Here’s what I wish younger me knew when I started creating content. The sooner you learn it, the better.
First thing: no one really cares about you as the creator. When I started, I was wrapped up in telling people what I thought they should know. But nobody cares what you know until you’ve shown you can solve their problem. Solve it first, and then they’ll listen.
What You’ll Walk Out With
- Why “help, don’t tell” is the whole game early on
- The math of helping (and why chasing money backfires)
- Why saturation isn’t real if you’re being yourself
- How to define success so you don’t quit too early
- A free 2-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com to find what you should be known for
You Learn More by Creating Than Consuming
When I started, I spent hours watching one creator, Nathan Lucas, trying to figure out why he was getting thousands of views. There’s a little value in that, but the truth is I learned far more from making my own content and seeing what worked. Trying to be like him was a dead end, because I’m not him. His voice, his experience, his way of thinking are his. You’ll learn more from one video you make than ten you watch.
Don’t Chase the Money. Chase How Many People You Help
People ask me all the time: what’s the fastest route to $100 a day? Wrong question. Ask instead, how many people can I truly help? When I shifted to being overly helpful, so helpful a viewer wouldn’t need another video on the topic, that’s when the money showed up. It didn’t come when I was copying everyone else.
Think of it as a ratio. If you genuinely help 100 people, you make about a dollar. Help 1,000 and you make $10. Can you help 1,000 people in a day with free content? Yes. Anyone who’s made real money first found a way to help people faster, easier, or bigger than the person before them.
Not sure what you should be known for?
The free 2-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com helps you find it, based on the skills you already have. Same email unlocks every other video’s worksheet.
Make the Video That Ends the Search
When you make something, aim for it to be the last video they need on that topic. Think about how many times you watched a video, thought you had the answer, then had to go watch three more. You stopped trusting that creator. Trust is built by truly solving the problem. And every solved problem creates a new one, so they come back to you for the next.
There’s No Such Thing as Saturation
It’s only saturated if you’re trying to be like everyone else. There were already enough Nathan Lucas videos. There was never an Alston Godbolt. Carve your niche by bringing a different perspective to the same topic. Hundreds of people cover the NBA, and they all have an audience, because each one approaches it through their own knowledge and experience. Yours will resonate with tens of thousands of people, maybe not millions, but enough.
Don’t Let Other People Define Your Success
A video that gets 20 views can still be a success. The first time I recorded in public, I dropped the camera and cracked the lens, but I learned to use a gimbal, learned to shoot on location, and built a skill most people are too afraid to try. Someone might say “you have 137,000 subscribers and that video only got 400 views.” But I made a real connection with 400 people, and I unlocked something I couldn’t do before. Don’t let anyone else dictate what success looks like for you.
Learn While You Do It
When you see something that works, implement it now. Learn on the job. I had the idea to start recording in public one day and was filming day two the next, fixing the wind problem and the dropped-camera problem as I went. If you try to learn it all before you start, you’ll forget it, and you’ll stall for months. The worst case of just doing it is that you stay exactly where you are right now, which is not making money. The likely case is you get a little traction and the momentum carries you.
Find What You Should Be Known For
Take the free 2-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com. You’ll walk out with one specific thing to build your content around.
Read Next
Once your head’s in the right place, here are the practical tips that get views.
Read: Social Media Content Tips for Beginners (That Actually Get Views)
Sources
- The author’s own early experience learning content creation
- Free 2-minute Side Hustle Finder quiz: finder.platformproof.com
Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.