. 2

      Teaming up could be a slack group or even a weekly session - just something to help each other to stay motivated and keep time aside for writing. I personally struggle with confidence in writing, I regularly feel like it's not good enough which prevents me form sharing the content.

      1. 1

        Ahhh confidence.

        Here's a little thing that I always think about - that might help.

        The worst thing that can happen is nobody sees it

        If your content is really that bad, then nobody is going to click on it or even read it. You have nothing to lose. If it's good, then many people will see it and enjoy it. If it's bad, then nobody will see it.

        I hope this helps.

        Also to further aid with writing, check out Hemingway. I was exactly the same as you. A poor writer who lacked confidence, Hemingway kept me in check so that anyone could read my blogs with ease!

        1. 2

          That is helpful, thank you! I think it's easy to get wrapped into a lack of confidence and avoid posting but really the only way to get over that is to get your content out there and then see what happens.

          I've used Hemingway too, it is a great way to keep your writing in check 👍

          1. 1

            Keep up with the content, the only way to get better at writing is to practice.

            And if you feel like you're not creating enough content, feel free to sign up to my tool: https://www.spreadtech.online/

            I just wish I had my original blog posts to show you, man they were embarrassing :((((((

            1. 1

              For sure, thanks!

              I'll check it out 👍

              Haha! That's reassuring to hear.

  9. 2

    Well, As a maker and someone who likes building stuff mainly, I find marketing difficult myself. I mean, it is the reason why I built Designtack, to create content quickly and in bulk.

    While content writing is something different and I do find it hard, I believe that the audience tells if you should write about a topic or not. I am not sure if teaming up will help as then you would have to make sure that you are on the same boat i.e. sharing the same perspective.

    1. 2

      Nice, thanks for sharing! I can certainly see the use case for your product.

      I agree, your writing should be focussed on what your audience wants and that's where I get my ideas from. My blocker comes in when I've written my piece but I'm not confident to share it, perhaps teaming up could help build confidence in content sharing e.g. I share my draft with this group who can then help me to finalise it before sharing widely. I'm not 100% sure how teaming up could work, and there maybe something different we can do to help each other. This is just the start of the discussion, let's see!

      1. 1

        Yes, I like the idea of sharing with a team about your written piece of content but I am afraid that it may lead to Groupthink. It is something that should be avoided or taken care of.

        I read this in psychology and let me save people from a quick google search,

        Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

        1. 1

          Thanks for sharing this.

          Just to check my understanding, would an issue of Groupthink be something like other people validating my content with the desire for harmony or conformity (rather than real feedback and challenge)?

          1. 2

            Yes, you can say that. To resolve this kind of issue, You can have 1-on-1 discussion with 5 people which will give you rather a thorough feedback than having 5 people discuss about your content, at once.

            1. 2

              Ok, thanks for clarifing.

  10. 2

    Best way imho, is to read the news in your business niche and write an article with your view on it and post that as content. This way you use already published contents momentum to gain more viewers.

    1. 1

      I know what you mean, this has certainly helped me personally in content writing. Thanks!

  11. 2

    What exactly do you mean by 'teaming up'? :)

    1. 2

      I think it could mean a few things (below), and I'm not sure what the "right" way is but hopefully we can work together to figure it out.

      • hold weekly sessions where we block out time to write
      • share first drafts within a small group
      • have a comms channel where we can ask questions (we may not have experts in the group but I think we could all try to help each other out with finding answers/solutions)
      1. 2

        I really like that! I'm in, let's find out together what works best.

        1. 2

          Great, I'll certainly keep you updated! Thanks 😊

  12. 2

    👋 I'm in of course.

    Would be great to hear what other IHers experiences are and how we can support one another. It's a shame that great content doesn't make it out in the world because the writer is lacking confidence and just needs a bit of a boost in confidence.

    1. 1

      Looks like there are a few of us in the same boat and I'm sure we can find a way to support one another. It could be as simple as making more use of this Content Creators group, or forming another way we can work together and help each other to share more great content.

      1. 2

        Yeah - good question! Maybe we could get a few people together on a call to brainstorm what works best for everyone?

        1. 1

          Sounds good, I'll try and get something scheduled this week or next week.

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