5 Counter-Intuitive Questions Every Startup Founder Should Ask Before Writing Their First (or Fortieth) Blog Post
There’s a condition that gets little media attention but is rampant in online writing: Blinking Cursor Syndrome. It has a slightly less common subtype I call Blank Page Overload. This condition is especially prevalent among those who need to write online but who don’t have a background in, or training specific to, writing as a discipline. In my ongoing attempt to rid my clients of such scourges and to enable them to write to their heart’s content, today I offer a selection of my favorite slightly off-base questions you can ask yourself should you find yourself staring down the dreaded Blinking Cursor of Doom or even the Blank Page of Discontent. “What’s one contrarian thing I believe about my industry that no one else is willing to admit?” This one’s not so much about the writing directly, it’s more about forcing yourself to think about what you do from a different perspective. (Ed note: I’m a massive proponent of forcing yourself outside your comfort zone when it comes to “conventional wisdom,” as I find it all too often to be neither) The idea behind asking yourself this question is to push yourself to identify a unique insight or belief that your audience will benefit from understanding. It can be something that challenges the status quo in your industry, or something more specific to the way your product works its magic. The point is to show off your expertise in a way that also positions you as the thought leader to watch. Examples: “Most cybersecurity startups focus on selling fear, but I believe educating users on simple, proactive habits is a more realistic way to generate sustainable risk mitigation behaviors.” “In fintech, the current obsession with AI-this and automated-that is leading to people overlooking the value of human expertise in managing complex scenarios.” “If I had to convince someone of the opposite of what I believe about my product, what would I say?” This one’s all about critical thinking. If you can plan ahead and know what objections your audience is likely to raise, you can have your rebuttal ready to go. Crafting compelling, nuanced content that pre-addresses skeptics shows that not only do you know your stuff, you know your audience—maybe a little better than they do. Examples: “Our SaaS platform might be too complex for small businesses and better suited for enterprises with dedicated IT teams.” “The wellness tech market is oversaturated, and many apps don’t actually improve mental health—they just add to screen time.” “Which failure or mistake in my startup journey could be a valuable lesson for others, and how can I tell that story?” Nothing builds trust like transparency, especially when it shows your human side. Many people in your audience probably have a skewed view of what a tech founder is like, behind the curtains, so to speak. Putting your foibles (the ones that relate to your business, that is, TMI is real, folks) on display for others to learn from can go a long way toward building trust and authenticity. Examples: “We launched before validating the core problem with real customers, which cost us months of re-development time.” “Trying to scale too quickly before our product-market fit was solid led to cash flow problems and team burnout.” “What’s a customer pain point that we can’t solve yet, and what are we doing about it?” Contrary to popular belief (in some circles anyway), putting your limitations on display shows a great deal of strength and knowledge about the inner working of your product, not to mention your audience. Falling under the heading of transparency again, this question forces you to address those limitations for all to see—as long as you remember to tell them what you’re doing to solve things. Examples: “We don’t yet support integrations with legacy ERP systems, however, our library of integrations is growing every week, and we’re on track to incorporate the last of these systems by the end of this year.” “Our cybersecurity tool doesn’t prevent insider threats effectively, and we’re transparent about the need for complementary solutions.” “What’s a story from outside my industry that illustrates a problem my audience faces?” Sticking to the idea of addressing pain points, this question forces you to think laterally (anyone else hate that phrase? No? Just me, then.) about problem solving. Non-sequiturs are memorable, so drawing unexpected parallels can jolt your readers into remembering your content and, by extension, your name. It also demonstrates that you’re a creative thinker, not just another pretty face. Examples: “How a small-town coffee shop’s personalized customer service offers lessons for SaaS companies struggling with user retention.” “The rise and fall of a popular fitness influencer shows the dangers of overpromising and underdelivering in wellness marketing.” BONUS: “How would I explain our value proposition to a 10-year-old?” It’s pretty common for startup value props to be…how to say this politely…jargony, fluffy, jingoistic, and nonsensical. Thinking about it as though you were describing your product to your niece, nephew, or friend’s kid forces you to simplify not only your words but also your thinking—and that’s how you connect with a wider audience. Examples: “Imagine you have a big box of toys, but you don’t know where your favorite ones are. Our app helps you find the toys you want quickly, so you can spend more time playing.” “We make sure your computer is safe from bad guys, kind of like how a superhero protects a city from villains.”
Is Content Still King in 2025? What Startups Need to Know
Content Marketing sure ain’t what it used to be. What started as blog posts and landing pages has morphed and expanded into multi-media and multi-channel campaign strategies. Don’t even get me started on the impact AI and AI-driven this-and-that are having. When Bill Gates coined the term “content is king” back in 1996, he had a good point. At that time, if you wanted your message to get traction, you needed to be sure it was posted in all the places. Well-written content, posted where your audience would see it, was indeed key to generating traffic and converting browsers to buyers. But what about in 2025? Where should you put your marketing budget: on blog posts, Instagram reels, LinkedIn ads, or guest spots on industry podcasts? Would it annoy you if I said the short answer was “Yes”? Let’s look at some arguments for and against the premise that “content is king,” starting with what may seem like a counterintuitive one—there’s just too much content out there. Content is dead, long live content We’ve reached content saturation It’s estimated that 4.6 billion pieces of content are published every day. Read that number again, and yes, that’s billion with a ‘b.’ We’ve hit saturation and are quickly heading toward complete overload when it comes to content on the internet. And AI tools like ChatGPT are enabling some people to generate that content at a speed heretofore unseen. Despite that, and despite the sheer overwhelming quantity of information available, efficient, human-written content generates more than 5x the traffic over time. It’s simply being overshadowed by the speed and scale of AI-generated slop. Search behavior has changed over time Content marketing guru Neil Patel has declared that SEO now stands for “Search Everywhere Optimization.” With platforms like TikTok and Instagram pushing short-form video to the top of the search engine results pages, many are no longer relying solely on long-form written content like blogs or whitepapers. That’s not to say you should shift your focus entirely over to the currently trending format—rather that you should be aware of where your audience is spending their time online and put yourself in front of them in the right format for each platform. Content rarely drives purchasing decisions Content is a long game. The vast majority of consumer purchases aren’t influenced by branded content as these decisions are made in-store and in the moment. The return of brick-and-mortar shopping is having an impact on the content marketing choices many consumer brands are making. Content is the once and future king Content is a long game Most marketing efforts are focused on the moment they’re occurring in. Lines like “Buy now!” or “Don’t miss out!” are all about getting someone to convert and make a purchase—in the moment. Content marketing, on the other hand, is a long-term strategy. By adjusting your keyword use, giving folks insights they won’t get elsewhere, and nurturing your audience relationships, you’re setting yourself and your brand up for years of success, just not necessarily in the next week. Or month, maybe. What you’re building is compounding returns instead of immediate. Humans like human content Without going too far into the weeds surrounding the human vs. AI debate, a recent study from the Marketing Insider Group found that human-generated content excelled at the aspects of content that matter here: trustworthiness, authenticity, and creativity. When it comes to tailoring your content to your audience, nothing beats an audience-centric strategy and no one does that better than a human writer. Trust and authority building, FTW One of the largest, and least understood, bits of building SEO credibility is trustworthiness and domain authority. Each of these is a large enough topic to warrant separate posts by SEO experts (which I am not)—what’s key is to understand that humans inherently trust other humans. High-quality content like how-to guides, explainers, case studies, and whitepapers all go a long way toward building trust and respect with your audience. And it’s that trust that will keep them coming back to your site, in turn boosting your brand reputation with the search engines. Content is still king, but it’s sharing the throne with context Despite changes in technology and user behavior, content remains a cornerstone of digital marketing because it drives organic traffic, builds trust, and positions brands as thought leaders. Search engines still prioritize high-quality content for ranking purposes, making blogs, whitepapers, and case studies essential for SEO. Furthermore, content serves as the foundation for audience engagement across channels—whether it’s a compelling story shared on social media or an informative video that educates potential customers. As long as businesses aim to solve problems and connect with their audiences, content will continue to play a vital role in achieving those goals. That said, to stay competitive in 2025 and beyond, organizations of all sizes must adapt their content strategies to emerging trends while staying true to their brand voice. Short-form video content is dominating platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, while AI tools are enabling faster production of personalized materials at scale. Interactive formats such as quizzes or calculators are gaining popularity for engaging users directly. Meanwhile, startups should also focus on repurposing pillar content into multiple formats—turning a single whitepaper into blog posts, infographics, videos, and social media snippets—to maximize reach without overextending resources. It’s about finding your audience where they are, then putting the content you want them to see in the right format to hit them where it counts. By embracing innovation while prioritizing audience needs, you can ensure your content remains impactful in a rapidly changing business environment and consumer landscape. Reach out to find out how I can help wrangle some context for your content!