A 4-Step Daily Checklist That Keeps My Content Business Thriving
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Hi Reader, Don’t beat yourself up if you’re procrastinating about writing a newsletter or creating content for your business. Creating and publishing isn’t always easy! Take heart from Stephen King. He’s a prolific creative, right? Well, it took him 45 years to write one story—45 years to write ONE story! He’s in the middle of plugging his new collection of short stories, You Like It Darker. He started writing one short story in the collection as a sprightly 30-year-old horror writer. King is 76. He’s publishing Answer Man as part of his new collection. King told NPR about the 45-year gap between the story idea and the publishing date. “I will write stories and they don’t always get done. And the ones that don’t get done go in a drawer and I forget all about them.” I was sick of procrastinating. I was trying to finish a BIG writing project. I wanted to write a long-form sales page and an email series. My goal? To promote and sell a new course And I was getting nowhere. I only felt better about my sheer lack of progress AFTER I read that fact about Stephen King. Every writer or content creator has a drawer of abandoned projects and manuscripts. A real drawer or a series of files on a computer. But how many writers spend a whopping 16,425+ days on a creative project? Okay, King wasn’t working on this short story the entire time… He only finished writing it after his nephew John found an early draft and told King it was good. (It’s amusing to think King still reacts to encouragement, considering his big hits and accolades. We all need encouragement.) King doubted some of his other big hits, too. He procrastinated, dithered, and stuffed them in drawers and bins. His wife fished an early draft of his first novel, Carrie, out of a waste paper basket in his office. She told him he was onto something. That book launched King’s author career. Later, King stuffed a draft for Pet Sematary in his drawer. He thought his story about an ancient burial ground and creepy dead cats who come back to life was awful. He only published that book as part of a contractual obligation with an old publishing company. Pet Sematary went on to become a 1983 best-seller. (Alas, the 2019 movie was trash.) Delaying publication for 45 years isn’t the best way to get paid to write. So what’s King's secret? Well, he’s still a hugely prolific modern-day author. He’s published over 70 books. He’s a great storyteller, yes, but King also says he forces himself to do ONE thing every day: write six pages a day, no matter what. He writes a lot more than six pages a day. Even if some of his projects take a few decades, but he finishes them. And he publishes. I don’t write genre fiction, but I keep a copy of King’s Bible for authors, On Writing, near my desk. I pull out his book if I’m procrastinating about writing a newsletter, YouTube script, or article. The other day, I spent a morning watching an online writing course by another famous author. He was riffing on procrastination, too. I felt warm and fuzzy about the advice in this course until later that night when I realized I’d forgotten to do the one thing I was supposed to do for my writing business. Write and send a daily email. I’m building a business with content that attracts high-paying clients. Part of that strategy involves running a daily newsletter. I was too busy scrubbing through the course videos on x2. Que a scramble to draft and write my daily email on my Macbook before bed. I hate writing late at night. Staring at my laptop messes up my sleep. I also find it harder to write when tired. But I’d only myself to blame. Spending a morning taking a course instead of writing was a procrastination trap. Because of some perceived momentum (completing video after video), I felt like I was working. But in reality? I was stuck inside a deceptive little trap that was hard to escape. Now, don’t get me wrong. Writing courses are fun. They’re sometimes useful, too. But not the first thing I should have done. Completing a course and getting a digital badge won’t help me hit a word count. It won’t help me finish a creative project. And it’s not going to grow my content business. Successful writers hold themselves accountable. That’s what Stephen King does. He also offers up this piece of writing advice. It’s perhaps a mantra for his entire career. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” I also keep a simple daily checklist for my business. The items on it are like Stephen King’s “write 6 pages a day.” I have four items on my daily checklist for this season. These items map to the goals for my content business. I tick these off on the whiteboard at the end of the working day. Ticking things off makes me feel good, and it holds me accountable. Here are my essentials for running a content and coaching business.
If I don’t tick these off, I’m either procrastinating or working on the wrong things at the wrong time… like taking a writing course first thing. But if I tick these items off, I can keep the lights on in my content business. Then, I’m free to work on other creative projects, go to the gym, or scrub through a course. So, if you find yourself procrastinating… If you’re sticking project after project in a drawer without publishing or Remember, King has the same problem. The difference is he’s hypnotized himself into working around his creative problems. He’s built a creative routine that supports his work. We mere mortals can learn from King. Keep creating content, publishing, and making offers. You’ll build up a body of work that attracts your ideal clients. If you need help, ask yourself this question: What’s YOUR equivalent of six pages a day? I gave you my checklist… What will you write or create? When will you write or create? Where will you write? For how long? And how will you know when it’s done? Then press publish and make your offer. Watch my video now, and never procrastinate about creating content again. Write on, Bryan Collins
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