Why You Should Be Platform Agnostic
I went to this cigar shop yesterday.
The owner was a middle-aged man who knew a lot about cigars.
He began giving me and my friend a lesson on cigars.
Soon, I got curious.
‘Hey, do you have an online presence?’
With pride, he said that he was working on a site.
It was going to cost him 10,000 dollars to get it built.
I asked him how he was going to market the site.
He said with Facebook ads.
Facebook ads cost a lot of money.
Was he going to utilize any of the free distribution platforms like YouTube?
It’d be cool to see him holding 2 cigars and explaining the difference.
The guy said no.
I asked him why.
He said:
‘Because I’m not a YouTuber.’
Dangers of Identifying with a Platform
I cringe a little when I hear someone say they are a YouTuber.
I feel bad for them.
Why are you identifying with something that you don’t own?
Regarding YouTube, you should be agnostic.
I view all platforms as distribution channels.
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, etc.
The only thing that I am loyal to is my brand.
ArmaniTalks.
I’m loyal to ArmaniTalks because I own it.
Why be loyal to distribution channels I don’t own?
The sad thing about being loyal to other distribution channels is that they are not loyal to you.
2 years ago, a lot of top TikTok creators were being banned left and right from the platform.
They were upset.
They said:
‘Because of us, TikTok was able to get momentum. And now they just ban us and rob us of our livelihood?’
Correct, that’s what TikTok and any platform can do.
How The Cigar Owner Should Have Behaved IMO
I know very little about cigars.
I think I took a puff once and almost threw up.
One thing I noticed though was that a lot of cigar smokers are obsessed with it.
For them, it’s a ritual to smoke a cigar.
Am I missing something?
Gary V wanted to market his dad’s wine shop.
The way he did that was by making a video about a new wine every week.
This allowed his audience to understand that there were different wines.
The wines were not just this one big blob.
This cigar owner would be smart if he recorded videos talking about the difference between cigars that looked similar.
In addition to that, he could get some blogs written about cigars.
Basic question:
- Why smoke a cigar when you can smoke a cigarette?
This seems like a silly question.
However, it’s a question asked by people who know nothing about cigars but want to know.
The cool thing about cigars is that it’s a versatile product.
It can be given for gifts, utilized for celebrations, and makes for compelling content.
Rather than relying on any specific platform, be loyal to the cigars.
And view the rest of the platforms as distribution channels.
What is a Distribution Channel?
A distribution channel is a channel that allows you to distribute your product to an audience and collect money from it.
Picture going to 7/11.
Do you see those Sprite cans?
Sprite, the brand, is using 7/11 to sell its product.
7/11 is the distribution channel.
They make Sprite products available to a local audience and Sprite collects payment.
The beauty of being agnostic to other platforms is that it opens up your reach.
‘Hey, Armani?’
Whatsup.
‘What do you mean when you say agnostic?’
I would say it’s when you are open to doing what the data tells you to do.
I know a lot of people who let their emotions get in the way.
For example, some people hate TikTok.
They believe it’s bad for society.
So, they say:
‘I will never use TikTok!’
Here’s the problem though.
They use Facebook Reels and Instagram Shorts.
They can literally get the same content from Reels and Shorts and upload it to TikTok to reach a new audience, but they don’t think like that.
Same with bloggers.
Get your blog and post it on Medium and LinkedIn.
Ideas are the most important.
Switching among different platforms is a matter of seeing what is congruent with your brand.
Avoid Getting Burned Out
Don’t let this post fool you.
I don’t mean to just tie your brand to any platform out there.
Instead, ask:
- Does it make sense?
A lot of times the answer is yes.
But there’s a catch.
The answer will only be yes if you identify with the right thing.
If you view yourself as a YouTuber, then it won’t make sense to upload your videos on Twitter.
Doing so may feel icky.
But if you view yourself as your brand, uploading your YouTube videos on Twitter is considered strategic.
It really comes down to what you view as the most important.
A lot of things will change.
Algorithms will prioritize different things.
People will follow and unfollow.
Certain platforms will go bankrupt.
But the one thing that will stand the time is your brand and what you stand for.
Begin prioritizing that.
Think Bigger
It’s hard to identify with the brand rather than the platforms because the brand is invisible.
When YouTube is hooking us up with likes and subscribers, we want to keep the momentum going.
That’s when we think:
‘You know what?? I am a YouTuber!’
But what if a massive change is introduced that makes the momentum disappear?
That’s when the creator will regret pigeonholing themselves.
A few months back, Gumroad changed its policy.
They began increasing their listing fee.
Creators would have more money deducted from them.
Many creators were pissed.
Due to the recent change, many of their businesses were in shambles.
Other creators didn’t even notice.
It’s because they didn’t only list their product on Gumroad.
They listed their products on other platforms.
They were never loyal to one platform.
It’s because these platforms are only loyal to themselves.
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