Why you’re not growing

If you stopped publishing content, would anyone notice?

Would they reach out and ask what happened?

If they do, you have content-market-fit. Your content is so good people panic when they don't receive it.

Yet, for most people, the answer to these questions is “no”.

And that’s why you’re not growing.

It’s not because you don’t know the latest growth tactics and monetization strategies.

It’s because you’re building a content business and missing the most important ingredient — great content.

There’s no audience for “average” content. Media is a winner take most game.

Audiences don’t need to consume hundreds of newsletters, YouTube channels, and podcasts about “investing” for example. They only need 1-5.

Audiences only want the top 1%.

If your content quality is not in the top 1%…

• In one category (meaning topic: Investing, sports, news, etc)

• And, on one channel (meaning platform: Newsletter, podcast, YouTube, etc)

…Then your odds of building a large and durable content business are slim to none.

Now, that’s a bold statement I need to explain more: What I mean is that your content must be better than 99% of [channel] that publish content in [category].

For example:

• Your content must be better than 99% of [newsletters] that publish content about [investing].

• Better than 99% of [podcasts] that publish content about [fantasy football].

• Or, better than 99% of [YouTube channels] that publish content about [calligraphy].

• Etc, etc

You don’t need to be better than 99% of people who publish content about your category on any channel. But you do need to be on the top 1% in one category on one channel.

More importantly, you don’t need to serve a broad, hyper-competitive category like “investing” “news”, or “sports”.

You can create a distinct, niche, category where you stand out. More on this later.

How do we solve the content problem?

By inversion, the mental model coined by Charlie Munger.

Instead of asking "How can I succeed?", Munger advises us to ask, "What causes failure and how can I avoid it?"

By identifying the ways to fail, you can take steps to prevent it.

Invert this: The 5 reasons for failure

After meeting 100s of media founders and creators, there are 5 reasons why most fail:

1) Your content is not insanely valuable

We all know the feeling…

You’re subscribed to hundreds of newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Most are okay. Some are good. But just a handful are your favorite.

When your favorite content arrives in your inbox, pops up in your podcast feed, or releases a new video… You click on it right way… And devour it.

You're completely engrossed while consuming it, and when it's over, you might even feel sad or disappointed.

That content is insanely valuable because:

• It solves a real problem for you. It could be a personal or professional problem, or it could help you escape from the problems in your life.

• The creator has a unique perspective and voice that others don't.

• It can't be summarized. You only want it directly from the source.

• It's created by a real expert or authority on the topic.

And because of this, you have a habit of consuming it every single time.

That’s insanely valuable content. It’s what we all must strive to make.

Yes, most of the time you’ll miss the mark. But you at least need to know what you're aiming for. Over a long enough time span of doing this with passion, you'll get there.

2) You don’t publish content where it can be discovered (and you don’t promote your content!)

Even if you have the best newsletter or podcast in the world, no one will see it if you don't publish to a discovery platform.

There are 2 types of content channels:

• Discovery platforms — Includes video platforms like YouTube, TikTok — and social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and more.

• Relationship platforms — Email newsletters, podcasts, SMS

Discovery platforms have built-in discovery. Algorithms can push your content to people who don't follow you. There's built-in sharing like a “retweet” button where other accounts can share your content with their audience.

Relationship platforms help you build a deeper relationship with your audience and reach them directly without an algorithmic feed or gatekeeper. Relationship channels are incredible for monetization. Yet, these channels are impossible to grow without being able to direct people from another channel to them.

How do you manage both?

Only focus on one discovery and relationship, at first. Like LinkedIn and newsletter or YouTube and podcast, etc.

Each platform is distinct. So trying to building audiences across all of them at once is impossible for beginners.

Also, spend more time creating content for the discovery platform of your choice than your relationship platform IF you have an audience of <50k-100k on the relationship platform (meaning <100k email list or podcast subscribers).

3) You don’t publish enough content, consistently, for a long enough time

You’re underestimating how much content you need to build an audience.

I've talked to countless people who complain to me that they're not growing. Then, when I look at their discovery platform, they’ve been publishing 1-2 posts a week for a few months or less.

And yes, I know it’s hard. I don't expect you to post something incredible every single day if you're just starting out.

Instead, I recommend this:

For 90 days publish 4 pieces of content per week to 1 discovery platform and do not worry about the views or engagement you get.

This is all about building a habit of posting.

I recommend starting with LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, or X.

After 3 months you’ll have 52 posts. Which is not a lot. But you’ll have a publishing habit and some traction, like 1k-10k followers, or more.

Once you have a habit and a small following, growth gets easier.

4) You don’t own a unique category.

Remember how I said, “your content must be better than 99% of [channel] that publish content in [category].”

That sounds scary. But you don’t need to be in the top 1% of a big, competitive category. Instead, create your own category where you can be #1.

Here’s what I mean…

“Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until that is true.” — Naval Ravikant

Don’t try and make a better version of Morning Brew, the All-In podcast, or whatever content you're emulating.

Work to create a category of one.

This means no one else does exactly what you do. There may still be other publishers in your niche or creators who cover a similar topic.

But you have a unique approach!

Here are the rules of category design:

• Different is better than better

• It’s better to be first than better.

• If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

By creating a category you stand out.

5) You have not become the person who deserves an audience, yet

“To find a worthy mate, be worthy of a worthy mate" — Charlie Munger

This quote applies to everything. If you want money and recognition from an audience, the only way to get it is to become a person who deserves it.

That means your primary goal should be your craft.

Get real-world experience, do more research than your competition, read more books, travel to more events and mentors, work harder, and be willing to do this for years before getting what you want.

Eventually, when you become a person with the ability (skills and expertise) to deliver what the audience wants — building your audience is easy.

Last thing

If you want to help thousands of people and share your message with the world, don’t let this scare you. You can still be successful even if you’re starting from scratch, have a small audience, or you’re inexperienced now.

You don't need to be a genius or a world-class expert to build a content business. If you have passion, focus, and you're willing to push through the slog of publishing content into a void… You'll get there eventually. I promise.