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The Attention Economy

David Sherry
2 min read

We're living in the attention economy.

But the more you shout, the fewer results you're getting!

The problem isn't SEO, the lack of a social media intern, or PR.

Something is broken with the way we approach acquiring customers, leads, and fans.

Because most of these solutions... provide only cosmetic fixes.

(Doctoring up your brand to look pretty by appearance).

And appearances like that aren't stable. It's not building for lasting results, staying power with a foundation.

What I'm interested in is how brands and artists create something that stands out naturally, with seemingly no effort at all.

Well, I don't mean no "effort" but rather that things aren't forced through into submission. No great brand is built in that way. The work is long, and extensive, but it's not "the grind."

And yes, it's possible that at some point customers seek to find YOU instead of you seeking to find them.

But how to build that momentum…?

Funny enough, the local Thai restaurant that's been in your neighborhood for a decade and has a hugely loyal following has figured this out.

Ditto for the Kickstarter project that raised 5x of their goal.

Ditto for the actor who's unconventional approach connected them immediately to the right people in the scene.

But to get there, things need to be approached in an entirely different way.

See, the problem with paying for traffic is... you have to keep paying.

So it's not about your SEO, what the course you bought said, or a hack that you're missing.

Question:

How is it that Cross-Fit built their following? If you were to ask their CEO would they speak with you about their marketing tactics or would they speak about something entirely different?

Truthfully, most Artists and CEO's with magnificent hits, have trouble pinpointing specifically what worked for them.

This is no coincidence. Because everything with that type of traction comes from an entirely different place than the competitive market of fighting over ads, SEO, or influencer marketing.

Of course, your product needs to be Great, at this point that's a given.

We have too many options for your product to not deliver.

But if your product IS great, and you're not getting attention…

Or if you have a great product inside of you, and you haven't been able to bring it to the world...

You've overlooked your greatest asset and your wellspring for attention.

You've covered up your uniqueness in lieu of following the crowd's view of how things "should be done."

And I understand because It feels safe to follow the crowd.

Maybe you're questioning this reasoning, that's ok.

But ask yourself, how has the other way worked for you? How will things progress if you stay the course you're on now?

So what's the problem here?

The problem is too often we're competing to be average.

You might reread that and still not make sense of it.

Or maybe you haven't exhausted your other options yet. So you’ll buy the courses that tell you what you've done wrong.

We've become so accustomed to leaning on Marketing Hacks, Step by Step Processes, Standard Practices – we've lost the ability to hear and use our own true north.

Those that are building honest attention and trust among their customers and audience have found out how to reject the models of how it's done, and infuse their own unique personality and vision into their work.

You don’t need the whole world to pay attention. You just need enough. You just need the right people.

At least that's a start and a foundation.

And you win by aligning what you do best with an audience that cares about your uniqueness rather than projecting to be something you’re not.

You've already got a unique perspective.

You've already got a voice.

We just need you to use it!!

xx David