A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Content Creation the Easy Way

The 3 Steps Framework That You Can Easily Follow

Lately, I’ve been enjoying watching Ali Abdaal’s channel, a former doctor who changed course to become a YouTuber and now has 4.6 million subscribers.

One thing I like about his content is how he can simplify a problem into key points. So his explanations are very easy to understand.

In one of his videos, he shared some of his experiences and knowledge on how to become a YouTuber using a framework he created.

What I like is that this framework can be applied not only on YouTube but also in the process of creating any content, even writing.

So, what’s this framework? You can check his in-depth explanation here but in the meantime, I’ll add some of my own.

Level 1: Get Started

Yes, the first step in creating content is to start.

Most people get too caught up in niches, keyword research, audience, problem-solving, etc., so they don’t start.

In this stage, we need to forget all of that for a moment and just start creating content about things we like.

Just pick something you love and start making stuff about it. It could be anything — like talking about your favorite books, sharing a new thing you learned, or even just showing off your favorite toys.

Create at least 10–15 pieces of content in this first stage, and don’t focus too much on quality because, sorry to say, chances are nobody will see what you create.

“So why should I make content and be creative if no one will see it?”

In this first step, it’s about getting used to the content creation process. You’ll learn about the platform’s features and build habits. Furthermore, this is where you’ll learn to find your own voice.

Keep creating content consistently because slowly, your audience will find you.

For example, how many of us discover an interesting TV show when it’s already in its second or third season?

The same can happen with your content. Your audience might only find you after you’ve produced your 20th piece of content.

Level 1 Decision

After you’ve successfully created your first 10–15 pieces of content, it’s time to make a decision. Will you commit to content creation seriously, or will you only do it casually? Or maybe you realize you don’t enjoy the content creation process.

If you decide to break up with the world of content creation, that’s fine. At least you’ve tried it, and you’ve realized you don’t like it.

If you want a casual relationship with content creation, that’s okay too. You create content when you have the time or feel like it, and you see it as a fun activity. But don’t expect your followers to grow if you only do this occasionally.

If you want a serious relationship with content creation, then you must commit to creating content at least once a week consistently.

After that, we can move on to level 2.

Level 2: Get Good

At this level, it’s time to improve the quality of your content, whether it’s video, audio, or writing. There are two ways to make your content better:

1. Quantity
2. Quality

At this level, you should initially focus on quantity. The more content you create, the more likely the quality of your content will improve.

There’s a popular story called “The Parable of a Pottery Class” from the book “Art & Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orland. A pottery teacher divided the class into two groups. Group A focused on quantity, making one pot every day for a month. Group B focused on quality, making only one pot in a month.

At the end of the month, the teacher weighed the pots, and each group had to submit one pot for quality evaluation. Surprisingly, the high-quality pot came from the quantity-focused group. The reason was simple: the quantity group produced pots every day, and learned from their mistakes, while the quality group was busy formulating theories about creating the perfect pot.

The Importance of True Consistency

Here, we can also apply the concept from the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, which is the idea of 1% improvement.

If your content is bad, and you don’t make an effort to improve, your content will be consistently bad. It’s essential to try to improve your content little by little by continually experimenting. Change your titles, try different background music, use different shooting techniques, try various editing techniques, and so on.

Apply these small changes one by one, not all at once. As you create more content, the difference will become more noticeable. Maybe when you’ve created your 50th piece of content and done many experiments, you’ll feel confident that you’re producing quality content.

How to Know Your Content Is Good

There are two ways to assess whether your work is good or not:

1. Intrinsic Evaluation (inside your head)

This is an internal assessment. When you look at your work, are you confident and satisfied with its quality compared to the work of others out there?

If a friend or family member suddenly says, “Wow, do you want to be a YouTuber? I just watched your video,” or “I just saw your content on social media,” how do you react?

If you feel embarrassed, it means you subconsciously believe your work isn’t good yet. But if you feel proud and confident when someone says that, it means you believe your work is of high quality.

2. Extrinsic Evaluation (What do others say)

This is an external assessment. It’s a bit more complex because it’s beyond our control.

Essentially, this assessment is based on data and metrics from the platform you use. For example, if you create content on YouTube, the metric is how many people click and watch it to the end.

If you’re writing, it’s how many people click and read your article to the end. Each platform typically has metrics to measure these things. The easiest one is how many people engage with your content, whether through likes or comments.

If many people give positive comments, it means your content is considered high quality in the eyes of your audience.

Level 2 Decision Time Again

Here, you need to decide whether you want to pursue this as a hobby or as a business.

If you choose to keep it as a hobby, that’s okay. You do it for fun and can create whatever you like whenever you like.

But if you decide to turn this into a business, it means you’re trying to make your work profitable. Here’s where you need to draw a line.

When you treat it as a hobby, you do it for fun and are free to create whatever YOU want.

However, when you treat it as a business, you might sometimes feel tired or not in the mood to create, and it’s possible to take the fun out of it but you still have to do it.

And you have to create what your AUDIENCE wants.

This is where many people misunderstand. They focus on creating content for themselves and wonder why their content isn’t making money.

The answer is simple: you’re creating content according to what YOU want, not what your AUDIENCE wants. You can focus and embrace the artistic side of your content but don’t expect you will make thousands of dollars when you just treat it as a hobby

If you choose to make this a business, you can move on to the next level.

Level 3: Get Smart

At this level, it’s time to pay attention and figure out what kind of content your audience wants. You’ve started treating it as a business, so now it’s time to prepare a strategy like an entrepreneur.

Imagine you’re opening a restaurant — you wouldn’t just serve your favorite food; you’d serve what the customers want.

That’s why the first strategy in starting a business is to identify your target market. Who do you want to create content for?

This is often the most challenging part for many people. Personally, I would create content for my past self.

I’d think about the problems I had in the past, whether it was two years ago, two months ago, or two weeks ago. What kind of content did I wish I had found that could have helped solve those problems?

Solve one problem

for one specific person

in one specific industry.

~ Nicolas Cole

The second strategy, once you’ve identified your target market and the problems they have, is to determine whether you have the knowledge or experience to help them solve those problems.

This is crucial because you might create content about “memes” and gain many followers, but you’re not genuinely solving a problem.

That’s why I always like to target my past self. We’re not trying to help everyone; we’re trying to help people who are a few chapters behind us.

Once you’ve identified these two aspects (target market and their problems), you can move on to tactics. These include how to monetize your audience, what products or services you can offer to your audience, how to attract more traffic, creating sales pages, pricing strategies, branding, and more.

Conclusion

After learning this framework, I realized my own relationship with Medium. I treated writing on Medium as a casual relationship where I only wrote whenever I felt like it. And I treated it as a hobby.

And that’s why I will never be able to reach the same level as most writers who already made a living from Medium.

I will try to put a little bit more effort slowly, just to see if it will make a difference.

In the end, there’s no better time to start a business as a content creator. Not only because it requires minimal investment, but also because the risks are low, and you can freely discuss topics you enjoy.

You can start creating content as you wish, but it’s better when you have a simple framework or guide to follow so that your creative process can have an extraordinary impact.

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