# How to become an idea machine

#### My exact content creation process

#### Greg Isenberg

Mar 23, 2023

**The median tweet gets zero likes and zero retweets.**

That’s right.

_Zero._

It may not feel that way, scrolling through Twitter’s ever-changing algorithm and only seeing the posts who’ve already received external validation. But most Twitter users (the ones we don’t see) are screaming to nobody — and that’s _not_ where you want to be.

**Today, I want to walk through my process for validating my ideas — for both content** _**and**_ **products.** How I capture my thoughts, choose the best ones, and turn them into beautifully packaged, public-facing winners.

Sharing this because I think this make you an idea machine.

##### Two lists with all of my ideas

I have a Notion page titled “Ideas” — which is just several running lists of thoughts that come into my brain. It’s structured into different categories:

- Tweets  
- Substacks  
- Names (usually domain name ideas)  
- Sayings (ex. “Do you mind if we blow your mind?”)  
- Logos (ex. Flying saucer with rainbow coming out of it)

Some of the ideas are dumb and silly, which is perfectly fine. Some of the ideas come from things I see — for example, I saw an umbrella at the beach and thought, “That’s a logo.” And I write it down. Others come from listening to podcasts or watching YouTube.

I also have a page in my Notes app that is ideas for startups. This one’s a bit more unstructured:

_It’s never ending_

##### Gardening for the best ideas

For 30 minutes twice a week, I have time blocked off in my schedule to review my lists. I call it gardening — which consists of two ways of thinking deeper:

1. Prioritize: What are the most interesting ideas?
2. Synthesize: How can I say this in a more clear & concise way?

##### Why now?

That’s the most important question I ask myself when sorting through these ideas.

Why should I be tweeting this now?

Why does this need to come out right this second?

I think the reason I always find myself asking this is because ideas that come out at the right time have the highest likelihood of spreading.

For example: right now, what are a lot of people talking about?

How AI can make us more productive.

I had been sitting on an “how to use AI to boost productivity” free community idea for 8 months. And I had the name too, [YouProbablyNeedaRobot.com](http://youprobablyneedarobot.com/). Now was the time, and it grew to 25000+ Discord members in 3 weeks. All from a few tweets.

Timing isn’t everything but it’s a lot.

##### Scroll-stoppers only

I always try to prioritize insight bombs when posting. I enjoy thinking outside the box and communicating the ideas that others might not be thinking of.

Every time you see my name, I want it to be attached to a scroll-stopping idea — something that grabs your attention. Something that you need to see.

I want people to see my ideas. I want to create conversations. If I’m choosing between two things I want to post, the one that has a better chance to stop the scroll is the one I’ll pick.

##### External validation

So everything up to this point has been internal. If an idea is really sticking out to me, here’s what I’ll do:

Throw it up on Twitter and LinkedIn as a one liner.

_(Remember: the median tweet gets zero likes, so if you haven’t built an audience on Twitter, I think LinkedIn is the best place to start.)_

If the idea resonates, I’ll turn it into a Twitter thread or a longer LinkedIn post. I’ll type it all out in 10-15 minutes, throw it into ChatGPT (my prompt is always “Pretend you’re a copy editor"), and once it’s cleaned up I’ll post that.

If it resonates again, I’ll move it to a newsletter or blog post. And if that hits, I know I’m onto something — so it’s time to talk about it on my podcast and short-form video.

This is my exact content creation process. I hope you’re able to steal something from it and validate your own great ideas. Also — let me know what your process is, how you go through the life cycle of an idea.

Be well,

Greg

Note: I write posts like this every week, packed with free startup ideas, insights on business building, and strategies for succeeding in the online world. It’s called Greg’s letter.