Koh Samui Thailand
Social media teaches bloggers what to do and what not to do because it is in duality.
Everything in this world is duality. We see polar opposites everywhere. The concept is built into the system.
Social media site owners set up truly helpful meeting places for billions. That benefits bloggers.
But social media owners also engage in scumbag policies for billions. The clearly manipulative policies guide you on what NOT to do in order to succeed peacefully.
The Audacity
My wife and I are currently watching a series on Netflix.
“The Audacity” is originally an AMC show.
We find it entertaining but informative as well.
Silicon Valley does this dishonest stuff left and right.
Spoiler Alert; the main premise of the show involves Big Tech acquiring and selling data to make a fortune. Making a fortune earns Tech Titans clout with everyone in this world. Yep; with people who make laws and report the news. As long as there have been laws, news and technology this has been par for the course, folks. A select clever few appear to influence the masses.
Anyway, the theme for the post is this: be 100% transparent with your readers to succeed peacefully. Be honest to earn respect. Inspire people to appreciate you by being clear. Never try to get something from readers unless you clearly make your intentions known.
For example, tell your readers that asking for an email address:
- subscribes readers to a helpful email list
- dramatically reduces blog comment spam to enhance the user experience for all
to be completely transparent.
Mind you; big business in general is as sneaky as hell.
I get bombarded with 3-4 emails daily from the hosting company I use.
A few moments ago I attempted to unsubscribe. The cheeky bastards require you to enter a CAPTCHA to prove your humanity. I checked the box three times yet an endless loop made it impossible to unsubscribe. I never signed up voluntarily for the service in the first place meaning I did not check boxes. The company checked the boxes for me. The company put the ball in their court to sneakily spam me. The company did not put the ball in my court.
This is the type of dishonest stuff not to do in order to thrive peacefully. Social media has billions of users to burn through. You do not. Nor do you want the smoke. I mean even if you profit, the ethical backlash sucks. People generally despise deceptive individuals who trick them into handing over personal information and/or money.
Give your readers the power of choice. Never force them into doing anything. Never sign them up without their consent.
Give Readers Content Then Let Them Decide
Give readers content.
Let them decide what to do with it.
Stop asking for their email address incessantly. Stop asking for their money desperately.
How about you stop asking them for anything…..for about one week?
Observe how fast the FEAR OF LOSS triggers *in your mind*.
People who own trillion dollar market cap companies still have not defeated this fear of loss. Why do ya think the richest people on earth sometimes do dishonest stuff to get your personal data from you? Dishonorable big business owners do shady stuff for the fear of losing data these big wigs sell to companies to earn vast sums of money and god-like worldly influence.
But again guys; in duality, these guys do good too. I have met and bonded with you through X and Facebook. This is good. This is very good. I appreciate the communication platform. I use it to give, chat and teach.
I also learn what not to do from the social media world in order to thrive peacefully.
The Biggest Takeaway Today
Social media wants to eventually get something tangible from you. An email address. Your birth date. Your gender. Peddling this critical data gives companies the opportunity to advertise effectively on your phone and laptop.
Some of those ads help alleviate your suffering, potentially, at least.
But most annoy you.
Why?
You did not explicitly ask:
- social media to sell your data
- the companies to advertise on your phone and laptop
This is the problem.
NOT clearly guiding readers to check a box in order to voluntarily – and mindfully – surrender:
- data
- privacy
is a crappy thing to do. Social media does it routinely.
Never do that crappy thing. Never do that crappy thing because it appears to be highly profitable, or because other bloggers do it, or because experienced internet marketers tell you to do it. Don’t be foolish. Don’t be a reader predator. Don’t be a reader data vampire, sucking emails, money or other data minded from followers through dishonest, not at all genuine, sneaky methods that clearly take the ball out of their court and put it in your court.
Why Does It Appear to Be Difficult to Be an Ethical Blogger?
Monkey see?
Monkey do!
That’s why.
Most traditional blogging guidance admits this:
“You better get SOMETHING from readers or you will lose traffic and money because they will forget about obviously forgettable you. People are busy; they will never remember you and all of your truly helpful content, genuine one-to-one interactions and loving service. So yeah, you better get their email at a minimum or you will lose a reader, customer and potential up sell target down the road….forever! But make sure you toggle the subscribe button to *checked* so they will be mindless or stupid enough to sign up for your list by default. People who make a lot of money do that. You’d be foolish not to do it too. It *works*, so just do it.”
Genuine bloggers laugh at the above scenario. Some may feel angry after reading the words. Other bloggers squirm by connecting the dots.
Intent Is Everything
Kind bloggers ask for emails seamlessly.
Generous bloggers ask for the sale naturally.
The power of love fuels their intent. Asking is helping you not squeezing you in these scenarios.
But for the Love of God always explicitly ask for permission before getting an email address. Never ask for data unless someone knows once or twice that you are receiving their data. Engaging in permission-based marketing is a foolproof way to maintain full transparency. Doing this also helps you conquer the fear of loss because you never try to fool people with the approach.
Give them the power of decision.
Let them choose to check the box.