You will never waste time on content again

If you spend hours creating content every day trying to keep up with other creators, you probably think they’re doing the same thing to stay ahead.

Have you ever thought that some people know something you don’t?

You’re creating separate content for YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and more. You run yourself thin. You push too hard. Content creation starts feeling like punishment. You don’t enjoy it anymore. Whenever you start, you can’t wait to finish and get it over with.

How long can you sustain this?

At some point, you’ll let go of quality as others have done, and your content reach will start suffering.

We’ve all seen big creators whose content becomes “Once Upon a Time”, when their content was getting reach, the quality dropped because they couldn’t keep up. They never took the time to create a system as they grew.

Some ran to AI and got generic content (voice of the masses, I call it). These are the same individuals getting angry with the algorithm. The ones who post and get 5 likes while others get 100, thinking there’s some secret they don’t know about.

Most of them are looking for that magic post that will go viral. Watching video after video, thinking, “Just maybe if I watch enough, one day I’ll find out how others do it.”

If you have this mindset, you need a reset.

I’ll say this, but most of you won’t listen: there is no secret magic. All there is are systems.

I found out what others do that you don’t, for those who are ready to switch content creation from hard mode to easy mode.

I’m one of those creators who can’t function well in hard mode, my content loses the quality my audience desires. That’s not the type of creator I strive to become. Being a writer (if I’m allowed to call myself that), I want to create from the depths of my soul.

Some creators with teams of 6 people are so stuck in the old way that it threatens them to see a solopreneur getting the same reach while claiming to work less than 4 hours a day. Meanwhile, they and their team work hours every day.

I hope you get what you need to think differently about how to set up the system and pillar of your content in a way that reduces your content process by 50% with a 40% increase in quality.

What Is Your Content Pillar?

If you’re going to reduce your content creation time by 50%, you need to first know and address your content pillar.

After the foundation of a house, the second most important thing is the pillars that make the house stand tall. While we wait to talk about the foundation, let’s talk about your content pillar.

Every content creator has a content pillar.

The content pillar is the most important, the longest, and most time-demanding one of them all. If this is the only content you created in a month, you’d be satisfied. That’s your content pillar.

My content pillar is my newsletter. As long as I keep writing my newsletter every day, I’m okay with the rest of the content for other social accounts not being created.

If you have a YouTube channel and most videos are longer than 8 minutes, that’s your content pillar. I believe that takes more time than other content you create for your social accounts.

By now, you should be familiar with your content pillar. You’ll need it very soon. If you still don’t know your content pillar, keep reading (or have a conversation with AI).

Why Do You Need a Content Pillar?

The most important content is the only thing you need to focus on.

After reading that, some are on the fence. Do I mean you should ignore the rest of the content?

No, I certainly do not mean that. But the time allocation for content should be 95% for your content pillar and 5% for the rest.

The content of your non-negotiable account is what you’ll use as your content pillar, which will bleed to the rest of your accounts.

The pillar content is the only thing you’ll have to do manually. You do not have to create content separately for every one of your platforms. That’s a sure way to burnout. If you want to do this for a very long time, you need to adapt to easy mode.

Grinding every day on content creation is just another way to die hard, and for me, I prefer James the bond.

(Ok, I laughed after writing that. You get the drill.)

Any of your content can stand as your content pillar. Choose the one you love doing and the longest of them all.

Your X post can’t be your content pillar because it’s not strong enough to carry the rest of your platforms, unless your X posts are your longest content, which I doubt.

How Big Should Your Content Pillar Be?

Big enough to leave the rest of the content for other platforms without falling.

This letter is a content pillar for me, and I spent about 194 minutes writing and editing it.

How do I know the exact minutes when I’m not done writing it? I edited that line when I was done. Does that answer your question? Good. Let’s move on.

If you have a YouTube channel and your videos are more than 15 minutes in length, oh boy, you have a big content pillar. If it’s more than 30 minutes, you have a huge content pillar. The bigger the pillar, the more content you can drain from it.

If something takes you less than 90 minutes to create, that’s not a good content pillar to use. You need content that takes more than 90 minutes to create.

A YouTube video should take you more than 90 minutes, you get an idea, write the script, record the video, and so on. The scripting takes the most time because that’s what makes your content pillar stronger, not just longer.

I’m sure you should know your content pillar by now. If not, comment below, and I’ll help you through.

Your Secondary Content Pillar

Yes, sometimes you need this so you can have different content.

My secondary content pillar is LinkedIn because that’s my second-longest content. I sometimes write a LinkedIn post manually, maybe something I’d like to pass across that’s not in my newsletter, or a promotion I’m doing that would be wise to write manually.

I still write about 2-3 LinkedIn posts per month manually. Those are content only tailored for LinkedIn. I post almost every day, so that’s just a small percentage of my LinkedIn content.

I’m about to tell you a secret, don’t tell anyone.

I have never manually written an X post, nor have I manually written a Substack Note.

But how do I get content to post, and why are my notes getting such engagement? We’ll talk about that very soon. Quick hint: I think Substack is in love with me :)

Now let’s talk about what some of you have been waiting for.

The 90-Minute Content System

Here’s the pillar that holds my content. This is the one I can’t delegate to anyone or anything. I love writing my newsletter, so I do it every day, even if it’s one line (the lie I tell myself, and I end up writing 800 words in one sitting).

I have a system that guards me and keeps me consistent.

The first rule: If I do not do anything in a day, I must write, either for a client or for myself. I make sure I keep to that. But after writing my newsletter, I always feel good and ready to do other things.

Here are the rules I live by for my 90-minute writing to be successful:

• After my 20-minute morning routine
• I turn on my PC without WiFi
• Open Notepad alone
• Set a 90-minute time block (10-minute break in between)
• I write for two sections (40 minutes each)
• Then I take a walk

It’s not hard to stick to if you have a system like this in place.

If you’re worried about what to write or if you have writer’s block, you can use this post as a full system.

In those first two minutes, I just stare at the blinking cursor, racking my brain to figure out where to start. I don’t know what to write. I just want the hook to be good enough to make it better in the editing zone.

Note that your first newsletter doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be good enough and clear to read.

I’m not the best writer. I make grammatical errors too, but that won’t stop me from writing again tomorrow.

I mostly write 4-5 newsletters every week, not just for myself alone, but for clients too.

Instead of a newsletter, your content pillar might be writing a blog or recording videos, something you can’t outsource to anyone, and you can use them in the system we’ll talk about next.

The Content System You Needed

After knowing your content pillar and making sure it’s strong (by creating it yourself or coming up with the ideas), it should take at least 15 minutes to read or listen to.

When a house is built, the first and most important thing planned is the foundation. The foundation keeps the building standing for years, against floods and many other things.

The foundation of your content is the system you have in place, helping you repurpose your content for other platforms without sounding like bots.

If I spend 90 minutes every day to produce 2 personal newsletters weekly, I have a solid pillar. I don’t want to spend another minute creating content for other platforms when I can repurpose my newsletter. If I have a YouTube video, why can’t I repurpose that for another platform?

A follower of mine told me he spends an hour on one LinkedIn post almost every day. I believed him, because last year I was him, spending hours on content, not having time to do other things, like reach out to clients.

My repurposing system repurposes my newsletter to:

• 3-4 LinkedIn posts
• 30 X posts
• 30 Substack Notes

Those contents sound like me because they’re from my newsletter.

I use Notion and Make for my content repurposing. All I need to do is click a button, and voila, the contents are ready.

You can set up this system to work for you while you’re doing other important things to keep your business growing.

I can go on and on about how to create and use your content pillar, but you need to find a way to set up a system that works for you.

I’m currently updating the system and creating a mini course. The first few to join the waitlist will get it for coffee price before the launch in February.

A system like this will work for you while others are still looking for the secret to growth.

Join the waitlist

We’ll talk soon.

• Owol