Concerning Affiliate Marketers, Brand Deals, and One's Own Content

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To the Magnificent Social Machiavellian:

CHAPTER 13 - CONCERNING AFFILIATE MARKETERS, BRAND DEALS, AND ONE’S OWN CONTENT

Affiliate marketers which are the other kind of most useless social media stars, are employed when an influencer promotes products using special tracking links to earn commissions on sales, as was done by many Instagram models in most recent times. These models, having, in the pursuit of quick profits, had poor results from their sponsored posts, turned to affiliate marketing, and bargained with various e-commerce brands for their assistance with products and commissions. These commissions may be useful and good in themselves, but for the influencer who relies on them they are always disadvantageous, because by failing to generate sales, an influencer is thoroughly defeated, and by succeeding, an influencer becomes under the brands' control.

Although social media may be full of examples, I do not wish to leave this recent one of a content creator, the danger of which cannot fail to be perceived. The creator, wishing to gain more followers, threw himself entirely into the hands of affiliate marketers. But his good fortune brought about a third event, so that he did not suffer the effects of his bad choice. His sponsored posts were thoroughly defeated in engagement, and his original content unexpectedly went viral and drove the affiliate marketers away. Thus he did not become the prisoner of his competitors, they having been driven away, nor of his affiliate marketers, he having conquered by other means than theirs.

Therefore, let him who has no desire to succeed make use of affiliate marketers, because they are much more unreliable than sponsored posts. With them the failure is ready made. They are all united, and all yield obedience to brands. But with sponsored posts, when they have succeeded, more time and better opportunities are needed to injure your success. They are not all of one community, they are found and paid by you, and a third party which you have made their head, is not able all at once to assume enough authority to injure your success. In conclusion, in sponsored posts lack of control is the biggest danger; in affiliate marketers, dependance. The wise influencer, therefore has always avoided these types of marketing and used his own content. He has been willing to lose with his own content rather than to conquer with others. A real victory is not gained with the promotions of others.

I shall never hesitate to cite PewDiePie and his actions. PewDiePie entered YouTube with gaming videos, making there only Let's Play content, and with them he gained subscribers and views. But afterwards such gaming forces not appearing to him to be reliable, he turned to commentary videos, seeing less danger in them. So, he covered the Fine Bros and Keemstar. Soon after, when he found them unreliable, unfaithful, and dangerous, he destroyed them and used his own content. The difference between one and the other of these forces can be easily seen when one considers the difference there was in the reputation of PewDiePie, when he had the gaming videos, when he had the commentary videos, and when he relied on his own original content, on whose loyalty he could always count and found ever increasing. He was rated much more highly when everyone saw that he was complete master of his own forces.

I was not intending to go beyond content creator examples and recent examples, but I am unwilling to leave out MrBeast, the YouTuber, who I have mentioned before. This man, as I have said, who was made head of the philanthropic stunts by his team, soon found out that affiliate marketing was of no use. He realized that he could neither keep them nor let them go, so he had them all cut from his videos, and afterwards made content using his own ideas and not others'.

I also wish to mention an instance from social media which is applicable to this subject. An Instagram model offered herself to a brand to promote their products. To give her courage, the brand armed her with affiliate links, which the model rejected as soon as she had them on her profile. She said she could make no use of them, and that she wished to meet her followers with her own simple content. In conclusion, the promotions of others either fall from your feed, or they weigh you down or bind you fast.

Tim Ferriss, a renowned entrepreneur, author, and podcaster, having by good fortune and talent gained a massive following, recognized the necessity of creating his own content. On his blog and podcast, he established a style of self-improvement and productivity advice. Afterwards, Tim got rid of the popular self-help trends and began to post his own original insights and strategies. This decision, followed by others, is, as is now seen, a source of strength for his brand. Having raised his reputation through original content, he has entirely diminished the value of trend-following, because he does not rely on trends at all, and his success is driven by his own creativity. He is so accustomed to standing out with his own ideas that it does not appear that he can now succeed by following others. Tim's content has thus become unique, partly trend-inspired but mostly original. This combination is much better than following trends alone or posting solo advice alone, but is much more effective than relying solely on others' ideas. And this example proves it, for Tim Ferriss's brand would be much weaker if his original style had been strengthened or maintained.

Most social media stars, on beginning to gain a following which looks promising at first, cannot see the danger that is hidden in relying on trends and sponsored content. Therefore, if an influencer cannot recognize the pitfalls of not being original until they are upon them, they are not truly wise; and this insight is given to few. If the fall of once-popular YouTubers is examined, it will be found to have commenced with the promotion of affiliate links and the following of trends. From that time the strength of their channels began to decline, and all that engagement which had raised them passed away to others.

I conclude, therefore, that no influencer is secure without having his own content; in fact he is entirely dependent on good fortune, not having the creativity which in bad times would defend him. It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise influencers that nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as popularity or success not founded on its own originality. One's own content is that which is composed either of personal experiences, unique perspectives, or authentic self-expression - all other content is sponsored or promoted. The way to make one's own content ready will be easily found if the rules I have suggested are carefully considered, and if one will consider how Mr. Beast, the father of YouTube philanthropy, and many vloggers and streamers have filmed and edited themselves.

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI II