Overcoming the Blockers to Content

You know what content is, and what kind of content you can provide, but something’s stopping you producing it. What’s going on? Why are you finding it so hard to get started and keep going?

In my experience, there are four main obstacles to creating your content

“I’ve got nothing original to say!”

The first blocker to consider is where you’re telling yourself you have nothing to offer.

You may think you couldn’t provide valuable content but that’s simply not true. Everybody has something they can produce, which will add value to an audience. Remember that your audience are not looking for a unique concept, they’re looking for new perspectives and new ways of explaining things.

There are no new ideas, but there are always new viewpoints. Your skill set is a valuable source of content, whether you’re a restaurant owner sharing recipes, a carpenter with DIY advice, or a content alchemist explaining how to develop content. You wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t have value to offer. Content is all about explaining that.

“I just don’t have the time”

Another blocker to content, and probably the most common, is the issue of time. Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution to this, other than to simply make time. When considering my time limitations, I often think of this quote:

“If it is important, you will find time, if it isn’t you’ll make an excuse” – Anonymous

Assuming you get things done on time for clients, use this approach to get things done for yourself. When producing content, you’re effectively your own client.

Make sure to get help rather than battling with things. For instance, if you have a choice between spending several hours producing a flier or hiring a graphic designer who knows what they’re doing, seriously consider each approach.

And don’t forget you can use AI to help with the process. Don’t use it to create the content (unless you want your content to be just like everyone else’s and generic), and instead ask it to create outlines you can write to – this can make the process faster and easier.

More than anything else, value your own time. If you were working for a client, what could you be earning rather than doing this?

“It’s not ready yet”

The third blocker I want to talk about is a condition I like to call ‘Perfectionitis’.

It’s a very common problem where you spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to make your content perfect.

Remember, true perfection is impossible. Instead, the level of perfection, should directly relate to the lifetime of the content. For example, a flier needs to last longer than a single email. This means that you can afford to make that email less than perfect, but the flier might require more time. Some things matter more than others but ultimately perfection is less important than whether you’re getting the message across, or the value is clear.

There’s a blog post on this in my last series entitled “Spoilering and Grammering”.

“I really hate….”

Finally, a big blocker is your personal preferences.

If you hate producing a certain type of content, the quality of the content will probably suffer. Livestreaming is great and extremely powerful, but if you dread being in front of the camera, don’t start there.

It’s important to experiment with a range of content and build your confidence by starting with content that’s already comfortable to you. Remember, if you enjoy doing it, you’ll produce better content, and it won’t even feel like work.

When you’re ready to use something else, consider repurposing the old content. Take an old blog and turn it into a livestream. This makes the new format less intimidating.

With these blockers out of your way, you should be well on your way to producing great content. Remember to stick at it, if you keep working, the content will come.

And if you’d like more help with your own content, check out our short course Demystifying Content.