stop making content for your competitors

Your peers are not your customers

There's a weird trap that happens when you spend a lot of time online in your industry. You start making content that impresses other marketers. Other founders. Other people who do what you do.

But those people will never buy from you.

Most of you probably know the type of content I'm talking about: the overly clever hooks that only make sense if you're already deep in the game, the inside jokes about "the algorithm" or "client feedback,” and the hot takes that were literally designed to get head nods from people who already agree.

Of course it feels good when your peers engage. It feels validating when someone in your industry shares your post.

But validation isn't conversion. Clout doesn’t keep your clients. Sales do.

Your actual customers don't care about your hot takes on marketing trends. They care about their problems. They're not scrolling looking for intellectual stimulation — they're scrolling looking for solutions. Your job is to be the solution, not the most interesting person in a room they're not even in.

Start asking: who is this content actually designed for?

The content that builds businesses is usually simpler than the content that builds reputation among peers. It's more direct. Less clever. It meets people where they are instead of where you wish they were.

Here's a gut check: show your last five posts to someone outside your industry. Your mom. Your friend who works in a completely different field. If they can't tell you what you do and why it matters, you're writing for the wrong audience.

The most successful content I've made isn't the stuff that other creators screenshot. It's the stuff that makes someone in my target audience DM me and say "I need this."

Those DMs don't come from flex posts. They come from genuinely helpful content that makes someone feel understood.

Make content your customers would find if they searched for their problem.

Make content that answers the questions they're actually asking, not the questions you find intellectually interesting.

Your competitors already know what you know. Your customers don't. Talk to them.