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.