Focus on Quantity If You Want To Strike Gold

The open secret that makes you a successful content creator

In almost every aspect of life, quality beats quantity. But the rules may be different for content creation.

When I started writing, I didn’t know what to focus on. Some articles said you needed to pump out as much as you could, while others said to focus on putting out quality work.

As I continued to write, I saw the value in each method but started to see more results in one. I’m now convinced that to really get yourself going and set yourself up for success, your first step should be to focus on quantity.

Here’s why.

Quantity Keeps you Going

If you just started out writing, making videos, or any other form of content creation, chances are you’re not anywhere as good as you’d like to be. When you start off something new, it’s easy to be discouraged when you don’t see instant results. And when the road to perfection and success is so long, you often give up at the first obstacle you face.

Focusing on quantity implies smaller, more consistent steps.

Take writing for instance. If you start off writing 2000 word articles, heavily research, and aggressively edit each word, your content will likely be of good quality (for your standard). But once you publish your work and it doesn’t do nearly as well as you’d hoped, you’ll start to lose motivation and burn out fast.

It’s ok for your first articles to be bad. The first thing you need to focus on is not stopping. Put the bar low and you will keep going. Be consistent and you’ll create a habit. Just write about anything and everything without worrying so much about quality, and you’ll stay motivated and be more likely to carry on.

That goes for videos, podcasts, and all kinds of other content. Just keep creating until it becomes a part of you.

Quantity Leads to Quality

The more you do something, the better you become at it. That’s just how it works. It’s possible to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, but as long as you put in some sort of effort to learn, you will improve.

Let’s take making videos for example. The first time you film and edit a video could take days if not weeks or more. But naturally, the more familiar you get with the software and the more you go through the process of uploading your videos, the faster you’ll get, and the more you’ll get done with less effort.

Once you get comfortable with making videos, that’s where you should start trying to make tweaks to improve the quality. The foundation is already set so all you have to do is add one more spice to the soup to make it better each time. Starting with quantity doesn’t mean you don’t aim for excellence. It means you understand the process and lay the groundwork first.

The more you put out, the more feedback you’ll get too. Your early efforts will have countless areas for improvement, so those initial responses are key to your growth. It’s better to get feedback on a wide array of your work than two or three ‘quality’ pieces.

Your audience is the reason you create your work, so the more input they give you, the better.

The One-Hit-Wonder

Many artists create a piece that goes viral and catapults them into stardom. For some, that’s the big break that gets them recognized and leads them to a successful career. For others, it’s the one-hit that they live off for the rest of their lives.

Either way, creating more content gives you a higher chance of hitting the big time. The musicians who become one-hit-wonders usually don’t know which of their songs will be the most successful. Imagine all the artists who have unknowingly shelved their greatest song.

You may be extremely intuitive about what people want to see, but as a content creator (and especially as a beginner) you will often see some of your best work flop, while the other pieces that you didn’t expect to do well go big. You won’t always know why something works, and you won’t always know why something doesn’t. The more you try, the more you’ll learn.

The more you put out, the more opportunity you also have to reach the person that changes your life. It’s often not about the quality of your work, it’s about the eyes that get to see it. All it takes is the right person to notice you and you’re set.

In conclusion

There are different ways to improve your skills and succeed in your creative goals. But I’ve found that when you just start off, quantity should be your primary focus.

Focusing on quantity allows you to produce more consistently and create strong habits that will push you forward. Producing more leads to greater opportunity for growth in both understanding your audience and the skills you acquire along the way. And in the context of the internet, where anything has the ability to reach the entire world, creating more puts you in a better position to get your voice heard.

Get as much experience as you can under your belt. Enjoy the process without too much pressure. Focus on quantity, and the rest will follow.