Why I’ll Never Have The Most Followers
I’ve been thinking a lot about my content lately, and really my YouTube daily views specifically. The vlog concept I have around documenting the next 20 to 30 years of my professional career, and how fun it is that my grandkids will look back at it when I’m 60.
I’ll be like, “Man, I used to have hair. Cool.” Just all those fun little things. But there is something a little bit more interesting going on that I’m truly fascinated by, which is the pressure I put on my community to watch what I’m doing, not what I’m saying, the comments that happen every single day, which is one of two things.
The first being “I’m out of here, Gary. Thank you for all that you do, I got it.” Or, “First time checking in in four months because I’ve been doing, thank you so much. Oh by the way, forgot how good your content is. Maybe I’ll mix it back in.”
It has really led to an interesting question for me that somebody asked last weekend in the south of France when I was on business. They were like, “You should be so much bigger. Your numbers should be so much bigger.”
I stared at him and I said, “Look, do you really care about your numbers, or do you care about the impact?”
Influencers, do you care about having a million followers, or would you rather sell a million dollars worth or product? — Tweet This!
Or get a million dollars worth of sponsorship? One of the things I’m really trying to achieve with my legacy is having the biggest impact, the biggest brand, not just the most amount of subscribers. To me, the ironic thing is if I’m doing my job well, my numbers can’t grow that big. My views won’t grow to be that big. My engagements cannot grow bigger, because really I’m just helping people win.
I, unlike so many other people, actually want to provide value. — Tweet This!
A lot of people are building content that isn’t really doing that, it’s kind of appeasing or entertaining. It’s the band-aid, it’s not actually the solution. It’s almost kind of difficult for me to watch from afar because all it’s doing is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy for the content creator. It’s never really allowing the person to graduate from watching their content and really go and do their thing. In reverse, I’m the opposite. 25% of the people that first consume a piece of content of mine hate me and want me out, because I’m so focused on the truth.
I’m trying to pressure you into doing. I want you to see it. I want you to look at the things that you don’t want to look at, which is to show you that the only excuse there is, is no excuse, right? It’s not somebody else’s fault. It’s not that they ripped off your idea, it’s not this, that, or the other thing. It’s you. The second you go there and figure that out, everything starts to change.
It’s a difficult thing to know deep down that you’re self-aware enough to say, “I’m not putting in the work. I didn’t really do the studying that I needed to do. I’m not willing to pay the price. I like to be home and sit on the couch.” Right?
Secondly, I can only get so big because 25% are out from the get. Then, another 25% after three to six months really, really, really get it and go all in.
That only leaves me with 50% of you which are just still not there yet, so you still need my crutch, or you’re just looking at me for entertainment. That’s it. You treat my content like I treat the Jets. Which is escapism, it’s a nice 20 minutes on the vlog, it’s a nice thing to have in your Instagram feed. It’s fun. It’s not a crutch, it’s not an excuse, it’s just literally entertainment. Entertainment that’s got some value whether it’s relaxation or knowledge, or advice.
At the end of the day, I’m putting this out, so that it’s here forever, so that people don’t think I’m a sellout when I’m 72. I’m going for the greatest impact, not the most subscribers on YouTube or the most followers on Instagram. As a matter of fact, in a very self-aware moment, my content will never allow me to be one of those most-followed people in the micro. In the short term, I’ve got no shot. Just curious how it looks in 2043. I’ll see all of you in 2043. I can’t wait.
