23 Reasons why getting your ducks in a line is super smart!

You're probably wondering why I bang on so much about getting your foundation right. You're likely just wanting to get sh!t done.

I get it, life is short, your time at work is jammed to the ceiling.

So here are 23 reasons why getting your ducks in a line before you start is a super, super smart thing to do:

1. Knowing what you're most passionate about makes everything you do more fun (and values aligned!)
2. Knowing what you're best in the world at gets to the heart of your unique sales proposition and key differentiators
3. Knowing what fuels your profit engine shows you what's most important to achieve financially. You're in business to make money. If you disagree with me, then I'm sorry honey but you're in a hobby not a business.
4. Having an idea of what your competitors are doing stops you doing the same things they do
5. Knowing the collective messages that are "out there" stops you saying the same thing (because the likelihood of you doing it is RIDICULOUSLY high, I guarantee it)
6. Knowing who is producing what gives you a map of the landscape you're in
7. Knowing the format of the content that dominates the market gives you a clue about who is under-served
8. Having a handle on the topics covered and questions answered by the market shows you almost immediately what questions and topics are going unaddressed
9. Getting to the purpose and intent of competitors' and alternatives' content gives you an understanding of the gaps that you can capitalise on
10. Knowing how often everyone else's content is produced and/or shared gives you some dramatic insights into where to start experimenting with yours
11. Having a true north allows you to make sure that every single decision you make has a solid reason behind it
12. Approaching your publishing like a business-within-a-business will force you to make it profitable
13. Viewing your content marketing as a stepping stone to a greater outcome will change how you conceive what you want to do
14. Viewing your content marketing as a piece in a bigger business plan will give you the impetus to use it to build bigger things
15. The thinking time gives you the space you need to consider how every spend of time and money can be leveraged and maximised for ever more benefit
16. It will force you to benchmark where you are, which is essential if you (or your Board) is going to want to prove that you're successful - or not
17. It gives you a starting point for defining measures and success
18. It shows you what makes "good data" in the system that you're building
19. It shows you exactly what you require in your system
20. It gives you a reference point from which to remember why you're doing this in the first place
21. It allows you to audit your practices later; to ask, "are we doing what we set out to achieve"
22. It allows you to maintain a shared understanding with every single person on your team, so you never again have to address those skeptical, "why the f*** are we doing this??" questions
23. It is the only thing that makes you successful over the long-term.

Now, I get it. It's not sexy to do strategic work.

Every single business owner I know avoids it. Every single marketing person I know would rather talk about what campaigns they want to run instead of the reasons why they're doing what they do.

But - and I'll be honest with you - if you're not into this stuff, then you shouldn't be doing it.

You have a responsibility to make sure not just that your content is good, but that it's necessary.

Not having the business model for it isn't a bad thing. It means that you have the most amazing opportunity in front of you. It all begins with the most free and creative work that you could ever do, which is conceiving everything that is possible.

Everything! Nothing is off the table at that point, no matter how weird or wacko.

The force will be with you if you do this, and also if you sign up for my daily emails:

https://tinyurl.com/daily-tips-email