If you asked me two years ago how I felt about content creation, these words would come to mind:

1. Exhausting

2. Transactional

3. Trapped

Trapped by expectations, my niche, and the pressure to produce constantly.

I had turned my passion into a never-ending cycle of content churn, which was taking a toll. I also felt like I was building a lot of transactional relationships, not necessarily genuine relationships.

Today, my relationship with content creation looks very different.

That is why, in today’s email, I want to share 3 things I consciously quit that have made content creation not only easier but, more importantly, made me love creating again.

Here goes! 👇

#1: I quit building a social media account.

Sticking to a niche and sharing information can easily grow a social media account. Many creators have done this.

The problem is that even big social media accounts don’t always retain their audience when they pivot or start other businesses.

This is why growing a social media account is a short-term play.

A better long-term play is caring more about building a personal brand.

I talk about this in more depth in this video.

I highly recommend you watch it as it delves into why sticking to a niche is outdated and examples of what I’ve been doing instead:

“But wait! You always preached sticking to your niche!”

This advice worked maybe even two years ago, but my stance has changed.

When I returned from my sabbatical, I learned two things:

#1: Being a creator is a very personal experience. Thinking you’ll talk about the same thing for decades is unrealistic.

Being a creator is a very personal, emotional, and human profession.

As humans, we are bound to evolve.

So it’s reasonable to want to pivot at some point because entering new seasons is a part of the human experience.

I learned this when I shut down all my courses last year because I no longer wanted to be known as the “Instagram girl.”

This is why building a personal brand, which includes sharing your interests outside of your niche, is necessary for people to be invested in YOU rather than your information so that you’ll be able to have a much more sustainable and flexible career in the long term.

#2: How-to’s and information-based content are becoming a commodity.

The introduction of ChatGPT and AI has made the content feel even more impersonal.

This means personal connection and genuine relationships are becoming rare and valuable.

People don’t want gurus anymore.

They want real humans they can relate to, who are honest about their journey and struggles.

To save you some reading time, watch this video, where I explain this in-depth and discuss how I’ve approached my content (this email barely scratches the surface, so please watch it!).

#2: I quit being consistent.

I learned that, in the grand scheme of things, missing a couple of posts is not going to ruin a career—but what WILL ruin a career is burnout or falling out of love with what you do.

Whenever I say this, a swarm of newer creators argue with me and say they must hustle because the algorithm will punish them.

That same short-term thinking is also the reason why the majority of beginners don't make it past two years because they end up burning out anyways, or they think this career sucks because they’ve made it miserable for themselves.

This is because they don’t have the experience yet to think about their career in a longer time frame, and instead, they’re only thinking week to week.

It’s an amateur-level mindset.

Instead, we need to shift into an investor-level mindset.

If you want to stay in the game and continue to have fresh ideas, you need to understand that taking care of your health and body is essential to that goal.

If you lack mental or physical energy, your content will suffer anyway, and it’s only a matter of time before you hit your break point and are forced to quit.

The idea is for you to take small breaks to avoid reaching your breakpoint, as I did in 2023 when I had to shut down everything and go off the grid for nearly a year.

It can be as simple as rewarding yourself with a long weekend every so often by taking Friday or Monday off occasionally.

It doesn’t need to be a full-on sabbatical, and it doesn’t need to be this crazy career-ending break that we often make up in your mind.

Create evidence that not only is it safe, but a good thing when you take breaks.

What if, by taking care of your mind and body, you are actually investing in your growth and mental capacity to generate better ideas?

And what if those ideas lead to more income and visibility than if you continued to produce content for “consistency”?

That’s the investor mindset.

#3: I quit commoditizing my content.

“It’s not about the volume of content. It’s about the uniqueness of content.”

Once I understood this, I stopped announcing my content schedule.

Whenever I promised people a “weekly email” or a “daily post,” I always suffered because creation felt like a chore.

I specifically remembered when I had my old newsletter, “Confessions of a Creator to CEO,” and how much I loved it when it was just a side project.

But the moment I started telling everyone to expect a weekly email, I started hating and resenting writing because it was no longer about sharing what’s authentic to my heart but more about pleasing others.

Imagine this:

You get weekly emails from Creator A, but some emails are not very meaningful, and it’s often apparent they put something out for the sake of putting something out.

You’ll probably not value each email as much, even if they’re consistent.

Heck - you might not even open some of the emails.

Now imagine this instead:

You’re getting inconsistent newsletters from Creator B, but each email is well thought out, high-quality, and genuinely helpful to you.

Without knowing when the next one is coming out, you’d likely be on the edge of your seat waiting for the next email and not unsubscribing to Creator B in case you miss it.

You might even turn notifications on for Creator B, creeping their Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter and checking their link in the bio, just in case you missed something.

This may be a hot take, but I’m starting to realize in 2024 and beyond, quality is becoming more important than quantity.

The reason is that the creator industry is much more saturated than it was a few years ago pre-COVID.

Today, so many people I know are creators or want to be creators.

Not to mention, algorithms have been updated to make content consumption feel like fast food.

Content is a dime a dozen, but quality content is rare.

Want an example?

When I attended the Sony influencer event, I spoke with Life of Riza, a YouTuber who has grown to 700k subscribers with less than 45 videos.

For reference, I have 850k subscribers, but it took me 417 videos.

What Rizza has done is impressive.

Her secret?

She’s not consistent.

I even asked her if this was intentional, thinking that maybe she’s inconsistent not by choice.

She told me it IS by choice, and her priority is choosing quality over quantity.

This is NOT to say you need to have cinematographer-level skills like Riza.

This is to say that there is merit in allowing others the time and space to value your content.

If you liked this email, you’ll love this video:

In this video, I elaborate on why sticking to a niche can be dangerous to the longevity of your creator career and share my own process of what I’ve been doing instead.

Thanks for reading!

I don’t think the world needs more creators.

I think the world needs more creators who are genuinely passionate, fulfilled, and connected to their work. It’s not about adding more noise; it’s about adding more value, authenticity, and heart.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about content creation, it’s that tactics and frameworks can only take you so far.

Ultimately, the key to lasting success is finding happiness in the process.

I hope that by sharing what’s helped me rediscover happiness in creating, you’ll feel inspired to carve your path to fulfillment and creativity - to get back to the root of what made you excited to start in the first place ❤️️

Until next time, keep creating from the heart and live life fearlessly,

Vanessa