If Content is King, Who is in Your Court?

Hint: your kingdom is the readers and viewers

Content is King! As a content creator, it is essential to ask, “Who’s in your court? Who are members of your “tribe” or “golden circle” or “royal court”? Do you follow the advice of successful creators? Or do you walk to the beat of your own drum? Maybe, it’s a little of both.

I am a reader, first and foremost. It easily satisfies my desire for perpetual learning. I was a paid member of “Elephant Journal” for years before discovering the Medium platform.

A little over a year ago, I committed myself to invest in my future. Building a business is a long-held dream that I only dabbled in when I had the time. Multiple side hustles and non-consistency were my game.

Social media and networking are challenging for an introvert like me. Most view me as shy, but truth be told, I am an outgoing people person. I genuinely care about people; however, small talk is something I have to do to be an active member of society. To awaken my passionate conversations and engagement, the person under the quiet exterior, I need to be inspired to think and feel I have something to share.

For content creators, your kingdom depends on an audience. The playground of the Internet means you never know who may be reading. In my recent vow to step outside my comfort zones, most of which I felt were holding me back, this is becoming more relevant to me.

I am expanding my horizon beyond my morning page stream of free writing and working diligently toward believing in myself enough to declare I am a writer. I felt empowered with the MCW Challenge, writing from within my present moment thoughts and connecting to important topics. I have a voice and the challenge pushed me to use it. But, I still needed help. I believe my first article “chosen for further distribution” is because of an editor, who graciously gave their time when I asked for assistance. They saw things I couldn’t see.

But now I am hitting a wall — the self-doubt wall. As I said earlier, I read a lot. Most articles that appear in my feed have been about writing. Unfortunately, numerous articles stated that newbies shouldn’t give writing advice or references to the insignificant, you will be successful when you can make this much money, so do this, or poorly written from the less experienced filling their feeds and wasting their time. They blame the algorithm.

I started writing on Medium precisely four months ago today. My average reads are below 20 people. In the last two months, I have earned my membership fees. I read one article giving writing tips that stated, “we are liars if say we write because we like to write. We are all here to earn money.” While I am proud that my income on Medium has grown exponentially, going from $2 to $10 in four months, some would laugh. I see it as progress, not perfection. I am excited that I still am growing a following, however small that is. I am successful simply because I am sticking with it.

I am not new to the world of writing, just new to this platform. A hobby at best, but writing became a form of expression, like art, decades ago. My first ever published article was a gift. A friend introduced me, virtually, to an outstanding writer, an award-winning columnist. She read my first article, and while it wasn’t something she wrote about, she published it to encourage and support me. I will never, ever forget how that made me feel. Years later, she referred me to a colleague that had editing software that might help me. Lastly, when I was blogging consistently, she invited me to an interview about blogging.

Due to personal life events, I left the blogging world but missed the camaraderie of the people I met online. They were my tribe, my royal court, and my golden circle. So, after returning to the writing world, I had to start over from scratch. When I hit that self-doubt wall, after reading all those articles trying to improve, I turned to the knowledge of what inspired me in the beginning. Suzette Standring Martinez, columnist and author. Re-reading her books, “The Art of Column Writing” and “The Art of Opinion Writing,” helped bring me back to balance. As successful and busy as she was, she made me feel my voice meant something.

These are my top 3 tips for myself based on her books.

1. Don’t shut readers out. Being easily understood is vital.

2. Column length. Making words count yet knowing when to quit. Rhythm and timing are essential; 500 to 600 words are good practice. Over that amount is too much commitment for a lot of readers.

3. A good ending tells when the story is over yet resonates and makes them think.

An incredible example of these top 3 tips is Stuart Englander’s Day Tripping posts. They are welcoming to everyone, easily understood, the rhythm and timing are like music and short enough to sing along. But mostly, it resonates and makes me think. He is undoubtedly King of the Road.

The last thing I want to leave you with is an experiment from Cambridge University.

“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe”

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be understood. You never know who might be reading, but without readers, in the kingdom, there is no King. It’s not always about what’s in your wallet. What’s in your intentions is what is seen and heard by the kingdom. That is how I describe success. It’s about how I feel after reading something that makes the content good or not. Your tribe will be loyal, and the royal court will support you when they feel a sense of belonging, kinship, and connection. Write to inspire, encourage, or simply entertain someone! They will remember you because you made them feel good.