Being a creator is overwhelming most days. There’s always more you could have done—another post, another DM, another hour on your website…
This gets worst when you compare yourself to creators who seem to be everywhere—how can you possibly create multiple pieces of content for every social platform out there every single day? Not just any content, but content tailored to each of those platforms? Plus work on your business, create long-form content that builds affinity, diversify and deepen your revenue streams, and maybe—after running yourself ragged—end the day with a sigh of relief you did “enough,” only to repeat the process tomorrow.
You’re trying to be a media company of one, which is damn-near impossible.
“But Corey, top-of-funnel is critical to building a sustainable creator business! I have to build out all those social media channels.”
No.
Unless you build a team to outsource all this stuff to, you have to be hyper-strategic with how you prioritize.
Where is the best use of your time, energy, and attention?
Here’s what I mean…
•••
The Inefficiency of Social Media Content
I’ve spent hours on a Twitter thread that got 2 likes—and that was when the algorithm favored threads. Maybe the thread sucked, or maybe it fell flat for other reasons. Who knows…
But here’s the reality:
Most social media platforms are ephemeral.
Posts are meant to be—at best—a flash in the pan, then gone forever.
Let’s look at the most common social media platforms and the lifespan of a typical piece of content (based on my experiences).
Your average tweet has a maximum lifespan of about a day, then the platform forgets it ever existed.
You get a bit more lifespan from Facebook, then Instagram—but both of these platforms seem to have gone the pay-to-play route, and I’m not trying to pay for my own followers to see my content.
LinkedIn content probably has the longest lifespan—I frequently see posts from a week ago pop up on my feed. But after that, they’re gone, too.
Of all these, Twitter is definitely my favorite.
Twitter is great for networking and having a public dialogue—I’ve met incredible people on Twitter, and largely sustained my business from the platform in one way or another.
But when it comes to the best use of my time to create top-of-funnel content that has staying power, I’m changing my strategy.
Here’s what I’m doing instead…
•••
A More Efficient Approach
When it comes to the best bang for your buck, and maximizing the lifespan of your content, YouTube still reigns supreme.
It actively wants you to succeed.
Here’s how the lifespan of your YouTube content can look…
At worst, your YouTube content will have the same reach and lifespan as every other social media platform.
But then things start to get interesting…
It can also steadily decline for a much longer period of time.
But there’s a more common scenario…
A more common scenario is that your reach falls into a steady rhythm over a long period of time.
Even a hundred views a month, over a 10-year period, is 12,000 views.
If you only made:
- 1 video a month
- Each video got 100 views per month
Over ten years, that’s like 1,440,000 total views (plus all the opportunities that would come from that many people watching your content like subscribers, collaborations, sponsorships, ad revenue, plugging your own products and services, etc.).
And the likelihood your content would only get 100 views per month if you stick with it for years is damn-near zero.
And there’s another rarer scenario I’ve been seeing more and more lately…
A piece of content that’s 10 years old suddenly goes viral.
No other platform is trying to put your content in front of people 10 years after you created it.
None.
•••
Changing Strategies
I’ve dabbled in YouTube for the past year, but haven’t given it my focus.
I love writing—and will continue to do it. But YouTube content has too much reach and lifespan to ignore any longer.
Their algorithm is constantly trying to find the right audience for your content.
When I look at maximizing the reach and lifespan of my content, I can’t ignore the facts of how each platform treats my content:
So moving forward, I’ll be prioritizing creating YouTube content.
And before anyone asks—I don’t want to TikTokify my content. One, because I refuse to use TikTok (yes, I’m a 34-year-old Boomer, apparently). But I value deep content. There’s plenty of superficial, bite-size, feel-good content out there. That’s not what I want to create.
Every article I’ve written will act as a soft script, so I’m not starting from zero.
But YouTube is a whole different beast. Scripting, equipment, lighting, camera settings, recording, editing—a lot more goes into making YouTube videos than writing a weekly article.
So I’ll be retaking Ali Abdaal’s Part-Time YouTuber Academy (affiliate link) as a refresher and help me hold myself accountable to put out great video content.
If you’re interested in starting, or leveling up, your YouTube channel, check out PTYA. It’s packed with valuable, proven, straightforward strategies to help you succeed—taught be a creator (and his team) who’s absolutely crushing it.
