Play the Game You’ll Never Lose

Create the content you want, but don’t forget about your audience.

You can pour your heart and soul into your content, but as long as it doesn’t solve the problem of your audience, it’s not the right content.

Your audience wants to see themselves or the best version of themselves in your content. When your content portrays the personality of your audience, they can resonate on a deeper level.

Your personality, values, and unique skills, that come with the content, attract people. Not necessarily the topic you create content about. Invite your audience in through your content and let them stay for your personality.

Luckily, the Internet allows you to do that.

The Internet has never made it easier to upskill yourself, pump out your content, make a name for yourself, and earn money online by just being you.

It doesn’t matter what your profession is. As long as you bring your unique personal cocktail into the mix, you’ve got something that’s impossible to duplicate. There’s always room for better or different.

You want to be the only person in the world who does what you do. Your reputation precedes your revenue — not the other way around. Building a personal brand comes before everything. You can’t build a brand out of thin air and expect people to follow you.

To make it in life, it boils down to two options:

1. Make yourself useful.
2. Make yourself scarce.

Building a brand for yourself is a game you’ll never lose because nobody can beat you at being you.

Get practical:

• Pick three topics you’re passionate about, experienced in, or know a lot about. Create content on a topic that’s known to you, and one you can help others with.

Writing Is the Beginning, Not the End

Back in the days, nobody told their parents he or she wanted to become a writer when they would grow older. Now, it seems that everyone online aspires to make money by writing.

Not really a surprise when you think of the fact that writing is the most fundamental method of communication.

The internet is built on words and whatever your role in this digital environment is, you have to write. Designer? Your artwork doesn’t sell itself without words unless you’re Picasso. Developer? How does the world know you can solve their problem without you using words to communicate?

It’s a pillar of any successful career and the foundation of every other form of media. It’s the best way to clarify your logic and thinking, and the benefits extend far beyond the page. Storing and distributing text online is cheap, which means your words can be read by almost anybody, anywhere in the world.

Writing online is the fastest way to accelerate your brand or business. It’s the best way to learn faster and build a resume.

Let your content attract peers and collaborators, people that can create job and business opportunities for you. Content builds on itself, it multiplies and compounds and travels the world while you’re asleep.

So, do yourself a favor and start messing around with your first words on paper.

Get started:

• Use Twitter or LinkedIn to experiment with sharing your thoughts or showcasing your expertise. You don’t have to start writing 1500-words articles. Start small.

Building an Audience Comes Before Everything

Being a creator is amazing, but without an audience, you’re nowhere.

An audience is a stem cell that could become any cell, it’s a modern-day superpower. It allows you to build anything out of it later down the road.

A great audience is loyal and supportive, but don’t think you can provide them with B-level content. That’s not how the world works anymore: your audience is too knowledgeable and self-sufficient. You have to hook them, feed them value on a consistent basis before you can start launching products and monetize your audience.

“Only after you build trust you can launch anything to a likeminded group of people.” — Sam Parr

Audience building is like a ripple effect. Your content is the magnet you put out there. Once you’ve connected with your audience, your audience lets you connect with other people.

Write online and show up consistently on Twitter to create a group of like-minded people around you. Before you know it, there’s a problem you can solve for them. Figure out a way to help them, and that equals money.

You can even use Twitter to validate your idea and make sure you only start building when you’ve made your money upfront. You just need to find a problem and build a solution for it. This can be anything, you don’t have to be a tech-savvy developer.

You see, it’s all connected.

Get started:

• Your online audience is the currency of the future and doing this right will set you up for an exciting and prosperous future. Invest in those around you.

Followers Are Vanity Metrics

You have to become friends with your audience.

The internet doesn’t owe you anything. And you should certainly not believe that you control your social media yourself. The moment your favorite platform decides your show is over, you’re left empty-handed.

That’s why we need to look at email marketing.

It’s the most valuable and effective way to spread the word about your brand. When it comes to reader stickiness, nothing beats email. People keep predicting the death of email when in reality, it just keeps getting stronger. It’s a direct line to your most loyal and dedicated followers.

People who sign up for your email list care about your ideas, and by putting in their email, they give you explicit permission to email them.

“Trying to build an online audience without an email list is a rookie mistake.” — David Perell

Publish your work on a platform that has enormous distribution, like LinkedIn, Twitter, Tiktok, or Medium. Use those rented platforms to gain traction, connect with like-minded people, and improve your thinking and learn from others.

Use email to harvest your following, your audience, and become real friends with them. Treat followers as online friends and watch your audience transform into an extremely valuable asset.

Get practical:

• Set up a simple landing page for followers to subscribe.

Ask Your Customer out on a Date

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nobody wants to subscribe to your email list just to “stay updated.” What does that even mean? The only thing it implies is spam.

We want to offer them something of value in return for their email address. This something is a lead generator, a tool that attracts people to your brand and invites them to subscribe. You want to ask your audience to spend more time with you.

“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.” — Andrew Davis

To resist the noise of your competition and stand out from the crowd, your lead generator must do two things:

1. Provide a huge amount of value for your potential customer
2. Establish you as an expert in your field

There are endless options for creating lead generators. It’s about offering valuable information and services to your potential customers, in exchange for an email address.

Here are 3 of the most effective types:

1. Downloadable guide. A surprisingly inexpensive way of generating new leads: a pdf file (often presented as an ebook) that offers free value to your target audience. Get specific — if you’re offering design services, offer monthly design tips or give away some templates.
2. Email course. Creating a short, multi-part email course is a bit more work but easier than ever with the tools available. If you’re an expert in something, I’m sure you’re able to come up with a 5-day email course. This way, you can share free knowledge and position yourself as an expert even more.
3. Free webinar. Again, with all the digital tools available, it’s easier than ever to host a virtual event. Pick a topic you want to share more about, or invite someone from your network and interview them. Announce the event in your network or among your target audience and have people sign up beforehand. Host the event and send the attendees a follow-up afterward.

Get practical:

• Create a lead generator to capture emails and enroll your subscribers in an email campaign to keep them engaged.

Become the 1%

Your brand message should be a reflection of who your audience is and what appeals to them, along with the position you want to take in the market.

Most creators start their brands in the hope that they will be successful. There are very few who position themselves well enough to give their brands the best chance for survival, establishment, and then success.

Build a brand from the inside out. One that has substance, meaning, values, personality, and visual appeal to give your business a starting point, a future brand, and a great vehicle to get there.

To sum it up:

1. Your personal brand sets you apart from eight billion other brands.
2. Writing online is collecting like-minded people around you and building your life’s resume.
3. Building an audience is a superpower that will improve your creator's life.
4. Build an email list to convert your followers into friends — don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
5. Remind your audience you exist — one day they might need you.

To learn more about the creator’s mindset, grab a copy of my free ebook.