Top 5 objections to getting off your butt and making some content.

AKA, why content matters more than quality and you should get over it and start shipping the work today.

That title may sound like sacrilege for someone who cares a whole heckuva lot about quality content. As a visual content strategist and producer (read: video and photo guy with a marketing degree), it’s my job to make great looking, highly functional content for my clients.

But the big hairy elephant in the room is that what you say matters a whole lot more than how pretty it is. Pretty is a bonus, but not the primary function. And before you even have a chance to say something as ridiculous as “well I don’t have anything valuable to say,” here’s a list of all your objections to making (and publishing) content, and all the reasons why that’s nonsense.

1. I don’t have anything valuable to say

Of course you do! You’re an expert in your field, and you care about your work. You absolutely have valuable things to say. An important first step is to consider who your audience is, what they may want to know, and how they like to consume content. Keep in mind that because you’re so close to the work, things you might find mundane or obvious are likely not that way to your audience. Add some additional unique insight and you’ve got a great message that adds value. The saying goes that your content should follow a 70/20/10 rule: 70% should be indirectly related to your work, like lifestyle stuff, focus on others, your community, generously share others’ successes, provide insightful industry news commentary, etc. 20% should be about your business, who you are, pieces about your team, why your brand is better and different, etc. 10% should be a direct sale call to action, why buy from you, and why now? With that ratio in mind, you should see a world of content possibilities open up that add value in different ways to your audience.

2. Someone else already said it really well. How could I say it better?

There are a lot of content creators in the world, and a rare few truly unique ideas. Frankly, there are quite a few trite sayings about this very thing. Picasso said “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Isaac Newton is credited with saying “if I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” I could go on, but someone else already said it better. So instead, I’ll use their takes and add additional context and value to build them into something uniquely my own. See what I did there? So to be perfectly clear: just because someone else in your industry already offered a take on something, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add your unique voice to the conversation. And just because you saw it in your feed doesn’t mean your audience did. Plus, they follow you because they care what you have to say, not that other person (necessarily). So don’t worry about “copying” someone else. Give credit where credit is due, add your two cents in your unique voice, speak to your people, and don’t look back.

3. I’m uncomfortable seeing myself on camera / hearing the sound of my own voice!

Welcome to the club! The simple fact here is that literally everyone except actual narcissists are initially uncomfortable with this. And that’s because it’s a truly unnatural thing to see and hear yourself recorded. It’s also unnatural to talk as animatedly and personably to a camera as you would to a person. Both of these things come with practice, so really this is actually a reason to make content, rather than a reason not to. Ha! Gotcha.

4. I don’t have the time

Yes, you do have the time, you aren’t making the time. As soon as you see and understand the value that sharing content brings to building your brand, and you prioritize that practice with consistency across time, you will make the time. But I get it, we’re all busy, so even a small amount of inconvenience and setup is sometimes all it takes to thwart the creative process when inspiration strikes. That’s why I offer a 1-hour studio consultation to make your home studio production process as efficient, inspiring, and turnkey as possible to take the roadblocks out of the way of sharing your value with your audience.

5. My production value isn’t good enough to represent my business and pro-shot video is too expensive…

Ok this is really two excuses I hear a lot, but they go hand in hand. First off, as the byline suggests, production quality is always secondary to the value of the content itself. Focus first on delivering value to your clients, and second on make it look good. But, if you want to make your content look as good as you can, at home, and on your ideal budget, let’s talk about jumping into this awesome 1-hour studio consultation to check this objection off your list.

Secondly, if you’re not sure how to quantify the value of your content program, it may feel expensive, either in time spent, or actual dollar value spent on highly produced video work. There are absolutely ways to quantify and track the effectiveness of a video content program, and understanding your goals makes it much easier to select the right metric to measure your success against. An important part of the 1-hour Studio Consultation is understanding your goals so we can make sure the rest of the work serves that ultimate objective.

And to be absolutely clear: this doesn’t mean you won’t throw out some duds along the way. This is an iterative process where you have to look back, measure what has worked and what hasn’t, and adjust your approach going forward to deliver more of what your audiences loves and less of what they don’t.

Do you have other objections or reasons why you don’t produce video content? Drop them in the comments below this post, DM me on Instagram, or shoot me an email at Joe@Sheehan.Works and I’d be happy to address them directly!

Thanks for reading!