The Guide Every Serious Content Creator Should Read

Let's make two things clear. First, have you ever written a blog post? Have you ever captured a video? Have you ever mounted a video? Have you ever taken or edited a picture? Second, did you like the process? Did you do it multiple times? Would you simply like to continue and improve?

Great, you're officially an artist and a content creator. Your life's been a struggle, and still is. In this article, I'll give you precious tips and thoughts about content creation. If you've ever felt anxious about publishing your work, making it perfect, or even talking about it, you're in the right place.

I've been there. Trust me, I'm a professional

Let's get into content creation.

Table of Contents

The Guide Every Serious Content Creator Should Read - Illustration - Picture

Do Not Obsess Over Perfection

Content creation is, like its name suggests, a creative process.

In other words, there are no rules, no guidelines, nothing that is established and invariably correct. If you're thinking and creating out of the box, you're probably doing it right.

In art, and in everything that's creative in general, there's no right way to do it. It's absolutely up to you. If your creation resonates with you, and you like it, and it represents exactly what you want to represent, then it's wonderful. Go for it.

As a rule of thumb, don't worry if you're seen as different. And don't spend the whole year searching for all the rules and guidelines to produce the best content. Eventually, the best way is yours.

Think About Your Audience First

That's not a black-or-white truth, but it's good to work that way.

When you're producing content, especially video-based, you should think about your audience first. How to properly light the scene? How will it render on a phone? How is readability on different screen dimensions? My audience is mostly Asian, does it make sense to present Portuguese culture?

Think about people, and how they will consume and interact with your content. If you make your audience happy, that same audience will make you happy in return, you'll feel better, and your motivation will skyrocket in no time.

If there's one word to summarize that point, think about audience-centric, user-centric, viewer-centric content creation. Don't get obsessed over your audience, but make everything you can to make it happy.

As a rule of thumb, don't forget to please yourself. Creating content that you don't like or don't feel proud of will make you feel depressed. Strike a balance between creator-centric and audience-centric content.

Invest in Your Equipment

Double down on your equipment if it's not good enough.

Think about your audience. Don't you want to provide them with the best possible quality?

Think about your life as a content creator. Do you intend to stay in that field for a long time? Then what's the point of buying crappy equipment that won't last more than a year.

Don't get me wrong though. One can achieve outstanding and professional quality using simple and cheap materials. But if there really is a high difference between what a cheap and a fancy equipment produce, think of it seriously.

Having a good setup with reliable pieces of equipment is a game-changer that's often under-rated. It's one thing less to worry about. It's one thing that you'll use often for years. It's one thing that will make both you and your audience happy. And as a content creator who's constantly looking for perfection, that will relieve a lot of your anxiety.

Keep Track of Your Personal Motivations

Why has it all started? What was your initial intent? Why are you doing it right now? What's your goal?

Content creation is not something you take easy. It requires time, hard work, efforts, and dedicated attention to learning on the job. It's, like every creative process, a constant-evolving phase of learning and improving. As a matter of fact, you'll go through many ups and downs.

So the question is, what will keep you up no matter what? What's keeping you up right now? If you ever feel down, or if you feel short on ideas to produce content, remember what all of this is for.

Intent is the base upon which everything starts. Think about it.

Publish, Religiously

It's hard, but you have to.

And it's quite simple to understand actually. If people like your content, they want more of it. So when they see that you're out of stock, they'll start to miss you, and eventually their interest will decrease.

If you are serious about building an audience, or even a strong community, you have to show that you're alive, working on something, and creating content at a steady rate.

People want to follow your adventures and jump into your journey, because you inspire them and add value to their lives. Don't think of content creation as something that puts pressure on you. But rather ask yourself: This week, what can I provide to my people? And just go for it.

You Don't Have to Be an Expert

Most content creators, including I, feel like impostors.

Creating content is nerve-wracking and pleasing at the same time. But the thing is, you'll certainly want to deliver meaty content that's extremely useful to everyone on this planet. And that will certainly daunt you to the point you'll feel like you don't know enough, you're not enough of an expert, and all in all, you're an impostor.

Look, first you don't have to be an expert to teach anything to people. If you know 1% more than me, to me, you're an expert. If only one piece of content that you create helps at least one person, your job's done.

Don't worry too much about legitimacy and expertise. As long as you intend to share something with the world, do it. Someone will love it, someone will hate it, that's life. Think of content creation as an art, because it really is.

Automate and Streamline Your Process

Like I said before, creating content is extremely time-consuming. Apart from the fact that, literally, creating content in itself takes a lot of time, thinking about it also makes up for a huge phase. As an artist and content creator, your brain's on steroids, trying to find the perfect way to deliver content. And that's fine, welcome to the club.

However, if you manage to automate a part of your work, or at least make it easier or quicker to achieve, you'll save a huge amount of time. Be it preparing your materials, using pieces of software, using smart tricks, or anything.

All in all, just try to make your creative process a bit easier to handle, and a bit less time-consuming. For instance, putting a cross on the floor can help you know where to put yourself in front of a camera every time you shoot. Or even, using a fixed tripod can help you position your camera in such a way that you don't have to tweak it every time.

Work not only hard, but smart.

Practice and Explore Before Diving

Creating content will make you a better and smarter creator. As you progress, you learn how to handle things differently, how to work more efficiently, and how to streamline your process effectively.

But, if just like every person in this world, you've never been in content creation before, you've got to practice. And by practice I mean, you have to exercise, try different formats, showcase different facets of your personality, and explore every part you can.

Once again, content creation is a creative process. There's not one predefined way to go about it, and there's hardly any chance that you'll be happy with your first shot. Just keep practicing and trying hard until you're satisfied and comfortable with showing your art.