The Gym and Writing Content
Why You Shouldn't Expect Immediate Results
I was very honoured to be invited to host Adam Parry on Dahlia's Launch Shift Go session, titled "best practices for earning media coverage" for event professionals.
In the after hours chat (a really great initiative to get the speakers engaging with the audience) Adam made a comment about how going to the gym is very similar to creating content and I promised the attendees an article all about it... so here it is.
When it comes to writing content and working out at the gym, there are more similarities than you may think. Both activities take time and consistent effort before seeing any real results. Just like you wouldn't expect to wake up one day and suddenly be in shape, you also can't expect your blog or website to start ranking on Google overnight nor your media relationships to suddenly be posting every article you share.
Let's explore the reasons why this is the case for both fitness and content creation.
The reason content leads take time
The first reason why neither going to the gym nor writing good content happens overnight is because both require a process of experimentation to find out what works best for you. When you first start going to the gym, you probably won't know which exercises are most effective for your goals.
It takes trial and error to figure out a workout routine that works well for you. Similarly, when starting to write content, you won't know which topics will be most popular with your audience or which keywords will help you rank higher on search engines. It takes time and experimentation to find a blogging strategy that works well for your business.
Be consistent to get results
Another reason why getting fit and writing great content share similarities is that they both require consistency and discipline.
Going to the gym once a week probably won't get you in shape any faster than if you never went at all. In order to see results, you need to be consistent with your workouts and go to the gym multiple times per week. Similarly, if you only write one blog post per month, don't expect your traffic levels to increase significantly. To see results from your content marketing efforts, you need to be consistent with your publishing schedule and publish new articles on a regular basis.
This not only helps you boost your SEO strategy but as discussed on the Launch Shift Go session, journalists and editors could be search for the very content you're writing about and you may receive a call asking for comment or better yet, be invited into a podcast or live event session.
But you need to invest
Finally, one last similarity between these two activities is that they both require some initial investment before seeing results.
When joining a gym, there is usually a sign-up fee plus the cost of a monthly membership. In addition, many people also invest in workout clothes, gym shoes, water bottles, etc. Likewise, when starting a blog or website, there are hosting fees as well as costs associated with hiring someone to design your site or write your content (if you don't plan on doing it yourself).
As Joe Floyd commented about investing in Peloton to get out of going to the gym, you still need to invest that time and money in the application (your subscription to Peloton Joe) and regularly commit
While it may seem like a lot of money upfront with no guarantee of seeing results, keep in mind that both going to the gym and writing content will pay off in the long run if you stick with it!
In Summary
So next time you're feeling discouraged because you haven't seen results from your content marketing efforts yet, just remember that it takes time and consistency to get fit - both in terms of physical fitness and increasing web traffic! Keep at it and those desired results will eventually come.