The content triangle of doom
Let’s talk about content.
Not the shiny, “just batch a month in an afternoon” version.
The real version.
The one that sees you sat at 9pm when you’re tired, fed up, and wondering why on earth you ever thought running your own business was a good idea.
Because here’s what I hear from small business owners all the time:
“I know I should be creating content…”
“I just don’t have the time.”
“I’ve run out of ideas.”
“Everyone else seems to manage it, why can’t I?”
And honestly?
It’s because you’re stuck in the very real tension between content, capacity, and ideas.
Let’s break that down.
The content expectation (or, the impossible standard)
Somewhere along the line, content creation got intense.
Suddenly it wasn’t:
“Share something helpful”
“Talk about what you do”
“Show up occasionally”
It became:
Post consistently
Be visible
Educate, inspire, entertain
Have a strong brand voice
Show personality
But also be strategic
And polished
And on multiple platforms
All while running an actual business.
Phew! No wonder it feels hard.
The capacity problem (the bit everyone conveniently forgets to talk about)
Capacity is the elephant in the room.
Because most small business owners are creating content in the margins of their day:
Between client work
After admin
Around family life
When their brain is already fried
You don’t have spare capacity lying around waiting to be used for content.
The ideas flow (or more accurately, the lack of them)
Let’s clear this up gently but firmly:
You haven’t run out of ideas.
You’ve run out of headspace.
When you’re tired, overwhelmed, or stretched thin, your brain goes into survival mode, not creative mode.
So you sit down to “do content” and suddenly:
- Everything sounds boring
- You’ve said it all before
- You don’t know what’s worth sharing
- Your mind goes completely blank
That’s not a lack of ideas. That’s cognitive overload.
The Content Triangle of Doom
Here’s where things start to unravel:
You don’t have the capacity, so you avoid content
Because you avoid content, you feel guilty
Guilt makes content feel heavier
Heavier content needs “better” ideas
Which you don’t have the capacity to think of
And round and round we go.
Wait, can you go ‘round’ in a triangle?!?!
Anyway, at some point, content stops feeling like a tool for your business and starts feeling like that one cupboard you absolutely do not open unless you’re emotionally prepared, know what I mean (the shit cupboard that everything falls out of, we’ve all got one).
Or, it feels like a problem you solve by simply closing your laptop and making a cup of tea. Because let’s face it, tea makes everything better right? (Pint cup, Yorkshire tea, two tea bags – perfect!)
My point is
You’re already stretched
You’re already overwhelmed
You’re already second-guessing yourself
More content without support, clarity, or structure just leads to:
Inconsistency
Burnout
Giving up altogether
There’s a mismatch between:
What you think you should be doing and what you actually have the capacity to sustain.
Let’s get practical and realistic.
1. Lower the bar (seriously)
Content does not need to be groundbreaking.
Most of the time, it just needs to be:
Clear
Relevant
Useful
You need a repeatable way of talking about what you already know. Use your content pillars.
2. Capacity first, content second
Instead of asking:
“What content should I create?”
Start by asking:
“What do I realistically have the energy for right now?”
One post a week?
One email a month?
One reused idea shared in two places?
That’s sustainable.
3. Ideas live in your work
Your best content ideas are hiding in plain sight:
What questions do clients ask you?
What things do you explain over and over?
Are there misunderstandings you correct?
What advice do you give without thinking?
If you’re waiting for inspiration to strike, you might be sat around for a bit!
Steal from your real life. It’s much more reliable and relatable.
4. Stop treating content like a performance
Content isn’t an audition.
It’s a conversation.
You don’t need to sound clever – I don’t
You don’t need to say everything perfectly – I certainly don’t
You just need to sound like you, talking to the people you want to help.
Content is hard because:
You care
You’re busy
You’re doing this without a team
You’re trying to do a good job
You’re a small business owner with limited capacity in a noisy online world.
And that’s normal, and not likely to change any time soon so focus on:
- Doing less, more consistently: remember consistently isn’t doing ‘more’. Its doing it on the same day every week over a long period, not 3 times a week for a month, then nothing for 3 months because you’ve got content burn out
- Reusing content instead of reinventing: I’ve turned this video into a blog and an email for my database, without creating anything new
- Matching content to your capacity: be realistic to what you can achieve each week
- Getting support where you can: in whatever form that works for you
And stop expecting yourself to operate like a full marketing department, it’s impossible.
If you don’t want to do content alone anymore
If reading this made you think, “Oh… it’s not just me then”, you’re exactly the kind of small business owner the Marketing Buddy Membership was created for.
It’s not about churning out more content, being everywhere, or turning you into a full-time marketer.
It’s about:
- Creating content that fits your capacity,
- Having ideas when your brain feels empty
- Getting support and accountability with your marketing so it doesn’t keep slipping to the bottom of the list
- And feeling reassured that you’re not doing it wrong
Inside the membership, it’s a one stop shop for small business marketing that focuses on:
More clarity
Less pressure
And a whole lot more “I can actually manage this”
There’s no big promises.
There’s no marketing theatre.
Just real support for real small business owners who want marketing to feel lighter.
And if that sounds like something you’d benefit from, you can find out more about the Marketing Buddy Membership and see if it feels like the right fit for you.
And if it doesn’t or now’s not the right time? That’s okay too.
It’s there if and when you’re ready.
You can still access free resources, tips and marketing knowhow by subscribing to the Marketing Buddy YouTube Channel and joining the free Marketing Buddy Facebook Group.
That’s all from me, Happy Marketing!
