In the world of content, or really just media in general, there are two points of strategy that people use. Those being the wide versus narrow approach, the generalist versus specialist, or as I like to put it the Sniper versus Shotgun approach.

Meaning do you spend your effort, and time, on just 1 (maybe a couple) posts, and make sure it is fully optimized/perfected/etc?

OR

Do you spend your effort and time on creating as many posts as possible, without the leak of quality. Meaning you don't just spam out, but maybe you follow the pareto principle. As in if its 80/90% perfect, but not 100% absolute.

The idea is you can make 1-3 perfect posts per week, or make 12+ decent/good posts. The perfect posts might be better at retaining attention, or grabbing it in the first place. However the quantity based approach gives you more chances of actually being seen. Let's talk about it.

S.N.I.P.E.R. or Narrowed

Specialized Niche-focused Intentional Precision and Execution for Reach

The SNIPER based content is what a lot of the gurus tell you to do out there, and that is totally okay. I just want to clarify that it isn't the only way. It will help you really define who your target audience is, and more importantly define TO THEM that you are the go to person for that topic.

The niche-focus is what they always say "niche down" x3, and for a lot of creators that may be really helpful. Especially if you don't know what to do in the first place, as in written/audio/video, let alone what topic you want to do in the long run. You need to gain skills first and foremost, and by niching down you simplify your workload ironically.

It makes you more intentional about every post, and while it may be slow at first to make content and make the SNIPER high quality contnet. It will lead you to gaining more quality of subscribers (maybe even super fans), and it will help you gain better skills.

The problem is the Execution, as you will be putting out less total reps over time. Meaning you as a creator, as a person, get less practice towards your skill. This is often why I tell people to go sniper AFTER going wide.

Your reach really comes down to the quality of the content, the topic itself, and the ability of YOU being able to consistently put it out. Making less posts means less work, but the increased quality balances out that workload. Meaning you may be only putting out 1-3 pieces, but if you miss one then it can be a real set back.

S.H.O.T.G.U.N. or Wide

Scalable High-Output Tactics, Growth with Universal Networking

I think it is rather clear that this is the method I personally prefer, from the mindset of the last section, but I always care about what is best for YOU. The reader. I think that going SHOTGUN for newcomers is best as it gives you a chance to experiment. To change topics, to change styles, and to give you the freedom to change your mind.

Allowing you to find out what you like most out of the range of interests you have, as well as what content type you like the most. You don't really get a clear idea of if you like videos or podcasts, or blog posts, until you hit at least 30 reps. You really don't have good skills until you hit 100 reps to be blunt. Meaning you need a lot of posts out there to have a clear picture of what YOU like to make.

By having a High Output as well, then you can have more chances to be picked up by the algorithm. While yes that one optimized post got 5000 views, but if my 10 posts got 500 views each; Then both methods ended up with 5000 views.

The more reps you put out too, then the more times you get to put your mindset out there, and people can resonate with that. Leading to more growth.

The more videos out there too means more times for people to come and comment on your posts. Leading to more discussions with potential fans, and more engagement on your account.

Although the problem is that you can quickly slip into a low quality slop output if you're not careful. Hence why people vote for the sniper over shotgun sometimes. People have it in their head that "quantity" = "lower quality", but that doesn't have to be true. You can make more with various tools, strategies, or just repurposing from your long form too. There are many ways.

How can you do both?

Just like with the skill acquisition of short, long, or live content, there is a skill level you need to attain with both approaches. I think that even intermediate content creators would struggle at both, which means this is an advanced choice.

That also means that you may not want to try to both. I don't see a point, as doing one or the other would achieve the same thing for you... growth.

While both approaches give you different kinds of growth, as well as a different type of input you need to put in. Most likely you need to just simply switch to the other method if what you're doing isn't working anymore. Rarely would you ever need to do both, and you might need help to do it.

I think that doing both at the same time, while rewarding, is really difficult... like too much so for most creators. Don't attempt it even, as it could lead to burn out. However if you can switch between them, that might be your ticket to success. Perhaps find a way to interleave. Maybe one special post a month, or week, then do a bunch of wide range posts each week. You could go wide with shorts, and narrow with videos. I've even seen vice versa, where the creator went narrow with shorts. Focusing on the best clips, and then wide with their long form videos, and posting 3-5 long form a week.

Think about sustainability first, batching next, and then what are you good at?

Again you want to avoid burnout at all costs, and so another thing to think about is what do YOU like? If you prefer wide or narrow, then go with that, but not everyone knows what they prefer.

I'm making this post for you to get an idea of the good and bad about both options. Then hopefully to encourage you to do both!

Being able to batch out ahead of time as well is really helpful, and so if you can schedule out the wide shotgun posts ahead, then you can spend your time focusing on the narrow sniper posts.

If you're good at one approach, then it should be easier to get them done as well, and then that means you can focus your effort on the other kind you're not as used to making.

Why are both important?

You need as many opportunities to be seen in this vast ocean of creators, but you also need the optimized posts to stand out amongst the rest. If you skip the other, then you are leaving yourself open to disruption.

It isn't easy to do either one, even if you're naturally aligned with one of them, but if you gain the skills over time. Then you CAN do both, and that is part of the motivation behind this post. I wanted to tell you that detail, that it is okay to do both.

You can create more/get higher skill, you can repurpose more, you can combine in unique ways, etc. There are so many avenues to accomplish either approach!