Focus on Being You

I was recently perusing one of those free downloadable viral reports and discovered a very interesting line of copy. It was a simple yet profound statement that summed up everything about the web content niche I don’t believe in:

Today we are going to show you how to appear like an inspirational, creative, buzz generating genius, with almost zero effort.

Hmmm…why would anyone want to merely appear genuinely inspirational and creative? Why not just be genuinely inspirational and creative? Well, to answer that question look at the end of the sentence: with almost zero effort.

Standing out from a crowd takes effort, no matter who or where you are. Bloggers need to be brilliant, innovative and patient to realize a payoff. However, it’s very common to see the most eager and ambitious bloggers quickly get derailed by the artificial promise of the quick and easy payoff.

This easy money mentality is based on the now-saturated “make money online” (MMO) niche, which basically goes like this: get attention, monetize your content and repeat.

The MMO model really can pay off if you’re the right type of person – the one with a killer salesman instinct. But if you decide to go down this path you better make sure you have the best weapons and armor. You need to know that MMOers live within a food chain where the big guy gets bigger and the small guy has a low chance of survival.

So ask yourself right now: are you the aggressive marketing type? If you’re not, then why even bother?

If you’re still reading this, then maybe you are serious about dominating your niche and assuming top command in your field. To that I say don’t hesitate: embrace and follow that path starting right now.

For starters you must learn how to ignore and transcend the seductive trappings of so-called internet riches and simply focus on being you. From an editorial standpoint, it’s necessary that you occasionally turn your back on the buzz and hype of the crowds in order to develop trust in your own ideas.

Doing this will help you become a more powerful and effective thinker, writer and editor. Only then will you be able to produce content that doesn’t just appear excellent, but really is excellent — in spite of all the entropy.

Yeah, But Show Me the Money

They say most bloggers suck at marketing, and it’s true. Admittedly we need to be mindful of marketing if we want to succeed. But ask yourself, who would you rather be: rock star or concert promoter? The source or the middle man? Picasso or art dealer?

The web ultimately rewards the ones who are true innovators. If you can achieve this level of authority, you will never have to worry about marketing the next big thing, or compromising your identity to make a sale.

In fact, you will have the freedom, comfort and confidence to express yourself as you are, connect with others like you and create a lasting impression on the people you influence. 

Blogger Steve Pavlina is a great example of someone who makes it all work. He says this:

With this blog I currently have no sales, no employees, no products, no inventory, no credit card processing, no fraud, and no customers…Now it brings in over $200/day $1000/day (updated as of 10/29/06).  I didn’t spend a dime on marketing or promotion.  

What Pavlina’s example shows us is that it pays to be yourself. What not a better way to live?