In the past, most people were media consumers, listening to radio and watching television. One-way and boring. Today, for the first time in history, people are media owners, creating the content and sharing it with the world. Two-way and revolutionary.
I’ll never forget the Fast Company article I read in January 2010 that forever changed my perspective on media ownership and personal branding. The article was titled Mr. Social: Ashton Kutcher Plans To Be The New-Media Mogul. The article told the story of one man challenging CNN to see who could be the first to achieve 1 million Twitter followers. On April 16, 2009 even the traditional media giants of Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and Larry King couldn’t stop the media shift of power as a single man became the first to hit 1 million followers.
Whether we are blogging via Wordpress or micro-blogging via Twitter or podcasting via iTunes, we have begun creating media as much as we consume it. That is a powerful shift. Entire generations have been empowered by technology and the Internet to share with the world, take a stand, or unleash their inner creative.
Even the great marketers of today agree: “We are all media companies.” ~Seth Godin. “We are all content companies.” ~Gary Vaynerchuk. And Chris Brogan and Julien Smith said it poetically in their book The Impact Equation: "Most people have not been to journalism school or studied to be writers or marketers, and yet everyone must be all of those things to have a successful personal brand or business. We have all these hats by necessity, not by talent.” Having a media company (aka personal brand) is now a necessity. And according to a recent Nielsen study, 50% of all bloggers are Millennials so the rest must find reason to start.
Here are 3 simple reasons to start or to continue to grow your media company.
1) It creates trust. Sharing who you are, your unique knowledge and perspective creates trust. People buy from, hire, and promote those they trust. Create more.
2) It’s free. Today's media "stations" now cost nothing. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Vine are all supported by companies' infrastructure and provided to you at no cost. All they require is your time. Jump in.
3) It influences. Let’s face it…media influences. To leave your legacy or have the impact our human spirit longs for, we must influence others. Lead on.
Question: What type of media do you find most influential today?
