When I transitioned out of the Army and started my first business, I faced a big obstacle many first-time entrepreneurs and especially vetrepreneurs, face—I didn’t have a professional network, and I didn’t know anything about building a brand.

It was a daunting task. I was already in my 30s, and it was at the height of start-up mania where 20-something programmers were selling their companies for millions and even billions of dollars.

And here I was, logging into social media for the first time. Part of me was afraid I was too old, too inexperienced, and not smart enough to start and run a successful business.

Looking back on it all, the one thing I wish I had done differently is something that I suggest to nearly all of my coaching clients—become a creator.

Choose one social media channel and create content for it every single day. The channel doesn’t matter that much. Choose one that speaks to you and get started.

I was hit and miss on social media myself for a lot of years, but 100 days after going all in on LinkedIn, I booked $22,000 in new sales from the platform in a single week without Ads.

Now, I had a lot aligned in my business to make that happen, e.g., offers, ten years of testimonials, a best-selling book, etc., and my results are unusual and not easily duplicatable, but imagine what I could have done if I had gone all in on the platform 5-10 years ago. What if, instead of having ~8,000 followers, I had 20,000 or 80,000 or more?

There is an old saying that the best time to plant a fruit tree was ten years ago and right now, and that is exactly how I feel about learning to be a creator for a social media channel.

There are two main reasons to get started now.

First, because, like every new skill, you will suck when you first start. It will take months, if not years, for you to become competent, good, and then great. But you have to put in the work and get in the repetitions to improve. You will never build your skills unless you get started and start slogging forward. You will feel fear every time you publish, but here is the good news. When you first start, hardly anyone will see what you create, and nearly no one will remember it. If you publish something truly terrible, in the big scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. I shudder when I see some of the things I published when I first got started, but I definitely improved over time.

Second, content creation compounds over time. Everything that you create has the opportunity to connect with someone at the right time for nearly forever. I have pieces of content I created more than five years ago that, to this day, still attract new followers. Posts I tested years ago that proved to be of value to my target audience get recycled into new cycles as if they are brand new. Your body of work will grow and grow until it is something substantial and valuable.

The only downside of creating content is the time cost, but it is well worth the effort.

Don’t wait! Get started today.

Until next week!