7 Lessons from Jay Acunzo for Creators and Marketers

Jay Acunzo has been creating content material on the Web for a lengthy time. His journey on social media started when, as a sports activities journalist in 2005, he began a weblog whereas interning and writing for a scholar paper.

When he moved into advertising and marketing, his sports activities weblog referred to as “Weblog, Don’t Lie” (named after the notorious quote by NBA participant Rasheed Wallace) shifted focus to writing about sports activities writing. He wrote about different creators who had been writing about sports activities, connecting with and celebrating their work. And to seek out these folks, there was no higher place than social media.

Because of his early begin on social media and his deep understanding of the connection between advertising and marketing and creativity, Jay brings a singular perspective from which creators and entrepreneurs can be taught lots. On this article, we dive into the teachings from Jay Acunzo for the fashionable creator.

Your job isn’t to talk clearly – it’s to create connection

It’s simple to get sucked into the numbers and metrics and make that the main target of your work as a creator or marketer. Your viewers doesn’t have that perspective, and so your content material could not carry out properly since you assume the job is to create content material.

Nevertheless, the job is to create connection, and the easiest way to try this is to be certain that your personal private artistic fingerprints are all around the work. Infuse your private perspective, your lived experiences, and your tales, and also you grow to be irreplaceable within the eyes of your viewers.

In different phrases, share the stuff you lived by way of, noticed, or keep in mind that led to a significant expertise or perception. That is what efficient storytellers do.

You is likely to be questioning how sensible “creating connection” is, however Jay shares a good way to reframe your perspective: “Sure, you’ll be able to measure issues you should buy. Or the issues social networks say you must prioritize. However you too can measure the issues you need to earn – and entrepreneurs do not do the second practically sufficient.”

So you should buy downloads to a podcast, however you need to earn episode completions. You should buy site visitors to your web site, you need to earn repeat guests. You should buy emails to your record, you need to earn replies to your e mail. These are the alerts that your work issues and resonates since you created connection together with your viewers.

For those who’re fearful about AI, you’ve received all of it incorrect

There are two sides to the coin on the subject of the usage of AI in content material creation and advertising and marketing – those that use it to produce their work as an alternative of to unblock or facilitate it.

On one aspect, in the event that they assume the job is to create content material, will fear about or use AI as a creator substitute. They may let it create complete items of content material for them, basically outsourcing their creativeness.

Nevertheless, the opposite aspect, in the event that they know the job is to create a connection, will use the identical instruments doubtlessly, however in several methods to unblock their creativeness as an alternative of outsourcing it. They’ll use it to boost what they’re making an attempt to do. They lead, and the device serves them.

And in everybody else’s case, after they assume the job is content material, they appear to be serving the device, which is senseless. In what world does a chef ask the carrot to prepare dinner?

Resonance > attain

Now, usually, when entrepreneurs are fascinated by development, they assume they’ve a attain drawback when actually they’ve a resonance drawback. For those who can attain some folks, and people folks aren’t actually excited and going and discovering the others for you thru phrase of mouth, then you have got a resonance drawback, not a attain drawback.

In case your work would not matter, no quantity of selling will change that. And a straightforward instance is that we are able to all attain some folks very simply, very effectively, if not at no cost. Are these few folks responding in large methods? If not, the typical marketer says, “We gotta go attain extra folks.” However the storyteller, and not using a advertising and marketing hat on, would say, why would we go attain extra people who find themselves whole strangers? These are the those that like and even belief us, and so they’re not excited? Should not we get them excited?”

Begin with one factor and make it actually good. If it deserves to be unfold, it’s going to unfold simpler. You will not really feel like you need to beg for consideration as a result of you’ve got discovered to resonate.

So the primary hurdle to get from attain to resonance is: are you creating something that issues to a few folks? If you cannot do this, do not make investments any extra time or price range into making an attempt to get in entrance of extra folks – deal with getting these few folks to care.

If you are able to do that, you needn’t widen the highest of the funnel as a result of each particular person who meets you adores you, buys from you, takes motion with you, and is worked up to share you with the folks they know.

Persona must be current in all of your content material

Jay is a storyteller above the rest, and his private perspective is hardwon. He described his work saying, “I inform tales and attempt to extract sudden insights from these tales for individuals who wish to produce high quality work. My mission is to assist folks make what issues to their careers, to their firms, and to their communities.” However he wasn’t at all times this clear on his positioning. He shared that he began out imitating a variety of his heroes earlier than he was capable of outline his personal voice.

“The issue with many creators is that they by no means attempt to get away of the sameness and discover a distinction of their class. There’s a variety of commodity content material, there’s a variety of copycat considering, and there is a variety of sameness on the market.”

Lots of people who wish to stand out from that sameness assume that their job is to get more and more loud, outrank, or outhype the competitors. However, as he places it, “I really assume that the job is to resonate deeper, so that you must beg for consideration much less.”

For those who’re engaged on one thing, even for those who’re ticking a guidelines, somebody ought to discover for those who stopped engaged on that mission as a result of one thing about your execution made it totally different and distinct.

The concept that you have got issues in your life that no language studying mannequin (LLM) or AI has been educated on – they can not entry that stuff, so use it. Your perspective and character – every little thing that makes you you –  is your distinctive, unfair benefit.

Most individuals haven’t been utilizing that benefit absolutely, even earlier than AI burst into reputation. We expect we have now to be a vessel that creates what “works” for the “viewers”. So we search out lists of the very best hooks for TikTok or essentially the most participating Twitter Thread format.

The issue with that strategy is that you just begin creating generic content material and not using a perspective or viewpoint and with out an experiential differentiator to it, so AI is your substitute. But when you know the way to imbue your work with private perspective and character, AI turns into your intern.

Jay thinks we should always look tougher on the individuals who aren’t fearful about AI as a result of they’re letting their private views, beliefs and frustrations, and imaginative and prescient for the world and their work lead as an alternative of leaving it to probability that one way or the other they will present up within the work.

Course of, Posture, and Apply

While you’re fascinated by creating content material, and also you get stumped, return to your roots. Create the stuff you want existed, and go discover the others who additionally need that to exist. To cite Jay, “Choose your viewers, decide your future.”

Most individuals strategy content material creation by considering, “What do folks need?” After which they run right into a wall as a result of they’ve a monolithic concept of “folks” and “viewers” and “content material”. They’re going, “Our “viewers”, needs “snackable short-form movies.” Do they? Or will they eat something you create as a result of there’s a character that shines by way of the content material?

Loads of entrepreneurs (and creators) consider themselves as having mastered the craft of content material. What they’ve mastered, although, is Course of, outlined by Jay as the workflow, strategies, and instruments to information your work. However there are two different items that not sufficient folks take into account: Posture and Apply.

Posture is the way you see your self and the world. It’s the messy bag of humanity that you just convey with you to your work, your confidence, your type, your tone, your lived experiences, and your reminiscences.

Then there’s Apply, which sees you delivery on a constant, coherent schedule, not for work or as a result of somebody gave you permission, however as a result of it is Wednesday, and on Wednesday, you ship an article or tweet or publish simply to get higher at it. That is the place you grasp your craft.

Course of is one thing somebody palms you – it requires the least quantity of effort. And if that is all you are good at, quickly you will not be wanted as a result of AI is de facto good at Course of. However when you have got a Posture and once you’ve labored at it by way of Apply, and once you use all three in tandem, you grow to be irreplaceable. You develop a perspective, a tone of voice, a method, and other people begin coming to you, not due to your content material, however as a result of it is you.

Wish to area of interest down? Develop a premise

We have a tendency to consider niches by way of demographics – who your seemingly viewers is, their job title, their sector, their expertise degree, and so forth. Layered onto which are psychographics or ideas and emotions of your viewers. Jay describes any such niching as a filter that you just arrange in the way in which you place your self and present up on this planet that brings the suitable folks all the way in which to you and repels the incorrect folks.

Nevertheless, Jay proposes an alternate strategy to choosing a distinct segment: creating a premise. He defines the premise as “the precise, defensible goal to your content material that’s pulled out of your private imaginative and prescient for the viewers.” It’s a tipping level from folks being loyal to folks being tremendous followers as a result of you appear irreplaceable to them. There’s not one more exploring what you are exploring.

What makes a robust premise? Hrishikesh Hirway began a podcast about music in 2014 referred to as Music Exploder. The class was crowded even again then, however there was a variety of sameness in it. Hrishikesh noticed each musician being interviewed with generic questions. He wished to listen to these folks speak about one thing particular: their craft. So Music Exploder requested musicians to take aside a single tune and, piece by piece, inform the story of how they made it.

You’ll be able to simply pitch that podcast with a defensible premise: “It is a present about music. In contrast to different exhibits about music, solely Music Exploder asks their music friends to take aside a single observe and, piece by piece, inform the story of the way it’s made.”

The components is definitely replicated in what Jay dubs the ‘XY Premise Pitch’:

It is a [Project type] about [Topic]. In contrast to different [Project types] about [Topic] solely we [Unique Proposition].

Your XY premise informs every little thing about your content material. It motivates subscribers, shapes tradition, and helps promote your concepts by sharing your worldview with the viewers. And for those who or your viewers can’t determine what it’s, you haven’t discovered your area of interest but. It is not simple to provide you with one thing like that, however the very best media firms and storytellers know that it is value placing within the work to develop a resonance together with your viewers.

One pink flag to be careful for as you develop your premise is for those who begin evaluating your self to others, saying, “In contrast to different exhibits, we *really* dive deep to get you the actual techniques and practitioner language.”

As a substitute, you must say, “In contrast to different content material that explores these matters, solely we [Unique Proposition].”

It is not what you discover however how you discover it.

Jay asks you to contemplate, “What are you doing to compel folks to wish to spend extra time with you and join with you on a degree that isn’t attainable on social media?”

Social media is a landlord that may change the foundations or kick you out at any second. It prioritizes the loud minority of maximum views or attention-grabbing gimmicks at scale, not giving the platform to folks with nuanced and significant issues to say.

It’s additionally actually good at creating interchangeable personalities at scale. So though some folks stand out, they’re nonetheless preventing to be seen, albeit amongst a smaller class than all people else. Wherever you look, you’ll discover subgenres popping out of each broader style constructed and influenced by social networks. And so they all appear replaceable – if one shuts off, you possibly can discover one other, and it won’t be actual, nevertheless it’d be fairly shut.

As creators and entrepreneurs, our job is determining the best way to grow to be our viewers’s favourite – their most popular decide for a particular goal. While you’ve piqued their curiosity on social media, you’ll be able to convey the actually engaged members of your viewers extra into this worldview by directing them to your owned platforms. Now you’re left to contemplate what these owned platforms are.

Social media must grow to be merely a solution to uncover you – a window into the deeper, extra connective work you are doing by way of newsletters, podcasts, memberships, e mail lists, and issues which you can management with larger certainty.

Takeaways

TL;DR? Listed here are the important thing takeaways from our interview with Jay Acunzo:

• Prioritize making real connections together with your viewers. How are you going to do that? By infusing your private perspective and experiences into your work.
• Use AI to boost your creativity and unblock your creativeness to not outsource your creativity
• Take a look at your concepts with a small viewers earlier than in search of a big one. In case your content material doesn’t resonate with the small however loyal subset of your viewers, it received’t work simply since you enhance the dimensions of your goal.
• Your distinctive perspective and experiences make you irreplaceable within the eyes of your viewers, so let your character shine by way of your content material.
• Differentiate your content material by creating a singular and defensible goal that units it other than others in your area of interest. Use the XY Premise Pitch to speak the distinctive proposition of your content material.
• Social media must be a window into your owned platforms – prioritize constructing one thing that is yours so that you don’t have to fret about social media no matter its future.
• Deal with the workflow, strategies, instruments, and private parts you convey to your work, and create persistently.

Jay’s parting phrases are, “Attempt to be the non-public most popular decide to your viewers by creating a robust premise and showcasing your distinctive perspective.”