“There are no secrets in the snow.”
It’s an expression we have here on the farm.
And I was reminded of this while on a solo hike this week on one of our woodland trails Listening to Yuval Noah Harari‘s book Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind while tracking the multitude of wildlife on this land…
The deer, foxes, bears, and bobcat… Not to mention the squirrels, rabbits and wild turkey making their way through the winter.
They are all survivors.
In this Anthroprocene Epoch – they are the successful exceptions…
And in nature (just like in business):
Success leaves clues.
Tracks will lead you to water.
Tracks will lead you to food.
And of course, there’s a marketing lesson we can take from this:
That it’s important to study not only what people teach – but also what they do.
In other words:
Not just the talk they’re talkin’.
But also the walk they’re walkin’.
And here, on this Winter Solstice…
The shortest day (and longest night) of the year in the Northern Hemisphere…
This serves as the perfect segue to begin exploring …
1 | Three Controversial Marketing Predictions for 2025...
In my Strategic Advisory Group Mastermind...
I host an annual Lessons Learned & Bold Predictions call each year…
It’s an annual tradition wherein I do a Deep Dive into some of the biggest themes I’m personally watching out for as we enter the New Year (and what I’m actually doing about it…)
Often these are meta themes that transcend strategies and tactics…
Ideas that extend beyond the realm of digital marketing and enter into the general cultural zeitgeist…
In fact, as we enter into 2025, I project this is going to be a year filled with controversy and tension around Three Big Marketing Predictions that will show up in a multitude of places in your work, in your business, and increasingly, the world at large:
Prediction #1: Artisanal vs. Automated
This next year, there will be increasing tension in deciding between leaning into the craftsmanship of what you personally create in your business and the “productization” of your work. Walking the tightrope of delivering an experience of “intimacy at scale” vs. “true intimacy” with your customers.
Prediction #2: Audiences vs. Algorithms
This next year, there will be increasing tension between serving the actual human beings who make up your audience, both in your communication and in what you sell, and creating work product designed for the various algorithms that increasingly shape what actually gets served, spread, and shared to those human beings.
Prediction #3: Authentic vs. Artificial
This next year, there will be increasing tension between creating original communication in your authentic voice that comes straight from your mind (and your heart) – versus that which you abdicate to AI and outsource to external parties to produce and put out into the world on your behalf.
* * *
[Side Note Ryan Rant]
In a world filled with automation, algorithms, and artificial everything—from the food we eat to the content we consume—there is a growing “Return to Real” movement taking shape in the world right now.
(Part of the reason we’re on the journey toward growing and raising 100% of the food we consume as a family here on our farm…)
Remember:
Your people want to hear from YOU….
They want to know what YOU think.
Not the “beige-ified” version of what ChatGPT spits out when you ask for it to help writing that latest blog post or email.
(No judgment. Just speaking the truth here.)
* * *
I’ve made it clear that I have a slightly-unpopular (and perhaps provocative) view that in the world we live in today, all written work signed with your name attached to it…
Should actually be written by YOU.
(Blasphemous, I know.)
Not a team of writers “writing in your voice”.
And definitely not AI.
AND any use of AI in your writing or editing or elsewhere in your creative process (to help you think through your ideas, etc. etc.) should be disclosed to the reader.
(And quoting ChatGPT should be akin to quoting Wikipedia or any other source you might rely on in your work.)
Now I get it…
This position is making some people squirm in their seat right now.
It’s a controversial opinion, no doubt.
(And one that I hope will elicit healthy discussion and debate.)
But in a world filled with Deep Fakes and in which we’re all walking around (or for most people, sitting around) living in a Default State of Distrust right now…
It’s increasingly rare to be doing this…
Which in turn transforms this into a differentiated “Zig when they Zag” move, and thus, a massive competitive advantage…
Because in any economy…
That which is both desired and scarce becomes….
Valuable.
[/End Side Note Rant]
* * *
Now, with these three themes:
-
Theme #1: Artisanal vs. Automated
-
Theme #2: Audience vs. Algorithm
-
Theme #3: Authentic vs. Artificial
Each represents a Big Idea that deserves dedicated attention, and which I will be covering in more detail in upcoming issues of The Digital Contrarian…
(As well as a much deeper dive into how these themes are showing up in the world at large and cultural zeitgeist in my forthcoming book…)
So stay tuned…
* * *
But as far as our focus here TODAY:
I’m going to talk about something that brings these themes together…
AND which has immediate practical application.
(Potentially for YOU.)
It’s something that received a TON of positive feedback from members of my mastermind when I walked through this model on my Lessons Learned & Bold Predictions call I hosted this past week…
And that is….
2 | Designing Your "Strategic Content Ecosystem"
Take a look at that diagram.
Go ahead, zoom in and study it.
(I’ll wait for you :-)
Did you take a good look?
Okay, great.
There’s a LOT there, I know.
And while there’s more than we’ll be able to cover in this issue, there are few layers to this diagram that I want to unpack for you here today…
What you see there represents my Strategic Content Ecosystem for 2025, and right now, as you read this issue of The Digital Contrarian – you are at the epicenter of this ecosystem…
Let me explain…
* * *
First things first:
Let’s set some definitions:
A Strategic Content Ecosystem is a way to organize (and think about) the Content, Material, Work, and Thought Leadership you’re putting out into the world holistically…
Meaning…
The ways in which all the puzzle pieces fit together snugly to fulfill all the roles you intend your content to fulfill – creating awareness, connection, trust, desire, and demand for your brand and what it is that you offer…
It also includes the format and cadence of that content, as well as the channels you’re focusing on using to reach your desired audience.
The Strategic Content Ecosystem you see above also embodies many of the principles we’ve recently explored here together in the last few issues ofThe Digital Contrarian…
Like for example, in [Issue #026] Old World vs. New World Gurus – this Ecosystem above embodies concepts like “The Primary Channel Principle”, the importance of having an “Original Source of Truth”, and having both selective presence and “Strategic Absence” – because we can’t be everywhere. We have to make choices on where we’re going to focus.
You’ll see these concepts highlighted below:
(BTW – I encourage you to go through the back issues of The Digital Contrarian, where you’ll find even more concepts explored previously incorporated into this diagram that you see here…)
* * *
And while we don’t have the space to cover everything I revealed to my Mastermind Members this week, there are a few key ideas I’ll point out about this Strategic Content Ecosystem that I think are important to consider in your own business as you make plans for 2025, beginning with…
3 | Principle #1: "Connection and Discovery"
Every year I sit down and decide on a word for the year.
Having a single word gives me a level of focus. A theme to hang my hat on – that helps me keep the main thing the main thing…
There’s a great book on how to do this btw called One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page:
Now, this past year (2024) my word for the year was “Reconnection.”
And it’s a theme that had many layers to it:
Reconnecting with past students, readers, customers and clients.
Reconnecting with my creative work and writing.
Reconnecting with my purpose.
* * *
My word this next year (2025) is…
“Discovery.”
And once again, there are layers to this choice as well…
Discovery has a deep importance to me on many levels…
On the Clifton Strengths Assessment, my Top 5 Strengths are as follows:
- Learner
- Intellection
- Futuristic
- Focus
- Significance
I love to learn and discover new ideas…
I love exploring those ideas in my mind.
I love discovering – and more importantly…
Creating a compelling future.
I love having a level of singular focus in my business (and life)…
And as I wrote in response to a reader this week:
It matters to me to do work that matters.
To do work that has significance.
BTW – If you know your Top 5 Strengths, shoot me a short note – I’d love to know how yours and mine differ, and where we might have some in common. Shoot me an email to let me know.
But all that said…
My primary reason for the word “Discovery” is to put this next year focus around my work being discovered (and re-discovered) by a much larger group of people, now that I have a level of focus on where I’m taking my business following the sale of our software company.
So what’s this got to do with YOU?
Well, the Strategic Content Ecosystem I shared a moment ago is designed for both Connection and Discovery.
Connection with your Existing Audience:
And Algorithmic Discovery to bring new people into your world:
So I think there are ideas you can pull from this, when designing your own Strategic Content Ecosystem for 2025 (and beyond…)
Like for example, there is a certain level of tension between creating content that’s designed for your existing audience and creating content for the algorithm – especially if you’re looking to both deepen your relationship with your existing audience and bring new people into your world…
And there’s an important principle that’s at the center of all of this, and that is…
4 | Principle #2: "Prolific and Contrarian"
There’s a certain “Creative Fecundity” required for your work to be discovered in the increasingly crowded world we live in today…
(I promise this is the only SAT word I’ll use today…)
You’ll notice that this Strategic Content Ecosystem has me creating about 275K words worth of material this coming year (the equivalent of about 5 books), or about 40 hours worth of consumable content.
Now, I know on the one hand this sounds like a lot.
But on the other hand – 40 hours isn’t really that much over the course of a year…
At the same time, this isn’t about volume.
This isn’t about filling the world with noise.
It’s about finding the signal in all that noise.
It’s about sharing original thinking and ideas.
Articulated in ways that are fresh and different, and at the same time…
Putting forth a POV that is unconventional, unexpected, slightly controversial, and somewhat contrarian…
(BTW – take a moment to pause and reflect on that statement above.)
Because I believe this is what we all need to do if we want to cut through the noise and stand out in 2025.
You need to say something that’s both different AND true…
Meaning:
Yes it needs to be unique.
But it also needs to be what you authentically believe in your heart.
You can’t make it up.
And you can’t fake it.
BUT…
To find what both speaks to your truth and what speaks to your market you need to put out a certain volume of work…
To quote Adam Grant (quoting Ira Glass) in his excellent book Originals – which I’m actually reading right now as we speak:
“If you want to be original, the most important possible thing you could do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work.”
Mozart composed more than 600 pieces of music before his death. Bach more than 1,000. Picasso produced more than 1,800 paintings, and over 12,000 drawings. Einstein contributed over 248 academic papers. Edison had over 1,000 patents.
And yet for each of these creative geniuses – the number of “truly superlative” pieces of work they each produced in their lifetime, can generally be counted on one hand.
Grant goes on to write:
“Many people fail to achieve originality because they produce a few ideas ideas and obsess over refining them them to perfection.”
So there is a certain level of “creative fecundity” and commitment required to produce something that truly lands with your audience and leaves a mark.
And if we’re going to put out that type of volume of work, we want to make that work count, right?
Well, this takes us to…
5 | Principle #3: Focus and "Function-Stacking"
There’s a Permaculture Principle that I’ve written about in the past known as Function-Stacking – which is deeply important in any Strategically-Focused Content Ecosystem.
Function-Stacking is an idea in Permaculture Theory that any element on the farm – whether that be a tool, piece of equipment, or livestock – needs to serve multiple purposes.
For example, on our farm – the honeybees on our site produce honey and pollinate our crops.
Our cattle fertilize the pastures with their manure and urine, and at the same time transform grass, water, and sunlight into life-nourishing food…
And we can apply this same thinking to our content strategy…
Take for example my Quarterly Town Halls.
If you’ve ever attended one of my Public Town Halls, every quarter, I deliver a “State of the Union” style session LIVE via Zoom.
In my new Content Ecosystem, I’m using the feedback from that live session to convert the content into a more refined, and fleshed out “Mini-Book.”
(The Great Sea Change and Going Analog are examples of this.)
From there I will be syndicating this content in three different ways:
Function-Stack #1 – Amazon
First, it’s my intent that I’ll publish each of these mini-books on Amazon as part of a series, roughly one per quarter.
(This will begin building my Amazon readership and audience in preparation for my next “real” book set to release late 2025 – using the “Jonathan Milligan” strategy I discussed a few weeks ago.)
Function-Stack #2 – Audible
From there, I’m also going to read each “mini-book” myself to transform them into Audiobooks on Audible (for all the reasons I explain in Going Analog in terms of why I’m so bullish on audio as a format right now.)
Function-Stack #3 – YouTube
Lastly, one of my projects for 2025 is to “re-launch” my YouTube channel, which to date – hasn’t been a focus.
Part of my YouTube strategy will be releasing quarterly “Long Form” videos (in combination with weekly medium form videos) where viewers can get a taste of some of my deeper thought leadership – which I’ve historically only made available on live sessions (like my Town Halls) and which (until recently) has almost been entirely hidden behind paywalls.
So in this model…
One Town Hall Event – gets repurposed and syndicated in multiple different ways across multiple different platforms to get as much mileage as possible from the content.
This is what “Function-Stacking” looks like in action…
* * *
And this takes me to two final ideas….
6 | Final Idea #1: The Problem with "Lead Magnets"
Earlier this year, we analyzed nearly a million email optins onto my email list over the last decade.
And what we found was that historically, the least engaged email subscribers (in terms of opens, clicks, and engagement over the long term) were those who came onto the list from some type of lead magnet, like a digital download.
(As opposed to those who signed up for my email list to specifically receive the email newsletter itself.)
And it makes sense, right?
When people are giving their email address in exchange for a “thingy” – they want that thing.
e.g. Signing up to receive your PDF Guide.
The entire exchange is transactional – the equivalent of the “one night stand” vs. the “long term relationship” that’s implied when the premise of the email optin is an ongoing relationship.
e.g. Signing up to receive your private newsletter every single week.
And that’s why my thinking has evolved such that I believe the only lead magnet worth focusing on (to drive people onto your email list) is an Email Newsletter positioned as a Named Publication – like The Digital Contrarian.
(A strategy I’m going all-in on in 2025.)
In essence, your Email Newsletter becomes your Lead Magnet.
And you have a virtually unlimited palette to work from and reposition this lead magnet in a million different ways when driving traffic from other channels (Podcasts, Amazon mini-books, long-form YouTube, etc. etc.) onto your email list.
e.g. “Here in this video, we’re going to explore a concept I shared with subscribers of my weekly Email Newsletter “The Digital Contrarian” last week in Issue #26: Old World vs. New World Gurus…”
e.g. “This book you’re reading right now, pulls from a series of ideas I’ve explored in detail in my weekly newsletter “The Digital Contrarian”…
Etc. etc. etc.
When done right, every piece of content you create outside your email newsletter can potentially drive people to your newsletter.
That’s why I have no plans to create any “traditional lead magnets” this next year (i.e. assets specifically designed to get people to opt into my email list) beyond the email newsletter itself.
And that takes us to…
7 | Final Idea #2: My Problem With "Short Form Video"
I feel such a tension with short-term video, which sits right here in the bottom right hand corner in our diagram:
One the one hand – conventional wisdom suggests that it’s arguably the most effective medium for reaching “non-followers” on a platform algorithmically.
And with TikTok at risk of being blocked in the US, you have IG salivating over the traffic takeover – and even LinkedIn is favoring short form video right now and giving it reach right now – likely part of an attempt take some of TikTok’s market share.
So the channels are all-in on short form video.
But all that said…
I don’t enjoy creating short-form video. I don’t enjoy consuming short form video. I don’t like what it does to my brain and the neurotransmitter-chasing loop that this content format creates.
I’m a medium-to-long-form guy.
The ideas I enjoy talking about require unfolding and unpacking. Not just 30 second sound bites and echo chamber clickbait that gets people agreeing with their pre-existing beliefs.
I like to make people THINK.
And I like to think that this is what (in part) attracts people to my work.
And I know the “Level 1” snap reply is “Ryan, just take your long form work and use something like OpusClip to cut it up into smaller pieces.”
But so far, I’ve had middling results at best with this strategy.
So short form video is something I feel *tension* around right now, and I’m percolating on how much of a role I want it to play in my Strategic Content Ecosystem going into 2025.
The real question I’m most interested in:
Who has mastered algorithmic discovery on platforms like YT and IG without doing any form of short form video?
Is this possible in 2025? And if so, what does it look like?
(If you know someone I should be looking at or studying – please point me in their direction. I would be VERY grateful.)
8 | Lastly, A Crazy Invitation (For 4-5 People)
Lastly, I’m thinking about hosting a super small private experience here on my farm in Vermont this winter with me personally to spend a few days together working on your business – perhaps spending time designing your Strategic Content Ecosystem.
It’s beautifully quiet (and incredibly cozy) at this time of year on the farm – and it’s the perfect environment for doing deep work.
This would be an opportunity to get away from your ordinary world and gain a new perspective on your business.
(Imagine staring out the window below as the snow falls outside, overlooking the winter sunrise, and cozying up by the fire next to Blue as we work together on your business. :-)
I haven’t decided yet *IF* I’m going to do this…
But if I DO do it, this experience would be limited to just 4 or 5 people…
And if I do it, it will be somewhere in the $5-10K range per person – depending on whether I do it as a one day experience with a dinner the night before – or if I make it into something that’s a few days together…
I may also consider offering a 1:1 VIP Day the day before or after for one person who wanted to go extra deep together.
If anything I’ve described above is something you might potentially be interested in, contact me to let me know (and let me know your preferences…)
I have a few different ideas around structure, focus, and format that I’m thinking of – but first want to gauge level of interest for something like this…
Vermont is beautiful at this time of year – especially if you ski – and if you wanted to take a few extra days before/after – this would be the perfect opportunity to to parlay this into a little winter getaway.
Shoot me an email to let me know if this is something you might be interested in.
* * *
Okay, I’ll leave you with that for now.
Have a GREAT rest of your weekend…
And if we don’t talk between now and Christmas…
I hope you enjoy a HAPPY and HEALTHY Holiday Break with your friends, family, and loved ones.
Until next week,
Ryan :-)
