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- Influencers aren't a new trend
Influencers aren't a new trend
Launch Key #034
Rob Norris
May 14, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
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Table of Contents
Pull To Eject
Influencers aren’t some newfangled idea dreamed up by half-naked Instagram girls and TikTok kids.
Arnold Palmer influenced a generation to drive Cadillacs and smoke cigarettes.
The man became an entrepreneurial badass after his golf career.
Marketing executives from Rolex, GM, Ford, Pennzoil, Coca Cola, Hertz, Callaway golf, and Arizona beverage helped him amass more than $1.3 billion in influencer endorsements.
His business acumen helped pave the way for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and even today’s college athlete NIL.
They are all standing on the shoulders of a giant.
Push and Pull
Palmer made exponentially more ‘influencing,’ than he did from golf.
And he was pretty damn good at his day job.
I’m not saying we can all generate income posthumously, but the digital world does offer an incredible opportunity.
The internet has decentralized who can create content.
And compelling content doesn’t need celebrities to push it. The stuff being pushed at teens does - but that’s a topic for another day.
Even Arnold Palmer couldn’t convince us that smoking was healthy now.
Instead we pull the products that interest us. When it suits us.
And we look for influence to help determine if its really what we want.
Do you buy based on customer ratings on Amazon or Yelp or Uber?
That’s influencing.
Even better?
We have found many different types of content we love, and much of it is no longer pushed by traditional big media companies.
In fact, big media has never had less influence.
Similar to when cable gave viewers hundreds of channels more than the big 3, internet distribution has given us content from millions of creators.
Do you follow people for their ideas on LinkedIn, Substack, or X(Twitter)?
That’s influencing.
Do you have unique knowledge that you can adapt to build your own influence?
Of course you do.
Influence from your Uncommon Knowledge
What is your super power?
What do friends and family come to you for advice on?
It’s probably not golf.
It’s your knowledge. Experience. Reputation. Work ethic. Deliverables.
When you write it all down, the list of things that you know - work, hobbies, interests, arcane bits - all add up to an uncommon knowledge.
Influential outcomes from that list might be consulting or fractional gigs.
Writing skills opens a huge series of possibilities.
Turn your own uncommon knowledge into a reusable digital product or two (see Launch Key #26: Knowledge Monetization).
The first products you can create might be simple:
Linkedin posts
Quora comments
Blogs
Images
eBooks
Video ‘How To’ guides
Don’t get hung up on the technology or software - they are literally disposable.
Modern tools are covered in every Launch Key issue. Try some.
We have all the creation technology we need in the smart phones, tablets and laptops already in our possession.
The point is - you can improve your influence with a product or service that only you can create.
So get crackin.
The Instagram girls 15-minutes will not compare to Arnold Palmer’s influence.
Or yours.
Now go launch something 🚀
I’ve created a Launch Kit to guide you through market validation, customer definition and messaging examples. Research links and steps to use your uncommon knowledge and create a standout product.
Frame up your unique experience into your first digital product.
We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.
Modern Tools
The decentralization of content creation has given individuals powerful tools previously only offered at very high cost.
Old guy insight - 20 years ago, we had to buy or build the software to do any of this stuff.
And today everything you need is freemium.
Start for free. Scale as needed.
From publishing to web sites to video editing to retail ecommerce stores.
Here’s a sampling:
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Introduce you to valuable and useful AI tools/workflows
Help you look smarter in front of your friends (seriously!)
It’s also free to sign up!
Old School Wisdom
I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.
How to write successful copy — and get people to read it — might be the most important skill.
No one understood that better than David Ogilvy.
His headlines are classic.
His advertisements taught as case studies.
His books are must-read.
Free Knowledge
Having trouble defining your niche?
Here are 3 different ways to differentiate your uncommon knowledge.
The first two require some clout, but being a Category of One is something you can start immediately.
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