🏴☠️ ⚡️ Creating & Distributing Content to Build Audiences (Operating Concept)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
RESOURCE / CONCEPT
Gary V’s Content Pyramids, Building in Public, etc.
APPLICATIONS
Evolved distribution frameworks from the solopreneur and creator economy movements
⚙️ OPERATING CONCEPT
📺 WATCH:
📻 LISTEN:
RESOURCE / CONCEPT:
CONTEXT
The majority of heavy hitters in any category now have the equivalent of a media arm. Alex Hormozi, Codie Sanchez…the list goes on. These folks have acknowledged the power of an audience and a personal brand as the most enduring asset. Furthermore, this asset provides distribution leverage anytime they bring a product to market, make an investment, etc.
Similarly, a lot of SaaS Founders and Operators have committed to sharing high-value content to build audiences (made of their ideal customer profile). The value equation is pretty simple: provide thought leadership and steer the state of the art / craft in your field with free content, followed closely by SaaS products that generate recurring revenue. Here’s more on Audience-First Products and Personal Brands.
Thus, content creation and distribution is a required and fundamental skill for anyone in the Micro SaaS game.
In our last Operating Concept Issue, we dove into The Growth Engine Diagram We’re Using to Generate 20% YoY Growth, which contained some advanced concepts. This issue's objective is to share the most basic frameworks for generating and distributing content, which you can implement today.
CONTENT PYRAMIDS & BUILDING IN PUBLIC
Gary V is generally considered the godfather of this domain after he introduced the concept of a Content Pyramid. He argued a creator’s energy should mainly be pointed toward ‘documenting’ their journey (aka building in public) to generate ‘pillar content’ (aka long-form essays, videos, etc.), which is then diced up into numerous pieces of micro-content and distributed across various channels. This model provides a lot of leverage for the creator. Create 1x and realize the potential value 30x.
In addition, and perhaps most importantly, Gary emphasized a ‘listen’ step, where you’d analyze the first batch of micro content’s performance and double down on the best performing for the next set of distribution (aka a feedback loop).
APPLICATIONS:
The most important thing you can do (as an entrepreneur, founder, etc.) is start documenting your journey in whatever manner provides the path of least resistance. Don’t think too much; just get started. Tweet a daily recap of your wins, challenges, and learning lessons. Share the templates you’re using on LinkedIn. Post a 20-minute weekly recap recording on YouTube. Increase the surface area for luck (i.e., the potential for relevant parties to find and engage with you).
Start to build muscle memory around the documentation process. Once you’re there, I’d highly encourage you to shift gears toward long-form ‘pillar content,’ such that you start building a honey pot / backlog of content you can repurpose and distribute across various channels to increase the leverage of your content radically (aka 1 unit of creative input = 30+ units of output). Now, your world might look like 1x content sprint day a week or a month, as opposed to daily tweets, etc. Fewer, focused blocks are easier rituals to maintain, and grouping your content-based activities (vs spreading them out on a daily basis, etc.) will increase productivity and quality (less context switching = more deep focus).
Now that you have a backlog of long-form content, I’d study some of the solopreneur and creator economy thought leaders mentioned below to establish a distribution operating system (OS).
Justin Welsh has some good stuff, and so does Dan Koe, but Matt Gray is probably my favorite in the space right now.
Here is his breakdown of a content distribution framework, which he monetizes via courses and coaching / mastermind groups. As Micro SaaS operators, simply slot in your SaaS product as the monetization scheme, and away you go…
Here’s an example of the leverage Matt gets from a single Twitter thread to provide a sense of how deep the rabbit hole goes:
Lastly, generative AI is absolutely incredible at reduction (turning a longer thing into a smaller thing). Utilizing this technology in your content distribution model introduces even MORE leverage.
As Micro SaaS Acquirers & Operators, it’s generally safe to assume we’re all obsessed with creating operating leverage. There are few lanes out there that provide as much leverage as building a relevant audience via content creation and distribution. Let’s all proceed accordingly.
For. The. Love. Of. The. Game. 🏴☠️⚡️