Nailing this ONE THING makes your content valuable
Traditional jobs are increasingly aversive as most people dream of following the ellusive path of the “entrepreneur” or of the “influencer”. But those labels are actually hurting you, because they fail to define the ONE THING that is essential to success in any area: solving an actual problem. So, no long intro, this is it, let’s dive in and figure out a better way to think about it.
Having a business is the current widespread dream, and it’s more achievable than ever — more and more people say they want to be an influencer, an entrepreneur, a content creator; there are loads of success stories, and it’s easy to envision a life of casually posting stuff, automating monetization, and going back to enjoying daiquiris in Fiji.
But “influencer” or “entrepreneur” completely fail as job descriptions. Regular job names, those that have existed for decades because they are actually useful, carry within them a specific activity that solves a problem. A cook cooks. An accountant does the numbers. A gym teacher makes sure the kids carry on the legacy of dodgeball. And they all get paid because they help someone or some entity achieve some goal.
Is your content providing that kind of value? Or are you just jumping from idea to idea, from trend to trend, and missing this important ingredient in your jorney to success?
Elon Musk had it almost right; he says “You get paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of problems you solve.”; that’s a very engineer-y way to think about it. In reality, complexity is not perfectly correlated to money; you will get paid in proportion to the size of the pain you are relieving. If Elon is lost in a desert, selling him water is not complex; but, in that context, it can be a very high ticket sale.
Now, you may be thinking “Wait a minute… I follow dozens of influencers who do NOTHING of value… they just record some dumb TikTok dancing around or lip syncing. What is the value they create to society?”
Well, if you follow them and actually watch their videos, there’s proof they solve a problem — boredom. Bonus points if they are beautiful women, because evolution made it so that we all love to just look at them — they’re also helping solve the world’s thirst problem.
You may argue that hollow entertainment and hacking our biological tendencies are not healthy ways to provide value, and I agree, but that’s beyond the point here. Just accept that there are people who value that type of content for entertainment, in the same way that there are people who value smoking to relax. You don’t need to copy those business models, those solutions, but there’s no use in denying that they exist and are valued.
Knowing that, can you be aware of the pitfalls you may be facing. Everyone has to solve a problem to achieve success, no exceptions. This fact has to take us from wanting to be an “influencer” or “entrepreneur” to wanting to find something more specific to do.
That is easier for some people, like developers, and harder for others, like dancers; as an example, if you are a dancer who wants to share your moves, always remember to think of the value you are providing: is it entertainment? Are you teaching something? Do you provide pure beauty? And if you don’t really know, test out different approaches and see what resonates with the public. Because success is in finding out that craving and satisfying it in a way only you can.
And here’s the beauty of this approach: if you find yourself lost or stuck, remembering to provide concrete value can instantly shed light on exactly what is your audience, your product, your competition; and knowing what is already out there can make you see what works, what doesn’t, what you can copy, and what unique factor you can bring into that arena.
You can also ditch the flashy, new job names altogether and go back to using traditional descriptions, just adding “on the internet” after them. So you’re not an abstract content creator or entrepreneur; you are a teacher on the internet; or a critic, a comedian, a model, a salesman… on the internet. The value is the same as those of regular, old jobs, it’s only the platform that has changed.
Money is nothing but a token of how much people value your work. If you focus on providing something important, on adressing pressing issues people have, you will be valued and, eventually, you’ll get to enjoy the rewards and drink those daiquiris in Fiji. I hope this content helped you solve your problem. Subscribe for more information on finding valuable problems and solving them in your own unique way.
