All too often I see so many people playing the short game. Focusing too much energy on blog posts or social media is often a waste of time. These things come and go. What’s relevant one day is not the next day.
Winging it as far as content goes is the common content strategy. Here are a few signs that you’re winging it. You’re sharing quotes. You’re inconsistent with your content.
Instead, we all need to focus more on creating long-term assets. What do I mean?
Creating Long-Term Assets
Writing a book is one of the best long-term assets you can create. And one really cool way to do it is to blog your book. You could compile a bunch of posts or articles together and release them in book form.
When you write a good book, it will open a lot of doors for you. I personally know many authors who have found speaking gigs, consulting work, coaching (one-on-one and group coaching), created courses, and much more.
The book itself can make you money as well, but that’s not the best way to look at it. I view a book as a key that unlocks many doors that were once closed to you. I personally have landed at least 10 freelance jobs from my first book, Ready Aim Fire. Not to mention it helped me get out of debt too and gave me the confidence to go out on my own as a professional writer.
Your Email List
This one is non-negotiable, no matter what you’re doing. So please start building your email list TODAY. I wrote this article breaking down the different email service providers. Even if you don’t think you have an audience, sign up for an email provider. Everyone starts at zero.
There are quite a few fantastic YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I even know some with millions of subscribers. While everything is hunky dory right now, who is to say that YouTube won’t change their terms of service one day? What if Google just decides to sell off YouTube?
Don’t forget that one piece of content — even a single Tweet — could possibly get you banned from a platform.
And that’s even if you make a mistake or word something poorly. Remember, “cancel culture” cancels first and asks questions later. I know this sounds extreme, but it’s the truth.
When something goes haywire, how do you contact those who support you? Email. Email isn’t going away. Anything else can — and often will — go away. No one predicted the demise of MySpace, AOL, Yahoo Messenger, Geocities, or many other online platforms. The only constant is change with technology.
Building A Connection Hub
What on Earth do I mean by that? I mean a place that other people can connect with you and find your work. This likely could be a website. You do need one of those too. But even a minimalist one-page website could be fine. I personally like this option right here because it’s so simple and affordable.
You could have your portfolio on this page, but I really like to think of this more as a snapshot of all of your work as well as some helpful info about you. If you really want to do this well, be sure to include case studies as well.
Don’t forget — while this is your content, and you’ll be sharing some about yourself, it’s not all about you. It’s actually all about the end user. So, make it inviting. Don’t be me-focused. Rather, be end user-focused, and tell them a story. Bonus points if you use video! No one does this.
Improve Your Storytelling Skills
The most valuable skill today is storytelling. I could argue that self-awareness is up there too, but let’s be honest — that can even fall under storytelling too. Self-awareness depends on the ability to understand the story you are telling yourself.
No matter what you do, you are telling other people stories. Getting more sales is storytelling. Getting more referrals is storytelling. Even accounting is storytelling in a sense. When you work on your storytelling skills, you can serve others better and connect with people on a deeper level. Keep improving these skills and you will see growth.
The Takeaway
Opportunities come your way when you have long-term assets.
If you were to ask me, I personally think the best choice is to write a book. I know it changed my life. As an author, you have key that opens many, many doors. I’ve helped clients all over the world write books that are now long-term assets. And I’ve also worked with many authors who have developed courses out of their books too.
If you’ve ever considered writing a book, I’d love to chat with you. I have some fantastic resources to share with you. Right now is the perfect time to write a book, even if you don’t have much time to spare. You can write a book in as little as 15 minutes a day.
