Topical Content Domination: How Deep Knowledge Can Bypass the Shallow Competition
In my first book, Path of the Freelancer, I talk about three things that make us unique: our story, our vision, and doing hard things.
Becoming an expert and working as that expert is a hard thing to do. I've been freelancing since 2014 and I've been an entrepreneur pretty much my whole life.
Based on my income, I'm in the top 10% of freelancers. I've also written a book on freelancing, mentored other freelancers, and led freelancing teams on projects.
The intersection of these factors put me in a very small space of just a handful of people.
Imagine the world before North America was colonized and only a handful of explorers had been there. If you want to know about North America, who do you want to ask? You want to talk with the explorers who have been there.
Imagine that was today, and we had the internet and YouTube. People would fall into one of two groups of people.
We'd have the explorers with their blogs and YouTube channels and we'd have the those downstream from them, starting with those who talk with and interview the explorers directly.
In this scenario, the explorers have the advantage because they're the only ones who have gone to North America. If they opt out of creating content, those who have access to them are the next best thing. But if the explorer decides to opt in later, they will immediately surpass the content brokers by going directly to the audience.
This is the opportunity for experts when it comes to content creation. It's also an explanation for how the internet, including Twitter (Now X), changed our world.
There is still a place for content brokers, but the dynamics have changed dramatically with the introduction of explorers across topics. And that becomes more pronounced when explorers opt into content creation.
As content creators, our best positioning is first, to share our expertise and second, it's to share the expertise from the experts, particularly those who have opted out of content creation.
We can also apply stories and vision to this framework for other opportunities. If you're a Ukrainian military veteran who defended against the Russian invasion, you have stories to share that few will be able to match or share. If you are a journalist, you have the opportunity to get these stories and share them.
With vision, you may see a future state that is in contention with the broad consensus. For example, I'm a remnant Republican who has a vision for my party and country that is in strong contention with Trump and the party as it tragically exists now. Putting that vision out there is an opportunity.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream!" speech is a phenomenal example of this playing out.
So, to dominate we want to do one or all of the following.
-
Share Expertise (doing hard things)
-
Share Stories
-
Visioneer
And we can either be the direct source, or as close to it as possible.
Channeling This Strategy Into Multi-Channel Multi-Media Content Creation
Now that we've got clarity on our content strategy, let's talk about how this can unfold and how I plan to proceed for myself.
Freelancing is one of my specialties. I've succeeded beyond my expectations (a hard thing to do) and I've experienced pretty much everything a freelancer can experience. My vision for freelancing is in my first book, Path of the Freelancer. To dominate the freelancing content space, here's how I'll proceed.
Ultimately, I'm going to create every piece of relevant content for freelancers across every relevant medium (written, image, video, & audio) and channel (blogs, YouTube, podcasts, etc...).
Think of it like an internet map of the world (Google Maps) and nested maps of each area inside that globe. The globe map has high-level details but if you zoom into Atlanta, Georgia you'll have much more detail.
Relevance Infused from Research and Feedback
For topical content domination, we want to create all content from the 101 basic stuff to advanced Doctorate level insight. This is a massive project so how do we prioritize it in a way that is relevant to the audience and profitable to spend the time and effort to do so?
We want a fusion of research and feedback along with financial viability. We find out what is most relevant and important to others. If my audience is a freelancer, what's that mean to them? What is so valuable they (or someone on their behalf) are willing to pay for it?
With my book, I'm banking on the fact that freelancers are willing to buy the blueprint because they value earning six figures while also working part-time (two among many benefits of the freelancing plan). While I'm selling the book, I'm selling that outcome freelancers desire.
Since I've got the book and several courses already created, my mission is to create relevant bridge content that will intersect with freelancers who want this outcome.
Out of all the conversations I've had, the achievement (out of 8) that gets the most attention from freelancers is number three: Build a Steady Stream of Paying Clients. This is an achievement I've accomplished as a freelancer for over a decade. I have a course focused just on that achievement. That achievement, and content related to It may be the way to generate income for Path of the Freelancer. It's part of how I intend to start the process.
Multi-Media Messaging: Progressive Marketing
With a content strategy in place and a prioritization framework to test, now I simply need to create content around these plans across mediums and channels.
One of the first checkpoints to building a steady stream of paying clients is getting the first freelancing client. This is a big challenge to overcome but is transformative once accomplished. So, I could create a content piece called, How To Get Your First Freelancing Client. I would then create a blog post, an infographic, a YouTube video, a series of Video reels, and an audio podcast episode.
Essentially, I answer that question in every medium and then distribute it across the main channels. If the content piece is profitable enough, I could distribute it across every possible channel, including small ones.
And, if the idea has a global approach, I could have the content translated into other major languages and distributed accordingly.
Once that content is created and optimized, I can shift into maintenance mode where I keep that content updated so it stays useful and relevant to new freelancers across time.
I then go into building mode for the next micro topic. Rinse and repeat until I've dominated every topic and micro topic worth tackling around the broader topic I want to dominate.
And this content strategy applies to my paid content as well. I will eventually want a paid course for all of the eight achievements. And there will be a time when I need to redo the course so they are even better and more helpful to freelancers taking them.
Ultimately I see this as an iterative process where we create, test, and improve, a process based on the IDEMA (Ideate, Discover, Execute, Maintain, Audit) framework.
Fusing Content To Create Novelty
"The hallmark of expertise is no longer how much you know. It's how well you synthesize. Information scarcity rewarded knowledge acquisition. Information abundance requires pattern recognition. It's not enough to collect facts. The future belongs to those who connect dots." - Adam Grant
Once we master the topic and establish content domination, a key is going to revolve around content fusion. Content fusion is a way to update older content and create new content when we're in maintenance mode.
Simply put, fusion is intersecting two different things together to make a new thing. It's like taking Mexican tacos and Korean BBQ to create a Korean taco bar.
With fusion, the possibilities are endless. An easy option is simply to fuse your ideas with current news and events. Simply create a new piece of content around the news story.
For example, I had a conversation with my friend and client Allison Miller about what's called Trad Life (meaning traditional life) and Lauren Southern (a famous YouTuber). Allison wrote a book and has a non-profit ministry that helps trauma survivors live flourishing lives. By including me in the conversation, we now have a fusion of all types of compelling ingredients and it resulted in a terrific conversation.
Another example is my article about Bespoke Realities (custom-tailored perceptions of reality). In my article, I include quotes, song lyrics, movie references, an interview, and all types of rich content. For someone to bypass me on Google, they're not going to be able to create a simple article about what is a Bespoke Reality. They will have to match what I've done and make something even better. That will be quite difficult to do, so it guarantees my dominance for a long time. And when it is challenged, I'll still be able to stay in a high position even when I'm not on top.
Finally, this fusion idea is one of my current book projects about the passion of Christ will embody. With two thousand years of history, what can I add to the conversation that has not already been said? Fusing the story with new ingredients is the essence of this book. I don't know of any Biblical commentaries on the passion story intertwined with the ideas and stories I've mixed in. Including Bart Simpson in the chapter with Jesus' cry of dereliction is unique. It makes it a risky move, but also an interesting one.
Wrapping Up
In this blog post, we've explored how doing hard things (building expertise), sharing stories, and casting vision helps us stand out.
We explored how to prioritize content creation in a way that is relevant to our audience and profitable for us to create. In addition to creating content across mediums and channels, we've also explored how fusion can give us unlimited opportunities for further content creation.
Now, it's up to you to take these ideas and make them real in your business. If you want assistance directly or by interfacing with your team, let's explore working together.
- Created on .
- Last updated on .