Business Dilemma: Communication vs Manipulation

[UnbornTao]

The more popular the content, the less honest, generally speaking. For example, take a look at Leo’s content over the years. His deepest, most authentic content isn't as popular as the more pragmatic, superficial videos.

In business: How do you balance between authenticity and using hype and superficiality? What are some effective principles you follow in your business?

How would you market and sell content that is profound, authentic and raw without sacrificing its spirit or substance?

My issue seems to boil down to communication vs manipulation.

Edited January 24, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Average Investor]

You will have to play with a balance there. You will probably need more of the mainstream hype to start getting some views in though. Most people are not very developed, so that is why you see Leo's newer content not getting as much views. Considering what it is though, I think it is pretty impressive still. 

I think authenticity is still important though. Regardless of what the content is, you can still be yourself. Even then a bit of acting puts on a show and makes people want to watch too. If you look at something like FPSRussia his entire style was acting, even his voice. So you will have to test out what you want. You didn't mention the medium of what you want to create, so if it isn't video this can still be applied to writing etc. 

A lot of testing is what will help you decide the best route. There might be a good sized opening for the raw, authentic content you have in mind. If you keep at it for the long haul your style will completely transform over time. 

[UnbornTao]

@Average Investor

Thanks, some fresh perspective there.

I'd try writing, podcasting and video making.

Edited November 8, 2022 by UnbornTao

[Average Investor]

@UnbornTao Yeah, test around with all of it. It takes a lot of experimentation to really get something working. 

Interestingly, I have had this realization with my reselling business. However, I have had multiple youtube channels. I am currently transitioning the reselling business once again and I am going into my third year of business. I am finally figuring out what works and what does not. I suppose this is really with learning anything in life. However, I think people skip out of the experimentation faze of things too fast. I would say the  research is very important too. As you continue to produce this kind of material you will eventually have some stats that you can look at. Things like how long people watch, what makes them click, where they come from, etc. You will also get data on the things like their age, sex, etc. You can build that ideal client over time. It will be very important that you use these stats to look for things to cut out too. The more BS you can remove, the better your product will become. Just knowing what you do and don't do will make a massive difference. 

 

[UnbornTao]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:27 PM, Average Investor said:

@UnbornTao However, I think people skip out of the experimentation faze of things too fast. I would say the  research is very important too.

Any lessons you could share from your previous channels?

The dilemma seems to lie in being loyal to the truth of the content itself without catering to people’s gullibility and desires as they currently are.

Edited November 8, 2022 by UnbornTao

[Average Investor]

@UnbornTao I had one with about 100 videos. I did gaming type videos. Most of the videos did not perform that great. It did have a fairly loyal following though with a few thousand subscribers. Towards the end of that I started making modding videos, which all of the sudden got super popular. One video hit 100,000 view pretty fast and others in the 10s of thousands. I only made several hundred in ad revenue off of that. I got too sidetracked with just trying to make a quick buck. I didn't form a long term vision of what I could do with the channel. 

I had a crypto currency one that had some decent views. I believe I filmed this sometime a bit after 2018. Kind of the same as above. Had a lot of potential, but I exhausted out of it. I wanted to make something more than just surface level stuff, but crypto is very complex. I went way too hard at it in a short time. Looking at some of the stuff that stuck to it from that time has done very well. I had actually established some friends in that industry as well. It was time to leave though. 

I also did youtube videos on reselling. I kept these videos up and a few got several thousand views. I came up with those videos because no one else had those topics. I had searched them myself, but could not find anything. I actually had came up with the idea of hooking a camera on myself and filming garage sales. I didn't take action on this and I actually have seen channels blow up with thousands of subscribers using that idea. I still could go this route, but I don't aspire to teach people about doing this. 

Mostly a lack of vision, consistency, and action resulted in not a lot from them. However, a good part in that is I didn't feel as committed to those topics. My level of consciousness has radically evolved from that first channel in 2014 with the gaming mentioned. 

Working on making videos now, one of the hurdles I see is just not being sure where to put myself in the market. I notice that higher conscious material is not as desirable, but maybe within 10 years it could be. So there could be some potential here. It would be hell of a lot easier to do a lot of the stuff that most people on youtube do for views.

One thing I feel is a big waste of time is spamming the videos places. I played around with this a good bit. Even got thousands of views on videos. I think the focus should be on making good content. Try to work on figuring out SEO, which takes a good amount of work. There seems to be a lot of competition on these platforms.  

I notice there is a lot of room for growth making things like shorts. That seems to be one of the best areas to be in to grow. I am not currently chasing that trend. However, if I had stuff to bring them back to it would not be a bad idea to have that kind of material available. 

[HypnoticMagician]

Why not both?

[UnbornTao]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:49 PM, Average Investor said:

@UnbornTao Mostly a lack of vision, consistency, and action resulted in not a lot from them. However, a good part in that is I didn't feel as committed to those topics. My level of consciousness has radically evolved from that first channel in 2014 with the gaming mentioned. 

Can relate.

On 1/1/2022 at 8:49 PM, Average Investor said:

Working on making videos now, one of the hurdles I see is just not being sure where to put myself in the market. I notice that higher conscious material is not as desirable, but maybe within 10 years it could be. So there could be some potential here. It would be hell of a lot easier to do a lot of the stuff that most people on youtube do for views.

Exactly!

Do you know of any good resources about this topic?

On 1/2/2022 at 0:47 PM, HypnoticMagician said:

Why not both?

How would you do that?

They seem to contradict each other.

Edited November 8, 2022 by UnbornTao

[vindicated erudite]

On 31/12/2021 at 6:05 PM, UnbornTao said:

Hope you can help, especially you entrepreneurs:

When starting a business, in my case a “self-help” online business: How do you balance being authentic vs. using hype and superficiality?

Take a look at Leo’s content over the years, for example. The content with the most views deals with the superficial, pragmatic side of this work. With deeper topics, Actualized’s views and subscriber count has been increasing more slowly since then.

Creating content excites me, especially when it is derived from my contemplations. Then it dawns on me: few would care. The content I have in mind is profound, authentic, and raw.

How do you guys deal with this dilemma? What did you do in your case? How are you being effective in your business? Did it feel like selling your soul? 

It seems to boil down to two distinctions: communication and manipulation.

As a copywriter whose USP is ethical and sustainable marketing, I might be able to give you a few insights on this problem. 

The simple answer is don't lie, you don't need hype to run a successful business.

That includes FOMO or scarcity tactics if unjustified for example putting a timer on a product that isn't going to run out.

When marketing your products or services I would recommend that you focus on creating promotional content that aligns your product or service with your ideal customers that need what you have to offer the most.

The majority of marketers tend to focus on creating new customers with the promotional material they make. This is great in the short term because you'll make lots of sales however this approach dilutes the brand reputation/usefulness of your service or product because you will be including people who need your product less or not at all by hooking them on with imaginative sales techniques.

Taking the majority approach will wreck the long term success of your business because low-quality reviews and chargeback will slowly accumulate over time which will slowly destroy your reputation which will then decrease sales. By taking the aligning approach you'll create a loyal customer base of happy customers which will leave great reviews and promote your company via word of mouth (which is the best marketing approach).

Edited January 2, 2022 by vindicated erudite

[flume]

On 31/12/2021 at 7:05 PM, UnbornTao said:

Hope you can help, especially you entrepreneurs:

When starting a business, in my case a “self-help” online business: How do you balance being authentic vs. using hype and superficiality?

Take a look at Leo’s content over the years, for example. The content with the most views deals with the superficial, pragmatic side of this work. With deeper topics, Actualized’s views and subscriber count has been increasing more slowly since then.

Creating content excites me, especially when it is derived from my contemplations. Then it dawns on me: few would care. The content I have in mind is profound, authentic, and raw.

How do you guys deal with this dilemma? What did you do in your case? How are you being effective in your business? Did it feel like selling your soul? 

It seems to boil down to two distinctions: communication and manipulation.

I think being authentic just comes down to sharing what you really care about, which always comes across and is the only way to keep you going anyways. I can't imagine building a brand or videos I'm not super passionate about.

Also, definitely have a bias towards action. You don't know if people would care if you haven't tried it. I would care  And also, as long as you put yourself out there consistently, it will take off.

Just put something out there all the freaking time. Anything. And you'll find your way. There's no shortcut. I've experimented with online, offline, videos, blogs, magazines, pictures, products, etc. You'll naturally see what you're drawn to and motivated to keep doing. Again, anything that you can keep doing AND is a passion of yours will pay off eventually. I'm sure about that!

As Gary Vee said "Document, don't create"

Document your journey, document what's going through your mind, what you're reading and learning and you'll never run out of content and it will always be authentic. That's how you create a tribe.

Best of luck!

[HypnoticMagician]

@UnbornTao

Oh, again binary thinking. One of the common mistakes of newbies in the beginning stages of self development. Something anybody into non-duality needs to get rid of.

[Thought Art]

Depends, do you want to make money? Then what results are to promising and what pain are you curing and how badly do people want it?

You can share high quality stuff, but sometimes that needs to be wrapped into something more pragmatic.

[UnbornTao]

@HypnoticMagician Each has a different purpose.

On 1/3/2022 at 3:03 PM, Thought Art said:

Depends, do you want to make money? Then what results are to promising and what pain are you curing and how badly do people want it?

You can share high quality stuff, but sometimes that needs to be wrapped into something more pragmatic.

Yes, I see.

@flume @vindicated eruditeBookmarked for future reference, thanks.

Interesting approach. That seems to be what Leo has been doing with this site from the beginning. That's one way to look at its evolution.

Edited November 8, 2022 by UnbornTao

[Average Investor]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:10 PM, UnbornTao said:

Do you have any recommended resources on SEO?

I am still not that advanced doing it. I have had some mixed results. I like using tools like VidIQ and trying to find keywords that I could maybe rank in. That tool is quite useful. I pay for their $10 a month thing and it seems worth it. 

[HypnoticMagician]

On 1/4/2022 at 9:07 PM, UnbornTao said:

@HypnoticMagician Each has a different purpose.

It depends. You are making the same mistake of binary thinking. Nevertheless, I won't explain because it is better for you to find out on your own.