A Manifesto for the Impact Generation
A Manifesto for the Impact Generation
What impact will you make in your corner of the digital universe?
This Is Your Moment. Seize It.
You are invited to join the Impact Generation.
Our mission is to identify and develop people and businesses of impact. We only want to mentor a specific type of entrepreneur.
You are a good fit if you have these qualities:
You have a message, craft or expertise that you want to share more widely - You want to monetize your craft to an online audience that values your expertise.
You think of your work as a craft - The work you do is more than a hobby or way to make money. Your work is how you create meaning for yourself and others. It is how you create work that matters and inspires.
Your aim is to delight passionate niche audiences - You are not after mass appeal. Your goal is to stake out a corner of the digital universe where you can ply your trade and delight small groups of people who appreciate your knowledge.
Your desire is to make an impact in your corner of the digital universe - You have an idea, message, or passion and you want to make a difference in a context that matters to you.
As I unpack this manifesto, you’ll see how these ideas work together to communicate a different way of marketing and a more inspiring way to build an online business.
Introduction
We live in extraordinary times.
You now have the power to broadcast a message to half the world’s population right from the palm of your hand. You als have the ability to reach the right people to create an impact business AROUND your craft.
If you have a roadmap.
This manifesto forms the foundational ideas for that roadmap. It is not the roadmap itself. You can find that in subsequent newsletters. But they are important concepts because they undergird our philosophy of marketing.
And trust me when I tell you. Our philosophy of marketing is your secret weapon in today’s chaotic digital marketing ecosystem.
I have divided this manifesto into two parts.
Part One – Three Important Insights Into the Digital Economy
In the first part, I break down three insights into the digital economy. These insights will give you 3-D vision to see through the chaos that is the modern digital marketing landscape (and profit from it).
Part Two - The Pillars of an Impact Business
In the second part, I break down the Impact Generation’s business building concepts. Putting these ideas into practice will separate you from the masses and allow you to monetize your craft by attracting and delighting the right audiences.
Part One – Three Important Insights Into the Digital Economy
“Unless you can see the landscape clearly, you will not be able to seize this unique moment in history.”
- The Impact Generation
Let’s now pull back the curtain on three important Internet marketing insights. This review will lay the groundwork for how to most easily and quickly leverage the digital economy.
Insight #1 - The COVID aftermath and the need for expert guides
In March of 2020, seven billion people and 100s of millions of entities were forced on the cloud OVERNIGHT!
And they have been struggling ever since.
The graph below captures the essence.
Every entity (business, church, non-profit, NGO, worker, or individual) struggled to navigate the treacherous online currents to the right. There were dozens of programs to master.
So, what people need most at this time is an expert guide who can be trusted.
More on that later.
Insight #2 - Soulless marketing
We can hardly call this an insight, since soulless marketing is so prevalent now. But it’s important to remind ourselves of what we don’t want to become.
Modern digital marketing is a mix of coercive language, overly engineered sales funnels, manipulative psychology, urgency, scarcity, one-time-offers, and the rest in order to maximize the order value for every prospect.
The click has become more important than the person behind the click. And this type of marketing is insidious and alluring because it so dang profitable.
Insight #3 - The rise of the creator / expert economy
The influencer economy was about reacting to social media algorithms to monetize the attention of followers. This led to content churn, chasing the algorithm, shadow banning, and even accounts being shut down without warning.
Influencers had bet their entire business models on monetizing their followers on social media.
In the last five years, however, we have seen the rise of the creator / expert economy. There are now many more options to get paid directly for your work with services like Patreon, SaaS products like Beehiiv and Convertkit, and sites like Medium and Substack.
As a sovereign creator or expert, you now have access to your audiences without the interference of an algorithm. This means you can more easily monetize your expertise and sell directly to your audiences.
Part Two - Important Pillars For Creating an Impact Business Around Your Craft or Expertise
It’s now time to start building your Impact Business.
An Impact Business consists of you:
as a sovereign creator (you control who has access to you, your content, and digital assets)
monetizing your craft
by attracting and delighting passionate audiences
and making an impact in a context that matters to you
The result is a way for you to generate income by creating something that resonates with the right group of people.
There are several pillars of an Impact Generation business:
People-based marketing
Implement a global multimedia publishing and mentoring brand
One Workshop Away: The simplest model to leverage the digital economy
Pillar #1 - People-Based Marketing
The antidote to soulless marketing is people-based marketing.
We focus on people over statistics
This is so obvious that it’s almost embarrassing to make it a principle. However, in today’s metric obsessed marketing world, it is easy to ignore the human factor.
When you internalize that behind EVERY click there is a real person, you will change your approach to marketing. You will change your headlines, messaging, social media posts, funnels, e-mails, and perhaps even your product mix and how you deliver them.
We focus on impact and service
Closely related to our focus on people, is a commitment to make a difference in our audiences’ lives and to serve them in a way that “does no harm.”
The most articulate expression of this principle is Jay Abraham’s “Strategy of Preeminence” which means that you are to make a profound and sustaining difference in the lives of your audience members whether any money ever changes hands.
This is a radical and revolutionary way to market. While stats are important, they cannot drive the relationship with your audiences.
Pillar #2 – Implement a Global Multimedia Publishing and Mentoring Brand Approach
Within the Impact Generation, we encourage you to become your own personal brand.
There is no competition for You, Inc., as no one else has your combination of personalities, gifts, abilities, hobbies, passions, interests, and experiences.
The most pragmatic and sure fire way to implement this strategy is to use our One Workshop Away model. You can see a representation of that product below. It is a combination of low-ticket and high ticket since it is fairly easy to create and deliver, but has a high perceived ROI given that you are teaching in a live setting.
Afterward, you would pivot to digital products (low-ticket) or mentoring programs (high-ticket) in order to diversify your product offerings.
Pillar #3 – Implement One Workshop Away: The simplest model to leverage the digital economy
Within the Impact Generation you begin with our One Workshop Away business model. It is the simplest model to leverage the digital economy. In addition, it represents 80% of what you will need to succeed in that world.
The simple idea is that you would conceive, design, promote and deliver a paid workshop around your expertise within 30 days. The timeframe is important (so it’s not dragged out), and the topic is important since it centers around your passions, interests, and experience.
Our One Workshop Away model is the most low-tech, low-time, low-stress, and low-cost approach to leveraging the digital economy. If you can make it succeed at that with a workshop, then we add other components to a successful foundation.
But you must first learn to walk before you can fly.
Your Call to Action
There you have it.
This is our philosophy and approach to testing the waters of the digital economy. First, understand these insights at a deep level:
The aftermath of COVID and the need for expert guides.
Soulless marketing.
The rise of the creator / expert economy.
Then implement the pillars of an impact business:
People-based marketing.
Global multimedia publishing and mentoring brand approach
One Workshop Away business model
Now it’s your turn. Are you ready to make an impact in your tiny corner of the digital universe?
We are looking for a few good entrepreneurs to join our movement. At some point, we will open a mentoring option. If you are interested in becoming part of the Impact Generation, I would ask that you take two steps to show your desire.
First, subscribe to the Impact Generation newsletter. Over the next several months, I will dive deep into the concepts in this manifesto via this newsletter.
Secondly, hit return, and let me know 1) what is your craft or superpower with which you want to make an impact or 2) what you found most interesting in this manifesto that you are going to apply right away to your business.
Thanks for your time and attention.
Now it’s time to make an impact!
Gustavo
NOTE: This article contains affiliate links to different resources. The Impact Generation receives a commission for anything you purchase through those links.