Over the last few years, I’ve been challenging myself to create content for me. It’s been surprisingly tough. Ya see: My agency excels at content creation. Yet I’ve struggled to get it done for myself with any consistently. These content challenges are an attempt to make self-publishing one of my core Habits. It’s still a work in progress. But progress has been made nonetheless. Now, I’m on my third “challenge.” It may be that this is the last one I ever need. Putting myself up to these has already increased my output substantially. Batching, Deep Work, Delegation: I’ve gotten better at them all. So let’s talk about how I got here.
2018 Monthly Posts
In 2018, I created a series of monthly posts that basically just went over my month. I created little themes for each month. It included the progress of my businesses, things I was learning, and even what anime I was watching at the time. Not all of the posts were published “on time.” For example, when I originally published this post, I still hadn’t finished the final review post for 2018. 😂 But they all got done… eventually. Late Post: Lessons Learned From My First Year Blogging So I kept my promise to myself. And I got more ambitious for 2019.
2019 Daily Content Challenge
It pretty much happened on a whim. But before 2018 was over, I decided I wanted to post everyday instead. It came to me as I worked on my 2019 Goals and 30-Year Goals. The first challenge was specifically for ZachBradshaw.com. This one though, included all My Brands. Aside from Greensboro SEO Pro, that ain’t saying much. But it’s certainly saying more after this challenge than before it. I basically just challenged myself to publish new content 365 days in a row. My longest streak was only 97. 🙄 But the gains were still massive. Know It All Copy and Work From Home Junkie are pretty much ready to go now. And Local Wildfire isn’t far behind them. Plus, my marketing company and its YouTube Channel saw major gains. And the size and scope of This Site exploded. Read More: Daily Content Challenge I Now, things get really interesting. This year was my most prolific year to date. Next year will put it to shame. I now have the systems (and people) in place to take this to the next level.
2020 Daily Content Challenge II
In 2020, I get to crank up the quality. My marketing company is set to drop at least 100 pieces of new content this year. We’re going to get in the national conversation about Digital Marketing. We’ll start with Citations and WordPress then let it go where it wants to. Once the video production starts back up, it’s game over. Almost everything will double as training and have backend systems to support it. On the other hand: ZachBradshaw.com might break 200 pieces of new content. There is no end in site for my Hero and Favorite shell pages. While most will have little value at first, some may get full updates by the end of the year. Functional pages are brewing but I’m not quite ready to tackle the full scope of the content yet… There are like a trillion unrelated topics after all. 😅😂🤓 Speaking of unrelated topics, I expect some random content outbursts from my other brands too. Stay Updated Here: Zach’s 2020 Daily Content Challenge
Like I said, this may be the last challenge I ever need. But if it isn’t, I’ll come back to this post and add another one. Whatever happens, there ain’t no stopping this train. 🚂💪📈 I’m determined to claim yet another slice of the Internet for myself every single day. It’s going well so far. Come back to watch it continue.
(Updated January 10th, 2022)
2021 Daily Content Challenge III
Writing this is hindsight, 2021 looks pretty good. See it here: 2021 Daily Content Challenge I actually got my team involved heavily last year. That resulted in pretty massive expansions of several of My Brands, including Playing Markets, Insider’s Guide to Credit, and Truth in Blockchain, and Make Your Brain Better. This lead to 2021 being my most prolific year by far so far. None of the daily streaks were that great, mostly because we had several scheduling breakdowns as a team. Nonetheless, both quantity and quality took giant leaps forward from the year prior. So I didn’t reach my ultimate goal of 365 days in a row. But I only missed about 30 days out of the whole year. That’s about 10% better than I did in 2020. Another 10% increase in 2022 would mean ultimate success.
2022 Daily Content Challenge IV
Now, I laugh a little bit thinking about the original title of this post: 3 Years to Content Publishing Mastery “The last challenge I ever need,” he says! 😂🤦♂️🙄 Oh, the arrogance! I’m feeling good about hitting 365 days of content updates in a row. But now I realize that I probably still won’t be a content publishing “master” at that point. For starters, I still do a lot of simple updates to hit my daily quota. The original purpose was to create something valuable everyday. I’m nowhere near that at this point. And truly, I may never be. I excel as a long-form writer. Much of what I write are research-heavy pieces. And I like to add media to them. Plus, I actually write kinda’ slowly, depending on the type of content I’m working on. Part of that is my writing style. I’m allergic to repeating the same phrasing in the same piece (unless it’s done for dramatic effect). I’ve finally found a good balance between quantity and quality. Two and a half weeks in, this one really feels like the year I hit a full year in a row. See how well I do here: 2022 Daily Content Challenge This time, I really think I might crack the code. Plus, I’m so hype for 2022 that I expect the first several months to be my easiest yet. Not to mention, I’ve also starting experimenting with AI writers. I guess that makes this the “next generation” of Zach’s content creation. I can’t wait to see how far I go. 🤩🤩🤩
(Updated March 12th, 2023) To review 2022’s challenge: Last year started of phenomenally. I set a new record with over 200 straight days of new content. Then things fell completely off the rails as I basically almost gave up on life. 🤦♂️ It’s so disappointing to think about. Lessons learned.
2023 Daily Content Challenge V
This time around, I’m starting things off really late. After nearly six months of inactivity, I didn’t get back on the horse until the end of February. It pisses me off—which is great because I’m pretty good at channeling my anger into positive action. As things stand, the last few weeks have gone extremely well. I haven’t even come close to missing a day over these three weeks. A lot of the credit for that has to go to my “my hour first” protocol. More than anything else, I think working on my own projects first thing is the biggest key to consistent content production. In fact, it actually boosts my overall Productivity and results in me getting more done for my clients as well. Focusing on the Achievement-related content on This Site seems to compound that affect. It really feels like something that is going to be a life-long habit. I’m determined to keep this up and finish the year with a new longest-ever streak. Do that, and I’ll be able to hit the 365-day mark in early 2024. You can keep up with how well I do here: 2023 Daily Content Challenge
(Updated March 7th, 2024) My content production for my own sites was pretty much sh!t throughout 2023. I didn’t even publish new content for 25% of the days in the year! My performance hit new lows on nearly every single metric. Beyond sad. Downright lamentable.
2024 Daily Content Challenge VI
Okay, now I’m actually pissed! 🤬🤬🤬 So I’m not actually going to say much. I’m just going to let actions speak. I’ll come back in a few months to give you an update.
