Don’t enter a competition. Build a category of one.
The competition is steep, but it isn’t crowded at the top.
Our content is competing in a very noisy world.
If I write about IT education and career coaching, guess what? Jason Dion and Professor Messer have me beat.
If it comes to systems thinking and productivity? Ben Meer and James Clear got me beat.
Finding clarity in a constantly changing media ecosystem? Evan Shapiro has me beat.
Building a personal brand? Creator economy monetization? Jade Banacolta, Justin Welsh and Avi Gandhi have me beat.
But mentioning all these people in one post?
Only I could do that my way. Why can’t you? You have a free LinkedIn account. Maybe you even pay LinkedIn for Premium, I don’t know.
What Makes Me Different From Others
I actually teach tech full-time and manage a national team. I’m not guessing what learners need, and making it up as I go along like I’m Kevin Feige running Marvel Studios.
(Source: https://collider.com/kevin-feige-denies-james-gunn-shooting-without-scripts-comments/)
I passed actual IT certification exams. I know how it feels as a Learner, Assistant, Instructor and Instructor Manager.
I’ve managed bootcamps. I know how systems succeed or fail based on years of Remote Training Team experience at Per Scholas.
Media and culture fluency. My examples hit harder with heart or humor mixed in with pop culture.
I don’t care about fame. I want to build something useful, not viral.
Most creators out there are:
Teaching from books other people wrote (I wrote my own book and just started another)
Focusing on followers instead of transformation (I am not the same person I was before becoming an author)
Good at content creation but bad at leading humans. (Wunderkinds talk a big game, but then you look closely and see a kid who never walked the walk you way you did.)
How You Can Compete Smarter
Don’t race to the bottom trying to copy someone else’s playbook.
Lead with what only you can teach, from your lived experiences. People can copy and paste your words, but no one can copy and paste your life experience in classrooms, career pivots, breakthroughs, and so on.
The Takeaway:
Do not enter a competition against heavyweights who can knock you out.
Instead, build your “category of one.”
