Writing online is a challenging process.
It can be tough to come up with fresh ideas and content to publish consistently. This is especially so if you're a busy professional juggling multiple responsibilities; adding content creation to your to-do list can be daunting.
It's definitely something I have been struggling with for the past 18 years since I started writing online.
Justin Welsh, an established thought leader, emphasises the importance of systematising the content creation process to make it manageable and effective. He uses his Content Matrix four-step system for creating content consistently.
What is Justin Welsh's Content Matrix?
The Content Matrix is a four-step framework to help you create a variety of high-quality content ideas. There are four steps to Justin Welsh's Content Matrix:
- Be clear of the outcome you want to achieve.
Justin outlines four types of outcomes we can achieve from our writing, and we need to be clear about those outcomes. The outcomes are to provide:
- dopamine
- thought leadership
- collect email subscribers
- sell products
Once you are clear of this, you can move on to step 2, identifying your themes.
- Identify your themes
List out broad topics related to your niche. For example, potential themes I could talk about on LinkedIn targeted to Gen-X professionals would be:
- Personal branding
- Digital branding
- Digital writing
- Content creation
- Personal progress
- Redefining yourself
- Choose your style
Once you've outlined your themes, you can select a variety of styles, formats or structures to present your content that suits your theme. Justin Welsh uses 8 of these styles quite often:
- Observational
- Actionable
- Motivational
- Analytical
- Contrarian
- X vs Y
- Present vs Future
- Listicles
Some examples of how to use the themes and structures together:
- Observational: e.g., "Why resumes are useless for Gen-X Professionals."
- Listicles: e.g., "5 ways to rock your LinkedIn profile to get noticed."
- Analysis: e.g., "The future of Gen-X professionals in 2025"
- Rapid content iteration.
Rapid content iteration is the process of creating high-level content ideas quickly using steps 1-3, as outlined earlier. Use the list of themes and structures and quickly combine them to create a list of ideas. An example of how to do this is:
- Digital branding + Listicles: e.g., "5 reasons why Gen-X professionals should start building their personal brand online."
- Personal progress + Actionable: e.g., "Hate your job? Don't quit. Do this instead."
- Redefining yourself + Motivational: e.g., "Turning 50: You CAN redefine your career."
The purpose of rapid content iteration is to allow us to create content ideas quickly and easily and to ensure that we never run out of ideas.
Benefits of Systemising Your Content Creation
- Efficiency: The Content Matrix reduces the time spent on brainstorming, allowing you to focus more on writing.
- Consistency: Having a system in place ensures you consistently produce high-quality content.
- Creativity: The matrix encourages creative thinking by combining different themes and styles, leading to unique and engaging content.
- Agility: Rapid content iteration allows you to quickly adapt and refine your content based on feedback, keeping it relevant and valuable.
Getting Started with the Content Matrix
According to Justin, systemising your content creation can significantly ease the process of writing online. By organising your themes and styles and incorporating rapid content iteration, you can produce consistent, creative, and valuable content for your audience.
To explore Justin Welsh's Content Matrix more, you can explore his course, "The Content Operating System," or "LinkedIn OS." This course offers detailed guides and templates to help you create high-quality newsletters and social media content each week.
