A few months ago, my client had their first taste of internet virality. One of the stories we wrote together took off on LinkedIn.
The next day he read through the post comments at the gym. He was amped up, full of fresh story ideas. Between weightlifting sets, he fired off idea after idea to me via email.
It was as if content marketing suddenly became easy. Ideas were everywhere.
This gets to an important part of the publishing game that no one talks about. One of the most underrated forces in content creation is the power of momentum.
Momentum in publishing
Momentum is a self-propelling machine. One idea jumps off another. Even writing comes easy.
You hit a home run and immediately want another chance at bat.
But most content marketers don't talk about momentum because it's inherently unreliable. No one goes viral every time. Most posts you write won't stick.
Publishing is a numbers game. You have to put in the reps to see traction. If you gave up writing as soon as the inspiration stopped, you wouldn't last a week.
But there's a catch.
Most people only experience the advantages of momentum after they've gone viral. It's rare, fleeting, and spontaneous. If you want predictable momentum that lasts, you must learn a different skill.
You must learn to gamify effort.
How to gamify effort
The recipe for succeeding in content marketing isn't some deeply held secret. You publish interesting ideas and stories consistently for a long time. Double down on what works. Publish less of what doesn't.
Momentum can help you stay consistent. But you must reverse-engineer how most people use it.
Don't look for momentum in outcomes. Foster momentum through consistent effort.
This is how Jerry Seinfeld did it. He turned daily joke writing into a core career habit for succeeding in comedy.
It's a simple idea commonly known as "don't break the chain."
Track your effort. In Seinfeld's case, effort meant writing a single joke. In your case, it might mean publishing three tweets.
Every day that you accomplish the required task, put an X through that date on the calendar. Once you have a few days in a row, you've formed a chain.
Don't break the chain.
You build momentum by turning consistency into its own reward.
What gets measured gets momentum
One step greater than Seinfeld's calendar chain is a publishing calendar.
This is what I use to publish daily on X, semi-weekly on LinkedIn, and weekly on my blog. The advantage of the content calendar is you can manufacture multiple forms of effort-based momentum into the calendar.
For example, I track a few key metrics for my clients related to their publishing efforts. I track their monthly follower growth and turn the stats into a chart that they can watch grow over time.
I also highlight their top five or ten posts of all time, creating a personal leader board that challenges us to replace old winning posts with new ones. All of this is done for the sake of momentum.
The key is to reward effort and use it to build personal publishing momentum. We all know that the real reward is on the other side of that effort.
When real momentum kicks in
As your audience grows, as your ideas get sharper, and as your writing improves, the real rewards for writing slowly emerge.
Podcasts ask to interview you. Followers turn into fans. Fans turn into customers. Posts take off like a rocketship. Editors ask your opinion for an article. Bloggers link organically back to your website.
You enter the larger industry conversation.
One day, you look up and notice that traditional sources of momentum abound. Creating content is now easier. Ideas are everywhere. Stories emerge in your mind faster than you can write and publish them.
You write post ideas out between sets at the gym.
By this point, you could coast if you want. You've earned it. The content is working for you.
But you remember that effort got you this far. Better to stay the course and make the most of the momentum bubbling around you.
Keep writing. Keep publishing.
