Welcome to Edition # 23 of “The Loudspeaker”.
I would first like to welcome the 17 new subscribers to the newsletter.
If you think this newsletter offers value, then do consider recommending it to your friends.
Now onto, this week’s essay!
Research – Why Bother!
Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.
Wernher von Braun
The pie called “creator economy” that everybody wants a piece of, is funny.
Everybody wants to be a blogger, podcaster, youtuber, content marketer, social media influencer etc. But nobody wants to do the work.
Isn’t it funny that we spent a lot of money and years on all the education that was supposed to help us earn money only to then discard all of it and get onto the “creators bandwagon” because we think that is where the money is, but aren’t ready to spend time or, money on learning the tricks of the trade that can help us make big as a creator?
Thousands and thousand of people start off with big dreams but barely last about 2-3 months or, maybe a maximum of 6 months.
Why?
Because we think content creation is a cakewalk.
We think that is is something where you jump in and the next day you are earning thousands.
That’s isn’t true.
Content creation involves a lot of research, learning and analysis.
But the only difference is that you don’t have to do a lot of it, all by yourself. You have creators and influencers who came before you, who have done 90% of the work for you.
If you steal from one author it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many it’s research.
Wilson Mizner
Don’t take that quote literally. Read between the lines.
I am not a fan of stealing and I wouldn’t recommend it.
But then, that’s the beauty of content creation. There is a grace in stealing as well.
There are hundreds and thousands of creators in every niche, who have spent years creating content to find what works. And that’s how they became influencers.
So when you are starting off and want to research your niche or, your audience, do you really need to start all over again?
Not really!
If you can spend a couple of hours everyday for a few weeks, on these influencers’ accounts, you will need all the data that you need.
The hashtags that they use, the headlines templates that they follow, what resonates with the audience and what doesn’t etc., are all available out there.
You just need to study them in detail and make your own notes.
Most of us want to spend as little time on learning or, researching. And for those, here is what you can do.
- Make a list of 50 influencers or, well know names in the niche that you are planning to get into.
- Follow them on all of their social media channels
- Subscribe to their blogs, podcasts, newsletters
- Spend an hour everyday analyzing their content – check which content pieces are doing good and which aren’t, what’s common in the content that they are posting, how are they writing their titles, what are the hooks they are using etc.
- Make a document with all of your findings.
- Customize these for your content, publish and monitor.
Now, if that sounds difficult, then “creator” isn’t something that will fit you!
On Twitter
There’s a lot of discussion about AI in content creation. A lot of people are using AI to write all of those tweets, quotes and even newsletters.
My advice is to use it with caution.
This thread is an excellent read about how ChatGPT will kill businesses that don’t change.
News that will Interest You:
- Spotify published their 2022 Podcast trends which have some interesting data for podcasters. While this is based on the data from Megaphone and is to be taken with a pinch of salt, it is still worth a read.
- A study and analysis by SXM Media say that the number of women listeners of Podcasts is increasing. This is good news for women podcasters who are looking at targeting women with their podcasts.
From the Podcast:
The last couple of weeks was rough for me and hence I did not publish an episode. While I had a repository of episodes to be published, I should admit that I was lazy to not schedule them out.
Anyways, the team republished one of my most listened episodes, as a new episode in the first week of December. This is about finding a niche.
Episode – 84 : How to find a niche
Articles of Interest:
- One of the most common discussions is about the length of a podcast episode. There are varying thoughts about it. This article presents it nicely with a few suggestions on how to decide on the ideal length of your podcast episode.
- If you are wondering what all this fuss about content writing AI is, then this article is a nice deep-dive into what they are and what are the different options available in the market.
“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.”
– Jon Buscall
Recommended Reading:
- Someday is Today – If you are somebody like me who dreams about that someday when I will be every one of those things that I want to be, then this book is for you. This book by Mathew Dicks will show you what that someday has to be today and how to make it happen.
- The Art and Business of Online writing – This book was an accidental find. In fact, it was a recommendation from a creator I follow. I am not usually a fan of these topics, but I am glad I picked this one up. If you are looking at building a place for yourself in the online world, then you will find a lot of informative pieces in this book.
That’s a wrap for this week.
I hope you enjoyed this edition. If you have any questions or, comments you can post them here.
Do recommend the newsletter to people who you think will enjoy it.
Until the next time,
See ya all,
Dilip
