While distribution is important, we shouldn't focus solely on that.
What brought this to my attention was a recent book I purchased. I followed the author and saw their posts about their book, but it wasn't until they retweeted someone noting how great their book was that I bought it.
Why? I'm not sure. But two reasons initially come to mind:
- I have a built-in defense mechanism against the creator trying to sell the creation
- I want to ensure I make a good decision (avoid buyer remorse), and seeing someone else happy with the product, helps me feel like it's a good decision
So, if you want to sell more books (using this example), you should focus less on sharing posts about your book (distribution) and reshare others' content about your books (i.e., reviews or posts).
But what if no one is posting about your book or leaving reviews? Then you should have made a better product. Simple as that.
That's why the one thing more important than distribution is creating something people want.
Let's think about this through the lens of content. Many people preach about how great distribution and repurposing are. But...
If the content sucks, you can distribute it all day long, but you're wasting energy. I agree that repurposing and distribution are essential, but none of those matter if the creation is off.
Instead, put that energy and focus into creating something better and different. By focusing on the creation stage, you will do what's most important–create something worth caring about–and then optimize how you distribute it.
Going back to the book example, that's hard to do if published. But you could have used beta readers when writing to help improve the book or done more ideating, planning, and testing before writing.
If it's a product, you can update it and make it closer to people's desires and expectations through customer feedback and product insights. Or you can post about it until you're blue in the face.
Focus on making something people want, and everything else falls into place.
🧠 + ❤️ // JO