Starting and growing a business can be hard, and sometimes you might feel stuck. Our weekly newsletter, Unstuck, gets delivered to over 100,000 people each week to help them get unstuck. We'd love to help you, too.
A question for you: when it comes to publishing content online, do you think quality or quantity is more important?
In a perfect world, it’s both, right? We want a lot of really good things. But if you were just starting out and could only pick one, which one would it be?
Take a moment to think of your answer…
Do you think quality or quantity is more important?
If you said quality, then that’s great — you want to produce something that isn’t crap.
Unfortunately, that’s wrong.
If you’re just starting out, whether on a new platform or overall, quantity is more important than quality. I’ll tell you why and help relieve you of the handcuffs of perfectionism that are probably restraining your growth.
Let’s talk about it, and let’s get unstuck.
Quote of the Week
“You’ve got to be cringe before they binge.”
—Pat Flynn
Story of the Week
The year was 2008, and I had just finished listening to my first podcast recording. I wanted to curl up into a ball and roll far, far away. I was SOOOOOO cringe.
It was so bad, in fact, that it took me a year and a half to finally muster up the courage to publish my first episode in July of 2010.
I felt the exact same way on YouTube, publishing just a few videos in the first year because I felt so yucky on camera.
The same thing happened when I started using social media. My average posting schedule was less than once a week.
What a shame.
I’ve recently learned that publishing more often comes with huge benefits, especially when you’re just starting out:
Practice Makes Progress: The more you create, the better you get — plain and simple. Every piece of content you publish teaches you something new, whether it's about your audience, your platform, your voice, or the systems you use to put that content together. Imagine waiting weeks before practicing something you want to improve at. It’s challenging when you don’t do something often.
Visibility and Reach: Quantity helps you show up more frequently. More content means more chances for people to discover, engage with, and share your work. It’s about being present and visible in a crowded space, where any new piece of content has the potential to skyrocket. Planting more seeds gives you more chances to grow something big.
Momentum and Consistency: Creating regularly builds momentum. It becomes a habit, and with consistency, you train your audience to expect and look forward to your content. This consistency is key to building a loyal following.
Feedback Loop: The more you put out there, the more feedback you get. This feedback is invaluable — it helps you understand what your audience likes, what they don’t, and how you can improve.
The benefits are clear and valuable, but most of us tend to hold back. While we may not have as much time as we’d like to publish more, working directly with several students has shown me that the excuse ”I don’t have enough time” is actually a symptom of two potential issues:
It’s a cover-up for procrastination. We say there’s not enough time, when in reality there is — we just consciously or subconsciously say that because we know we’re not great at it yet.
It’s a sign that it’s not a priority. People make time for things that are truly important to them — we always find a way when we really want or need something. Unfortunately, we often prioritize things we’re more confident in over what could potentially be more rewarding.
So, if you’re hesitating because you think your content isn’t good enough, let go of that fear. Embrace the process, produce more, and watch as you evolve and improve over time. Remember, nobody starts off being great.
As I like to say, “You’ve got to be cringe, before they binge.”
Keep pushing forward — you’ve got this!
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In this episode of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, I sit down with Brenden Mulligan, founder of Podpage. Brenden advocates for creating a small, profitable brand and avoiding the pitfalls of excessive growth. Learn how to launch products, overcome setbacks, niche down effectively, and gather valuable audience feedback.
Don't forget to hit "Follow" on your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and get the latest episodes!
Having a podcast is one of the most effective ways to build a devoted audience and grow your business. But where do you start?
Join me for a live webinar on Thursday, August 22nd, at 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET. I’ll guide you through the process of creating and growing a successful podcast, including choosing the right equipment, selecting a compelling topic, mastering engaging interviews, boosting your show's visibility, and much more.
In recent videos on the Pat Flynn YouTube channel, I’ve been using a technique to draw on the screen while talking, and it seems to be a great way to teach and engage with an audience through educational-type content.
I wanted to share the tools I use for that since many commenters have asked how it’s done. It’s not push-button easy, but the general idea is this: I have an iPad attached to my computer, and I’m using the Apple Pencil to draw on slides I upload onto the iPad. I use ScreenFlow to record the iPad screen — you can also use tools like Ecamm Live to do this, or even just screen record natively on the iPad and sync that with your edit later. The program I’m using on the iPad to allow me to draw on these images/slides is called Procreate, and it’s the secret sauce to all of this. It’s an inexpensive drawing tool similar to Photoshop, but it allows you to create different layers and show/hide them as needed, which is how I make all of this work. Then in post-edit, I crop the screen with my face onto the right side and crop the Procreate recording on the left. Put the two together, and boom! It’s just like working on a 90s classroom projector screen, except now it’s in a video!
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Starting and growing a business can be hard, and sometimes you might feel stuck. Our weekly newsletter, Unstuck, gets delivered to over 100,000 people each week to help them get unstuck. We'd love to help you, too.
