Content is culture

Be suspicious of companies that have nothing to say.

That sounds harsh, but I visit plenty of companies where the standard response is: We have nothing to report. “We really want a corporate blog and we really want our people to write, but we have nothing to say.” It is really not all that interesting. “It’s just our job.”

Do me a favor. Destroy your company. And stop torturing your employees with your existence.

How can you say that you have nothing to say?

I do not know about you, but I love my job. I love my profession. I am downright obsessed with my job. I can not stop talking, blogging, writing and publishing about my profession.

For me that works quite nicely, because by now I can explain how much I love my profession on some of the key marketing blogs in the Netherlands. Yes I am bragging. But I can say that because I’m obsessed with my job (and if you’re more obsessed with your profession, then you can consider this a challenge).

I am continually thinking about my profession. I ponder. I think. I read, share and comment. I weigh words. Consider words. Breathe, eat and piss words.

Now I’m just one person, so my culture is my personality. My enthusiasm for my profession is my “personal brand.”

Yet there are plenty of organizations that are filled to the brim with people that are obsessed with their profession. People who love what they do. Who want to be the best. You can let them talk for hours about every detail of their work and usually need to slow them down once they get started.

These are your people.
That’s your culture.
And that’s the content that you will send out.
No problem.

Your content is your culture. And your culture creates content. Good culture = good content. Prove me wrong.

In all that content we read the enthusiasm. We taste the joy. And we sympathize with the obsessed. Like filling a room with nerds and saying: tell me everything! Tell me all about your niche! Make me happy with every minute detail!
Because then I feel that you mean it. That your company stands for something.

Your business is nothing more and nothing less than a collection of niches.

The people with whom you are together in your specific culture… they should all consist of obsessed idiots in their field.

If this is not so. Then you have nothing to say.

That does not mean that your business is boring. This means that your culture is boring. That the fire has died. That people are clocking in order to pay their mortgages. That their personal drive is no longer in trying to be the best, smartest and fastest, but that they have become mere employees.

Do you have a problem with content? Look at your culture.

Is your culture open? Is your culture free? People can say what they think? Are you surrounded by obsessed idiots or by employees?

Is there hatred and envy? Is fear a part of your culture?

Forget about your content.

Content is culture. Be suspicious of companies that have nothing to say. And run away if you work there.