Category Design Tip: How To Contribute New, Different Ideas That Change The World

Climb The Content Pyramid to change people’s thinking—and make money doing it.

Dec 09, 2022

Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Category Pirate,

This week’s Category Design Tip is about how to be seen as the leader, expert, and All-Knowing One in your industry.

But for that, you need a compass.

So, we’ve created one called The Content Pyramid.

To chart your own category course (our mini-books are the best maps!), hop aboard The Pirate Ship and subscribe below:

There are 5 levels to becoming a legendary writer, creator, or “thought leader” in your field.

We outline each level in our mini-book The Content Pyramid: The 5 Levels Of Becoming A Legendary Writer, Creator, and Thought Leader.

Level 1: Consumption
Level 2: Curation
Level 3: Obvious Connection
Level 4: Non-Obvious Connection
Level 5: Category Creation

Unfortunately, most people struggle to make it past Levels 2 or 3 on The Content Pyramid.

So, here’s a quick explanation to help you learn the basics and level up.

Level 1: Consumption

Most people spend their entire lives being content consumers—not content creators.

On any given social media platform or website where users can participate, 1% of the users create the content, 9% of the users curate, organize, and update the content, and 90% of users consume the content.

Being a consumer is not “playing the game”—it’s sitting on the sidelines.

Level 2: Curation

Most people do not start by creating original content.

Instead, they curate thoughts and ideas from people they admire. Eventually, they forge a path of their own. Picasso studying Van Gogh’s Impressionism and then a decade later creating Cubism is a perfect example.

All of that said, curation is very easy to do but very difficult to master.

The lowest form of curation is sharing
Next is curation with opinion
Above that is curation with insight

This is how you start to move up The Content Pyramid.

Level 3: Obvious Connection

When people move from Curator to Creator, they typically begin with Obvious Connections.

“Want to run Facebook ads? I’m going to teach you how.”
“Want to write a book? I’m going to show you how.”
“Want to get promoted? I’m going to give you a 3-step process.”

To be clear: there is nothing wrong with this.

But without intentional category design & Languaging, you’ll like be just a slightly better version of the person (or company) that came before you.

Level 4: Non-Obvious Connection

Non-Obvious Connectors are writers, creators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who change the world with their thinking.

Examples of Non-Obvious Connectors:

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Black Swan
Cal Newport, author of Digital Minimalism
Susan Cain, author of Quiet

These authors write books every few years. When they finally hit publish, they reveal a new, Non-Obvious Connection to readers. Most people claim they want to do the same.

But they really want dinner party approval and instant gratification.

Level 5: Category Creation

The top of The Content Pyramid is Category Creation.

Both Obvious Connectors and Non-Obvious Connectors can achieve the top of the pyramid, even curators (like Ryan Holiday). And that’s because the highest level of creation is category creation—becoming known for a niche you own.

The benefit of creating your own category, and becoming known for a niche you own, isn’t just radical differentiation.

You also unlock new business models for yourself.

Making money as a writer, creator, entrepreneur, and “thought leader” is easy when you know exactly who you’re creating for (and who you’re not for).

This massive opportunity is why we share tons of information, examples, and strategies to help you reach Level 5.

To learn more game-changing knowledge, dive into our mini-book The Content Pyramid: The 5 Levels Of Becoming A Legendary Writer, Creator, and Thought Leader.

Become A Category Designer

Want to unlock 50+ mini-books on Category Creation and Category Design, and receive new mini-books straight to your inbox?

Hop aboard!

Arrrrrrr,

Category Pirates

Eddie Yoon

Nicolas Cole

Christopher Lochhead

PS: Don’t forget to grab a copy (or gift!) of one of our best-selling books:

PPS: Sign up for (or share) our free 7-Day Category Accelerator email course.

🏴‍☠️ The 7-Day Category Accelerator course walks you through the fundamentals of Category Design and gets you up to speed quickly, so you can start “thinking different.”