They only care about what they can get out of your content.
Author bylines are emblematic of a much different time. They’re mostly irrelevant now that everybody and their dog is convinced, they can write. Or sing. Or talk. Or edit.
People don’t follow writers. They follow good writing. And good writing always has them at the center of the piece. Not you. They’re the hero. Not you.
If people find you, follow you, and read your every post, or listen to all your podcast episodes, or watch all your videos, hold onto those people for dear life. Pop a bottle of champagne and celebrate when it happens. You don’t understand how rare this really is. Even the people you’ve impacted and influenced most aren’t necessarily going to come out and tell you any time soon. Maybe never.
So many people are convinced they can engineer viral, and they’ve been hoodwinked. You can’t find your individual path to success by modeling or copying anyone else. You’ll always be the understudy, the silver medal, the second in line. As Default is to Nickelback, if you will. Not that I’m complimenting the source material.
You can find a great musician anywhere. Skill is not indicative of commercial viability or success. But a musician that’s destined for superstardom? They always stand out. And if they don’t stand out, they dress up like it’s Halloween, so they do stand out.
When people argue against prolificacy, they inevitably bring up one thing – what about quality? Don’t you care about your audience?
To even argue this point, you would need to be convinced that your content is just that good. You’d have to be convinced that everything you create is worth consuming.
Which goes back to what was said earlier about engineering viral. You think you can go viral without putting in the effort.
The heart of the issue, though, is fear. Creatives fear showing up to do the work daily. But if you’re not doing things, you’re afraid to do, can you honestly say you’re expanding?
Choosing the comfortable path is a good way to stay stuck.
Don’t fool yourself. People don’t care about your content anymore than they wish you’ll wake up happier tomorrow than you did today. They’re in it for themselves. We all are. Focus on something you can control, such as showing up daily.
