The Only 5 Content Types You Need to Build a Loyal Audience
(Backed by Results)
I published 193 articles on Medium and 62 Substack newsletters.
That’s a total of 255 articles. I’ve seen exactly what content takes off, and what flops. After looking through my analytics, I realized the most popular posts fall into one of the 5 categories.
These five content types consistently outperformed the rest. While most of my posts got a few hundred views, these regularly reached thousands.
Here’s what these content types are and how to write them:
1. The reality check
This is where you share something unpleasant but true that your audience needs to hear.
A reality check doesn’t mean you have to share personal trauma. That’s not what your audience needs. They need to see the behind-the-scenes of your work and the insights that will make a difference for them.
Think:
- “What did I believe that turned out to be wrong?”
- “What’s something people want to hear, but need to hear something else instead?”
- “What did I learn only after messing things up?”
For example, I wrote an article on Medium titled “After Writing 140 Articles Online, I Realized My Content Process Was Dead Wrong.”
I got the idea after realizing my writing process was missing some key ingredients, which made the writing weak and uninteresting.
A good reality check earns trust because it shows people you made a mistake, learned from it, and now you’re teaching others how to avoid making the same mistake.
2. The contrarian take
This type of content challenges commonly held beliefs.
The biggest mistake writers make with contrarian content is to use it only for the shock value. After that, they don’t have any solid arguments to prove their point. That is the contrarian content that fails.
Why contrarian content works:
- It shows you’re an independent thinker
- It positions you as someone who questions assumptions
- It connects with people who felt this but never expressed it
Here’s an example titled: “Don’t Use eBooks as Lead Magnets, Try This Instead To Attract Subscribers Easily.”
The framework for this content is simple.
Find common advice in your niche, find out why it doesn’t work for most people, then offer a better solution.
For writing online, some common advice would be “Stay consistent” or “You are the niche.” You’ve heard these before.
3. The step-by-step breakdown
This is the how-to content where you explain a complex topic in simple steps.
Most tutorial content fails because it assumes too much knowledge. Your audience doesn’t need an entire manuscript. They need someone to show them exactly what to click, what to avoid, and what to expect at each step.
The key elements that make breakdowns work:
- Start with the end result in mind
- Address common points of confusion
- Include the mistakes you made so they can avoid them
This newsletter is my third most popular:
“Transform Yourself into a One-Person Business with This Simple Framework”
It’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to start a one-person business.
4. The personal case study
This is where you share your actual results with complete transparency.
“But what if my numbers aren’t impressive?”
They don’t have to be. Honest numbers beat fake ones every time.
Here’s what to include:
- Your exact revenue (even if it’s $37)
- Time invested to achieve those results
- What expenses you had
- What you’d do differently
I wrote about reposting my content from Substack to Threads and Bluesky. I didn’t earn 100,000 followers. Just 30 on Threads. But it’s my most popular newsletter post on Substack.
You can read it here:
https://thesolocreator.substack.com/p/i-posted-the-same-content-from-substack
Your real numbers give people realistic expectations.
5. The curated insight
This is where you filter through the noise and recommend what actually works.
But it’s not just listing resources. You’re curating based on your experience and explaining why each thing made your list.
The best way to find content to curate is to look at:
- Industry leaders
- Trends and news
- Popular frameworks and ideas
For example, this article I wrote on Medium, “7 Writing Lessons from the Man Who Wrote One Blog Post Every Day for 8,000 Days in a Row.” The man I’m writing about is Seth Godin, and he is a popular person among internet marketers and content creators.
I took his advice and presented it to my readers.
Curated ideas can turn into valuable content.
Start with whichever type feels most natural.
I started with failure stories (because I had plenty of material). You might start with processes because you love teaching.
The most undervalued type here is the personal case study. Writers avoid it because they think their numbers aren’t big enough. But just like you’ve seen, it works even when the results are not impressive.
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