The Content Pieces

Navigating different methods to source content at writer.sh, including leveraging podcasts, conducting in-depth interviews, creating short pieces, and inviting guest posts to find a peace around how to enrich this platform.

You know, content creation is tough and slow. You must consider your target audience, hosting platforms, trends, latest developments, company vision, moderation, the sales team, and more. However, in writer.sh case, it has more than that, as the content is the people and their experience. in contrast to, say, a product or niche blog where the content is about the product and it’s roundabout.

To start, I've been scoping out where these individuals, the entrepreneurs, freelancers, and others connected to writer.sh, might be:

• LinkedIn.
• Certain Reddit subs.
• Twitter/X.
• Indie hacker groups on Discord, Slack, and Facebook.
• Offline venues like events, gatherings, and conferences.

And podcasts

At first, I thought the simplest way to source content was through podcasts: find a related podcast, check their copyrights, possibly speak with the creator, and make several writing pieces out of it.

And yes, it has some truth, but podcast content is scattered; thus, forming content out of podcast episodes needs research and, most importantly, consent to start with to make a complete content piece. That and all, it is time-consuming and labor-expensive due to the specific skills needed for the research.

So what else...

Interviews?

So, I resorted to the last option to onboard myself: In-place interviews. Realizing this was the most hands-on approach to understanding and curating the content I envisioned for writer.sh, I dove into action.

Scrolling through my contact list on my phone, I wrote down a few numbers of entrepreneurs and freelancers I'd met at various gatherings and online forums. One by one, I started reaching out, pitching the concept of writer.sh, and inviting them to share their stories through personal, in-depth conversations.

Something I didn’t think about is convincing people to tell their stories to promote themselves, and their business is proving tougher than a bad hair day. I get it; folks are busy, and it's on me to enhance my pitch to make them carve out time. Perhaps my value proposition isn't as compelling as it needs to be, or maybe I'm just bad at articulating that value.

I reckon having an entrepreneurial personal brand in this particular scenario would have been vastly good. That is a good hint for me to start bragging and for you to work on that. You don’t know when you’ll need one.

Being hopeful

Nevertheless, offline gatherings have turned out to be quite fruitful; somehow, I was better at telling what writer.sh is. People showed enthusiasm about it, and many have agreed to partake in interview-like sessions to share their stories. Many of these individuals have even referred me to other potential interviewees, leaving me with about 20 or so people to talk to.

I think it is the over-formality in online communication that led to that and missing the human touch.

Not the end

So yeah, sourcing content is a story. Another challenge is Distributing Content.

On that topic. I enjoy reading, but sometimes it's dull and uninteresting, so relying on that alone won’t propel writer.sh. Therefore, having user-accessible distribution channels besides writing is a must. Podcast-style, YouTube shorts, and Instagram reels, among others, are possible considerations.

One particular method I'm drawn to is 3D animated stories, maybe because they're fancy. Regardless, this approach will likely cost more than it's worth.

Anyway, I did a small experiment, a survey, with those interested to gauge their interest. Up to now:

• I recognized that long-form content is unappealing, so we started breaking down publish-ready stories into bite-sized pieces.
• I realized that reading isn't always convenient, like when you're in traffic and want to read something. That's when listening becomes the better option.
• That's how I came up with the idea of a second content format - voicing over the content in spoken style and not traditional narration. This way, it's accessible even when reading isn't an option.

• I used Elevenlabs to generate the voice at first then resorted to Google Text To Speech

3 cents

To simplify the whole content process, I broke it down into 3 stages.

Content Planning: Contact potentials and make sure we have up to 3 interviews each month.

Content Creation: Between each interview, we make first drafts and iterate them between the team for feedback.

Content Calendar: After each interview, we kind of have a prediction of what content we can craft and where it can be hosted, so we set at least two pieces that have to go out on the main platform as well as LinkedIn. That being said, we’re ultimately looking to make the content calendar the first stage and coordinate things from it to emphasize what content have to go out and not “here is the content I have, make an out.”

Content Calendar

The importance of sourcing content is ensuring a solid content calendar, which is vital for maintaining a consistent, engaging presence and ensuring there's always something new and interesting on the horizon for you. It also helps manage resources effectively, allowing for better planning of interviews, research, and content creation.

It's not just about filling slots on a schedule; it's about crafting a narrative over time, building anticipation, and delivering on it consistently. That's what keeps readers, I mean you, coming back. And in the end, that's the goal: to make writer.sh a habitual destination for those seeking inspiration, knowledge, and community.

Building a library of compelling stories for writer.sh requires more than just a list of names on social media. I need a network of genuine connections – entrepreneurs, freelancers, and folks who embody the spirit of writer.sh. LinkedIn and the like are doing a great job, but snagging someone's time for an interview is another hurdle.