Jordan Ogren

January 27, 2022

Why "document don’t create" is trash.

I poured myself a cup of warm dark roast.
I started writing daily for an entire year.
I just finished shitting.

Do you care at all? I doubt it. 

Unless there was something in it for you, we humans are selfish.

Maybe I could relate the coffee brand I use with a meta marketing lesson.
Or I could share the five lessons I've learned from publishing daily for a year.
Unfortunately, I can't think of anything for the last one…

I falsely believed that people cared about the stuff I did. I fell into one of Gary Vee's biggest lies: Document, don't create!

It's bullshit. I'm not the first to call it out. But I came to realize that documenting rarely leads to great content for businesses or individuals.

Very few people can document their life and get thousands of views for it.

The rest of us—the unlucky majority—need to put time into creating content that resonates with our audience. Whether through education, humor, or a new perspective, we need to create good content.

Documenting might work if you have the content creation acumen to focus on your audience amid posting about yourself (journey). But few do, and their content turns into a "look at me" feed and brings little to no value to their audience. 

I am not saying you shouldn't talk about yourself or personal experiences. That's where the gold is!

I'm debunking the premise that the aimless documentation of your journey is a good way to create content—Unless your goal is to ship a shit ton of shitty content.

If you're reading my email, I doubt that's your goal.

It's not my goal either, even with a daily email. 

I'm here to ship good work to improve how you think about marketing, content, and writing.

Do you think the document, don't create premise is no longer applicable, or does it still have a place in content creation?

Marketeer Insights ⚔️
  1. Document > create was the old way of creating an endless stream of content
  2. With zillions of content being produced daily, it's not enough to just post; you must post great content targeted at a specific audience
  3. Use your life and experiences to draw lessons, insights, or humor out for your audience but spend more time creating quality content rather than documenting random things inapplicable to your audience

🧠 + ❤️ // JO