7 Lessons Learned From My First Year In Content Creation

After completing my first year consistently creating content, I wanted to reflect on the key lessons I’ve learned along the way. Here are 7 things that stand out when I look back on this experience:

Audio & Video Editing

I cannot begin to express how much value I’ve found in learning the skills of audio and video editing. As a musician, these skills feel so essential to this niche. Since learning these technical skills, it feels like I could market anything so long as I have a weekly schedule to follow and a plan in place for editing. One of the most useful skills I developed is video editing. Learning to edit footage, add graphics, insert b-roll, and polish my videos made a huge difference in the quality and watchability of my content. Getting comfortable with editing software took time but was well worth the investment. I have a feeling someone may be wondering - “What programs should I use to edit video and/or audio?”, and the programs that I have tried and recommend are as follows:

Video Editing Software:

• Adobe Premiere Pro

• DaVinci Resolve

Audio Editing Software:

• Audacity

• Logic Pro

I may make a blog post in the future explaining and comparing these programs, as well as music notation software, in depth.

Marketing Myself

I discovered how vital marketing is, even when creating great content. Taking the time to optimize video titles, descriptions, and tags helped increase views. It takes a lot of time and observation to understand which platforms favor which trends and the formats to create videos and graphics. Personally, to avoid burning out from content creation, I made a goal for myself to only post new content bi-weekly, so I only make 2 posts a week on most platforms since that is what is sustainable for me in the long term. Marketing is not just a "nice to have" but a necessity. It also helps to find joy in it. For me, it allows me to embrace my creative nature and finding ways to make my content more creative makes this whole journey much more enjoyable for me.

Branding Myself

Working on my brand identity was another key learning. Figuring out my niche, tone of voice, logo, color palette, etc. helped me stand out and form deeper connections with my target audience. A cohesive brand makes content creation much more effective. If you constantly switch up your color palettes, switch niches, etc. it makes things less cohesive. No matter where you go, when you see a big name brand like a popular restaurant or big-box superstore, you always know what to expect in terms of what you get from each company. The principle applies to online branding and content creation as well.

Consistency is Key

Posting consistently - whether daily, weekly, or monthly - has built trust and reliability with my audience. Even when I didn't feel motivated, sticking to my schedule produced results over time. There are times where I did take occasional breaks when life called for it, and I made sure to communicate with my online communities. Consistency requires discipline but has helped me make genuine connections with many people over time.

Quality over Quantity

At first, I had this vision that I would make all these videos and post them every day, but I very quickly realized how overwhelming that goal was and learned that thoughtfully crafted, high-quality content resonates far more than churning out a bunch of half-effort content. Now I focus on producing my best work, even if it means I share less frequently. Having that established interactive community and making efforts to communicate really help.

Community Building

Making an effort to engage with my audience made content creation feel collaborative, not solitary. Responding to comments, asking questions, and interacting on social media strengthened relationships with readers. My favorite part about the content that I make is it is very nostalgic for many people in my age range. I love the connections I’ve made with others over a core childhood memory we can share.

Prioritizing Rest

I have experienced burnout, and as I lightly mentioned earlier it I follow a weekly schedule of content creation that I know is sustainable and enjoyable for me. I had to get comfortable with taking breaks when needed. If I push myself to hard to the point where all of my free time is taken up by churning out content, then it can lead to me taking a prolonged break where I may lose touch with my followers making it harder to get back into the swing of things, or quitting altogether. And I learned how to make space for recharging while still maintaining consistency.

All-in-all, life is too short to wonder what if, and I’m really glad I took the plunge to start getting into creating content. I’m also really happy that I’ve found my voice through blogging. Taking the lessons I’ve mentioned in this post, you can expect 2-4 blog posts per month from me. I will take things slow starting out as I map out my plan and look forward to connecting with the online community here as well.

Please feel free to comment below if any part of this post resonated with you or if there are any lessons here that you struggle with. I’m still learning and reflecting daily as I navigate through my content creation journey.