About content creation and Minneapolis

I want to talk to you about creating content and how important it is. I got to thinking about this after reading an article about the organized resistance in Minneapolis. Someone was reporting that the level of organizing is unknowable, because so many people are involved at so many levels. “One of the nuts things about organizing in the Twin Cities right now is that even the most long-term organizers can’t keep track of all the resistance that is going on,” the account “From a Comrade” wrote.

Every neighborhood has people doing surprising things. The reporter mentioned a team of carpenters that was going around repairing doors that had been kicked in, or folks who were buying and delivering food to people in hiding. So many different skills and ways people were showing up.

I think it’s possible that if you are thinking no one wants to hear what you have to say, that you don’t really get the power and value of the gifts that you carry in the work that you do.

I wrote, “This is the way. There is no one answer. There are uncounted individual answers that we each bring in relationship with each other.” 

Celebrity is not the way. But that doesn’t mean you hide your gifts or don’t speak up… it means the exact opposite. It means we don’t cede our voices to a few celebrities in our field. It means everyone speaks up and shares what they know.

Content creation is, at heart, about “getting help to the people.” It’s about trusting that if someone can be fully helped with an article, they don’t need deeper help. And if they need deeper help, your generosity in your content creation helps them to trust that help is available. It helps them to know whether you are someone who can help them.

Am I wanting more noise and chaos? I wouldn’t put it like that…

I would put it like this: wherever I walk in the woods, I want to hear birds in the trees, and see critters making homes in the land around me. I don’t want one bird in one tree in one place… I want them everywhere. I want uncountable flocks of every kind of bird that is meant to live where I’m walking, and every critter and creature and being that goes along with that.

I don’t want just one, or a handful, of acupuncturists sharing the wisdom of Chinese medicine from their own particular view point… I want so many acupuncturists sharing in every community. And whatever your work is, I want you and all of your colleagues doing the same.

Does this mean it will be harder for one person to gather one million followers? Maybe. But, can you give to a few hundred or a few thousand people that need the gifts you’re carrying?

Yes, you can. I know I didn’t get into how to create content, and I teach that, too. But, I first want you to embrace your song and be willing to sing it. It’s natural to feel hesitant when you’re unsure how to sing.

But you can. If you can work with your clients, and talk to them in ways they understand, and help them with what you do, then you can create content in your own particular voice, in your own particular way, the way your heart leads you.

Don’t worry about being “unique”… just think about getting the help, the song, to the people.

with love,

Mark Silver, M.Div.

Heart of Business, Inc.

Every act of business can be an act of love.

My book might be a good place to start: