Transcript
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Hey guys, and welcome back to Content Is Profit. First of all, I want to wish you a great start of 2026. I hope you had an incredible end of the year. I know that we haven't been in your feeds for a few days and we took a couple of days off to recharge, to be with a family, to work on creative projects and play some video games with my kids, play some soccer with my kids. And you know, we needed this. I guess I needed this. And we're back today as I'm recording this on Monday, January 5th. So if you're listening to this the day of the launch, I recorded last night and it's a, I guess it's a little bit of a sensitive topic in a way. A lot happened this weekend, especially for me, my family and the people around us. So I really wanted to bring on this and answer five questions for creating responsibly in uncertain times. And the reason I bring this up is because I don't know if you know, but I'm Venezuelan, Fonsi is Venezuelan. And something happened this weekend in our country that was very impactful for millions of people. You know, 9 million people have fled the country. I'm one of them. You know, I came to United States searching and looking for opportunities. And by all means, I want to make this episode about politics whatsoever. But this weekend was very eye opening for me. Not for the thing that happened which, you know, if you don't know, go on, the news is all over the place, but because of the activity that followed online right after. I had really incredible people around me. I have my circle friends, circle family come ask me questions and kind of they wanted to be educated a little bit more about the topic. But I also had a lot of people online tagging me in different posts in different places where it got pretty heated very quickly. And there's some other people that I respect in our industry as some other people that I didn't really know. And I've seen content all over from all points of view, which is a beautiful thing about creating content, right? If you're listening to this and you're a business owner and business creator, this is probably one of the worst fears is when something happened and maybe you react to it or you publish something or, you know, when we talk about being polarizing and creating, you know, your messaging about the thing that you do, it will create two sides of the story by default. So I'm here to kind of help you navigate through that. After a long period of reflection, I wrote something and hopefully it can guide you and give you the tools to put your message out there. Right. So the first question I really want to tackle is, why am I sharing this? Like, right, if you have an idea and you ask yourself, why am I sharing? This is going to help you move the needle forward. So the intention here is. Or I guess the objective is visualize or figure out the intention before publication. Right? Before hitting publish, ask yourself, is this content to inform, inspect, buyer, educate, or just to react, vent, or get. Or get attention? Which was one of my experiences yesterday with one of the things that happened. I wasn't the one posting, I was the one commenting. Right. Many creators confuse emotional urgency with value. So responsible creation starts with clarity on why you're showing up and for who you are showing up. We talked about this all the time. I think that people listening to the podcast and you listening because you're a business owner and you want to do good and your product helps, you know, the people that you serve. I think that's one of the things that are very clear. But yesterday, while I was surfing online and kind of exploring these places where people were tagging me or asking questions of different things, I definitely see a lot of reactions, a lot of venting, a lot of just things to get attention. Like there are people twisting the Venezuelan story for their benefit in their business in a way, and that didn't sit right. So, you know, one of the things is, is that. Is ask ourselves, like, why am I sharing this thing? I have that objective really clear. The other pose of the somebody in the industry that I respect a lot was, you know, describing the situation, but it was setting a way to actually get attention and encourage, I guess, encourage interaction in the. In the comment section and. And then it. Right immediately, you know, grab that attention and. And turn it to my. So there's definitely a fine line that we walking here. And some people might resonate with that, some people might not resonate with that. So, you know, if you are in the business, like, who are you talking to? Why are you doing it? And most importantly, why are you actually sharing? What is the objective of that piece of content? Mostly, probably in our specific world of business creation, we're probably just gonna inform, inspire, educate somebody, right? Not react or vent or, you know, specifically get attention. Even though attention is kind of the name of the game, right? So, like, if you do that, just be aware that there's going to be people from both sides coming your way. Question number two that we're answering here, like, am I informed enough to speak on this topic, and this one hits home very hard specifically with, you know, what just happened with Venezuela. But it's all about like speaking, pick from understanding, right? Do not speak from assumption. And this was very prominent in the, in the last few days with the Venezuelan story, where a lot of people that have not been involved with our situation in our country or that haven't had a conversation with a single Venezuelan started assuming a lot of things and putting their messages out without any research whatsoever or even talking to somebody. So, like, my, my reaction to that was very visceral because it's my country, is my people, is my parents that are still there, are people that are still there that I love and adore and are going through this situation. And for them was a very positive thing. For me, was a very positive thing. And there's many people here twisting it. So I'm using this example because he's so, so, so recent. But we can do this with every type of content, right? We need to understand what we're talking about. We need to be well educated, we need to look at the facts, we need to look at the stories. We need to see both sides of this story. Me personally, as a, as a podcast studio owner, we host creators from all over, all religions, all politics, all topics. You'll be surprised the kind of conversations and topics that we hear about inside of our studio. And it's incredible because we can all sit down and have a conversation about that specific topic because, because we're sitting from a position or we're creating from a position of understanding and not just assumption, right? So in a world that's flooded with misinformation, we're clear on this, right? Like, there's so much misinformation online. Echoing half truths can cause real harm. We've seen it all over the place. So we have a responsibility as a creator to make sure that we're informed of the things that we're saying that we're putting out there. You know, I saw also some tweets of people that, you know, two years ago they said one thing and then now they're twisting it 180 degrees and they're saying this other thing. Just know that that has real consequences. This is not Eco Chamber, even though sometimes it does feel like one, but it does have real consequences for people out there. And we as business owners is not only our livelihood, but also is our customers, is the people that interact with us every single day. And we have to honor that. We have to make sure that we understand the topics and the things and that we're talking about, right? So if here's a, here's a good way to put this right? Like if you wouldn't bet your reputation on it, just don't say it. Don't put it out there, don't post it. Shared from what you know, what you research, not only from what you've heard and when in doubt, like, because it's going to happen, cite your sources or amplify voices closer to the issue. No repose. Re tag. Share a screenshot. Like, that's a very useful way to, to do this kind of stuff, right? Like, Fonse says it all the time. He loves to quote incredible authors and coaches and people that we learn from. And he's like, you know, credit zoo. Was it credit zoo or credits due? And I can't even remember what. But he says, well, basically he's attributing the credit to the person that said it. And, and that's totally okay, too. Doesn't have to be coming from us. And by the way, I'm not saying your opinion is not value. I'm not saying that for us business creators, we can react to things. I'm just saying it's like, what are the facts? What are, what's the research that we've done? Cite the sources at the end of the day, right? All right, question number T. Number T, number three. This, this one's good one. How could this message be interpreted by someone who disagrees with me? And this is, I think, a very important one, but also a really hard one to ask ourselves because sometimes we're in the hit on the moment. Sometimes we're like, we're so passionate about the. That we do, right? That is really hard to be on the other side at the end of the day, right? So it is okay to be polarizing. It is okay to lean towards one side. And I'm not talking pol, politics or religion. I'm talking about, like the thing that you do in your business, right? It's okay to be so passionate about this. Where it's like this product, I know it helps people, it has helped people. And that other thing has. Not because of the facts, because of the research that we've done, right? Like how we talked about and it's okay to be that. But how would it be interpreted by them? Like, am I changing their opinion? Am I educating them and I'm getting them closer to me. Am I, am I just creating, like anxiety and anger, right, to create that attention? Like, what is the thing? Like, how if the way that I say it, and I think this is probably one of the biggest fears that people creating today are facing and is that side of the story, right? So, you know, I think one of the core principles that. That we can take from this is create with empathy, not just your ego. You know, especially in today's, like, Internet bro stage where you see a lot of, you know, I guess egos out there was like, I created this, or I make this much money, or like, it is an achievement that you made a lot of money. Yes, it is. But at the end of the day, there's people out there that might be in a different boat. I mean, just. Just now, just like, right before doing this, while I was doing the research and kind of writing a little bit of the outline, I came across a video of, like, this incredible creator. And she does Fortnite content, and she does Fortnite content for beginners. And I've been playing Fortnite because my kid is interested in Fortnite. And we've been playing together and we've been learning together, and we've been bonding a bunch. And she has been one of the creators that has guided us our journey through that. Like, she speaks to the beginner, right? And one the comments that it was in her feed that she was reacting to was this person that was speaking very negatively about her, showing things that are very basic for people that have been playing for a long time, right? And it was. It was not a nice comment. And basically her comment was like, look, like nobody has played this game since the very beginning, since they were born, so why don't we just help him out at the end of the day, right? So she's just empathetic with the people that are brand new, and maybe she's an expert at the end of the day. So, like, how. How are we as creators, putting our foot up front? And we're creating from that space of helping, supporting, delivering information, right? Without any judgment, supporting our communities, right? And this is a really tough one for me, specifically for this topic is because I'm sure those people that are either right, left in the middle, or whatever they're saying there, they might really believe what they're saying, right? They might, like, really feel passionate about that. They might have their own reasons. So, like, we both. Both sides, everybody has to be empathetic about that and try to have a conversation. In my personal experience, what happened was even trying to have the conversation because it might be insecure, maybe because we don't have the data, then we become aggressive and that's the thing that we need to avoid. And maybe that's one of the fears that a lot of business creators face today when trying create content for their own companies, right? It's like, what if people, like, attack me? What if people, like, really go after this and then this is my livelihood, right? This is how we market. This is. Maybe I lose a customer because of it. Right? These are real fears that we go through when. When tackling these issues online. And again, I'm not saying politics or religion. I'm saying, like, your message on your. For your product, for your company. Right? So being responsible doesn't mean staying neutral. It means being mindful of how your words land, especially in polarizing times like the one that we're living today. So believe me, I come from a country that every day is polarizing every single day. So frame your truth with respect. You can be passionate without being polarizing. Other marketing experts, I guess, and I'm not saying I'm a marketing expert, but they're use. Polarizing. The use polarizing word very easily, where it's like, we should be polarizing. We should be, I guess, passionate, right? About our topics, but we should never aim to create conflict. I think that might be the different. Right. All right, question number four. Is this adding to the noise or is it adding value? And I guess, like, this is a very personal question where it's like, okay, am I actually helping somebody? Like, is this actually doing this thing? Or we're just, like, creating fluff out there? Are we reacting? Is our reaction value with somebody? Like, does somebody enjoy our sense of humor? Like, is this going to bring joy to somebody? Is this going to move the needle forward for the people that are watching? Or am I just replaying a video? Right. So create with clarity not just the clutter, like, how who's the scar? Who's a. Who's the customer? I could put some videos here right now of the things that have happened this weekend, and then I can give my take on this. Like, this is. This episode is an example of. Of this, right? Am I adding to the noise? Just retailing the story that a thousand million like that millions of people have been reposting? Or do I shape it in a way where I see it adds value to the people that listen to the podcast. This is a great, great example. Right? We're framing this as the responsible way for a business creator. Like, what are some five questions that we should be asking ourselves as much as possible before we put content out there? Right? So not every opinion. Sorry, not every opinion needs a megaphone. And I think this is probably why I've gotten so many messages, like, where's your point of view? Like, what is the thing that you want to say? I'm like, I haven't really said anything today, especially because this is a very dear topic to myself. And I guess my coach this morning was like, hey, I think this is a great opportunity for you guys to put something out there on the manner. I'm like, well, I'm really struggling because we're not a political podcast and spend the day thinking about how are we going to frame this, what are the things that we're going to say? So here it is. So before you post, ask if you're helping others understand, feel supported, or move forward. So hopefully with this podcast, this is what we're doing today in these specific situations, right? Sometimes silence is being responsible. Sometimes just be. Let's just be quiet for a little bit, right? Like, other times, clarity is very powerful and it's very important that we kind of know the difference. And I guess, like, my way of content creation with this specific situations has been DMs and voice memos to the people that have been asking questions on Instagram, at least I creates or bistros. And we're just getting back to them with the facts and the things that living there three years and family, being there three years have experienced. And it brings me to my last question. Am I being authentic or is it just reactive? Which in this specific example of what has been happening in the last few days, I think a lot of people have been reactive, as well as a lot of people, especially from Venezuela, are being very authentic. Now you might disagree with me and say, like, well, the people here are also very authentic. But then how we revise the previous points, I'm like, are we actually coming from a place where we've done our research, we've talked to the people around it, all this kind of stuff, right? So I think, like, leading with grounded authenticity. We talked about authenticity a lot. The last few episodes is very important, like, especially because emotion. Emotion is so powerful, man. Like, it's like you. You can move worlds just with emotion. I mean, the. The moment you walk into a room and you're feeling this, like, joy or things, like, you can see the energy shift in the room. I've experienced it with my own family, with the workshops that we do with the people in the studio, or when we feel sad or when we're down, you can still feel that, right? And it's contagious. Right. So like on process, emotion can create more heat than light. Unprocessed emotion can create more heat than light. Raw emotion. Right. Both sides, good or bad. So make sure like that we keep an eye on that. Especially at the heat of the moment, you might feel really angry because something that happened to your business or maybe a customer review. And you, out of anger, you create and you put it out there and then we cannot take it back. Right. Same with the opposite. So pick and choose. So all I'm saying is like, let's, let's try to share from our truth, you know, not your, your triggers. Yeah, I, I consider myself a positive guy. I think, you know, Fonz is also a positive guy. We try to be around positive guys. So like those triggers might be an indicator, might be an indicator that you, we need to process that information and then put something out there. I think a good time, a good thing to do is just wait, wait it out, make sure that you cool down a bit. Your grounded voice will always, always have more impact than your first reaction. Sometimes because we want to feed it to the algorithms or the platforms, we're like so quick to put something out there. Right. And again, I raised my hand sometimes I'm guilty of it that we might lose sight of why we're actually really doing this. Who are we actually helping with this? So I guess in a more umbrella way, like more general reflection. Right. The world doesn't need more noise. Like we, we have so much. I mean, I was checking my screen time last night. I was like, oh my gosh. It's like if it's possible being 24 hours on that phone, it was for me yesterday. Right. We need more clarity. We need more truth. There is an incredible book called TR I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday. I highly encourage everybody to go and check it out. Is how modern media can be, can be shaped, I guess very easily. So again, trust me Online by Ryan Holiday, more responsible creators who are willing to pause before they post is what we need, right? Like, can we stop for a second, reflect, like, go through these five questions again? Why am I sharing this? Am I informed enough to speak on this? How could this message be interpreted by someone that disagrees with me? Is this adding to the noise or adding value? Am I being authentic or just reactive? Let's go through those. Let's put them together, right? If this episode, I'm conscious this is very different from what we said before, but I really wanted to put it out there and extract lessons of what I've experienced The good and the bad from. From this weekend on, what happened with Venezuela. But if this hit home, take a breath before your next pose. Take a deep breath. With my kids, we go, take five deep breaths. And then it's like, if my wife goes, if five is too much, just do three. So maybe do three. And maybe share this episode with somebody that you might consider that you might be seeing, putting content out there, right? If you. If they're brave enough and. And, you know, hopefully we can all navigate distinction, because I lived it, man. Like, I. I'm very fortunate, and I think we all are, that we live in a. In a country today that we are allowed and encouraged to say what we think and to put it out there almost with no punishment. I. I mean, with no punishment. And take it from somebody that comes from a country, a communist country, from a dictatorship that just this morning, literally, I saw pictures of the highway that is next to my home back in Venezuela, where my parents are, that there were collectives and there were people checking phones to see if you posted celebration, if you said celebrations pictures to your families overseas, and they were taking them into jail. So be grateful that we're in a country where we can do this and let's create responsibly, let's create with value, let's be authentic, let's do a research, let's talk to both sides, and then we put it out there to the world. So, anyways, this is my little way of, you know, interpreting what's happening. Thank you for everybody that has been sending messages and has been texting me separately to make sure that me and my family are okay. I appreciate it. We are okay. We're very happy, very grateful of what's been happening, especially with this country. And, you know, hopefully this moved the needle for you as a business creator. So I'll see you on the next episode. Take care.
