Choose Your Content Cornerstones

(Here’s what I’m seeing)

People don’t struggle with content because they lack ideas.
They struggle because they’re trying to talk about everything … or worse, about things they don’t actually care about.
So they hop platforms.

• Change formats.
• Chase engagement.
• And eventually stop.

What I’m seeing more clearly now is this:

The problem isn’t distribution. It’s foundation.
If you don’t know what you stand on, no algorithm can help you.

Here’s a simple exercise that changes everything:
Choose 4–5 content cornerstones.

These are not:

• niches
  
• keywords
  
• offers
  

They are the things you know cold.
The subjects you could talk about, unscripted, for hours …
with conviction, nuance, and lived experience.

For me, those are:

• Identity
  
• Recognition Capital
  
• Gen X issues
  
• Automotive strategy
  
• Sovereignty
  

Under each of those sits hundreds of possible conversations.

• Stories.
• Opinions.
• Lessons.
• Patterns I’ve seen repeat over decades.

When I talk about these things, I’m not performing.
I’m remembering.
That’s the difference machines can feel.

When you consistently speak from a small set of cornerstones … across time and platforms … something subtle starts to happen.
Think of it like clay.

Your hub is a place you control:

• your website
  
• your blog
  
• your long-form thinking
  

Your spokes are everywhere else:

• social platforms
  
• media mentions
  
• third-party sites
  
• reviews
  
• podcasts
  
• citations
  

With coherence and repetition, the clay starts to take shape.
Not just for humans … for the machines.
The AI trust layer doesn’t need you to go viral.
It needs you to be legible.

Over time, you stop being “content.”
You become a source.

So when someone asks their LLM:
“Who should I listen to about this?”

You exist.
That’s Recognition Capital forming.

(I wrote more about this idea last year in a piece called “GenX, AI Mode, and the Clay of Your Experience.” It goes deeper into why lived experience is becoming the most valuable input in an AI-mediated world.)

Your cornerstones don’t need to be tightly related …
but they cannot be disjointed.

They should fit together like a flywheel:
Each one reinforcing the next.

Choosing them is easier than people think.
Ask yourself:

• What do I talk about even when no one’s listening?
  
• What do people already come to me for?
  
• What do I care enough about to stay consistent?
  
• What does my ideal client resonate with, even indirectly?
  

String those together.
Then:

• talk about them (video or voice)
  
• write about them (blogs, notes, essays)
  
• let the machines do the rest
  

This isn’t about gaming systems.
It’s about understanding yourself first …
then packaging that understanding in a way the world (and the machines) can recognize.

• No hooks.
• No hustle.
• No mask.

Just coherence.

About Bob Manor 

Bob Manor is the founder of  South Ontario Auto Remarketing , Can-Am Dealer Services , and co-founder of Auto Auction Review. He’s also the creator of  Influence.vin, a branding and communication studio built for the car business. With over 30 years in the automotive world, Bob specializes in wholesale, dealer services, and identity-driven brand strategy. He’s a regular contributor to well-known automotive publications and uses his platforms to help industry pros re-align with who they are, not just what they do

Disclaimer:
These are my own observations and interpretations, based on lived experience inside this industry.
This is not financial, legal, or professional advice ... it is pattern recognition, shared for awareness and strategic consideration only