I see it all the time. Many of the best brands are the smallest. Many of the best writers are the least read. Many of the best bloggers have the lowest numbers. And waaay over the other side of the spectrum, the “look at me, listen to me” attention-seekers (we all know who they are, both in the beauty world, the big world) often have the most likes, followers, numbers (and get paid a fortune – the figures are mind-blowing – for just one 2-minute Instagram post. No, they didn’t just do hours of brain surgery to save someone’s life…but let’s not go there today!)
“There is no correlation whatsoever between number of views and quality of content”
I see so much false worshipping around skincare (products, mainly), and so much amateur health advice all over the place, that I was going to write about this but then best-selling author and public speaker Rob Bell’s new Rob Cast – A Brief Guide to the Undernet Episode 192 (we’re talking the underbelly of the internet here) came out last week. Rob says it so much better than I could.
If you’re doing good, ethical work and are comparing yourself to those with millions of followers (who perhaps have nothing whatsoever of substance to say but a big ego, big voice and a penchant for being “controversial/shocking/outspoken/outrageous, blah blah”) it can feel deflating. You’re contributing, but you feel not enough people know about your work, while others are not, and everyone knows them. Which is why if this is you, I think you’d love this #RobCast 192.
LISTEN HERE | THE #ROBCAST Episode 192
Rob Bell, touring the UK from 2 July (the London date is sold out)
But as Rob Bell says, maybe what you do is less about breadth, and more about depth. Maybe your product is for a certain type of person who appreciates everything that’s special about it (not the beauty sheep who tend to blindly follow those with the loudest voices, and opinions, or just buys high street beauty products from big, global brands who reap their profits from selling pots of stuff with cheap, synthetic ingredients).
If you come across on social media as authoritative – e.g. “the” skincare or health expert – it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re right, all of the time (we haven’t even got into the behind the scenes payments-for-mentions). I follow very few doctors, I have a shortlist of those I trust implicitly on social media – Dr Josh Axe, Dr Eric Berg, Chris Kresser and also Chris at Chrisbeatcancer.com are some of them).
Here’s Rob Bell’s Truth No. 1 about the Undernet (he talks about 11 in all) to kick things off with – have a listen, there are some real gems here.
- There is no correlation whatsoever between number of views and quality of content.
I hope you enjoy it!
Rob Bell is on Instagram and Twitter at @RealRobBell
LISTEN HERE | THE #ROBCAST Episode 192
ABOUT ROB BELL www.robbell.com
Rob, who lives in LA, will be on tour in the UK (England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland) in July
“An algorithm does not have a heart in which it can discern “is this good, is this true, is this noble, is this dignified…?”