What Can You Do Less Of?

What can you do less of?

I used to be on the sound crew at a big church. We had two audio mixing boards — one for the musicians’ monitors on stage and one for the congregation (the "house mix.")

The goal was for the audience to hear the house mix, not the stage mix.

The problem? Musicians always requested more of something — more drums, more lead vocal, more of themselves. Add up all those "mores," and the stage mix would overpower the house mix.

So we adapted.

Instead of asking musicians what they needed more of, we asked what they could use less of. What could we remove from their monitor mix to make what they wanted easier to hear?

By focusing on "less," we kept the stage volume down, ensuring the audience heard the house mix at a reasonable level.

I see the same challenge in content publishing.

Many companies have "artifacts of more" — abandoned Twitter/X accounts, dusty Pinterest collections, a podcast that hasn't been updated in two years. Yet, these are still promoted on the website, damaging the brand and creating leaks in the user journey. 

Does a visitor return after seeing four-year-old YouTube content?

Experimenting is fine. Maybe dancing on TikTok will be the key to your business success.

But it’s time to Marie Kondo your content strategy. Are you using a channel because it sparks joy — or because a long-gone intern was trying to make their mark?

Focus on where you're getting traction. Pull the rest out of the mix. Your message will be easier to hear.