Jordan Ogren

June 7, 2021

The worst content advice...

“Create content around what you’re passionate about!”

I disagree.

Let me share why:

If you step back and ask why you want to create content, the answer will inevitably contain your audience.

  • You want to educate them.
  • You want to inspire them.
  • You want to extract cold cash from them.

Few people create content solely for themselves. And I’d argue that doing so is an unfruitful path.

98% of people and companies who create content do so with their audience in mind.

And if we only choose to create content about what we are passionate about, we are doing our audience a disservice. 

Why?

Because they may not be passionate about it.

Let’s say I’m passionate about football (NFL). But I run an email marketing service.

Should I create a newsletter detailing each week of the NFL season? Probably not.

Instead, I should create content about the thing I’m good at: email marketing. 

That’s what I think people should do instead of creating content about their passions: Create content around what you’re good at.

For the example above, what I’m good at is email. (At least I should be if I run an email marketing company)

I’d add an extension to my premise that your content needs to be something your audience cares about. 

Create content around what you’re good at and what your audience cares about.

This will help your content create a positive impact for your business.

And if you’re lucky, what you’re good at is or will become your passion as it has for me.

Chasing your competence leads to passion. 
Chasing your passion rarely leads to competence.

Create content around what you’re competent in and what your audience is interested in.

🧠 // JO