What does it take to be an awesome content creator? There is no simple formula to follow, but there are choices.We often feel our choice are binary. On or off. Hot or cold. Skilled content creators are never so black and white. There are many shades of grey. I find extremes and opposites are a great way of deciding where you want your work to exist in people’s minds. I like placing seemingly contradictory items at opposite ends of a continuum. Getting creative with opposites is a very effective tool. It’s also a great way to observe others, too. What choices did they make? Many times these choices are subconscious. Sometimes they are an intuition or a feeling. Don’t just take the obvious extremes. Pair up fresh choices. It will give you a new lens on life. I made these slides to make you think, to show you some of the choices we make. In many ways these are like the colours on your palette. You can create anything on your canvas, but the choices you make will determine the experience someone has when consuming your body of work. You will be judged. So prepare yourself by making conscious choices. Don’t let people’s judgement of you be wrong. Don’t let accidents happen with your brand. Think Like An Artist. Mix like an artist. That’s a great metaphor. You may not realize is but that’s how people view you. They look at your body of work and make assumptions. They will connect dots and fill in gaps. They will assume the unsaid. Like it or not we are all artists. Your life's canvas is being filled by your actions. People leave with a feeling. An impression. You impart people with a sense of your brand. The goal of strategizing is to decide what feeling you’d like people to have. If you don’t have an answer, then the experiences your audience will have will be random. If you get nothing else from this deck and this post, sit down and think about all the continuums in your world. Where do you sit? What are the opposite ends of the spectrums that define your niche? Look at the work of people you love? Study what choices they made. Look at people’s who’s work does not impress you. Were they consistent? Extremes offer options. You can choose to sit anywhere along these continuums. What senses can you stimulate? Not all continuums are based on two choices. Sometimes three or four choices do a better job of letting you position yourself. Being a great content producer is about learning to use all the emotional and experiential tools at your disposal. It’s often called finding your "voice". Given the rise of multiple forms of media, "voice" feels like a confusing metaphor.

1. 12 choices
Image by jointhedots on Flickr
to help you think
about MEDIA
& CrEaTE opporTUNITY

2. MIX it up Like
an artist
Image by u2canreed on Flickr
Don’t let your
CONTENT be an
accident

3. rituals vs
random
What stops you being random?
!
do you follow a formulA?
!
What Are your themes?
Is it the media you use?
the people you speak to?
the questions you ask?
!
Do you notice unique formats?
Image by 314a on Flickr

4. rEad vs
WrITE
Do You think like a publisher?
OR act Like a consumer?
!
Is your work ever really finished?
DO YOU PUBLISH TO EVOLVE AN IDEA?
!
Can you entice readers
to become writers?
!
Image by moriza on Flickr

5. SHORt vs LONG
How do you translate your story
for short form media?
!
Which moments do you own?
!
Do you go long when others go short?
!
is brevity your friend?
ARE you feeding the Infosnackers?
Image by opendemocracy on Flickr

6. FrEE vs MaNaGEd
Do you want to CONTROL your story
Will you set your brand story free?
!
ARE you READY to REALLY share
Who’s story are you sharing?
!
Who will you put in the limelight?
how will you find your storytellers?
Image by kalieye on Flickr

7. INTErNaL
vs EXTErNaL
!
do you focus outside the box?
INSIDE our outside what?
!
Where do you seek out allies?
ANd create/find conflict?
Where do you succeed?
!
Can you connect inside and out?
!
Image by markchapmanphoto on Flickr
Where are your boundaries?

8. SINGLES vs
bOdy of WORK
one tweet, one video, one deck
one list, one image, or one
!
How Committed Are you?
!
Nothing of worth was created
perfect on the 1st try
!
accumulate your worth over time
Image by rh2ox on Flickr

9. MEASUrE vs Feel
What do you use to determine success?
Not every idea will rock
!
Small ideas lead to greatness
you ARE your body of work
!
How will you experiment?
!
Who do you benchmark?
Who’s work inspires you?
How do you measure success?
Image by mmorgan8186 on Flickr

10. Create vs Curate
!
Do you create original content?
Or do you curate?
!
Do you stand on the
shoulders of giants?
!
What does it look like to
Create AND Curate?
!
WHY NOT BOTH?
Image by stallio on Flickr

11. Innovate vs
reUse
Patterns, memes & Humor?
opposites, Controversy & shock?
!
Do you seek out vacuums & voids?
!
Do you put pen to paper?
Do you take the first step?
!
Do you take time to think?
Do you question everything?
Image by stevensnodgrass on Flickr

12. MONO
vs MaNY
DO you study each Media’s culture?
Does personal bias limit your game?
!
videos, slides, Audio, lists & Images
EACH have their own unique culture
!
Do you translate for each media?
Are you always storytelling?
Image by nojhan on Flickr

13. EMBED
vs OWN
WHAT ARE YOU TO THE TIGER?
!
ARE YOU EMBEDDING OTHER’S CONTENT?
ARE YOU EASIER TO EMBED OR TO STEAL?
!
Is YOUR CONTENT FREE TO ROAM?
Image by digitaljourney on Flickr

14. paID VS OWNED vs
EarNED VS SHAREd
Do you think in silos?
!
IS your media on one platform
amplifying content on another?
!
Are the tools you choose working
to distribute & GROW your story?
!
Is your community helping?
Image by rh2ox on Flickr

15. WHErE IS YOUr MEdIA?
Image by yndra on Flickr

16. hAVE YOU TRIED Listly?
98.6% OF BLOGGERS USE LISTS
!
LISTLY MAKES LISTS
SIMPLER TO CREATE,
SHARE & EMBED