To stand out from others when it comes to creating and sharing content, your content must sometimes be disruptive.
Disruptive content is content that engages your ideal client on a deeper level than your regular content. It's different, it's deep, it's engaging, and it makes your ideal client think, want to comment, like and share it. It might also make your non-ideal client comment and share because they disagree with you — and that's good!
You don't necessarily need people to disagree with you though. Disruptive content can wake people up without making anyone angry or upset. However, disruptive content often attracts those who disagree and that's why most people avoid creating it.
This shouldn’t put you off. The only way you can become a thought leader, an authority in your niche, the go-to-expert, is creating content that positions you as such.
If you dedicate enough time and effort into creating content, you will already have good content. However, disruptive content should be different. It’s your very best content, where people get to know your thoughts and opinions. It’s not the kind of content you create every day — ideally, you’ll sit down every 90 days and come up with a disruptive content idea.
So how do you create unique, disruptive content?
Step 1: Brainstorm
Pick a different environment (not at your desk where you write your regular content) and get your mind buzzing with ideas. Here are a few questions to get you started:
- What's the most frustrating part about your industry?
- What's the one thing you wish people would talk more about?
- What's something you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with?
- If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in your industry / in the world?
- What do you see happening in your industry but no one is talking about?
- How will your industry look like in 10 years?
- What would you talk about if you had no fear?
- What comes to mind when you read: “Speak up, even if your voice is shaking”?
- What do you know to be true about your industry?
- What's going to disrupt your industry?
Come up with several answers to each question. There are no wrong answers.
Step 2: Pick your idea
Pick one of your answers that sounds the most disruptive or scary to you.
Put a timer on for 20 minutes and write down everything that comes to your mind. Don't edit your thoughts or words, just write without stopping. That's how you’re going to get it all out.
Step 3: Find proof
Find proof or statistics that back up your ideas. When you have a strong opinion you want to be able to back it up. If you don't have anything yet then you could do a quick survey or interviews.
Step 4: Hook
Creating a good hook or title for disruptive content is key, otherwise nobody is going to read it. You could have the most amazing disruptive content but if your hook isn’t good, there’s no point in posting it.
For inspiration, buy magazines you would never read. Flip through them, and look at the titles of stories. Because you’re not really interested in the topic, you’ll be able to look at the titles more objectively. It’s a fantastic method to find a good hook or title for disruptive content.
Examples of Disruptive Content
In my Momentum 360 coaching program, we recently had a Content Creation sprint and I asked members to share their own disruptive content. Below you'll find their pieces for inspiration. (The content is in different languages so go ahead and use Google Translate and Facebook also provides a translation.)
- Jane Von Klee, copywriter and SEO expert, wrote this Facebook post about so-called experts who take advantage of their clients.
- Mindset & Messaging Coach, Katja Brunkhorst wrote a disruptive article on the one thing that can help us survive and even thrive within the turmoil of change here and wrote another about empowering women in a male-dominated world.
- In this Facebook post, writing coach Monika Stolina shared why you need to kill your darlings to find your inner muse.
- Arantza Bayod, finance expert, wrote this disruptive post on LinkedIn about what no one tells women about money and pension.
- Agnieszka Gaczkowska offers online handmade workshops and in this post, revealed all her quirks and imperfections.
- Coach for speech and voice Monika Hein wrote this Instagram post about what working on your voice really is about (only available in German).
- Carola Epple, media scientist and virtual reality expert, shared why virtual reality helps patients and therapists alike.
- In this Facebook post, copywriter Ingrid Dach wrote about why in a launch, making money doesn’t always come first for her.
- Virginia Katsimpiri, business mentor for translators, wrote about how important it is to know the value you bring to your clients when making sales in this LinkedIn post.
How Disruptive Content Attracts an Audience
In 2017 I was in a mastermind and we were discussing Profit First. Most entrepreneurs like the concept but I (along with one other Masterminder) didn't like it because it halts fast-growth companies like ours. We were both quite upset that no one was talking about that Profit First doesn't work well for launch-based companies that are growing from six to seven figures.
I decided to do an episode on my podcast about it. I was of course scared to talk about something that almost everyone agrees on but I took the plunge and do not regret it.
A lot of people have shared with me that they found me through this episode. I also know a lot of people who do not like me because I did that episode. And that's exactly the point of disruptive content.
Curious About Momentum 360?
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