The question itself often sounds like a war:
useful content vs. entertaining content.
As if useful content is doomed to lose from the start.
That’s not true.
But expecting quick wins is also a mistake.
Here are three ideas that help look at this situation realistically.
1. You’re Not Losing Anything
A common misconception is this:
if someone consumes entertainment, they won’t read useful content.
In practice, it doesn’t work that way.
It’s not either–or.
It’s both.
The same person can follow:
- entertainment creators
- news sources
- professional accounts
- niche experts
Adding one more subscription doesn’t require removing another.
You don’t need to “retrain” people away from entertainment
to make them read useful content.
You just need to create something
they personally find valuable.
2. Not All Topics Are Equal in Scale
People don’t read content because it’s “useful.”
They read it because it’s relevant to them.
If you cover news,
you’ll be read by people who want to understand what’s happening.
If you write about editing or writing,
you’ll be read by people who care about writing better.
Audience size is not a measure of quality.
It’s a measure of interest overlap.
Imagine this:
one creator has two million readers,
you have two thousand.
That doesn’t mean you’re worse.
It means:
- two million people aligned with their topic
- two thousand aligned with yours
Editing, taxes, technical topics, instructions —
these can’t be interesting to everyone.
And that’s normal.
Topics like:
- sex
- money
- health
- relationships
will always be more mass-market,
because they affect almost everyone.
That’s not a reason to chase them
if you work in a different niche.
3. Publishing Is a Marathon
When you look at popular creators, it’s easy to feel discouraged.
It seems like they:
- became visible instantly
- grew very fast
- suddenly “blew up”
But if you look closer, the pattern is usually different.
Long distance.
Years of consistent work.
Gradual growth.
Not a sprint.
A marathon.
That’s why this is a bad question:
“How do I become as popular as X?”
A better one is:
“How can I do better tomorrow than I did today?”
Popularity is not a goal by itself.
Sometimes the real result is:
- a clear, understandable audience
- steady feedback
- the feeling that you’re speaking to the right people
And that’s enough.
Conclusion
Entertaining content is not the enemy of useful content.
Mass appeal is not a measure of value.
And growth is not a flash — it’s a process.
If you consistently create something meaningful
for your audience,
you will be read.
Not by everyone.
But by those who truly need it.