Stop Making Content for Platforms and Networks

Good morning!

I saw a tweet late last night from LaTecia Johnson and got really inspired to expanded on her Tweet thread.

YOU ARE THE PLATFORM!

Four months ago when I wrote my first newsletter to you, there might have been some hesitation when I wrote that we are "currently living in a revolutionary period of time that has just gotten started."​

Here is what has happened since the pandemic...

1) Everything thing that was centralized from a local communication and media standpoint evaporated almost overnight. We already knew that blogs were putting newspapers out of business, but did enough of us know that content websites, blogs, and podcast networks weren't/aren't making any money either? *They are currently failing the same way newspapers, TV, and radio did. That is largely because they are still using bad advertising and partnership models that put their predecessors into bankruptcy.

*HIGHLY RECOMMEND READ: The Rise and Fall of The Draft Network - It's worth every penny of the $7 paywall. I am going to talk about this to every creator and business owner that I chat with next week.

2) All of the smart businesses woke up to how badly they were being burned by the HUGE amounts of money that they were wasting on these digital and terrestrial platforms. They weren't registering the same ROI anymore and the money dried up from national advertisers. Because of that, everyone seems to be screaming "there's a podcast/content bubble!" now, and please excuse my French but that's bullshit.

3) There were over TEN MILLION of us that SIMILATANIOUSLY walked out of our corporate jobs to start our own business, create our own content full time, or both! That number has only increased since 2021. Distribution is basically free between Shopify, YouTube, any podcast feed, any social platform, and a website. Why would we every go back to an office when we can run an entire business from our home or phone? I've got my own flexible hours and I see my family way more than I used to able to, I am not leaving this, are you?

4) The movie industry is about to break in Los Angeles, Austin is now a hotbed for standup comedy, Philadelphia is slowly turning into a tech giant, and people that were once in New York City trying to act on Broadway are now in rural Pennsylvania and New Jersey opening up BBQ joints and hot dog stands. Most major platforms and corporation are in big cities, which also means the majority of that 10 million+ that walked out of their jobs has also moved of out city.

5) Money hungry tech VCs and corporations, like that ones that keep buying Sports Illustrated are trying to replace the human workforce. Trust me, the minute they can make a robot that can go on your local TV news network to be the anchor, they are going to do it. Many of these companies believe that all they have to do is control the message and reporting as much as possible, and the advertisers will spend big again. SWING AND A MISS!

So what does this all mean?

Independent businesses and content creators have the world at their fingertips. Literally! The legacy platforms in media have lost their entire audience and all of the creative people that worked for them AT ONCE. You have people who managed creative advertising campaigns for Nike available to work at your local mom & pop shop, retailer, or new e-com/brick & mortar hybrid. There are millions of people following pizza shops on IG and Tik-Tok now a days, and I don't think that happened by accident.

Platforms of any kind (I include big chain stores in this) are only here to steal our audience, pay us less, and control what we do. That is sad reality and that hasn't changed for the 20+ years I've been in the business.

We don't need platforms anymore. We won. They lost. The business or content creator that you need to work with is in your backyard. Form partnerships, own businesses together, and create the platforms you want together instead of chasing platforms that you think will help you.

I'm doing that right now and I can't wait to tell you about it next week! Hope you have a great weekend and feel free to send me a note anytime.

- John Barchard