Sitting on the bench outside of our office on a nice spring day about four years ago, contemplating a large insurance case we’d just lost, I realized it was time to double down on content creation.
I had already started to create content for SportsEpreneur.com. And I’d had this vision that others would want to collaborate with me on content for themselves, too. But I was in the insurance business, an industry not exactly known for content creation! The word oxymoronic comes to mind (others in the business had an even shorter word for my idea—moronic).
I wanted to create content anyway, to open up new opportunities, to learn, to market, to discover. And I consistently saw that I wasn’t alone. Not many, maybe, and it was tough to know there were many people not understanding what I was doing, but there were always a few who got it. I can’t tell you what the ratio was, or how many of them there were, but there were enough.
I was my own first client, which made it easy for me to explain to others what I could do—I’d just say, I did this for me, and I can do it for you, too. If they liked what they saw, maybe I’d get a new client. If not, well then, OK. I have no interest in convincing people of what they don’t believe!
What started to happen is people would see the content and ask if I could help them. Whoa, proof of concept works. Content works.
But thinking about other business creations, it is clear some of the best products were created the same way (inserting extreme examples below).
Steve Jobs created the iPod to listen to his favorite music.
Sara Blakely created Spanx because she wanted a better look.
Phil Knight created Nike because he wanted lighter and more comfortable running shoes.
I started creating content to generate new opportunities in my business, to pivot in my business, and because I honestly enjoy creating. It turns that’s what we do for others too–we help business leaders tell their own stories to those who care.
And now, when I sit on the bench, I don’t have to think of a lost deal. I can think of something new to create.
Actually, that’s what I was doing on that April day, too—I was creating, thinking of the opportunities that lay ahead.
So, why content?
Because it’s my thing.