Whenever someone asks me what business I do I always struggle to find an answer.

If I say I'm a content creator then people will know what it is but not know what I do. Since I'm not a content creator in the traditional sense.

Marketing, audience building, coaching, and building digital products are what I do.

And the word that sums all this up is a value creator.

The common path

When most people think about creators.

They think of influencers like:

• MrBeast

• Logan Paul

• Addison Rae

Most people think making an income online means you need to become like one of them.

They think they need to have:

• Extremely good looks

• Over-the-top production

• Good on-screen personality

Most people think they can't be a creator online and build a business unless they have these things.

These 3 things above are some of the main reasons people never create.

They think being an influencer is the only way to build an audience online.

They think if you have an audience you must have sold your soul.

The reason they think this is the bubble they are in.

They’re scrolling:

• Tik Tok

• Instagram

• Listening to celebrities

They're not exposed to value creators…

An influencer makes their money from a parasitic relationship.

They benefit when you lose your attention span, self-confidence, and money.

One could argue that entertainment is a benefit.

That may be true but is it worth the other costs for someone who consumes their content?

At worst, it’s a parasitic relationship. At best it’s commensalism (one person benefits and the other isn’t affected well or badly).

An influencer's impact also degrades over time.

Over time their looks fade.

Going more and more over the top with their personality and production becomes capped at a certain point.

There may be a place for influencers but I would argue that almost none of them are helping to improve society as a whole. There might be a time and place for them in all of people's journeys. I know there was with me as I used to consume lots and lots of MrBeast and Minecraft videos.

But I think influencers should be a stage, not the end destination.

But many might even be causing society to degrade. Especially when it's shorter form content. Such as reels or shorts. These often provide almost no value to the consumer.

That's why you should become a value creator...

The value creator

Then there’s the value creator.

A mutual relationship.

In return for getting someone's time, follow, or comment you give them value that helps them self-actualize and improve their lives.

To be a value creator you need to build a personal brand.

When you're a value creator you don't need any of these things:

• Extremely good looks

• Over-the-top production

• Good on-screen personality

Of course, those things help but by being a value creator you won't need any of them.

When you're a value creator you have a lens to view the world.

There are two basic options when it comes to being a creator

Consumer → Content Creator/Influencer

Consumer → Value Creator

A content creator leeches on the consumer. While a value creator delivers value based on their attention.

This doesn't mean that a value creator can't employ some tactics that help them deliver the value better. Ex. storytelling, high-quality editing, good on-screen presence.

None of those things are at all bad in themselves but...

It depends on the purpose of using them. If the reason you're employing them is the betterment of society and your followers by helping them improve their lives then that's noble.

As a value creator, you attain a life of freedom by helping people and building a product you believe in.

Rather than working in a job where you sell someone else's product that you don't believe in.

Or being an influencer where you sell a product that doesn't benefit your audience. Ex. Candy, OF, and more.

Value creators raise the collective intelligence of society and in return, they are rewarded.

Influencers lower the collective intelligence of society by preying on people and keeping them stuck and in return, they make money.

Which one do you choose?

Value Creator vs Influencer

One moves their audience closer to the truth (Value Creator).

One moves their audience closer to pleasure (Influencer).

In my eyes, the pursuit of truth is the ultimate human pursuit. So, an influencer is someone that distracts people from that pursuit.

However, there can be exceptions. Especially found in long-form content.

For instance, the movie "The Matrix" was made for entertainment but also moved people closer to the truth. No lol, I'm not saying we are in a simulation. I'm saying the truth that it moved us closer to the truth that most people aren't awake.

But the influencers and entertainment most people are consuming aren't moving people closer to the truth.

Even if the influencer/entertainment aims to move people closer due to societal programming, people are chronically in a vegetative state so they can't spot the kernels that move them closer to the truth.

The Illuminator

As a value creator, you're an illuminator.

You figure out where you want to go.

And then you create content that illuminates that path to others.

Your content is your arguments for why you're taking that path.

For example, your path might be 10k/mo from writing online.

You'd write content on why writing online is the best way to do this and why you chose it.

You make money by creating a product (a map) for exactly how to traverse that path to that goal.

Most people don't know what they want or the problems they have.

As an illuminator, you illuminate your audience's blind spots.

You traverse ahead of your tribe (your audience) into the unknown and come back with data to help them.

Become an illuminator

Become an illuminator.

Write content that illuminates a destination you want to go to and why others should go there too.

Create products that illuminate the path or map for how to get there.

Below I will outline 5 steps to becoming an illuminator and a value creator.

Step 1: Learn a High-Income Skill

Most people have nothing to offer.

Sorry to be harsh but it’s the truth.

And honestly, most people have something to offer they just fail to position it well.

They fail to recognize the problems they have solved in their own life.

You have a skill.

A skill is your ability to solve problems. You've solved lots of problems in your life so you have a skill.

Even if you have learned a high-income skill. Only having one skill can make you replaceable.

Any problem you have solved in the realms of health, wealth, relationships, and happiness can be turned into a high-income skill.

Overweight → Healthy

Now you can make a product on this transformation

Distracted and can’t do deep work → 4 hours of flow state daily

Now you can make a product on productivity. The process can be based on the unique methods and experiences that helped you get your transformation.

I know you probably just want me to list some high-income skills that you can learn and I will.

But I want you to open your mind to the fact that you already have a skill.

But here you go nonetheless.

High-income skills:

• Sales

• Copywriting

• Content writing

You want to learn many skills because they make you irreplaceable.

If you are just a copywriter, it’s easier to get replaced than if you are someone who also knows:

• Graphic Design

• Content Writing

• Email Marketing

Without skills, you have no value in the digital marketplace and won’t be able to earn an income.

Having skills means that you can always earn an income.

You can learn a skill in three simple steps:

1. Choose a Skill that interests you

2. Find a Course, Mentor, or Program

3. Practice that skill for at least 6 months

For me:

Skill/Skills: Content Writing, Podcasting, Audience Growth etc

Course: “2 Hour Writer” and others

Time: Been writing online for 9 months and hosting a Podcast for 4-5 months

Step 2: Build an Audience/Personal Brand

A brand is your digital resume or footprint.

This is your billboard where you can attract:

• Buyers

• Loyal Fans

• Connections

A personal brand is one of the highest leverage things you can build…

If you don’t start a personal brand, you will be left behind in the new digital age.

Your personal brand is based on value and your story.

You're not an influencer.

You're a value creator.

Your ideas refine over time, so the value you provide gets better and better.

Since I want to keep the barrier to entry low for you to take action, here are three small steps you can take:

1. Start an account on Twitter

2. Write about your story and what you are learning (post at least one a day)

3. Iterate over time and find what makes you stand out

That’s literally it.

There’s no downside.

I like to call this a creator business. Since at the end of the day we are here to make an income.

Step 3: Build a Network

People think networking means sending messages on LinkedIn that sound something like this

No.

Networking doesn’t have to be like this.

It doesn’t have to be painful to send messages and feel like you have to put on some fake persona of who you are.

Your network is your net worth.

These are the connections that you have forever.

Even if you lose your audience, having connections allows you to make money.

By networking online, you can make better connections than at 95% of universities for a fraction of the price.

The reason?

You're not restricted by location.

You're only restricted by your:

• Ability to network

• Value as a connection

• Presence of personal brand

This is exactly what I would do if I wanted to start building my network from scratch:

1. Browse X

2. Find accounts you resonate with

3. Reach out them in the DMs and hop on as many calls as you can

Step 4: Writing content as an illuminator

As an illuminator, you are illuminating the path to where you want to go and where you think your audience should go.

If we take health, there might be 2 places to go.

1. Relying on the medical system, taking 6+ medications when you are 45, waiting to get diseases, and then acting once you're already sick.

2. Relying on yourself for your health, no medications when you are 45, and preventing diseases before they can even come near you.

These are 2 places. As an illuminator, you might illuminate people that option 2 is a destination they can go to. And then why it is a better destination than the other choices?

As an illuminator, your content is arguments for the path you are going on and the path you share with your audience.

So still using that earlier example you might explain the negative impact path 1 has on your life and the benefits that path 2 has.

Example Post:

I wrote this up very quickly but you get the idea. Your content is arguments for the path that you have illuminated to your audience.

Step 5: Building a product as an illuminator

As an illuminator, your product is the directions or the map for how to get to the destination that you talk about in your content.

Once your audience has been illuminated into where they want to go and why they should want to go there their next question will be how they get there.

That's how you sell a product.

Going back to that health example.

You could build a product where you walk people through the health blueprint you're using to achieve your desired destination.

In my own experience, I showed (illuminated) my clients that the roadmap to building an audience and doing meaningful work is through my 1-1 mentorship program.

That's all for this letter.

Hope you enjoyed it,

Christian.