Have you noticed? There’s a particular kind of tension creators and founders carry.
You feel it when you write a post, then rewrite it six times to “sound more like so-and-so.”
You feel it when you publish something and immediately brace yourself for silence or judgment.
You feel it when the thing that felt true in your bones gets filtered through a haze of second-guessing.
And you might think you have a content “quality” problem. As you may know, I have a special VIP list for people who are interested in the Profitable Content Engine workshop.
I asked them what their biggest struggle with content was, and the majority said “distribution”. Because quality is highly subjective.
If your content is dying in drafts, disappearing into the algorithm, or getting buried under the weight of your own expectations, it’s usually not because of “quality”. It’s because you’ve built a system that stops at “publish.”
Let’s break that open after a quick message from today’s partner.
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This tweet by Rory Sutherland is something I come back to very often:
It sums up what very few creatives are willing to admit: the best ad/piece of content/tweet becomes the world’s best-kept secret without proper distribution.
This ties in very well with something I learned over and over again in college about propaganda: repetition is everything. Repeat the same message as often as possible to as many people as possible, and it will be perceived as an undeniable truth.
You can use this to disseminate an authoritarian doctrine or to promote human rights.
Content distribution mechanisms are ethically agnostic. So, I’m counting on you to endow them with an ethos — today’s issue is about distribution alone (or lack thereof).
The three most common distribution problems I see every day:
1. The post-and-pray problem
You write the thing. You post the thing. Then you sit back and hope it reaches the right people.
But content isn’t a message in a bottle. It doesn’t wash up on the right shore by accident.
If you’re treating publishing as the end of the process, you’re counting on luck to do the heavy lifting — and luck is a terrible business model.
Here’s why that doesn’t work (even if your content is objectively good):
- The Spotlight Effect: we all think we’re being noticed by more people than actually pay attention to us. In reality, everyone’s busy with their own crap. This can be a good thing (fewer people see your typos, and you don’t have to be that embarrassed for every mistake you make). But, in content distribution, it’s usually a bad thing: fewer people see your content, so your reach is often much lower than you think.
- The Mere Exposure Effect: people don’t trust what they see once. They trust what they see often — in different forms, on different platforms. If you’ve ever watched political propaganda clips, you’ll see the response to this effect in action. Political messages seem redundant and repetitive because they are, and that’s intentional.
So the first time you share something? That’s not the moment of impact. It’s the opening move.
Let’s circle back to politics: I was recently chatting to a friend about her involvement in a presidential campaign. She told me that, after the first couple of rallies, it became insanely boring to hear the candidate she supported repeat the same speech in every city, with minimal tweaks, if any.
The candidate won.
They won because of the repetition and consistency. My friend was one of the very few people who listened to every speech in its entirety.
Everyone else heard it once or twice and, generally speaking, they only heard the same sound bites over and over again — which helps to cement the core message of the candidate.
So, the next time you feel bored with repeating your core ideas, push through. Act like a political candidate with actual chances at winning — and start repurposing as often as possible.
2. Your content doesn’t fit the room
Here’s another issue I see with my clients’ content strategy: they conflate repurposing and reposing. There’s a time and a place for all of them (and yes, you can re-use your content). But:
- A great newsletter isn’t automatically a great tweet.
- A long-form essay doesn’t translate 1:1 into a LinkedIn post.
- Pieces of a long-form YouTube video aren’t always great Instagram reels or TikToks
Think of every platform as a different room with its own lighting, acoustics, and language. If you walk in shouting the same message every time, you’ll lose people — not because you’re wrong, but because you’re out of sync.
Most readers scan web content, absorbing just 20–28% on average.
That’s not because they’re lazy. It’s because they’re overwhelmed. And surprising them with a format they didn’t expect is cognitively taxing. So they bail out.
One of my biggest pet peeves is opening what I expect to be a written newsletter only to find a 20-word blurb and a link to a YouTube video that supposedly delivers on the promise in the subject line.
I opened that email expecting to read, not watch or listen. So the odds of me watching or listening are slim to none.
3. You don’t have a distribution engine. You have a one-off machine.
Does this sound like you?
- You publish your newsletter.
- You turn a quote into a post (once).
- You plan to reuse it later… but never quite do.
- You start from scratch again next week.
That’s not a system. That’s creative roulette.
What you actually need is leverage — a repeatable way to turn one meaningful idea into layered, intentional, cross-platform content.
Resharing and reframing your content across platforms helps with message consistency and reach.
But this isn’t about copying and pasting. It’s about reshaping the same core idea to serve different levels of awareness, attention, and platform behavior.
It’s not recycling. It’s resonance.
How to stop wasting your best ideas
Here’s a smarter way to think about content — not as isolated posts, but as living systems:
1. Think in layers, not lines
One idea can — and should — be broken into layers:
- Surface-level insight for quick posts
- Backstory/origin/essay for your newsletter
- Hot take or contrarian angle for LinkedIn
- How-to or behind-the-scenes for DMs or reels
You’re not diluting as you may think. You’re deepening by exploring multiple facets of the same issue in multiple ways that resonate with different people.
2. Map the distribution, not just the idea
Before you hit publish, ask:
“Where else does this idea belong?” And not just where — but how does it need to show up?
Different versions for different rooms.
3. Track the resonance
Forget likes for a minute. Track the moments that spark conversation:
- The DMs you keep getting
- The post someone screenshot and replied “THIS” to
- The rant that made a client nod so hard they almost fell out of their chair (credit card in hand).
These aren’t just moments — they’re signposts. They’re signals that your idea has legs and that you need to follow it.
Before you abandon an idea, give it a real chance to thrive
Your best work shouldn’t die after one post. And your most profitable ideas shouldn’t stay trapped in your head — or your newsletter.
So if you think that you need more content, make sure it’s not just about volume, but depth as well.
What you need is a strategic way to amplify what’s already working, without turning into a content robot or spending 6 hours a day online.
I’ll show you exactly how in the Profitable Content Engine.
But for now, I encourage you to ponder this:
The problem isn’t your message. It’s that you’re whispering it once and expecting a mic-drop moment.
🔦 Community Spotlight
My friend Bianca B. King writes a newsletter that will help you reshape the way you see ambition. Not hustle, not mindless grind, but full alignment.
Side note: I’m the one who selfishly pushed her to finally start this newsletter, and I’m glad I did. We all need this reframe. Sign up here to see what I’m talking about.
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🎙️ My podcasts and interviews
I recently spoke to my friend Ellen Donnelly about strategy. No surprises here, right? Except we also touched on OF (yes, that platform I can’t name but you know it’s just about fans) and another media behemoth in the same industry (also can’t be named for the sake of deliverability).
Check out the full chat here.
Since authority and trust are the pillars both Ellen and I strongly believe in, she was kind enough to put together a free email course for Strategic AF subscribers (that’s you!). Essentially, The Authority-Led Business Playbook is free email course to help consultants and coaches package their ideas, share them powerfully and become the go-to in their space.
