How I Cured Cybersecurity Content Creation Insomnia

As a cybersecurity content creator, I’ve endured countless sleepless nights wrestling with lengthy transcripts, desperately searching for those few magical sentences that could make an impact. Before quality AI transcription tools (the ones you could persistently nag with prompts for memorable soundbites), getting a white paper in a presentable form demanded concentration and persistence. And lots of coffee.  

After weeks of hard work and follow-up emails to confirm I correctly captured the ideas of the subject matter expert I interviewed, I’d finally produce a piece I was proud to share with the world. 

But the insomnia didn’t end there. 

Despite heavy promotion through paid media, our own channels, and PR campaigns, the content often languished, barely registering with its intended audience. This wasn’t due to poor quality, the pieces featured new research, unique perspectives, and emotional vulnerability.  

So why did they fail to resonate?  

I went to a world renowned CISO to find out.  

Over lunch with a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), I sought advice on promoting this particularly strong piece. He said, “This is excellent work, but the audience you’re targeting doesn’t understand its value.”  

He then shared the story of Joshua Bell. 

In 2007, The Washington Post organized a social experiment where Joshua Bell, a world-renowned violinist, performed incognito in a Washington, D.C. metro station during rush hour. Dressed in casual clothes, he played masterpieces on a million-dollar violin, yet almost no one stopped to listen. Commuters, too distracted or unaware, missed the genius in their midst. 

 This illustrated a profound truth: even the most extraordinary value can be overlooked if the audience isn’t primed to recognize it. 

The moral of the story? The most perfect content dies without distribution to the right audience.  

A brilliant narrative is just noise in a crowded digital landscape without the right connections to amplify it. 

My content creation insomnia ended when I discovered content syndication. Instead of merely creating content, I began strategically placing it in front of audiences who cared about cybersecurity.  

Working with ISMG transformed my marketing experience, providing detailed behavioral intelligence into audience engagement.  

But the real revelation was finding more than just a distribution channel—a true cybersecurity content syndication partner became like family. 

When I was stuck, they offered more than a service; they provided a lifeline. Need to connect with a specific decision-maker? They knew exactly who to introduce. 

 Struggling with messaging? Their campaign strategists shared insights from hundreds of campaigns, guiding me through refinement. It was a genuine partnership, not a transaction. 

When AI entered the scene, it changed everything—but it’s not a magic wand. AI is a tool that requires a human touch. A raw AI-generated output produces forgettable content.  

The magic happens when you refine, shape, and breathe life into it. 

The amount of agents popping up for marketers is a bit frightening, and not all of them are useful or refined. These days if I want to transcribe a lengthy SME interview, there are wonderful tools like Otter.AI  which save countless hours of time pulling out quotes. And OpusPro is a godsend for turning a long video into smaller clips.  

But you still need to have the right distribution partnership.  

Now, back at my cybersecurity roots with ISMG, I have a message for every cybersecurity startup struggling to be heard and every marketer feeling invisible: find your people. 

Seek publishers who don’t just distribute your content but invest in your success, becoming an extended professional family. This isn’t just a strategy—it’s a lifeline to meaningful connections, cutting through the noise, and finally being seen.