I've been an editor of a blog for several years and produced content for a decade for myself and for my companies. I've tried to sum up my discoveries and share mental models that might be useful for people willing to launch a blog and start the journey.

1. BBBGEHBHow To Nail Your Content Strategy
And more philosophical considerations

2. The Typical Block

3. I don’t know what to say.

4. The Typical Block
I don’t know what to say.
Well, the good news is that you don’t really have something to say.
You need to find something people want to discover and find the answers.
You don’t need to be the source.
Disclaimer: most corporate media and personal blogging efforts die at that step.

5. So the question is…

6. So the question is…
How to find what people want?

7. So the question is…
How to find what people want?
Everything can be interesting.
But not everyone finds everything interesting.
So you can think of people you know and wonder what subjects they like*.
* some bloggers tend to think of themselves as a content consumer and produce content that they’d like to find.
It is far from being the worst idea, especially because you’ll always have energy to produce your content.

8. Don’t please everyone a bit,
please some people a lot.

9. You should end up with
a territory of expression
and
favored formats*
* long form, small articles, videos, slideshare, whatever

10. You have many ways to treat
your territory of expression

11. (1)
You exactly know
what you will say.
(2)
You don’t have a clue
what the answer will be.
your territory of expression

12. (1)
You exactly know
what you will say.
your territory of expression
You are already really knowledgeable about the
subject and you are sharing your knowledge.
This is often the case of researchers or
successful people once they’ve reach a certain
stage in their life.
The challenges in that case are (i) the mine will
eventually runs dry, (ii) this won’t be very
collaborative.
OR
You will be either very blunt (your media will
basically be press release and corporate self-
praises) or be very ideological (propaganda at
best).
Rule of thumb: if you are not a renowned
expert, don’t opt for this option
(2)

13. (1) (2)
You don’t have a clue
what the answer will be.
your territory of expression
You don’t have a clue about this subject, but
your boss wanted you to talk about it.
OR
You love this subject but you are very prudent
to having too much convictions. You prefer
asking people what they think and make
synthesis of their view and minimizing yours as
much as possible.
Rule of thumb: if you are not genuinely interested by a subject, don’t opt
for this option. If you like it but rely only on other beliefs, you will end up
frustrated because it might be hard to differentiate your content and seeing
that people doing far less work than you do get more traction is tough.

14. (1) (2)
your territory of expression
Hopefully it is a continuum and there are dominant
strategies.
conviction
driven
methodologically
driven
(3)
Strong convictions about the territory,
yet you put in place safeguards
(eg: frequent updates on your beliefs,
fairness when you analyze the data)
(4)
No conviction beforehand,
strong position
once you’ve dug into a subject

15. (1) (2)
your territory of expression
conviction
driven
methodologically
driven
(3)
Strong convictions about the territory,
yet you put in place safeguards
(eg: frequent updates on your beliefs,
fairness when you analyze the data)
(4)
No conviction beforehand,
strong position
once you’ve dug into a subject
Dominant strategies
(3 > 1 and 4 > 2)

16. (3)
Strong convictions about the territory,
yet you put in place safeguards
(eg: frequent updates on your beliefs,
fairness when you analyze the data)
(4)
No conviction beforehand,
strong position
once you’ve dug into a subject
This is the typical strategy of media (they are
never neutral). It makes the editorial line very
clear and enable a good habit formation of your
readers since they know what they will find. The
challenge is to make sure never to fall into too
much ideology (into strategy 1)
Rule of thumb: the bigger and more professional the
team, the more probable they’ll opt for option (3)
This is the typical strategy of some long-form
content bloggers, that have the confort of a
wider editorial line and the willingness to
create sheer knowledge. It makes habit
formation for readers harder since people
might not like what they end up finding in term
of subjects (or conclusions), and is easier
when the content producer is alone and don’t
rely on it for a living.

17. (3)
Strong convictions about the territory,
yet you put in place safeguards
(eg: frequent updates on your beliefs,
fairness when you analyze the data)
(4)
No conviction beforehand,
strong position
once you’ve dug into a subject
Let’s enter the more philosophical considerations.
There is another thing about the battle of (3) vs (4).
* it requires a lot of resources, including time

18. (3)
Strong convictions about the territory,
yet you put in place safeguards
(eg: frequent updates on your beliefs,
fairness when you analyze the data)
(4)
No conviction beforehand,
strong position
once you’ve dug into a subject
Let’s enter the more philosophical considerations.
There is another thing about the battle of (3) vs (4).
* it requires a lot of resources, including time
The more you need to be action-oriented, the more
you’ll need to make decisions, and the more you’ll
need conviction at the expense of satisfactory
knowledge formation*.

19. So your trade-off might be the following: in the
short-term do you favor action or knowledge?
* have in mind that this is a very flawed way of looking at it, it is much more complex and requires many considerations about
decision-making, recommended readings in appendix

20. So your trade-off might be the following: in the short
time do you favor action or knowledge?
And the answer should not be obvious: content is
made to think and take good decision.

21. One more thing:
quick illustration with the tech world

22. The first strategy is viable for former operators.
It is exactly what Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz did.
And you should have a look at their archives if you’re into tech: pmarca & ben’s blog

23. The second strategy is what many VCs tried after not
knowing what to say.
And they quickly stopped lacking subjects and audience.

24. The fourth strategy is what First Round Review is doing.
They have a loose editorial line (they just have territories and a great methodology)
and interview world-class entrepreneurs and experts to make incredibly good content.

25. The third strategy is what Fred Wilson is doing.
He talks (daily!) about his thoughts and discoveries
after discussing a given topic with entrepreneurs or pundits,
or being confronted to a specific news

26. As a VC, we also chose to produce content.
We have a mixed strategy: we are very similar to First Round Review (strategy 4) when
we talk about startup topics (management adapted innovative, fast-growing
companies) but we also shares our thoughts and beliefs as would do Fred Wilson
(strategy 3), about things we feel matter regarding the tech ecosystem, being a VC,
making good decisions, building meaningful brands or managing communities.

27. Now, it’s your turn.

28. Recommended readings
https://a16z.com/2015/01/09/pmarca-blog-ebook/
http://avc.com/
https://a16z.com/2016/09/04/ben-blog-ebook/
http://firstround.com/review/
https://medium.com/daphni-chronicles
Already Mentioned
Creating Good Content
Decision-Making
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/untangling-your-organizations-decision-making
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/a-case-study-in-combating-bias
https://hbr.org/2018/01/3-ways-to-improve-your-decision-making
https://hbr.org/2015/05/from-economic-man-to-behavioral-economics
https://hbr.org/2015/05/outsmart-your-own-biases
https://www.amazon.com/HBRs-Reads-Making-Smart-Decisions/dp/1511367148
http://willy-braun.com/library in the “Storytelling / content marketing“ section
http://willy-braun.com/library in the “Marketing / behaviour / decision making“ section

29. about daphini & the author
@willybraun, co-founder of daphni
special thanks to my parter @mathieudaix,
for his feedbacks & inputs
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