Good morning from New Zealand!

Early on in my YouTube career, I heard of Content Pillars. I briefly looked into them and then moved on.

As often happens, you learn something once, and then it keeps reappearing in different forms until you are ready to take notice.

Well, in the last few months, I’ve taken notice. Content Pillars matter A LOT, and they should not be ignored.

So, what is a Content Pillar?

Well first, you need to know what your overarching topic is. For me, it’s walking across New Zealand – the Te Araroa Trail.

Content Pillars would be the possible subtopics I could talk about around this.

For example, I could talk about the gear one needs to walk the train. I could talk about how inspiring it is. I could talk about the nutrition needed to walk the trail, or the level of fitness. I could talk about what it’s like to be a solo female on the trail and safety.

As you can see… there are heaps of subtopics I could go into.

The idea behind Content Pillars is that you choose 3-5 of those subtopics and you only talk about those things.

But why would someone LIMIT the topics they talk about? Aren’t you just limiting your audience?

Well no actually, you’re growing your audience. Let me explain.

Imagine you are an experienced hiker. You’ve climbed every peak in New Zealand and you are about to climb Mt Everest. It is very unlikely that you will be interested in my review of the $200 backpack I just bought for Te Araroa, because a) your gear is likely in the thousands and b) you know way more about gear than I do. You’re more likely following other extreme hikers so you can learn from their experience.

I could try to appeal to you by using all the technical lingo and reviewing more expensive gear, but then I would potentially be isolating beginners who don’t yet know what silnylon and DWR are. And if I start explaining those terms, you’re going to peace out.

Content Pillars make it clear who your content is for, and it ensures you are constantly talking to that same audience. By constantly talking to the same audience over and over again, it also increases the likelihood that they will engage with your audience, and overall speeds up your growth.

Not seeing it yet?

Imagine in every one of my posts, I talk about going on my first solo hike (this is a real example by the way). I garner an audience interested in my solo journey and they are egging me on. They are so excited for my journey!

One day, I go visit a friend and we go on an epic sailing journey. It feels aligned with the trail walking to me because it’s an outdoor adventure and very similar crowds. I’m also pushing myself in the same way I do when I go hiking. So I post about this adventure.

But Jane Doe over here has never been exposed to sailing and really has no interest. Emotionally speaking, she doesn’t get the connection.

When I started posting about sailing, Jane is thinking, “Is she still doing the big walk, or is she sailing now? If it’s sailing, this isn’t really my thing…”

She peace’s out.

Alternatively, if all I do is post about pursuing the big walk and I often talk about my own solo hikes, Anna thinks to herself, “I wonder what Daniella is up to today! Did she do the big walk this weekend? How did it go? What did she learn?” She might even go so far as going directly to my page to check in.

Do the math. If we have 1,000 followers and every post drew in or pushed away just 10% of your followers due to alignment or misalignment, it would take 7 posts to lose 500 followers or 5 posts to gain over 500.

So what would your content pillars be, if you were to only choose 3 (5 max)? I’m still deciding mine, but this is what I’m thinking:

• Preparing my body for my first and longest solo hike.
• Gear/Nutrition/Trail – all the logistics of the trail.
• Coming into my own again after a toxic relationship / self-care