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Hey Reader,

I'm done with content pillars.

They've never served me and, just like the funnel, massively overcomplicate the creation process.

I introduced this concept on LinkedIn last week, and it clearly hit a nerve:

The antidote to content pillars is what I call the MP3 Framework:

• Market the Problem
• Market the Process
• Market the Proof

(Shout out to my Full Stack Solopreneur co-founder, Nick Bennett, for ideating this framework with me.)

Before I show you how this framework works, let's talk about why content pillars massively overcomplicate the creation process.

Why content pillars don't work

If you've spent more than 5 minutes reading marketing advice, you've probably been told to:

• "Define your content pillars!"
• "Stay in your lane!"
• "Build authority in your chosen topics!"

On the surface, this seems logical. Pick your topics, stick to them, and become known for them.

But once you start to run this play? The whole system falls apart faster than a productivity hack from a LinkedIn bro.

Here's why:

1. They force artificial boundaries

Imagine you're a productivity coach. Your pillars might be:

• Time management
• Goal setting
• Habit formation
• Work-life balance

Clear enough.

But...

What happens when you want to write about how becoming a parent completely changed your relationship with time?

Does that go under time management? Work-life balance? Both? Neither?

Or what if you discover that sleep quality massively impacts productivity? Where does that fit?

You end up playing a bizarre game of content Tetris, trying to force your (and your ideal buyer's) experiences into artificial boxes.

In my opinion, it's a big part of the reason why most content feels stiff, formulaic, and forgettable.

Because people are so focused on "staying in their lane," they filter out all the beautiful, messy, human elements that make content actually resonate.

2. They encourage surface-level thinking

When you're stuck in the "pillar" mindset, you start writing what you think you should write, not what actually matters.

You start thinking:

"Oh, I haven't posted about time management this week. Better force something out!"

"Crap, I haven't posted about habit formation in 5 days, let me check that box."

This is how we end up with content that:

• Regurgitates the same basic advice everyone else is sharing
• Feels forced and inauthentic
• Gets plenty of "great post!" comments but zero actual engagement
• Adds to the noise instead of building trust

I truly believe 95% of forgettable content is because people obsess over their "expert" topics instead of their audience's problems.

3. They stifle natural evolution

Your expertise evolves. Your interests shift. Your understanding deepens.

You're human!

But when you're committed to your pillars, these natural evolutions feel like failures.

"Can I talk about this? It's not one of my pillars..."

"If I add this topic, I'll dilute my authority"

"What will people think if I pivot?"

This is backward. Your content should evolve WITH you, not hold you back.

(I've pivoted multiple times, yet my credibility hasn't taken a hit because I've always marketed the process as I go.)

Enter: The MP3 Framework

These days, I think about content in three categories and three categories only:

1. Market the problem

Articulate your buyers’ problems better than they can themselves.

For example:

• Name the silent struggles your ICP faces: These are the thoughts your buyers have but rarely say out loud. The 2am worries. The secret doubts. The frustrations they think they should have figured out by now.
• Challenge accepted wisdom: This is where you point out why "best practices" might actually be hurting people (like this newsletter is doing right now 😉)
• Point out what’s not working and why: Help people understand why they're stuck and what's really holding them back.

When you can articulate someone's struggles better than they can themselves, they begin to believe you must know how to solve them.

2. Market the process

Share your experiences and implementations (learn/build out loud).

For example:

• Share your milestones: The real moments from your journey. The wins, the fails, the "holy crap, I figured something out" moments that others can learn from.
• Show your work behind the scenes: Pull back the curtain and let people see how you actually do what you do. The messy middle. The real stuff.
• Share frameworks as you develop them: Don't wait for perfection. Let people see your thinking evolve in real time. When you share your process openly, you transform abstract advice into concrete actions people can actually follow.

3. Market the proof

Validate your insights with tangible results and transformations.

For example:

• Share real results: Not just the big wins, but the small victories and incremental progress. Show what's actually possible when people follow your advice.
• Showcase transformations: Before and after stories that demonstrate the journey. Not just where people ended up but how they got there.
• Provide evidence: Screenshots, testimonials, case studies — anything that shows you can do what you say you can do. When you consistently share proof, you build credibility naturally.

The MP3 Framework makes content 1000x more resonant because:

• It centers the reader's journey, not your topics
• It allows for natural evolution and complexity
• It makes room for the messy, real human experiences
• It builds trust through understanding, not just expertise

It's time to upgrade your content strategy

Stop asking yourself, "Which pillar does this belong to?"

Start asking:

• "What problem am I addressing?"
• "What process am I sharing?"
• "What proof am I offering?"

This shift will make your content:

• More natural to create
• More enjoyable to write
• More likely to resonate
• More likely to convert

Over the next few weeks, I'll break down each element of the MP3 Framework in detail.

But for now, I want you to try something:

Take your next piece of content and run it through the MP3 lens. Is it addressing a problem? Sharing a process? Offering proof?

If not, how could you reshape it to do one of these things?

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

Erica

I'm writing a 5-part series on this topic. Here's what's coming next:

1. 🪄 The MP3 Framework: Why content pillars are holding you back
2. 🪄 Market the Problem: How to articulate your buyers' problems better than they can themselves
3. 🪄 Market the Process: Turn your experience into valuable insights
4. 🪄 Market the Proof: Prove that transformation is possible
5. 🪄 Building your Content Engine: How Problem, Process, and Proof work together

PS. This is the framework I teach members in my group coaching program, Full Stack Solopreneur, as well as my 1:1 Content Sparring 🥊 program.

Check them out, then reply to this email with HEYOOO you wanna talk about if either of these programs is right for you :)

(I'm just kidding about the heyooo, you can reply with whatever the hell you wanna say.)

PPS. My friend Ashley makes a good point here:

She's right: The MP3 Framework and pillars can blend together. You can have content pillars AND still market the problem, process, and proof.

But for me, and almost everyone I've ever coached, pillars overcomplicate the process. MP3 works without pillars, so there's no need for both.

Unless, as Ashley said, you're thinking like an SEO, and internal linking and content hierarchy are a must. In that case, organizing content by topics and gaining "topical authority" is useful for ranking and keeping people on your site.

These days, I work mostly with founders, solopreneurs, and creators, so my lens is pointed at the person creating content rather than the B2B SaaS team creating SEO-optimized content.

(Although, I still think B2B SaaS teams would make way more interesting content if they followed this framework...)

I also loved my other friend Ashley's take:

I also agree with her approach. It's super logical. But personally, it still feels too complex for my brain.

You should always do you.

Talk soon for part 2/5, where I'll keep showing you how I think about content strategy these days, with detailed examples.

New here? I'm Erica. Your seltzer-loving solopreneur who helps you earn more money with content that moves people to action (but doesn’t feel salesy). ​​

🥊 WORK WITH ME 1:1 💡 TAKE A COURSE 🏴‍☠️ JOIN GROUP COACHING