You don’t have to be a sketchy person to do sketchy things. There are a bunch of successful creators I know and admire who truly want to help and serve their audience. They’re great people with the best of intentions. But… When they share their successes - how large their audience has become, how much money they make, how huge their course launch was, etc. - they only share a part of the story. They share list size, but not how many of those subscribers never open. They share their revenue, but not the amount of money they spent to earn that revenue. They share testimonials from people who loved their course, but don’t mention how many buyers asked for refunds. I understand why they don’t do that stuff and again, I don’t think they’re inherently bad people or trying to trick anyone. But… By not sharing the full picture, they create a misleading set of assumptions for audiences who don’t know any better. Don’t assume the “success” someone shares online is as straightforward as it may seem. There’s often WAY more going on behind the scenes of that success than you realize and those people probably aren’t nearly as far ahead of you as you may think. Btw, this is true of me too. There’s a bunch of places where I've said I've grown to 50,000 newsletter subscribers. And that's true. Well... It was true. Until I cleaned my list. Today I have 42,042.
Oh, totally get what you're saying about the whole 'success story' show online. You know, being in the content strategy game myself, I've peeked behind the scenes enough times to see it's not always as shiny as it looks. It's like when someone shows off their shiny new car but doesn't mention the hefty loan they're still paying off. Sure, they've got a great ride, but there's a less glamorous side to it. Honestly, I think if more creators shared the not-so-perfect bits, like how many people actually ghost their emails or the real cost of launching that flashy course, we'd all feel a bit more... normal? It's comforting knowing even the big shots have their rainy days. So yeah, next time you see a 'look how great I'm doing' post, just remember there's probably a bunch of 'not so great' stuff they're not telling you. We're all in this messy journey of success together, right?
Josh Spector you are sending out daily emails, clearly a lot of people like whats in them. Dont fear the unsubscribe / scrub.
Highly recommend "Radical Honesty" - really taught me why truth is the connector of all of us <3
Great point! I am often afraid of sharing the weaker side of my business. I know I judge others, working on not doing this so much, and people are judging me. We never see tue whole picture and it’s important to remember this when we decide who we should learn from.
Love this, Josh! It's hard not to compare yourself to others and their 'success'. I always remind myself there is more behind the curtain that I don't know than what I'm allowed to see in front of it.
Transparency in prices is a great example of this quote, Josh.
Couldn't agree with this more!
This is exactly what I've found myself thinking about for the 7 years I've been in business. Last week I attended a super-helpful and inspiring online conference, but caught myself doing the compare/despair thing 🤔 This post was the reminder I needed - and I will share this! Thank you Josh Spector!
Whenever I see posts with those kinds of numbers, I just move on, assuming it's all inflated/invented.
Co-Founder and CEO at Skye Equipment Rentals • Elevating Projects and Empowering People • A Local Alternative to the National Rental Companies
1yMy favorite one is when people say things on social media like: "I made $1M last year." Translation: My company had $1M in REVENUE last year. Reality: I actually took home $100k, aka PROFIT. These are two wildly different numbers, but for the followers on social media, the $1M figure makes them feel like they are way behind. Take everything you read online with a healthy dose of skepticism, y'all.