The Pain of Creating Great Content

In the past few months, I’ve attributed three new customers directly to content I’ve shared.

Not lead magnets.
Not paid ads.

Content that clarified problems, offered a path forward, and made people feel seen.

Two pieces stood out:
The Thought Leader Operating System and The Brand System.
Both unpack how we deliver results at Arcbound.
And both followed a simple arc:

• What’s hard (the pain)

• How we solved it (the solution)

• What changed because of it (the outcome)

One client literally quoted a line back to me during a meeting:

“You nailed my pain around getting content out. Not enough time, always putting out fires.”

That was the moment I realized something important:
Don’t talk about your product. Talk about your reader’s pain and how you solve it.
Here’s a clarifying post on the problem → solution framework if you want to read more.

But Before Authority Comes Trust

Trust is the prerequisite.

You could have the best ideas in the room.
But if people don’t feel emotionally connected, they won’t follow you.

You know the type.
The smartest kid in class who spoke to show off, not to connect.
They had information but no resonance.

The same applies to your content.

Let’s Talk About the Pain

1. Great content is hard to create.
It requires perspective.
It demands you know your values, your message, and where you actually stand.

2. Great content is uncomfortable.
Last week, I sent out a piece on “The Value of Smart Friends.” It felt personal.
My stomach flipped after hitting send.

But the replies flooded in.
“This was me.”
“This hit home.”

When you say the thing people feel but don’t say aloud, they remember it.

3. Great content requires deep audience knowledge.
You can’t just broadcast. You have to understand.
Who are they?
What do they care about?
What do they need that you’ve lived through?

And then be brave enough to ask them what worked and what didn’t.
That feedback might hurt. Take it anyway.

4. You need content that scales.
This is where most break.

You need:

• Clear brand pillars (3 to 5 core areas you go deep on)
  

• Content flywheels (pillars → articles → social posts)
  

• Visual alignment across channels
  

• Platform consistency
  

• Reporting and iteration loops

Oh, and you need a team to pull this off without losing your mind.

So Let’s Simplify

Be an epic relationship builder.
Know enough about a few things to speak with depth.
Add value consistently with a clear brand.

Easy, right?

Now layer in one more piece:

You need a product.
Something repeatable that works.
Because without a real offering to monetize that trust, content becomes an expensive hobby.

What Actually Works

This is the long game.
The investment doesn’t pay off in weeks. It pays off long term in momentum.

You need:

• A sharp brand
  

• A trust engine that scales (content, presence, voice)
  

• A conversion path for the right people when they’re ready
  

• A thick enough skin to faceplant a few times and keep going

And a team that can stitch all these moving pieces into a machine.

And Now … We Are Building (The Long Term Solution)

Next week, we’re launching the biggest professional announcement of my life.
I’ve been building toward it for 2.5 years and it’s finally coming a reality.
We have been heads down on this for the past five and a half months. 

It’s the first step in democratizing brand building at a fraction of the cost, for everyone.

Because what I’ve learned over the past 7 years (and stuck to building despite the challenges) SHOULD NOT be so hard, so expensive, so time consuming for you to get your voice to the world.

The Outcome? It’s still too early to tell, but if properly executed, it will harness millions of voices and make the difficulty behind what I’ve shared accessible for all.

See you next week.

Community Notes

1) Come join a fantastic webinar with Sheila Gujrathi and now Sarah Moody. Almost 40+ registered. We want to get 100+ people in attendance. It’s very possible. So tell your friends, women friends, and more and we are going to host a valuable event and give away copies of Sheila’s new book.

JOIN

2) Meet my incredibly talented friend Trey Wilson. He’s a junior at UGA (go dawgs), and a man who asks great questions. Check out his new podcast.

The Subtext Podcast is a cinematic, street-style storytelling show that explores the hidden layers of identity, ambition, and transformation - what people are still becoming. Hosted by Trey Wilson and Daniel Lee, the podcast blends raw street interviews with deep, reflective conversations featuring creators, entrepreneurs, and student leaders. Past guests have included Jerry Lee (Wonsulting co-founder), Elise Pham, Cayden Ginting, Brooks Gammill, and other rising voices shaping culture, creativity, and purpose. If you are interested feel free to check it out: Link & if interested in being on it feel free to reach out to [email protected]

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