Weekend Thoughts - I am stuck in the Zone of Excellence
Zone of Genius, Medium Publications, Quora and Substack
One year ago, I was exclusively creating content in German.
Over the course of last year, I slowly switched everything to the international English-speaking sphere:
Twitter
Blogging
Newsletters
Digital Products
This paid off because I could create a lot of meaningful connections with other creators and entrepreneurs. Moreover, I started creating digital products for my followers which now generate a small side income every month.
Still, there is an obstacle.
All of my existing agency clients are coming from the German-speaking market.
Lawyers, Medical Doctors, Gyms.
So far, I didn’t use my international community to sell my services, just to promote my digital products.
Sounds stupid, because I could do a lot more money by doing it. However, reading the Curiosity Chronicle Newsletter by Sahil Bloom made me aware that I am stuck in the Zone of Excellence.
If you want to read the whole story, click here:
Fellow Creators! Don’t Get Trapped in the Zone of Excellence
But to wrap things up: The Zone of Excellence is an area in which you are competent, while you are not passionate about it. Instead, of remaining in that zone you better search for your Zone of Genius where you are both: Competent and passionate.
So, I am fairly good at doing SEO and Google Ads. At least this is the feedback I am getting from my customers. But while SEO is a skill I enjoy having, it's not a field I'm passionate about.
Originally, I learned SEO to push my own blog. I did this successfully because after some years I could welcome 100 K monthly readers to my site.
But after abandoning this project, I was forced to sell my skills. This worked out well, but I am feeling more and more that I lack something.
Passion.
I am interested in fields like Economics, Learning-how-to-learn, Mental Models, or Psychology.
But I feel that I am stuck in being the online-marketing guy.
It is valuable to know “how to do online marketing” but ultimately I would love to use it for something I really care about, not for just helping people to make money on the internet.
And this is the big question I am facing at the moment:
How can I best link my passion with my competence?
I don’t expect to find an easy answer.
One way to figure this out is by writing a lot because it is a good way to check what is resonating with me and my audience the most.
This brings me to the next point:
Medium Publications don’t work
Last month, one of my essays got accepted by a major Medium publication.
It was this one: The Magic of Atomic Habits
This was the first time, that one of my articles got published by a publication with thousands of followers. No wonder that my expectations were high.
And the article really went to the moon - at least compared to my previous articles on Medium - by gaining almost 2.000 views in just a few days.
So, am I now a successful writer on medium?
No. It’s not that easy.
Since last month, 5 more of my articles were accepted by big publications. However, none of them could replicate the virality of the first one.
This showed me that being accepted by a publication is overrated. Sure, some of your content will go viral, but it is not a safe bet. The only guarantee for being read is to build your own audience.
To be precise: I need to build a larger email list.
But for doing so, I need to make my branding crystal clear.
I also started micro-blogging on Quora.
Not for the first time.
I first registered there in 2013 but didn’t understand it and forgot about the platform.
I returned several times. Never understood it.
Now, I returned again. I am still not sure how Quora works. Nevertheless, I am writing there every day for a week now. So far I could attract close to 6.000 views, which is impressive in my opinion (and much more than my reach on Medium).
Role of Substack
What is the role of substack in my content strategy?
I started writing here by reposting my articles from Medium. But in the future, Substack will be my content hub.
You can expect to find a weekly summary of the most valuable content I have created and consumed here on my Substack blog.
So, if you want to get weekly updates on my journey of finding my Zone of Genius just continue following me on Substack.
Until next week,
Philipp