The Quiet Truth About Content Success

Why "showing up every day" might be the wrong goal

You've heard it a thousand times: "Post consistently or die." Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but close enough. Every content guru preaches the gospel of consistency like it's carved in stone.

Here's the thing though - when was the last time you subscribed to a newsletter because it arrived like clockwork?

I'll tell you what actually happens: You find something that speaks to you. Something that makes you think "Yes! Finally someone gets it!" (or “Oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way!”) And suddenly, you don't care if they post daily, weekly, or once in a blue moon. You just want more of that.

The Appeal Factor

Think about your favorite authors. The ones whose books you pre-order the moment they're announced. Do you care that Stephen King writes faster than George R.R. Martin? Or do you care about the stories themselves?

This hits home for me because I spent years chasing the consistency dragon. Plotting content calendars, setting rigid schedules, feeling guilty when life got in the way. And you know what? My best-performing content never came from those forced marches through the content calendar.

It came from moments of genuine insight. From conversations with creators that sparked something real. From taking the time to craft something worth reading.

How AI Fits Into This (Without Taking Over)

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Because AI isn't here to make everything consistent - it's here to help make everything better.

Here's what I mean:

Context is Queen (sorry, content)

• Your AI needs to understand your world. Not just your industry, but your specific take on it

• In Chibi, we use memory fields for this. Think of them as giving your AI partner the backstory it needs

• Example: Instead of just saying "write in my voice," I have memory fields full of my actual conversations with creators, my philosophy on AI, even my weird coffee analogies

Prompts That Make Sense Remember when everyone was sharing those 47-paragraph prompts that looked like legal documents? Yeah, let's not do that.

Instead:

• Start with what you actually want to say

• Add specific examples of how you want to say it

• Give context that matters to this specific piece

Here's a real prompt I used recently:

Using my teaching style and beliefs about AI writing, create a first draft about why perfectionism kills creativity. Include the story about my failed first startup and how it taught me to ship before I'm ready.

Simple. Direct. Personal. And it worked because the AI already had the context it needed.

The Effort Truth Nobody Wants to Hear

Ready for the plot twist? AI doesn't actually make things easier. It makes effort more valuable.

Think of it this way:

• Bad content is still bad content, even with AI

• Rushed ideas are still rushed ideas, even with AI

• But thoughtful work? That's where AI becomes a force multiplier

The real winners in this new world aren't the ones who use AI to cut corners. They're the ones who use AI to:

• Test ideas faster

• Explore different angles

• Polish good work into great work

• Focus their energy on what matters most

And you know what? That still takes effort. Maybe even more effort than before, because now you're not just crafting content - you're learning to work with an entirely new creative partner.

The Question That Matters

So here's what I want to know: What makes content appeal to you? Not what the algorithms want, not what the gurus preach, but what makes you stop scrolling and actually read something?

I have my theories (obviously), but I'd love to hear yours. Drop a reply and let me know - because maybe that's the conversation we should be having instead of debating posting schedules.

Until next time (whenever that is),

—Chad

P.S. Notice how this newsletter showed up when I had something worth saying, not because my content calendar said it was time? 😉