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This is just worthy of re-emphasis and perhaps I may be able to get your thought wires sparking just a little bit more on this.

 

Money Follows Attention.

 

Think about this. EVERYTHING that happens on social media, in the entertainment space and indeed in the whole of the internet today is geared towards one thing - getting (and keeping) your attention. No wonder we are all so stressed out. There are so many things fighting for our attention, and once anything has proven to get it and the attention of a whole lot of other people, guess what? Money flows in that direction.

 

I'm sure you know that's the model on which all free websites (social or otherwise) are built. Facebook. Google. Blogs.

You name it. The name of the game is to get your attention.

 

Sure, we know that the direct goal of age-old advertising is to get your attention and to ultimately convince you to buy something, but I am more interested in the subtler ways this is happening today, and why you must get in on the game.

 

You are either a player or you are being played. You choose.

 

Once you hit a million views of anything at all you post on YouTube, they begin to pay you. What if you woke up tomorrow and found out that you are a musician that is as popular as Davido or P-Square (never mind their so-called split)? How about a movie star, a top sportsman or even a known orator? Someone will soon approach you to become brand ambassador of something. This is because they know you have the attention of millions of people, and that's the commodity they are after in order to sell whatever it is they are selling. Be it a product, a service, or even an idealogy.

Because in today's world as an artist, sportsperson or whatever brand of celeb you are, you don't just get rich by selling your records - you get rich by selling the attention you have. Attention creates influence, and influence affects decisions. And everyone wants a decision made and taken in their favour - be they politicians, businesses or even housewives (no pun intended).

 

And people will try every gimmick in and out of the book just to keep your attention, even if they have to fake events or willfully cause scandals. Take it from me, the hustle is real.

 

Attention is the new commodity, and you've gotta trade to stay in the game. You either buy it or sell it, just make sure it's there.

 

The question to now ask yourself is, How do I generate (and keep) attention?

Cuz your business needs it.

 

I will truncate my own narrative at this point so that this mail is not too long as I want to share an old article I read on Entrepreneur.com authored by Grant Cardone below.

But remember,

 

How do I generate (and keep) attention?

 

Read on.

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Businesses Die in Obscurity. Do All You Can to Gain Attention.

 

Entrepreneurs must know that businesses fail because they don’t get attention. If you want to succeed and grow your business, your sales revenue and your brand, you must get attention.

 

What do I mean by attention? I am talking about generating enough awareness that you and your company own the market. Obscurity kills businesses. There are plenty of solid ideas and great products out there. Most don’t know how to get attention and so they disappear. There are also some weaker products and services being sold. When you look closely, those people, products and services are committed to getting attention. Money follows attention.

 

To be successful in creating attention you need to be able to answer these two questions:

 

1. How far will you go to get attention?

 

2. How frequent will you be in your attempts?

 

Over the last five years, I have worked hard to get the right kind of attention. I have used radio, TV, advertising and social media. I’ve posted over 1,000 videos on YouTube and written thousands of blogs, strategies and posts on other social mediums. I also recently launched Whatever It Takes Network, a digital platform with video programming intended to help people with their businesses and life. It takes work and the willingness to try new things, learn what works and what doesn’t, make improvements and move forward.

 

I have found that "creativity follows commitment" so make sure you commit first, then worry about content. To me, quantity is more important than quality in the beginning because you aren’t going to figure out the quality without the quantity. The quality will not matter if you don’t push content frequently enough to get results.

 

If you’re out there all the time, you’re going to get more and more eyes. When you have something to offer, offer it. Repeat it over and over.

 

In every communication, my goal is to create an effect with the recipient of that message. It is very important to vary the content and be informative, but most importantly, I must entertain. Think about what catches your eye. What makes you read or watch one thing over another? Communicate to others with that in mind. What will make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to you?

 

Understand that your customer is oblivious to you and overwhelmed with content. To cut through the clutter you must entertain. My friend, Gary Vaynerchuk, says in his book, Jab Jab Jab Right Hook, “if you are going to interrupt people’s entertainment, you better be entertaining.”

 

You must get sold and have total belief in your business. Think of it as your ethical duty to tell as many people as possible about what you do so you can help them.

 

Most entrepreneurs struggle with getting attention because they are afraid of how they may be perceived by others. The marketplace doesn’t reward those who play it safe and coast under the radar.

 

Get attention for who you are, what you know and what your business has to offer. Someone who isn’t afraid to get attention will push past you and leave you in the dust. Get known, your business’ survival depends on it.

 

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