I am an artrepreneur studying in depth how art and success can live in the same house.
Here is a quick overview of this post:
I will talk briefly about my discovery of crypto at the age of 12.
Why I appreciate Steemit with my limited, yet growing knowledge.
Art and Entrepreneurship, my main interests in life.
And big social media based companies like facebook, google, and amazon.
I will be referring to a book called the four by Scott Galloway, a lot. Because it slapped me in the face and woke me the fuck up to the reality of big data and social media giants and clearly said what they're really all about.
I pick up a lot of books. And I finish some of them. This book is one that I read in 2 days, non stop.
I know that I'm supposed to introduce myself in depth, honestly, I'd rather share idea's that I'm passionate about that may be interesting and of value to you, which inevitably will lead to you learning more about me. :)
Here's a picture of me with my one true love anyway.
Hopefully the image show's up, this is my first post so I am #trying haha
With Steemit I plan to focus mainly on Artrepreneurship. I am very much an artist and visionary.
A lot of my posts will be from the perspective of someone who values health, honesty, integrity, mutual respect, critical thinking, equity among people of all gender, sexual orientations, racial identities, political views, economics, access to resources, ability, age and whatever else. I just care about people and I love encouraging people to live their best lives.
Most of all I spend 95% of my time around artists and entrepreneurs. I love artists because art raised me, and raised me well. It's saved my life, and giving me deep meaning and insight into the world around me.
I love entrepreneurs because we are moving the world forward and creating new opportunities every day.
A lot of folks reading this are probably entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship is also clearly reflects who you are internally. I know my business will always be a reflection of myself and the communities involved. This will continually keep me in check with reality.
One of my core belief's is that if I can give YOU all the best information that I have, you will hopefully share that information and our communities will continue to evolve and enlighten itself among a lot of the unnecessary drama and pain that we experience in our day to day.
O yeah and by the way I use swear words. So hide your mom.
DISCOVERY
I first discovered bitcoin when I was like 11 or 12 ( I am 21 years young now).
I downloaded a bitcoin miner onto my grandma's old ass computer even though I didn't expect it to do much.
Short after, I kind of gave up on cryptocurrency because I didn't really understand it.
10 years later turns out to be worth thousands of dollars. Only if I understood the true meaning of crypto back then.
Anyway, here is why I joined Steemit.
Steemit is a platform where the users of the platform get paid to create valuable content.
THIS, right here, is revolutionary. It's a lot closer to democratized media then any other social platform.
THE FOUR
I just finished a book called "The Four" written by Scott Galloway a business professor at Stern school of business in New York. The Four is about amazon, google, apple and facebook and how they could be the first trillion dollar companies and the effects they have on our economy, our personal selves, and our psyche as a whole.
This book has answered questions I didn't even know I had and I would highly recommend the book if you want a good slap in the face
We've all been told that Facebook sells our data. But in my mind it's always been just "facebook sells our data, period"
I never gave that fact a second thought, because I felt, as a consumer, the relevance and social connection facebook gave me was more important than facebook making large profits off of why groups of people love music or tropical fruit.
*APPRECIATION*
What I appreciate about Steemit is that there is no hidden agenda to sell our content to advertisers. There is a certain transparency that I respect. Hopefully it stays this way. Of course I can't predict exactly what is going on in the heads of the Steemit founders - I'd hope that the intentions are for the greater good rather than to profit on our actions and behavior. This is coming from a person that genuinely cares about people and the well being of the folks around me.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A lot of entrepreneurs utilize facebook as a way to promote their businesses via advertisements. Which is the route that I was planning to take...
I basically planned to create valuable content, then advertise the content to gain fan's that would become apart of my visionary production company "Black Sands Cinema Club".
I obviously am not creating this production company just for money, but I'd like to eventually turn it into my career benefitting thousands to hundreds of thousands of people that live in my niche. The community I am apart of is definitely ignored and under served. I know this because I am apart of that community. If there was a community already built for folks like us, I would be gunho and join that community w/o spending all of my money trying to create valuable change in the world.
After reading The Four I am on edge on whether I should utilize facebook advertisements as a primary business model to bring in customers/clients/community members to BSCC.
THE DEATH OF JOURNALISM
Galloway spoke about how The New York Time's net worth got decimated after google changed their algorithm because NYT bought About.com and depended on external advertisements for money.
This is a huge case of "google doesn't give a shit about you, even if you're NYT"
EVEN GREEK GODDESSES CAN GET HURT
Galloway also speaks about even big behemoth companies like Nike have to fight to stay relevant on platforms like Facebook.
Even with over 3 million Facebook fans, Nike only had an organic reach of 2% ( more or less now ).
Even though 3 mil fans is still an incredible accomplishment, the potential of 3 million fans would be maximized if...
Nike is then forced to pay for it's fans through advertising to utilize Facebook as an actual networking platform.
Not only that, if Facebook decided they didn't like Nike for whatever reason, they could destroy Nike's Facebook page thus destroying most of their cash flow. Same with Youtube, Google, Facebook. Etc.
Luckily, Nike has many retail stores. Which Galloway refers to as "Moats" meaning, tangible, physical occupied land that is harder to destroy than just the click of a finger.
SOOOOO... WE SHOULD IGNORE FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE?
Whole entire businesses are built using Facebook marketing and Facebook pages. Even though this is still a viable way to income. Does it limit the potential for your business?
It depends on how you go about it and what you want.
If you just want to make money. Then utilizing facebook, google, and/or amazon to do that would be a great way to make money if you know how to stay on top of the algorithms.
If you're interested in building something of more substance then just an affiliate marketing website, or niche brand that only sells huggies brand diapers. I recommend staying away from facebook until you start building real traction for your community, business, brand or project.
Of course there is also the middle version. A pimped out blog with advertisements and affiliate links.
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However I suggest optimizing your own personal website to make money.
If you have any advertisements on your website, they ALL need to be for your own products.
From a business stand point, you want to keep folks on your website as long as you can.
From a compassionate, human standpoint, ideally it's with content that nourishes their brain and inspires them to take action eventually.
In this case, I'd recommend making your website so appealing that when folks leave. They eventually want to come back, because the experience they have on your website is special.
This is the same with Facebook page's and YouTube Channels. EXCEPT, you aren't depending on advertisements to make money. You're making money from your own clothing company, e books or artistic creations.
This means that you'll need to figure out ways to find customers in diverse ways. You aren't depending on SEO because your website carries more weight and substance. Eventually, your website may rank organically or you may want to work on SEO.
Imagine what happens if your website is sustainable before google SEO. SEO can only make it stronger. This way you'll still have your power. You won't be in bed at night worrying about whether or not people are going to find you through SEO, or care about your Facebook advertisement. When the algorithms change, your business will still be up and running, healthy and happy.
I recommend building relationships with local businesses and the communities around you. If your work permits, frequently travel to other place's. Spend more time connecting directly to local businesses, clubs, groups, schools, public parks, ETC. Eventually you want to make your business "apart of the community" not some unnatural creepy advertisement.
Also, when you do build your business this way. More attention is spent toward building healthy relationships with customers, and other business owners. Facebook will delete your page or group and not give a fuck. Your local night club on the other hand can't delete your presence from existence.
MIND = BLOWN
The moment I realized that I was giving away all of my power by depending and building my business on facebook, instagram and youtube my mind was truly blown.
We already have to depend on the government to regulate our business, we don't want to add extra unnecessary pressure to this process by also abiding to the regulations of social media sites.
Something else that's really amazing also happened. I've gained SO much clarity and vision. I was confused and lost when it came to the community business and brand I am trying to build.
I've been stuck in the "how do I even get my company out there?"
Swinging between "should I build a facebook community, or start my own website?" "Should I make a youtube channel, or start my own channel on my website?"
I've also felt a level of hypocrisy because my brand is very much a lifestyle production company brand that seeks to empower the folks to create the life they want to live. To live life to the fullest and invest in themselves with high quality media rather than Facebook.
Why would I want to focus on Facebook optimization if I'm trying to get people to go outside and play with their damn puppy? That doesn't make any logical sense.
By reading The Four I realized that my brain was foggy was foggy because I was staring at a brick wall. Some where deep in my sub conscious mind. I knew that starting my business from facebook went against my core values as an entrepreneur and someone who puts people before profit.
I've always been hesitant with littering my website with amazon affiliate links and depending on facebook/instagram/youtube to get followers.
There is a documentary about folks, mostly young people, who just make their revenue's from being "YouTube Stars"
Wow.
The upside is that you just talk about your hair gel, and you get millions of views for literally reviewing hair gel.
The downside is that you have to post content EVERYDAY to stay relevant. You are being way underpaid by the companies of the products that you're reviewing.
A few weeks ago I saw a video that said "I spent 24 hours in coca cola". The person had burn marks on your arms and I would imagine their whole body. I almost clicked it, but I knew the results would be horrifying, and I was more in awe of how ridiculous some people are.
The algorithms own you and in some cases get people to inflict harm on themselves for a slice of fame or result to click bait or just straight pornographic content in order to get that sweet hit of dopamine.
No doubt, the person bathing in coca cola had 24 million views, because of the drama and taking advantage of the curiosity of people. Who know's though. It may inspire people to stop drinking coca cola.
Considering if there are burn marks on the outside of their body, I would imagine our internal organs would be experiencing a certain level of trauma as well.
If you have no MOATS ( like a website with an actual business, value and/or product attached to it) then you're vulnerable and giving your power to the YouTube masters that can change your algorithm at any moment
When someone visits my website I'd love for it to be an experience that sweeps them away from this dense dimension of reality and takes them to another space where they can expand their consciousness and really learn something new.
Also, I wouldn't want recycled tissue paper and male thongs (speedo's?) competing with the products/lifestyle that I'm selling to build up my own business and company. Like, if someone wants toilet paper they can go to the damn grocery store. Or amazon.
I'm not saying that I'll NEVER utilize amazon affiliate links or facebook advertising. The likelyhood is rare though. I would rather find a local business and ask to be an affiliate of theirs. Then the commission price is more negotiable, and the leads will be hotter ( meaning more people are likely to actually care ).
A good example of someone utilizing advertisements on YouTube video's that drive folks to their actual website, while still getting millions of YouTube views is Boiler Room TV. On their actual website they have ad free streaming with thousands of free videos. On YouTube they place ad's on their videos.
In this case, they're still making ad revenue. Yet, people are still going to their website. And their basically selling T-SHIRTS. Since they are such an attractive brand. The T Shirts sell very well.
I am even going to by one of their T SHIRTS. They don't try and sell you their T SHIRTS in their video's either. First and foremost it's the CONTENT and you can tell that the founder actually fucking cares.
Obviously I am going to leverage social media for my brand. But first I am going to build moats. Something that has heavy value that isn't easily destroyed. Try kicking a mountain and expecting it to fall over, yeah that's the idea I'm going for. Building a mountain of steel. The only way it can be knocked over is by well, the government duh. But it will be so valued and loved by my community it would re emerge from the ashes like a damn phoenix.
Also, my company is very similar to boiler room in the way that it's kind of underground and the government probably doesn't take it too seriously compared to big ol' fuckers like facebook, youtube etc.
STEEMIT
Anyway I love Steemit because It's a new platform I can share information on. Even more, it is a community that I can be proud to be apart of, at least for now. It's a representation of our future. Ideally currency in the future will evolve to be more technologically base. Where Bitcoin becomes the obvious choice.
Cherry on top is that you can also make a few bucks. I love that it's based on adding value though first and foremost. That's what I'm about.
Of course realistically speaking Steemit still has it's pitfalls. But is still more enjoyable and trustworthy then facebook in my opinion atm.
I'd hope that Steemit stays equitable, meaning, that all posts have some type of opportunity to be seen as the platform gains more attention.
Scrolling through Facebook is just an emotional roller coaster. I think watching YouTube is great. However, being a YouTube star is over rated as a main career in life.
Instagram is great, but only if you're doing tight shit in real life. Otherwise, you'll be stuck in the trap of watching other's highlighting the best part's of their lives, wishing that you can live in their twilight.
When I'm on Steemit I feel a great relief and a sigh of opportunity. This must be what it felt like to be in the glory days of instagram?
I feel like I don't need to post to impress, but to educate, and provide marvelous content.
Thank you for reading! subscribe for more, cause there most definitely will be more.