This is a special 3 part email series. If you missed yesterday’s, we discussed why freedom ISN’T the most important goal online. You can take a read here.

I grew up in a military school.

Which might sound pretty cool but unfortunately I was a shy and chubby wee kid who wanted nothing more than to play video games and read fantasy books.

This was a problem because everyone else strutted around like they had a shot of testosterone with their morning Weetabix.

A lot of chest pumping, shouting, and dick swinging.

(Kinda like Money Twitter now I think of it).

Thankfully I graduated without too much drama. But looking back it was a terrible place for someone like me.

I, like a lot of people online, was intellectually curious. I was fascinated by topics like science, history, and mathematics (watch out ladies). I wanted to ask questions and be part of a community.

But I rarely engaged at school.

I’d sit quietly in class and never share my ideas.

There was no point. I’d either be laughed at or drowned out because there were people who were much louder than me.

People who wanted attention for the wrong reasons.

And you know what Reader?

This is precisely what’s happening online.

There’re a lot of smart, interesting, useful people out there who are being drowned out just because they can’t shout as loud.

Much like my school, most attention goes to the ‘idiots’.

And you’re left wondering if there’s any point in trying to post your thoughts and build an audience.

After all, you might spend hours on a meaningful post and get zero likes. Yet some commodity creators will share ‘10 AI hacks you can’t live without’ or ‘the movies that will (most certainly not) change your life’ and go ultra viral.

But here’s the truth:

Commodity content no longer works.

Not if you want to actually build a business around your ideas - how you build your audience is much more important than how fast.

Chasing followers…

Hacking algorithms…

Pumping out platitudes…

Not only is this shit incredibly boring, it entirely misses the point. The internet is like the world’s biggest megaphone - you can reach thousands of people with your ideas.

But if you want to slice through the noise, you can’t compete by shouting louder.

Because you don’t rise above the crowd by copying them.

You rise above by being different.

So tomorrow, I’ll share why noise is an advantage if you take the right approach. Because there’s a reason people will listen to you over your competition. Even if you’re not the biggest creator in your niche.

Speak then,

Kieran

P.S.

You might be thinking, ‘oh, this is easy for you to say because you have an audience’.

And you’d be right.

There’s a reason I don’t worry about competition. I’ve adopted the same creator philosophy over the past few years and people are beginning to catch on. I’ll explain more in tomorrow’s email.

And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Digital Freedom.

Send me a quick message - I reply to every email!