The true power of Web3 and margays

I collected a few worthy observations too short for a blog post but deserving of your attention, so here they are.

The true power of Web3

Web3 is so so confusing. And nobody can really explain it well.

But here’s how I look at it, and I think this will make it simple for all of you getting Web3-dizzy like I am.

Web1 was about establishing a voice. Anybody could create content and distribute it easily on the internet.
Web2 was about the audience. Creators gained trusting and loyal fans and brands were eager to tap into this with sponsor and ad dollars.
Web3 is gathering steam around a decentralized model where we will own our personal information, our experiences, and perhaps our own mini-economies. I have established a tokenized community called $RISE, for example.

This is where it gets complicated. Web3 has its own language (DAOs, NFTs, and eth!) and rules of the road.

But here is the essential truth: The true power of Web3 is about belonging. There is a furious race to build a new infrastructure to help people belong to your brand, NFT collective, or tokenized economy. And if they belong to your brand community, you don’t need SEO, ads, or lead nurturing campaigns anymore. You will have a customer collective.

That’s why this is the true power of Web3. Don’t be afraid of it. The future of marketing is emerging here.

Don’t be a popstar

I recently heard an interview with comedian Ricky Gervais. In his early career, he tried to make it in his own rock band. He cut a few tracks, toured, and crashed. The journey lasted about a year.

“My mistake,” he said, “was trying to become a pop star. I should have tried to become a musician.”

I think this is a poignant lesson. I remember in my early days on social media, I was trying to become a “pop star,” which meant copying the other social media pop stars. It didn’t work.

My success only came when I decided to be a “musician,” meaning that I turned my attention to honing my craft of blogging and earning an audience, patiently, in my own way. A great lesson for anyone developing their personal brand.

Real books

The other day I was in a bookstore. A real bookstore.

It was sad and overwhelming because I don’t have much time to read books for pleasure and I miss that. I blog, create speeches, host a podcast, and write books. So, I am constantly reading for business but not so much for fun.

A long time ago I wrote a post called “Creating content makes you dumb” because there is such a trade-off between creating content and consuming it. Somehow, I need to get back in the reading groove!

Selling and the personal brand

A friend of mine started an email newsletter. I was looking forward to this since she is smart and has an exceptional perspective.

But half-way through the newsletter she hit me with a hard sales pitch. That lost me. I had to fight through the long pitch to get to the next bit of helpful content.

You and I are in a War For Attention. Every time you or your business hits me with an unwanted sales pitch, you lose a battle, and maybe the war if I unsubscribe.

It occurs to me that you can either build an effective personal brand or you can sell … you probably can’t do both. And the magic is, if you have a powerful personal brand, you don’t have to sell.

Random thought on a different kind of war

I loved the ideas in Thomas Friedman’s seminal book from 2005, The World is Flat. A key idea from the book is that the world economy is so entangled and interdependent that we could never have another world war. Economic co-dependence assures a new world order, he wrote.

Looking at the situation in Ukraine (as I am writing this), a world war is certainly hanging in the balance, and this made me reconsider Friedman’s thesis. Was he wrong?

Ironically, I think a co-dependent economic structure helped set the stage for war. Perhaps Putin thought that the world depended so much on Russian oil, wheat, and basic metals that he could do as he pleased without interference?

An unexpected consequence of this horrific invasion is the impact on the world order. Since the early 1990s, the percentage of national budgets being spent on defense has gone down in almost every country in the world. The billions that had been spent on defense have been channeled into education, healthcare, and other civic benefits. The world seemed to be moving beyond the barbaric idea of invading other countries to gain power.

Due to the Russian invasion, we already see countries like Poland and Germany escalating their defense budgets. A sad implication of the war in Ukraine is a step away from funding education and human welfare in many countries.

And on a happier note …

I don’t want to end this post on a downer. So let’s end it with a kitten.

I was bored and wanted to know what is considered the cutest animal in the world and the margay tops many lists. I did not know what a margay was. So here you go:

No need to thank me.

Those big eyes! Those stripes! And look at those PAWS!

The margay is a protected wild cat that lives in tropical forests in Central and South America.

Margays are the wizards of the treetops and are beautifully adapted to forest habitats. Their broad, soft feet and mobile toes allow them to hang from tree limbs by one hind foot, and flexible ankles can rotate the foot 180 degrees outward. In some areas, Margays hunt, sleep and even have their young in trees.

So there you go. Have yourself a margay day!

Keynote speaker Mark Schaefer Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of some of the world’s bestselling digital marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant. The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.