Hey Reader,

Have you ever looked at someone’s content output and envied them because you knew more content on more platforms usually means more revenue?

Yep, been there.

You look at the Alex Hormozis and the Codie Sanchezes of the world and feel…small. There’s no way you could do so damn much content.

Wanna know what their secret is? A TEAM! On the outside, it might look like it’s just them and a cameraman.

But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that Contrarian Thinking, Codie’s brand, is “a bootstrapped startup… with 15+ full-time employees and 25+ freelancers”. (Source)

That’s a newsroom, not a lone wolf with a light ring.

Acquisition.com, Horomozi’s brand, hires a Chief Media Officer to run 30-100+ creative teams. Again, this is a machine on purpose.

We’re all running a media business these days. The only difference is in the scale: some run conglomerates, others small, indie media businesses.

There’s nothing wrong with either model — they’re just different.

It’s up to you to choose your battle: do you want to run a huge media business? Do you have the money and time to outsource content to an actual team? If yes, congrats—you can stop reading and go brief your Chief Media Wizard.

If no, welcome to MVC: Minimum Viable Content Calendar (MVCC) for solo founders who still want results.

And by results, I mean sales, of course. So before we dig into MVCC, I want to show you something: my favorite newsletter on sales.

You may or may not know this about me but I suck at sales! I’d rather hug a cactus than overhype my products and services during a call.

For the six months or so, my friend Brian Ondrako’s newsletter has helped me see sales in a different light and (dare I say) even make me better at it.

So I’m stoked that he’s today’s Strategic AF partner because I have a feeling you might feel the same.

📣 Brought to you by 📣

​Sales Skills for Founders​

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Founders like me (maybe you too?) don’t hate sales. They hate bad sales advice. And most sales advice out there is garbage.

We all know the “10X your sales!” bros or the “Just follow this script!” crowd.

It's icky and short-sighted. Founders deserve better.

Because those hacks don’t work when you’re selling something real and trying to build a reputable business. People can smell that BS from a mile away.

What actually works?

✅ Learning the skills to lead calls without second-guessing

✅ Building the systems to keep deals moving instead of stalling

✅ Having the clarity to know how to be a guide on your prospects’ buyer journey

​Sales Skills for Founders is the newsletter I wish I had in my inbox when I launched my first business. It would have spared me so many awkward calls! 😬

I’m still happy it’s around now, though. Because no matter how much or how little content you publish, we all know that the best deals happen during sales calls or meetings.

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Want your name up here? Reserve your slot!​
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61% of those who took my Solo Business Barometer survey said that time and creative bandwidth are the #1 blockers in scaling their best channel.

By the way, I know you’re going to love the results of this barometer (I plan to release them in November). They paint a surprising picture of what’s working right now for solo founders and I think we can all learn from that.

So if you haven’t filled out the survey by now, please do it. And please share it with friends/peers/on social media. The more responses I get, the more we will all learn.

Content production still takes time — yes, even in the era of AI. Even if the time it takes to write, say, a blog post has shortened, we have yet to see a dramatic improvement in this space.

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​Image source​

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Worse yet, most founders spend more time creating content than distributing it. And we all know distribution is the real growth lever, according to psychology and pretty much every study out there. Without proper distribution, there are no sales.

The first rule of MVCC is to flip that — spend more time distributing the content you create than creating new stuff. Here’s how.

Secondly, let’s look at the MVCC anatomy.

The MVCC rule of three: build a stack that compounds

When you’re pressed for time, you can get by on three containers you can hit every week without hating your life:

• Anchor (weekly or biweekly): one opinionated email/blog post/long-form video
• Amplifiers (2/week): two social posts carved from the anchor, engineered for replies/DMs/credibility.
• Proof (1/week): one tiny receipt — screenshot, before/after, 20-sec screen recording.

This gives you at least 4 pieces of content that serve the two BIG goals any business has:

1. Sell or generate leads
2. Position you as an authority in your field and the solution owner people will go to when they’re ready to buy.

Let’s see how these look in real life.

Option A: 90 minutes/week — emergency mode

For the weeks when your calendar looks like a crime scene and your brain feels like browser tabs on fire.

Monday (35 min): create your anchor (300–500 words). Use the framework: Tension → Take → Proof → To-do. Get in, make a point, offer a win, get out.

Wednesday (20 min): post one proof —a screenshot, a stat, a mini proof point that says, “yes, I know what I’m talking about.”

Friday (35 min): slice your anchor into two amplifiers:

1. The core idea + a question.
2. The receipt + a soft CTA (“Want the template?” works fine).

Post these Friday + Saturday (schedule in advance if you prefer your weekends free).

That’s it. You’re visible, credible, and still on speaking terms with your nervous system.
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Option B: 2 hours/week — sustainable default

This is for when you want to be consistent, but you’d still like to have evenings.

Monday (45 min): create your anchor (500–800 words).

Tuesday (15 min): record a 60–90-second video or, if you have the time, do a LinkedIn/Instagram carousel summarising the email.

Wednesday (30 min): post your social proof.

Thursday (15 min): do a comment sprint. Ten thoughtful comments on your social media platform of choice go a long way.

Friday (30 min): share your second amplifier, reply to every meaningful comment/DM, and update your proof bank with this week’s receipts.

Option C: 10–15 hours/week — growth mode

For when you do have some breathing room and want to treat your content like a real growth channel—without going full Hormozi cosplay.

This is where you can layer: longer pieces, collaborations, guest spots, or experimenting with paid reach.

Monday (2h): create a deeper anchor piece—newsletter + blog hybrid or long-form video (1,000–1,500 words). Something evergreen, with legs.

Tuesday (2h): video day. turn that piece into one 3–5 minute video and 2–3 short clips. If video is not your thing, spend that time syndicating your content on other platforms or commenting on social media.

Wednesday (1h): create social proof from your client work or metrics. Think: mini case study which can be turned into carousels or tweet threads.

Thursday (2h): focus on distribution: comment thoughtfully on 20 posts, repurpose one clip per channel, run one collab (guest newsletter or podcast).

Friday (1h): share your amplifiers. Schedule next week’s content.

Weekend (optional 1–2h): reflection + ideation. Review metrics, do proof bank updates, jot 5 new ideas for next week.

At this level, you’re running a small media operation—still solo, still sane, still eating lunch away from your desk.

​One of my favorite pieces about the amount of content you need in the era of AI — to help you choose between the options above.

Candidly, the more (good!) content you can put out there, the better. This means both more time creating AND more time distributing it.

I’m not going to lie and say that you can get by on two pieces of content per month. That rarely happens, and it usually only works for people who already have a rock-solid reputation.

As always, I advocate balance: create as much as you can without sacrificing your personal time or your sanity. The examples below might bring the nuance you’re looking for.

How my clients do MVCC depending on their time constraints

Here’s a quick example of a content calendar I built with one of my Growth Intensive clients recently.

See how it has 197 lines and it only goes until February next year? There are more sheets in this spreadsheet, too.

This client of mine wants to build a media machine. And they have the bandwidth to do it. So we created a content calendar that includes five main platforms and ±10 pieces of new content per week.

Roughly at the same time, I was working with another client whose time is very limited and whose content calendar is somewhere between options A and B above. They create one mid-sized anchor piece per week and repurpose it strategically across 3 channels.

Everyone’s different and has different constraints. Whatever you choose to do with your content calendar, make sure you’re not comparing yourself with someone who’s NOT playing this game alone.

This is why I love working with clients 1:1. Because their constraints become my own and constraints force creativity.

Speaking of, want my help building a similar calendar that’s tailored to YOUR constraints? Grab a Growth Intensive slot and, in 2 months of 1:1 work, we’ll make sure that every tactic you spend time on (content or something else) is a growth lever.

Not sure it’s the right program for you? Book a discovery call with me first.

Or, if you prefer the DIY way, The Profitable Content Engine masterclass will teach you how to create your own engine from scratch. Plus, the custom GPT it comes with will make sure you can ideate and draft content in minutes, not hours. Get instant access!

The quiet power of enough

No one with a 10-person media team will admit this, but you can’t think your way into visibility — you have to publish your way there.

But “publish” doesn’t have to mean “perform.” It just means showing up often enough that people remember you exist, trust what you say, and eventually buy what you sell.

The Minimum Viable Content Calendar is about doing what you can do consistently, not finding reasons to publish less or match someone else’s publishing rhythm.

Because the only content strategy that works is the one you’ll actually stick to.

So pick your lane. Write the post. Send the email. Share the proof.
Then close your laptop and go live your damn life.

You’re not behind — you’re building momentum at your bandwidth.
And the more you show up with intention, the less you’ll need to shout later on.
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Do you hate productivity hacks as much as I do? You know, the kind that promise to help you cope with constant anxiety and self-doubt? From morning routines to self-help books, we all know they rarely bring long-lasting results. And, more importantly, they don’t work for everyone.

My friend Joel Bain from Human Liberation has a different approach to ending negative self-talk.

He put together a quick guide for Strategic AF readers, so if negative self-talk is something that’s holding you back, grab it here.

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That's it from me today! See you next week in your inbox. Here to make you think, Adriana ​

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