How to Build a Profit-Driving POV (And Why Playing It Safe Is Costing You Clients)
Trigger warning for the people-pleasers reading this: Your content should ruffle some people’s feathers. Not in a rage-bait way, but in a “couldn’t be me” kinda way.
Contrary to popular belief: some people finding your content and saying “no thanks” means you’re creating successful content. Not the other way around.
Having a unique, iron-clad point of view is what stands out. It’s the stuff that makes people say “damn, I should work with them — that’s so clever!” If you never auto-exclude audiences with your content, you’re risking not being found by the right people at all.
Because as safe as that generic three tips post feels right now, signing your dream clients on feels even better.
A FEW QUICK FACTS
Yes, you already have a unique POV. You don’t start a business for no reason. That takes a special kind of gumption fueled by a point of view only you have.
Too often “brand safety” just dilutes your personality. Being too tied up in “oh what will they think” is dampening your personality and costing you audience trust.
Generalities don’t sell. No one ever said “they said what I’ve heard 100 times so I signed on.” They say “they made me think differently, and I just had to learn more.”
💡 Something may be nagging at you just reading the above. That's good! Let's pull them out.
PROFIT-BUILDING POV LOADING
Don’t get your point of view confused with a hot take or general opinion. A real POV should check three boxes:
You feel it in your bones — it may even drive you a little crazy
You could talk about it for literally days on end
You don’t think it gets discussed often enough
BUILD YOUR CONTENT POV FILTER
Bringing your viewpoints to the front requires a filtering system, just like how we have to filter coffee grounds to get out the best part. Here’s how to build yours.
Step 1: Grab a piece of paper and make three columns titled:
Hills You’re Willing to Die On (Disagreements)
Traps You’re Tired of Seeing Your Audience Fall Into (Mistakes)
Moments that Changed Your Brain Chemistry (Learnings)
Do not overthink this. Set a timer — you get 90 seconds per column.
Optional: put this list away overnight to look at with fresh eyes the next day.
Step 2: Go through and Keep, Kill, or Combine the items on each list. Keep the ones that stand out to you like a flashing red light. Kill the ones that aren’t getting you fired up. Combine ones that feel similar. Do this until you’re down to no more than six items.
Step 3: Write out up to five POVs as a quick phrase or sentence. Ask: does this ladder up to my One Thing? Can I summarize this in a short phrase? If it’s too complicated, save it for later.
Ideally, you narrow down to three focus items, but up to five is manageable.
How to use your POV filter:
Treat them as your new content pillars. These are the topics you should talk about on repeat.
A warning: this might feel really weird at first, and that’s okay. It’s a big jump to go from “3 Tips For Better LinkedIn Posts” to “Your LinkedIn Posts Aren’t Starting Enough Fights in the Comment Section.”
But which one of those headlines would have stopped you in your tracks?
