Here’s the truth about marketing today: if you’re not creating and distributing content, you’re not relevant.

Gary Vaynerchuck on the price of being relevant

It’s 2017 and we are quickly approaching the critical mass of business owners who accept this as gospel truth.

Maybe you even know this truth in your own heart.

But just because you know something is true, or in your best interest, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing it already. Don’t sweat it — it’s totally normal.

The problem for most business owners is that “create interesting content” is extremely abstract.

While, unfortunately I can’t explain to you the perfect way to make absolutely every single industry enthralling, and specifically what points to focus on…

I am going to give you 2 hard and fast rules that you can follow to finally decide what to write about, and how to make it stand out.

At a certain point, developing “interesting content” or even good content is a process of trial and error. The mistake that too many business owners are making is deciding to stay silent, and to never start publishing at all.

I know that a large part of that paralysis to publishing content, is not even being able to decide where to start in a sea of options.

#1 — Move away from, not towards

Okay, you’re trying to learn something you’ve never done before. What’s the first thing you do?

Probably to look at other successful examples, right?

This is not an inherently bad thing to do, in fact there is even a name for this, but there is a problem when you try to do this in creative endeavors… You wind up copying your examples.

Plagiarism may not be as big of a deal on the internet as it was in college, but it is a well known fact that publishing “similar” content will ding you in Google search.

From a pure common sense perspective, why would someone prefer to come to you when you are only offering the same topics that everyone else covers?

If modeling after existing popular articles is your only or even your main method of generating content ideas, you run the risk of publishing content that is not unique.

On top of that, the method does not naturally lend itself to you creating your own voice, or your own approach to the industry.

If you rely too much on the work of others, you will sound just like them.

Here is what you should do instead:

Focus on what you don’t like about the content in your industry.

Seek out shitty articles in your industry! What do they have in common? How can you avoid the mistakes of the bottom of the barrel? How can you be different than what you have observed is worthless?

And I do mean to literally get out a Google Doc. Link to articles that you have read. Break down in a bullet list underneath the title what aspects of the article were boring to you, what was confusing, what questions weren’t answered, and again literally answer the question “Specifically, how can I make content that is better than this?”

By keeping a document, you will be able to identify the patterns of the worst content out there. Having a strong feeling for what does not work will do you just as much good as understanding what does work.

You will be surprised how much creating restrictions, a list of “Don’t”s to move away from, will spark your creativity.

But… What should you do when you’re reading thought leader’s content?

#2 — Focus on what’s NOT there

“We have a tendency to be mesmerized by patterns themselves, by trends, by paradigms — and how all the information that we’re looking at somehow fits into these patterns. Well, highly creative people have the ability to look at what doesn’t fit into patterns, the anomalies of what can not be assimilated.” — Robert Greene

Robert Greene Talks @ Google

Too often the tendency is, when modeling creative acts, to focus on the positive. What is on the paper, what does the thought leader do that you don’t, what is right there in front of me?

But the truth is that creativity comes from somewhere else.

Creativity doesn’t come from copying. It comes from exploring. From looking at what already is, and trying to build off of it. Trying to prove it wrong. Trying to discover a new way. Trying to talk about what isn’t discussed enough. Trying to create a new topic. Trying to find a new way of thinking about something old.

I’m not saying completely ignore the patterns of what works.

I’m saying don’t create what’s already there.

Pick 3 or 4 industry leaders in your own industry. Get a good understanding of the general topics they cover. What are the 5 most commonly discussed BROAD topics by your competitors?

What have they said about these topics?

Now… What aren’t they saying?

Or, how can you connect what they’re saying to something new.

Survey the positions that your biggest competitors already have in your industry.

And again, I do mean to literally start a document. Link the articles that grab your attention. Break down the specifics of how you could do it better underneath.

Think of your hobbies. Do you really like video games? Can you talk about doing taxes in a geeky way?

Can you relate your favorite TV show, book, or movie to some topic in your industry? Can you cross ideas from your industry with a thought leader from a different field who is not a frequently cited in your own industry?

Think of your favorite stories from your own life. Can you incorporate any of your own life experiences into the conversation on the broad topics you identified earlier?

These questions are my way of helping your brainstorm, and of saying this:

If you think your industry is stale, then you’ve got to look outside of it.

Together, moving away from and focusing on the absent are extremely powerful ways to not only get clear on what to create, but powerful ways to help your content stand out.