I’m a big fan of Gary Vaynerchuk’s content, and regularly read and watch his posts and vlogs simply because he’s kind of a no-nonsense, get-it-done, pro-entrepreneur kind of guy. One of the things he touched on was the issue of quantity vs. quality content. When you’re having to battle with pushing out a lot of content, is it ok to skimp on quality? Where should your focus be?

Gary was asked the ultimate content question: quality or quantity? What should be my focus?

He said quantity, and backed up his answer with the logic that you can’t measure what’s working for you without pushing out a lot of content and posts. He’s right. You can’t. After all, “quality” is subjective, right? And you could theoretically be publishing a few quality pieces here and there of what you consider to be quality content and spending a lot of time on it, but get no real response. Do you push out more of the same just in bulk? Do you keep hammering out the same message… just more of it?

I couldn’t help wondering about the cons to that approach, in choosing quantity or quality or vice versa. Pushing out so much “quantity” in terms of posts that quality gets neglected altogether. What happens when you regularly push out content of poor quality? In my opinion, you “train” the audience you have in making the determination that you don’t care about quality. I don’t like that idea, really. Losing an audience because you focused on pushing out so much s#it that you lose their respect and trust.

But what about quality over quantity? Well, you lose the ability to test things out, and your frequency and probability of being found or discovered by new audience members decreases. What is really working? Can you really make a judgment call from just a few posts or pieces of content? No, you can’t.

So here’s my opinion, and I come to this opinion after so many years of blogging and generating designs. You need both quality and quantity. You need quantity to test things out for traffic and gaining an audience. You need quality for respect and sales. I think the main reason why Gary approaches and appreciates quantity more is because people often get a sense of perfectionism syndrome when typing and creating. That’s normal. It happens. But in the more extreme sense, it keeps people from communicating, testing, and converting. You simply need more.

Yes, you’re going to feel redundant. Yes, you’re going to feel like you’re kicking a dead horse at times. You’ll get over it.

So how do you balance both? How do you answer the call of both while being efficient and without spending a ton of money and time (our valuable limited resources) in achieving this balance?

Here’s the answer. You use quality templates as a foundation, and generate as much content as you can using them, so everything looks cohesive and the same (for branding purposes), and you use quality images. Start with a good base. You can then test all your posts and images from that point. Use a scheduler. Publish regularly, and often.

If you’re not a designer, you’re in luck. I have a plethora of templates that are $30 and under (some even under $10), that you can use to get started. These save you TIME. Valuable time. Customize your own images and text, and you’re set to go within minutes.

The main point is, stop thinking that everything has to be perfect from the get-go. Just start with a solid foundation and you’ll be steps ahead from your competition. Get some book mockups going. Get a new lead magnet out. Just keep creating, and keep both quantity and quality in mind.

It’s an endless debate, I know. But I really do think you need both as a writer and blogger. I’m excited to see what you create.