Quantity over Quality!

Sia on @tferriss show:
“I don’t think that I’m necessarily a super-talented songwriter. I think I’m just really productive. One out of 10 songs is a hit. So where a lot of people will spend three weeks on one song, I will write 10 in three weeks.”

Creating 10 "good enough" videos/articles is better than creating 1 "perfect" video/article

Prioritise Quantity Over Quality

My theory on "how to build an audience online effectively" (*more relevant to Youtubers)

There are 3 stages in creator journey

1. Explore 👣
2. Niche down 🎯
3. Expand 💫

A thread 👇 

1. Explore 👣

We rarely know what kind of content we should make at the beginning. So, the first stage is to explore various topics. 

Just write or make a video about whatever interests you. 

Nobody is going to see your stuff at this stage, so don't worry about the quality.

Case Study

When I just started Youtube, I made videos about completely random things just to explore

Nobody watched them, but it was worth it because I learned tons about video editing, writing, promoting etc. 

2. Niche down 🎯

After a few months, some of your articles/videos start to receive comments and likes. 

That might be a signal that you should dig deeper into that topic. 

Now, it's time for you to niche down and focus on it...

...Publish more articles/videos about it for the next few months. 

Contribute to the niche community by providing value for free. Those people from the community are going to be your first fans. 

Some of them become interested in you as a person, not just the topic.

* Make sure to pick a small market rather than going after big markets like "Productivity", "Health" and "Tech review". 

These topics are popular, but it also means intense competition! 

Remember - competition is for losers

Case Study

I happened to come across the world of Personal Knowledge Management and Roam - a small topic but growing fast at that time. 

Made a few videos which got some likes and comments. 

So, decided to focus on it and make more videos, which let me gain my first audience. 

3. Expand 💫

Now you gained your first audience, it's finally time to expand! 

You can start making articles/videos about other bigger topics like "Productivity". 

With your first fans behind you, you now have a better chance to be found by more people!

Case Study

I'm now creating videos and articles about broader topics like "Writing", "Note-taking" and "App review" and getting more subs

Some people tell you to stay in your niche, but I'd say the opposite. Don't be afraid to explore other fields! 

More notes in here:

https://www.shuomi.me/idea-sketch/3-stages-of-content-creation

Also what @AliAbdaal said:

“Starting off small and then broadening out over time” 

3 Steps of Building an Online Audience

Discoverability of notes is crucial for your knowledge to compound over time. 

When we write, we search for our previous notes for reference (like fishing for notes🐟). 

But if they are isolated (not connected to other notes with links or tags), we won't find them again. 

Hence, these isolated notes are sunk at the bottom of your mind ocean. 

Probably never will be used, which is almost the same as not having taken the notes in the first place = No compounding

I guess the point is, make sure every note includes a few links or tags to increase its discoverability

That way, you can stumble upon them when you need them!

Why Notes Should Be Easily Discoverable

I think everybody should have their own website/portfolio🙌

1. Building your own website has never been easier with tools like @webflow 
2. It feels nice to have your own home on the Internet
3. Most importantly, it makes you want to create more content to populate the website💡

Also, it's actually really fun to play with your own website. 
Been playing with mine lately and adding new things (and trimming the fat)

👉 https://www.shuomi.me/ 