Aug 5, 2020
You Can’t Predict Which Piece of Content Will Perform Best
So stop waiting for the perfect article
You know there are some days when you try to create the perfect article, and after spending long hours and days working on it, the traction disappoints.
We all have those days.
It comes with the content creation package, and at times, no matter how much we try, we can’t still predict which articles would do better than which.
At times, I try to tweak my articles — I’d analyze the headline with a headline analyzer tool, use catchy images, and make the article as appealing as possible. I’d be so pumped that the particular article would make a difference, but at the end of the day, it won’t perform as well as I thought.
It can be very frustrating, but it has taught me to quit worrying about stats and engagements and focus on creating.
I’ve noticed that when I allow it to bother me, the need to create something perfect hampers my quality.
It reduces how expressive I am and makes me stick to some made-up standards in my head.
A general rule I’ve adopted and I think you should adopt too, is you should treat your published articles like they don’t exist anymore — Tochukwu Okoro
My routine when my articles get accepted and published by publications is to share it on Linkedin, Facebook, and sometimes Twitter. Then I allow fate to do the remaining work. I try not to think about it anymore. I just focus on the next task.
I also try not to mull over the stats either because they make me feel like the once that didn’t get enough traction was poor and that I’m a terrible writer. But that is usually not the case.
When your content goes live, and you’ve shared it to whichever social media platform of your choosing, just forget about it and leave it to the internet gods.
I’ve had articles that I buried in my drafts for weeks because I thought they weren’t good enough, and after I published it, it had amazing engagements.
I’ve also had articles that I was so excited to publish, and after it went live, it brought in some of my worst stats.
One thing most creatives can never figure out is how well their art will do
Because of how subjective art is, you can’t predict what people will think about your work because people are unpredictable.
You can only do one thing, which is to keep putting out content, and someday, one will go viral. Have the mindset that you’re just one article away from getting that big break you desire.
You just have to keep showing up every day, increasing your chances of making that big break happen, and soon enough, you’ll see it.
Thank you for reading
