The Power of “Obvious” Content

“This is obvious.”

“Everyone knows this.”

“This has been said a hundred times.”

Do these phrases sound familiar to you? If you create content, you’ve likely said all of these before. It’s one of the biggest traps for executives who are starting to share their thoughts and build their presence online.

We like to call this, “The Paradox of Obvious Content.”

It’s the idea that content that feels “obvious” to the author will feel “obvious” to their audience.

• You fear it won’t be valuable
• You fear it’ll dilute your brand
• You fear it’ll hurt your credibility
• You fear you’ll sound like everyone else
• You fear your content won’t be seen as original

It’s a completely understandable feeling, but it’s also completely false.

There’s another name for this phenomenon: The Curse of Knowledge. We assume everyone else knows what we know.

But here’s the truth: What’s obvious to an “expert” is enlightening to everyone else. And 99% of your audience is in the “everyone else” group.

In reality, the “obvious” content is the content you SHOULD be creating for your audience.

• It’s valuable
• It’s educational
• It’s what’s your audience needs

So, how do you identify obvious content that would be valuable to your audience?

Here are 5 simple ways:

1. What beginners need

Think about what “beginners” in your industry or role need.

• What are the “fundamentals”?
• What do they need to get started?
• What would a “101” class look like if you were teaching it?

Start simple and help your audience build a strong foundation. Most people — even those who aren’t “beginners” — need this more than you think.

2. What’s misunderstood?

Identify topics or areas that are commonly misunderstood.

Let’s say you’re a venture capital investor.

• What do people often get wrong about investing?
• What do people get confused about startups?
• What concepts are often misused or misapplied?

Those areas are ripe for you to create content that makes them clear and easy to understand. That content is super valuable and useful.

3. What you wish you knew

Imagine you were starting over again. Maybe you’re 22 coming out of college and just entering the professional world. Or maybe it’s three years ago and you’re just beginning the role you’re currently in.

Whatever the context, this is a powerful question to ask:

“What do I wish I knew when I was just starting?”

Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and dump everything that comes to mind on the page. That list of ideas are things the majority of people want to know.

That’s a golden opportunity for you to share your knowledge, lessons and experiences in a way that will be valuable to others.

4. What you often get asked

Pay attention to the questions you get asked.

• By customers
• By employees
• By friends and family

Other peoples’ questions are pre-validated content.

They’re literally telling you what content they would find useful!

Start noticing and jotting down the questions you’re asked. Revisit them once a month for content inspiration.

5. The One Thing

Here’s one of the simplest and most valuable content frameworks we know.

Ask yourself:

“If I could teach someone only ONE thing about [topic], what would that be?”

This framework forces prioritization of the most valuable ideas.

The cool thing: That one idea likely has many pieces of valuable content embedded inside of it.

For example, let’s say you’re that VC investor and the ONE thing you’d teach someone about venture capital is how to value a startup business.

Now ask yourself, “What does someone need to know to value a startup?”

There’s probably quite a few things in that answer.

All of those are valuable content ideas that correlate to the ONE valuable topic you’re teaching.