How to win in the interest media era: views, personal brand, and live shopping

Executive overview

Social media has shifted from social networks to interest media — algorithms now surface content based on what you're interested in, not who you follow. This means a first-time poster with great content can outperform someone with millions of followers.

The only metric that matters now is views (or reach). The creative is the variable.

• Platform choice should be reverse-engineered from your target audience's demographics.
• Self-awareness about how you create best (audio, video, written) shapes which formats to use.
• Live social shopping is the next major wave — brands should be preparing now.

One great post can change your business or your career.

Views, algorithms, and platform strategy

• Views (or reach) is the core metric — the algorithm now distributes based on content quality, not follower count.
• Platform choice depends entirely on where your target audience lives: Facebook for Gen X/Boomer women's fashion, LinkedIn for B2B services, TikTok for young moms.
• TikTok's 30–50 age demographic is massively underestimated.
• Use ChatGPT or Perplexity to research platform-specific audience data — the answers are specific and real.
• Post the same video natively on each platform; they treat cross-posted content differently.
• For Instagram photos, test posting as a one-second reel — it often gets more reach.

Learning the algorithms

• Every platform publishes information about what it values — read it, watch it, listen to it.
• Instagram's CEO posts regular videos on algorithm changes; this is primary source research.
• Many creators like GaryVee put out free, ongoing content specifically on maximising reach.
• Listening is the core skill — active research, not passive consumption.

Content creation and self-awareness

• Know your natural medium: audio, video, or written. Build your content strategy around it.
• Written posts on LinkedIn can be transcriptions of spoken content — you don't need to write to publish writing.
• Platform thumbnails, opening three seconds, and copy all affect distribution — these are learnable skills.
• Attempted virality: publish at least one post per week that swings for a trend or viral moment, even if it flops.

Personal brand and LinkedIn

• Personal brand is slang for professional reputation — drop the ickiness, treat it as the same thing.
• One LinkedIn post can make you visible to a recruiter or company that changes your career options.
• Bring personal interests into LinkedIn content — skiing, cooking, a Netflix show — to surface human personality.
• Update profile photos: a stiff, seven-year-old suit photo signals inauthenticity; show who you actually are.
• Brand evolution is allowed — algorithms now distribute based on content quality, not legacy follower base.
• Personal brand and company brand are an "and" game, not an "or" game; one feeds the other.

Authenticity and fear

• Most people are inauthentic online because they fear judgment, not because they lack something to say.
• Don't audit other people's authenticity — focus on your own.
• Fear of being laughed at or fired is real, but over-managing perception produces content nobody connects with.
• Going live accelerates authentic connection faster than any other format.

Selling through personal brand

• Selling becomes comfortable when you believe in what you're selling.
• Discomfort with selling is usually a signal you don't fully believe in the product — worth examining.

Building real connections

• Go live to build depth; early audiences of 40–80 people can produce lasting relationships.
• Host real-life events once you have momentum — a dinner for the first 12 RSVPs compounds community faster than content alone.
• Real connection requires actual investment: dinners, calls, spouse dinners, one-on-ones.

Live social shopping and AI

• Live social shopping (TikTok Shop, Whatnot) is the 2025–2026 breakout trend.
• Physical retailers should consider turning stores into live-streaming studios on slow weekdays.
• AI mirrors past technology shifts (Photoshop, Google) — it creates efficiency, not extinction.
• Designers who only execute others' ideas are most at risk; those who generate ideas are not.

Handle strategy and emerging tactics (post-book updates)

• Handle strategy: create a secondary brand account for content too experimental for the main grid.
• Attempted virality: one post per week designed to go off-script — 52 tries a year compounds learning fast.
• Both handle strategy and live shopping were absent from Day Trading Attention — the landscape is moving that fast.

Time management and priority

• Organic social content deserves a top-of-calendar priority slot, not a leftover one.
• 25 meaningful LinkedIn posts can produce more career value than months of routine meetings.
• Build a content infrastructure around your natural output: a Dustin (videographer), an editing team, copy review.
• The moment you treat content creation as a priority, you find the time.