264# Document, don't create (part 1)

In this episode, I’m on my way to give a guest lecture at the Faculty of Economics, and I’m using this time to share my key lesson with you—document, don’t create. I’ve been thinking a lot about how people approach social media, and I realized that instead of constantly trying to create fresh content, it’s much easier and more impactful to document what’s already happening. That’s exactly what I do with this podcast; I document my journey, and it becomes my content.

By documenting your journey, you bring your audience along for the ride. It takes the pressure off trying to be creative all the time, and it builds long-term engagement because people want to follow your story. Whether you’re building a personal brand or growing a business, documenting your process gives you an endless source of content while helping you stay authentic and relatable.

Transcript:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Sweet Buzz! I’m pretty excited this morning as I’m driving to the Faculty of Economics where I’ll be giving a lecture. The road isn’t great, so apologies in advance, but I thought it would be fun to share the topic I’m presenting. In fact, I haven’t fully rehearsed it yet, so this is like a trial run with you as my audience!

The Faculty of Economics, where I got my bachelor’s degree in eBusiness, invited me to speak to about 50 to 100 students. I’m going to be talking about social media, specifically personal branding and business branding. I saw that other guest speakers talked about things like data and statistics, but I wanted to do something more engaging and relevant to the students. Instead of just talking about business departments like HR or marketing, I’m focusing on how they can become influencers. It’s a hook to grab their attention, but I’ll also apply the same principles to business branding to make it practical for them.

My presentation is divided into two main lessons, and I’ll share the first one with you today. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while as I see how people behave on social media. Here’s the main idea: instead of constantly trying to create new content, document your journey. That’s right—document, don’t create. As a business owner, this podcast is an example of how I’m documenting my journey. I’m telling you that I’m about to give a lecture at the Faculty of Economics, and that’s content! Documenting your journey makes content creation much easier because you’re simply sharing what’s happening in your life or business.

Too many people struggle to come up with creative content consistently. They feel like they need a high-production team, fancy cameras, and complex ideas. But documenting your journey doesn’t need all that. It’s natural, raw, and engaging. When you take people on your journey, they want to follow along and see what happens next. And unlike a typical social media post that disappears in a day or two, documenting a journey keeps people coming back to see how the story unfolds. It gives you long-term content that can build an engaged audience over time.

That’s how I approach all of my content—from podcasts to books to summits. I document the things I’m already doing in my business, and it takes the pressure off having to constantly invent new ideas. For instance, Sweet Leads documents everything that worked in our B2B appointment-setting service, and my Financial Freedom book is essentially a decade-long journey from skill development to financial independence. Whether you want to become an influencer or build your brand, documenting your journey gives you both content and purpose.

So, that’s lesson number one: document, don’t create. It applies to personal branding, business branding, and everything in between. Start documenting what’s happening in your life or company, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier social media content becomes. Trust me, you’ll thank me later!