One of the things I love about Russell Brunson, Co-Founder of ClickFunnels, is the way he has zero problems attributing what he's learned from someone else's work to them.
Up until a few years ago, I'd send out videos, courses etc that I had created to other people so they could to give me feedback.
Then I stopped!
I now only share them generally speaking with the two other people in my household... hubby and daughter and a couple of friends.
The reason I stopped was because the comments were becoming repetitive...
"I'd like to see you talk more about your own stuff."
I'm creative, but I have zero problems quoting other people or adding my own spin to what someone else has said.
What people were saying to me was "Be original, don't quote other people!"
But I got some news for everybody...
There is nothing new under the sun... there is only interpretation and perspective!
Wow that feels good, that was original! 😂
On Being Unique
I heard someone say today that being unique is saying something in a way no one else has said it before.
But seriously, as I watched a video by Russell Brunson the other evening, I thought to myself, he's created an almost billion dollar company and yet he can say, and I quote...
My books, Dot Com Secrets, Experts Secrets, they're not my original idea. It's me reading a billion things, trying a bunch of stuff and then putting it into a format that's as simple as possible...
BAM! 🔥
As my mentor, Alex Mandossian would say, "don't invent, improve."
Russell Brunson says, "don't copy, model."
Look at any book written by university professors, scientists, scholars etc, and at the back of the book, you'll always find the bibliography. That bibliography references the sources they've used to compile their book, White Paper or whatever.
No one writes a book using 100% original content... Not even Einstein! He had to know some laws before he could come up with something unique.
Unique Does Not Equal Original
In his book, "Steal Like An Artist," Austin Kleon suggests we should all look at the world like an Artist. And just how do Artists look at the world?
Every artist gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The honest artist answers, "I steal them."
Kleon goes on to say...
"First you figure out what's worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. That's all there is to it."
I wonder how many content creators - including myself - would have excelled much faster (if at all) if they were to have had the courage to run with this idea rather than trying to be original - in the original sense of the word, if you know what I mean.
Find me an art gallery that's decked with original pieces from unknown artists and I'll show you an art gallery about to go bankrupt.
On the other hand, you could have an art gallery with pieces from well known as well as unknown artists which gives the unknown artist the opportunity to be known.
The time we spend trying to come up with original ideas would be better spent taking someone else's work that's already working and putting our own spin on it.
What would make your work unique and different from the person from whom you 'stole' that idea? It's your own experience, your story and you saying it the way only you can say it.
Recently I purchased a program all about memberships and I could call out the names of those this person had learned from. It didn't make me ask for a refund because I liked the way they spun and explained their marketing concepts.
Changing Your Perspective On Content Creation
Whilst many new marketers in particular are spending inordinate amounts of money and time registering their content for intellectual property, Russell Brunson is inviting people into his Two Comma Club.
Russell's giving them awards along with a huge plaque for their wall for using his ideas and making a killing with them.
Then there are those content creators wasting time trying to come up with original content, while others are making a killing putting their own spin on someone else's idea they 'stole' and getting recognition for it.
If you want to progress quickly and not waste brain matter trying to come up with original ideas, start curating content. I assure you, your ideas for original content will flow from that.
How To Curate The Best Content
Here are just 3 ways you can begin curating content today:
- Find videos on YouTube talking about a topic that would be of interest to your audience. Write down 3 takeaways from the video and record it in your own voice, using your own stories and experiences.
- Replicate #1 but this time go to Medium.com or do a search on Google for a relevant article and repeat the process above. You can either write your own article or record a video or podcast. The medium you use is irrelevant.
- Share valuable content from those you admire, but ensure you add your own thoughts. Admittedly the algorithm prefers original content and it might not get the same reach as a post you created yourself, but doing one per day will help you stay in the flow of content curation. It will also help you stay consistent in your posting schedule.
If you're still not convinced that content curation can help you as a content creator, consider people like Brendon Burchard who reads multiple books per month.
These folk tend to be better speakers, better writers and the programs they put together tend to have a lot more depth and therefore more credibility.
They know how to weave information from multiple sources to come up with methods, concepts or ideas that can be uniquely theirs. But they never start with a blank canvas.
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