trying something new [idgaf 035]

I was having a conversation with a mate recently (who shall remain unnamed), and he was frustrated about how shit his content had been performing.

This isn’t a one off conversation either, I’ve spoken to a bunch of people about this stuff and it feels like plenty that used to do well on LinkedIn have been struggling.

Meanwhile, there’s also plenty of people continually killing it. I’ve seen my own posts get pretty solid impressions and engagement and didn’t really get the whole “boo my reach” complaints.

Well, this is a fun one.

I don’t know about you, but I’m like.. the king of putting something where I’ll see it all the time, and eventually forgetting about it EVEN THOUGH IT’S RIGHT IN MY FACE.

But there’s a reason this shit happens (even though it’s annoying af).

The way it works is your brain sees the same thing over and over until eventually it gets used to it. And since our brains are lazy, it classifies it as not that important, and starts to ignore it.

That way, it saves some processing power for shit that matters, like if you need to defuse a bomb suddenly (it could happen!!).

The concept is called habituation, and it’s something worth considering when looking at the content you put out into the world.

Alright, so my buddy who’s struggling (like many others) is putting out the same type of content they’ve always put out.

It’s a similar style, similar vibe, similar message, etc. Same same same.

Because our brains are lazy, they keep seeing the same shit over and over and they start to say “ehh I know what that is” and file it away in the idgaf section of your brain.

Meanwhile, people that keep mixing it up with different formats and different messages just keep slaying.

Alright, so I’ve got 10 simple rules. Actually no, 10 is a lot. I’m guessing I’ll write 3? 3 seems doable, so let’s see how many I actually end up with.

Duh, right? But I don’t just mean something different to what you normally say. I mean, something different to what everyone else says too.

Are you gonna tell me it’s important to tell an authentic story? Womp womp.

Maybe how important having a brand is? Womp womp.

Or possibly something about the importance of strategy? Womp womp.

Everyone’s been saying that shit for years, so we don’t need you to say it too. What actual interesting take can you bring to the mix? What light can you shine that no one else is shining? Why is what you’re saying worth listening to?

Yeah I know you just used it to draft, or edit. And I know you think you edited all the AI out of it.

But guess what?

WE. CAN. STILL. TELL.

Dude, you’re not being slick here. It’s so fucking obvious because AI writes generic garbage, using the same types of garbage devices, making the shit just clunky and nonsensical. You can edit the absolute fuck out of it, but unless you rewrote it from scratch, the AI is creeping it’s way in, guaranteed.

It will ultimately create something generic cause that’s literally how it works. And if that’s the case, you’re even MORE likely to blend in.

Plus, let’s be practical. Based on this survey Pangram did, 69% (lol) of people who view online content say they trust AI-generated content less than human-generated content.

That means, if your writing gives AI vibes (whether written with AI or not), more than 2/3 of people are likely to not trust you.

If I ever wanted to call something a hack, it would be this:

When you write something to share, read the motherfucker out loud!

I do it for this newsletter each week, and I do it for every written post I do. You can’t even begin to imagine how many weird phrases I’ve cut out after reading it out loud, because they didn’t sound like me (cause I was trying too hard lol) or flat out didn’t make sense.

Your eyes can slide right by, but when you say it and hear yourself say it, you notice the clunky shit that doesn’t work.

So if you wouldn’t actually talk the way you’ve written, it’s probably better to change it to something you would say.

And look, obviously some people write very fancccyyyyyy because they also speak like twats in their day to day. Totally cool. But if that’s not how you speak specifically, fuck it off.

And look at that, 3 points done ✅

The online space is pretty simple. You try to get attention, then use that attention to build trust, then use that trust to get clients. Boom now you have money yay.

But if something in that process isn’t working, then maybe it’s time to try something different.

Cowabunga,
Nick Gulic