Will You Perish if You don’t Publish?

In the past, if you heard people talking about the whole “Publish or Perish” paradigm, you’d probably think they were having a discussion about the pressure colleges and universities put on their professors to publish the kind of book that brings both attention and endowments to a campus. You’d be less likely to think about how this might apply to you as an entrepreneurial leader in your field. But times have changed, and entrepreneurs who aren’t publishing, are starting to find themselves choking on the dust of those who do.

The reason this is happening is because the definition of the word “publish” has expanded beyond just publishing a book. It includes publishing blog posts, reports, white papers, articles, newsletters, free resources, eBooks, Kindle books, and even emails. Yes, on the surface this looks like a very daunting list of content publishing strategies and opportunities. In reality, you aren’t required to pursue all of them. In fact, you want to start by picking only one.  

For example, maybe you’ve always wanted to have a blog. If you have, here are a few inner strategies that can help get started:

• Start simple:  Start with a strategy to post once a month. That may not seem like a lot, but I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen fail because they try to post too often. Posting just once a month still gives you a reason to reach out to your audience once a month. When you’re comfortable with this posting schedule, you can decide if you’re ready to kick it up to once every two weeks… and after that… maybe even once a week. Just take your time getting started. Blogging isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon.
• Create a list of topics for your blog ahead of time:  Waiting for inspiration to strike 8 hours before you’re supposed to post is a strategy for disaster! If you’ve decided you’re going to post once a month, then sit down and come up with 12 ideas/topics for 12 posts in one sitting. If you’re going to post 24 times a year, then come up with a list of 24 post ideas/topics in one sitting. That way, when you can’t think of anything off the top of your head to write about, you’ll still have a list of things to write about.
• Think “specifics”:  Too many people try to write about everything all at once! Get specific. You can’t solve everyone’s problems in one post. But you can narrow your focus down to one aspect of one of your audience’s problems and provide your readers with an insight, some information, or a strategy they can use to take positive action.

Remember that people are scouring the internet for solutions to their problems every single minute of every single day. You might be the person someone is searching for, but even if you are, how will that someone find you if you aren’t publishing content they can find online? 

Becoming proficient at even just one of the above strategies will expand and enhance your platform, help establish you as an expert/leader in your field, and provide potential clients with a legitimate reason to reach out to you. 

Is it time for you to sit down and plan out your own content publishing strategy? Yes. Do you have to do it on your own? No!!! When you’re ready, I can help you design a content strategy that will work for you.