Create Content!

written by Steven Bristol on December 18th, 2009

Everyone should be creating content. And so should you.

There are many reasons to create content: to inform, to make money, to get fame (ego), as a creative outlet, as an excuse, to share yourself. Of these your prime motivation should be sharing yourself. That means being honest and open and letting your personality shine. Putting yourself out there. The money and fame will follow.

What is content?

Writing a blog is obvious, but content can be anything, a video, a tutorial, contributing to an open source project. You can share recipes or pictures. Jokes or stories about your stupid boss (or incredibly handsome, chubby boss). Whatever you have to share, share it. There aren’t many constraints here, it doesn’t have to be long or short, it doesn’t have to be topical or persuasive. You don’t even need to have an audience. It just has to come from the heart.

Who’s making content?

We are.

What: If you’re reading this, and I suspect you are, then you are reading content created by us.
Why: We wanted to share our thoughts and ideas about business and life.
Who’s it for: You.
The result: By sharing ourselves we’ve made friends, gained a bit of popularity and fooled clients into picking us over others.

Sorry Ladies We’re Taken (link)

What: A video review site.
Why: Allan and Dustin Bryson started it as an excuse to justify leaving their poor, overworked wives at home with the kids while they go watch movies.
Who’s it for: Themselves. There are a few other’s that enjoy it.
The result: At least one movie a week and their wives feel OK about it.

Web 2.0 Show (link)

What: A podcast that profiles the people, technologies and businesses of Web 2.0
Why: Meet people the coolest people on the internet by interviewing them and ad dollars.
Who’s it for: People like them, people building web apps and interested in internet technology.
The result: Money that supplements their Adam’s income, a bit of fame and connections

Chris Messina’s Flickr Stream (link)

What: A flickr stream of web app user interfaces.
Why: I don’t know the original goal.
Who’s it for: People like Chris, people building web interfaces.
The result: Fame which leads to money and networking.

DOCTYPE (link)

What: A how to video series on web tips and tricks put on by Nick Pettit and Jim Hoskins
Why: Share knowledge, get famous, make money.
Who’s it for: People in the web world.

Google (link)

Why: Larry and Serge attempt to organize all the worlds information.
Why: They wanted a non-naptser excuse to use up all of Stanford’s bandwidth.
Who’s it for: everyone.

A personal tumbler

What: A close friend has a tumbler blog with very personal thoughts that only three of us know the url to.
Why: She wanted to share inner thoughts, but not with everyone.
Who’s it for: Her most intimate friends.

Create content!

All of you have something to say, something to share. Most of you don’t think anyone wants to read it, but the truth is that there are at least a few of us that do want to view it. I can promise you there are more people that want to see it than you think. Start today. Start small. Leave a link to in the comments. Put yourself out there, risk it. See what happens. (And when you stagnate or think about giving up, keep at it!)

3 Responses to “Create Content!”

Nick Pettit December 20th, 2009

Thanks for the mention guys!

I completely agree, and I wrote a similar post on this awhile back: http://almost.done21.com/2009/09/why-every-business-should-produce-media/

I think every business should be producing media: no excuses. Sharing knowledge is a great way to demonstrate your expertise in a particular field and become a part of the community.

In a lot of cases, I think people stop themselves from producing anything because they think they have to be the best. I’m no where close to being the best designer in the world and I never will be, but that doesn’t stop me from making Doctype and sharing what I know. If you’re deeply involved in a particular field, it’s easy to forget how much you have to offer, because it’s so second nature to you. People that aren’t completely immersed in that world every day love hearing about your process.
Lee Richmond December 21st, 2009

This is a great blog post, which while I already knew this in the back of my mind has really hit home to me that I am guilty of NOT creating more content, thanks for the kick up the bum guys.
Adam Stacoviak January 1st, 2010

So true. Gary’s book hit home for me with the show and this year (2010) I plan to push that opportunity to the fullest.

There are so many business opportunities in creating content. In the recent show with Twilio, I learned that they are blogging weekly about the devs that take part in NetBook Monday’s which is a weekly contest they run to get devs creating new apps for their service. The contest provides the devs something to cling to and the blog posts allow Twilio to pimp their best devs weekly on their blog.

Many businesses can gain traction like this by creating content focused on featuring, talking to, or pimping their best customers.

It’s an idea that that every business should explore.

Thanks so much for writing this Steven. An even bigger thanks for talking about The Web 2.0 Show. It’s been a real pleasure and adventure re-igniting the show. I have high hopes for 2010!!