Alright, got a big update today.
Lots of learnings and realizations here.
I’m officially calling the first round of Phase 1 done for my Content Creation experiment.
Off the bat, I didn’t achieve the results I wanted to.
There are a few reasons why I think this happened… but the main one is that my expectation was wrong.
When I honestly look at what my strategy was for building my 2 brands, it basically boiled down to this:
Get One Video to Go Viral
...and that will attract tons of followers and build the brand.
To be fair, this is what happened with QuitbyHealing (Shane’s brand) as well.
BUT…
and this is a BIG but…
He put out content nonstop.
Every.
Single.
Day.
And still does.
His “luck” is brute force applied to the opportunity he identified.
And that’s the first mistake, rather lesson, that I can extract from my experiment here.
First Lesson: I Didn't Identify
The ONE BURNING Problem
Something that I could repeatedly hammer on in every single video I created.
I definitely think this was a big issue with my content because I don’t really have any theme or anything specific going on.
Especially something that the market needs.
This is one of those basics that I had to do well… and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t.
When I look back at my message testing results, I think I didn’t leverage them properly.
The lower the CPR (Cost per Result), the more the message resonates.
The Top 3 pain points I had identified were:
- I am easily distracted (Topic: Distraction)
- I feel like a failure in life (Topic: Goals)
- I am really slow at getting things done (Topic: Focus)
What I should have done is pick one of these and repeatedly make videos on that specific topic.
At least thematically, all my videos should have been “the same”.
This is something that Shane’s QbH brand does extremely well.
“how to quit porn without nofap”
That’s basically the theme.
The funny thing is that Shane even told me all this a few weeks ago…
…but I was too far deep and missed the forest for the trees.
Second Lesson: There is No Workaround Around the Work
The premise of my experiment 9-10 weeks ago was to find the formulaic approach.
Whether I knew it or not, in my naivety, I was looking for the shortcut.
How to achieve X without [doing the work].
But it’s not entirely a bad thing.
Cuz just like anybody, I also don’t want to waste my time.
What I did learn though is that there are certain learning curves that I just had to go through.
For example:
- How to build better hooks.
- How to identify topics to talk about
- How to use antagonizing viewpoints to your advantage
- How to setup a shot, lighting, camera work, etc.
These are things that I just can’t work around.
They literally have to be done.
Overall, my communication skills are sharper than ever.
My ability to be natural on camera has vastly improved.
And I know how to create tight scripts that are engaging and interesting.
That takes me to my third lesson.
Third Lesson: You Gotta Have Some Interest
in What You’re Talking About
My business and marketing channel now discusses:
“Business and Marketing lessons made simple."
I do this by sharing what I learn from recent events.
The reason for this is because this is literally what I do every day.
I consume tons of business content and extract lessons for myself.
And then I apply them in my life.
I am not surprised that I gravitated towards this in my recent videos.
It’s the thing that comes most natural to me.
And it makes sense that my Personal Brand went in this direction.
The only alternative to this that I can see is tutorial / how-to content.
I’m going to use Shane as an example again here.
For years he made tutorial videos and content for ThriveThemes — his website building software company.
The main reason was because he wanted to help people who used his software.
There was a clear demand from his audience and customers for “Hey Shane, how do I do XYZ in ThriveThemes?”
And he would answer those questions with videos.
Also, this doesn’t have to be a soul-sucking endeavour either.
When your company takes off, you get pretty passionate about it and the interest gets stoked.
I’m making this last point here because I don’t want to come across as generic “you gotta be passionate” advice here.
That’s not the case.
The passion comes when your stuff starts working.
Fourth Lesson: The Easiest Content to Blow Up is
“How to Blow Up Your Content” Type Stuff
I fell for this.
I realized it much later that I fell for it.
Strictly speaking from a principles point of view...
...this is the exact same thing as business gurus who make money from teaching other people how to make money.
There will always be a HUMUNGOUS demand for things like:
- how to make money
- how to lose weight
- how to be more attractive
- how to blow up your social media accounts (which really is ‘how to make money’)
The people teaching this stuff can be legit.
Andy Frisella says it best:
If any more than 5% of someone’s income is coming from teaching you how to make an income… that’s not the person you should be listening to.
- Andy Frisella on Real AF
Winning is More Fun Than Fun is Fun Episode
He’s absolutely right about this.
People who make money by telling you how to make money don’t have any monetizable skills.
Because if they did, they’d be monetizing their skills and making their money that way.
BUT… this doesn’t mean that the principles of achievement and building something don’t apply.
And this is where the problem comes in.
How do you determine that the person you’re listening to is the real deal?
For one: you can look at what they’ve accomplished outside of teaching you how to accomplish something.
That probably is the realest way.
My only issue with this approach is that if this was the black-and-white filter we applied to everything, then we would never listen to anyone.
Everyone who’s doing something is always on a journey and continually improving.
So the other approach to determining whether someone is the real deal or not, in my eyes, is to see what they tell you.
Do they only share their wins?
Or do they share their losses as well?
That’s the key determining factor.
When successful people share their losses as well as their wins, it humanizes them.
It tells me that they also experienced failure.
Those are the guys I trust.
That’s the differentiating factor, imo.
Fifth (and Final) Lesson: Be More Structured
If I had to do this all over again, here’s what I would do:
- Pick an extremely specific theme
- Identify one core problem to hammer on
- Create 10 videos on this theme and problem
- If there’s any traction (1,000+ views on at least 1 video), make 10 more...
- ...repeat
This experience has taught me that this should be a rock solid gameplan.
The truth is that this was my gameplan from the get go…
…but I was so far behind in my skill level that it took me my first 50-odd videos just to learn the basics of content creation.
This goes back to Lesson #2: There is No Workaround Around the Work.
With a much higher skill level, at this point, the 5-step gameplan I laid out above is what I would do.
Because this way I’d be able to test channel ideas and topics much faster (10 videos at a time)…
…instead of wasting time and energy on the good old “God I hope this works” strategy.
Conclusion.
I am going to reassess and think about the gameplan I laid out above and see if I decide to pivot.
My main issue is that I really like the Personal Brand that I’ve been building up on TikTok.
BUT… if it’s not helping me grow our business… what’s the point of it?
I got some homework to do and lots to think about.
I don’t think I’d go the route of completely creating a new channel, instead I’d most likely incorporate my lessons and learnings into my existing channel.
I like the Small Business Marketing theme.
The only issue with it could be that it’s too broad.
My next step would most likely have to be to niche down into something extremely specific.
We’ll see.
For now I have a backlog of videos to post.
I’ll keep you updated on my progress.
Thanks for tuning in.
PS. The credit belongs to the man in the arena...
I'm sure you've heard this quote by Theodore Roosevelt.
(If you haven't, I'll leave it below.)
The main idea is that the person doing the thing is the one who deserves the credit.
Not the critic.
Not the people who talk shit.
And definitely not the people that tell you why what you're doing won't work.
No!
The credit belongs to the man in the arena.
If you are someone who's doing the work, it doesn't matter if you're failing right now.
Because failure is literally part of the success process.
Avoiding it means avoiding success itself.
Just like you, I have critics in my life too.
All I have to say to them is:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt