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The Benefits of Focusing on a Core Message · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Writer Starter Kit, visit DailyWriterLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This week we've been talking about the importance of having one single core message as a writer.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that goes against a lot of writers' impulses because we all have many things that we want to write about.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: After all, we're writers.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're driven by curiosity and exploration.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: So by definition, we're all interested in a bunch of different things.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Even though focusing on one core message or truth in your writing might go against your initial impulse, hear me out because there are a lot of benefits of doing this.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically on today's episode, I want to share three benefits of approaching your writing this way.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, it's going to give you more focus.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: When you have one primary thing, one central principle or truth that you're writing about, I think life as a writer gets a lot easier.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can focus your time, your energy, and your research on that one main thing.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: You're not trying to learn about 15 different things all at once.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: You're just focused on one thing.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: For example, the author John Maxwell writes mainly about leadership.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's his thing, and he has promoted himself as the world's leadership expert for decades.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's given him a lot of focus in his research, his reading, his speaking, his writing, his connections, and so forth.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Second, focusing on one core message gives you momentum.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Readers are confused when a writer talks about different stuff all the time.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you write a book on gardening, and then you do a book on how to become an attorney, then you do a third book that's a sci-fi fiction book, then you do a fourth book that's uh a Bible devotional for teens.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, people are probably going to tune out because they don't know what box to put you in as far as topics go.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the more that you talk about a particular topic, the more that you're going to become known as an expert on that topic.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Over the last few years, I have mostly only talked about writing, you know, as far as like social media and podcasting and my public image goes.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I talk about it consistently to the extent now where basically my public identity is that I'm a guy who does writing.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a ghostwriter.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I understand that ghostwriting is it's a different thing, but it's all kind of writing to people's minds.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So when they think of me, people primarily think of me as a writing guy.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're an attorney and you write about being an attorney all the time and you teach people how to become an attorney or or you're writing books about that or you do a podcast about that, that's gonna be your primary image.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a gardener and you write books or or you do podcasts or articles on gardening, that's gonna be your primary image.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the more that you talk about something and the more that you teach about it and are excited about it publicly, the more you're going to become associated with that one thing over time.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like you can just pluck one thing out of the air and oh, all of a sudden people associate you with that.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: It does take time and it takes you putting out content and talking about it on a regular basis.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, all that is true for you as well.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I would encourage you to focus on one thing and talk about it consistently over time through a blog, books, podcasts, or other content, and you're gonna become known as the expert on that topic.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's a I'm not gonna say this is a dirty little secret, but I am gonna say this is a little secret.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how dirty it is, but sometimes we use that phrase, dirty little secret, to refer to something that's bad.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And this isn't anything that's bad, it's just something you don't hear talked about very much.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the little secret.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of experts on every conceivable topic out there, but the thing is that you don't have to be the world's foremost authority on something to become a recognized expert on it.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: You do need to have skills and expertise in that topic, don't get me wrong, but the person who writes and talks about something consistently over time is going to become the go-to person on that topic.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's not necessarily the smartest or the most accomplished person who is the recognized expert about something.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: It is the person who, yes, they have skills and abilities, but they also talk about it consistently.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: They write about it consistently.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're out there being a cheerleader on that topic consistently.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess my point with the second thing that I'm saying here is that you don't have to be the world's biggest expert on something.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to be the one who talks about it the most.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's an important thing to remember because everybody can do that.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can get on social media, you can do, you can write books and blog posts, you can do podcasts, you can do guest guest podcasting on whatever topic you're excited about.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the third thing here is that when you focus on a core message or a topic, it's going to give you a lot of energy.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I absolutely love talking about writing, not just because I'm passionate about it and because it helps people, but also because now I have a business surrounding this and and it gives me income.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not even just about that.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's that truly I think it's fun to do this.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I truly like talking about writing.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just a business for me.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just something I do for clients.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is something I wake up and I think about.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is something I go to bed and I think about.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is something I think about all day long.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I have other things in my life that I think about, yes, but you can talk to my, you could talk to people in my family, uh, both who live with me in our house.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: You could talk to my extended family, you can talk to close friends.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you ask them, what does Kent like to think about and talk about, they're gonna tell you he loves to talk about books and he loves to talk about writing and anything surrounding those topics.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So this is what I am really passionate about in real life.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: This gives me a lot of emotional energy.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the same thing is true for you as well.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you focus on one core message, you're gonna have a lot of energy, you're gonna have a lot of momentum, and you're gonna have a lot more focus.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Think about what I'm saying here today on this podcast episode and how focusing on one core message can benefit you.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you tomorrow.