I mapped our best content strategy on a pizza box

_{Day 227/100}

Hey—It's Tim.

I once mapped our best content strategy on a pizza box in Vancouver.

Rented room. Skis against the wall. Late-night pizza. Drew circles and arrows on the box while the cheese got cold.

That pizza box map made us more money than any content we'd built before it.

The spreadsheet came later. Just to track it.

Because here's what I figured out: spreadsheets are where content goes to die.

You know the moment. Someone in the meeting says, "Let me just put this in a spreadsheet real quick."

And it's over.

Nobody has ever opened a spreadsheet and felt creative. You're not a writer anymore. You're a cell operator. Clicking between "Draft," "Review," "Scheduled," wondering how you got here.

The actual content? Hasn't been written.

But hey, at least you know what would've gone out on October 15th.

The spreadsheet's job is to remember. The drawing's job is to think.

We've been using spreadsheets to do the thinking. That's the problem. That's like using a filing cabinet to come up with ideas.

I love a spreadsheet for tracking.
I refuse to start in one.

So I figured out the spreadsheet problem. And the solution's gonna sound dumb, but stay with me.

Draw it.

And I don't mean like... conceptually draw it. I mean actually draw it.

Pen. Paper. Whiteboard. Back of a Starbucks receipt.

Here's the method in 5 steps:

1. Hub in the middle: "Content Research Guide" (or whatever you're building)
2. Major spokes: 4-6 main categories radiating out (Research Pages, Platforms, Solutions, etc.)
3. Subtopics around each spoke: The actual content pieces you need to create (Reddit, YouTube, Talks, Video - be specific)
4. Draw arrows between related pieces: Show which content should link to which. You'll spot connections you'd never see in rows 47 and 82 of a spreadsheet.
5. Mark the gaps in red: I can see I'm missing "Can we automate it?" under Solutions. Now I know what to build next.

Takes 10 minutes. Shows you 3 months of content.

See how you can actually SEE the system? The relationships? The missing pieces?

That's what spreadsheets can't give you.

That pizza box map? Best content we ever made. Made us more money than anything. The spreadsheet came later - just to track it. The spreadsheet didn't create anything. It was just there to make sure we didn't forget stuff.

Because here's the thing about drawing it: you can see how things connect.

You draw a circle in the middle - that's your main thing, your hub. Then you draw lines to the stuff around it. And suddenly you're going, 'Oh wait, this should link to that. And we don't have a page for this part. We need one.'

You can't see that in a spreadsheet. In a spreadsheet, everything's just... a row. Row 47, row 48. They're all the same. There's no relationship.

But when you draw it? You see the gaps. You see what's missing. You see the whole system.

And yeah, you look a little crazy.

You're standing there pointing at a napkin like it's the Sistine Chapel going, 'See, this arrow goes here, and then the reader goes here...' But it works.

The spreadsheet's job is to remember. The drawing's job is to think.

We've been using the spreadsheet to do the thinking. That's the problem. That's like using a filing cabinet to come up with ideas. It's the wrong tool.

So now I draw everything first. These days in on a tablet. Then - only then - do I put it in a spreadsheet.

✌️ Tim "Spider-Map" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

Same brain, different platforms: X, Threads, LinkedIn.

P.S. Tomorrow: How to use this method to audit existing sites and find $20k worth of missing content in 20 minutes.

Penfriend.ai
Made by content marketers. Used by better ones.