Give a damn about your people

Here’s the ultimate strategy for earning true fans.

Care about your people. Genuinely give a shit about their wellbeing. Infuse everything you create, and every interaction you have, with a spirit of kindness, generosity, and love.

Maybe that sounds tacky to you.

But so much of what populates our newsfeeds is rooted in cynicism. We’re drowning in cheap content that’s not made for humans. It exists to generate clicks. To juice the algorithm. To signal status. To manipulate, extract, or even scam.

And everybody can feel it. We might consume that stuff, but it leaves us empty and unnourished. It leaves us craving the real thing.

Because deep down, we all know the internet can be so much better. We all see its potential to connect us, and to make this strange, uncertain life more magical, and a bit less lonely.

As a creator, you have the power—and dare I say responsibility—to do exactly that.

When you’re building out your little corner of the internet, you get to design a utopia for you and your fans.

A place where they can revel in interesting, authentic work made by an actual human who gives a damn.

A refuge from manipulative internet bullshit. A sanctuary where they can let their guard down and be themselves. Because they trust that you’ll take care of them. Because they know they’re amongst friends.

There’s an idea from legendary marketer Jay Abraham called the the Strategy of Preeminence.

Here’s the one sentence version.

Don’t wait for money to change hands to start serving, guiding, and acting in the best interest of your clients.

Basically, view yourself as a fiduciary—someone who’s bound by a moral code, or even by law, to act in the best interest of your people.

That might sound a bit extreme, and perhaps overly self-sacrificing.

But something incredible happens when you care about people and act in their best interest. You earn trust. You create an emotional bond. And the value you offered so selflessly comes back to you tenfold.

In other words, you create true fans.

So care about your people. And give them the internet they yearn for.