Why You Should be Creating Content on the Internet

A huge announcement before I share this week’s essay:

I got featured on Alex Lieberman’s podcast, Founder’s Journal!

It’s about my story on how I public pitched my way to work for one of his companies, StoryArb, got rejected twice, before landing a role handling go-to-market for his AI startup, Distro (which you can read more about here :)

Was listening to this episode 30,000 feet in the air while flying across the middle of China. What a crazy life this is haha.

You can tune in to the episode below:

Now back to the essay:

We live in the most permissionless era of all time.

One way to make the most of this massive opportunity is by leveraging the Internet the right way, especially content.

One of my favorite online writers, Packy McCormick of Not Boring, writes:

Creating content online is like being granted free lottery tickets. The more shots you throw, the more your luck surface area expands.

Every career-related opportunity I’ve gotten was by putting myself online.

But when you’re starting out, you may be bombarded with so many questions like:

• Where do I start?

• What do I talk about?

• How do I stay consistent?

In this essay, I’ll be diving into into 3 fundamental principles to surcharge your content. Whether you’re just starting out or already creating, this is the post for you:

Beat Your Competitors by Sheer Volume

I’ve posted 3,700+ times on X/Twitter.

But before you say, “That’s a lot!” - look at how many times other successful people have posted.

Chances are, they’ve posted WAY more.

When you’re trying to grow an audience or market your product, you can beat 99% of people simply by:

1. Showing up every day

2. Doing that for months + years on end

Before you try to find the best strategies to use, first get in the habit of doing something consistent for a long time.

Why? Only by doing a lot of something can you collect enough data to know what you need to improve on.

3,700 posts is honestly not that much. Some do well, some flop, some do alright.

I'm not too attached to the outcome of an individual post because I know I'm going to continue posting hundreds, thousands, if not tens of thousands of posts.

This moves on to my next point:

Move Beyond the Plateau

When you’re starting out, you’re inevitably going to feel like you’re shooting yourself into the void.

You publish your first post and then… crickets.

The reason why creating content online is such a great skill to have is because it builds mental resilience over time.

For anyone creating content, we all know what it felt like when we were just starting out. You put all this effort into creating something but receive no external validation back.

This was me a year ago:

But how many people have moved past the so-called “valley of despair?”

A lot of people quit after not seeing any traction. It’s more common than you think, and it makes complete sense: why would you continue if you don’t see any progress?

But here’s the honest truth:

Every time you post, the compounding is working its magic behind the scenes.

Externally, you will see crickets. But internally, you are slowly refining your voice, writing, and adding another point of data for improvement.

So keep going. Your breakthrough is just around the corner.

Creating Content is NOT About You

This is probably the most important lesson I’m learning:

Creating content is not about you.

The other day, I came across a short video by Caleb Ralston.

He’s an absolute baller - he was working behind-the-scenes for people like Gary Vaynerchuk and Alex Hormozi.

In the video, he said a few things:

• Content is when you make it about other people

• Making things for others = conversions

• Find what the audience likes → hammer that in

The hardest challenge is when you're starting out and have no idea how to stand out / go viral.

After all, there are thousands building in public, sharing unsolicited life advice, repurposing quotes, etc.

The big question to answer is: “What makes YOU worth following?”

Here are several principles I’m currently following:

1. Everyone's story is unique. Stories > content

2. Courage goes a long way. Do the thing 99% won't do.

3. Play to your strengths. What are you better than most at?

4. If one piece of content does well, double down on it.

Remember: creating content isn’t just about you.

It’s about serving others and doing that repeatedly - over and over again.

Conclusion

Here’s a quote by Naval Ravikant, co-founder of Angel List, to top things off:

Have a killer rest of your week.

Cheers,

Jeston Lu

Thanks for reading! If you have anything you want me to cover, fill out this form here. What did you think of today’s edition? Would love to hear back from you: just hit “reply” or reach out to me on X/Twitter.