Distribution First Newsletter by Justin Simon

All issues

♻️ how I tripled our results by doing way less work

1 minute read

When I joined a startup a few years back, I went from being part of a 10-person content team…to being the content team.


When I got there, there was no strategy. Every Monday morning, we’d sit down and ask the same question:


“What content are we putting out this week?”


Then we’d scramble to hit some arbitrary quota because that felt like the best thing to do.


It was exhausting. And I knew at least 50% of what we were doing was a waste of time.


And here’s the part I didn't realize when I started that new role:


Walking into a new job and cutting things that have “always been done” is risky.


"What if leadership thinks I’m lazy?"

"What if results tank?"

"What if I’m wrong?"


But I knew something had to give.


So I did an 80/20 audit.


I looked at everything we were doing and cut the 80% that wasn’t moving the needle.



Instead, I doubled down on the 20% that was working:



Within six months, our content impressions and engagement were up over 700%.


image


I wasn’t guessing anymore.


I had a clear, focused plan, and leadership was completely on board.


And I realized I could make a huge impact without doing a million things.


If you’re a solo content marketer juggling 50 different “priorities,” I’d love to know:


What’s one thing you’d cut tomorrow if you knew it wouldn’t hurt your results?


Hit reply and tell me.


Have a great week!


Justin

Share
Get the next issue in your inbox
Free, and you can unsubscribe any time.

0 comments

More issues

All 65 →
#64 Jul 19, 2025

♻️ the best metric you’re not using (yet)

Read issue →
#63 Jul 12, 2025

♻️ the system behind my weekly content output

Read issue →