There is a massive shift going on in terms of streaming media where the focus is on quality content for subscribers willing to pay a premium for access. This is not just going on in the United States, this is a massive phenomenon in Asian markets, including China having a multi-billion dollar market.

Unfortunately, we got a whole generation of brothas and sistas focused on attention-seeking and clout-chasing using social media. On Twitter trying to say the most provocative thing and then smirk as they go to their broke job and do broke work. On sites like Tik Tok dancing like a jigaboo trying to attract an audience that like Black folks who do jigaboo dances. Then you got comment section authors, writing long paragraphs on Instagram and Facebook - long enough to be a blog article. These are the Black Ignorance who do not operate at value and focus more on seeking attention.

Today, you should focus more on creating a paid distribution strategy by focusing only on media distribution strategies that are monetized. The first step you should do is look at how you are communicating right now. Are you in social media trying to plug your product or write some catchy marketing line? Are you running live streams where you just randomly blabbing off anything marketing your product or services? You need to stop all that and you know it.

You should always approach your media distribution as an entrepreneur and for-profit, even if you are a non-profit in 2021. Never give anything away for free unless you are drawing them into your ecosystem and your story. Even your opinion and analysis can be monetized. One of the problems you should be aware of with social media is the practice of de-platforming and shadow-banning individuals and topics. Facebook is banning people from talking about certain subjects and Twitter is suspending people who are posting information the Associated Press doesn’t approve of. There are reports of YouTube throttling popular independent journalists while promoting corporate news media as the authoritative source.

The best strategy is to focus on paid content as premium content. Let’s go over some media channels you should look at in 2021:

Paid Newsletter. While there are platforms like SubStack, you should be able to set this up with PayPal or other subscription billing services out there. Focus on articles, insights, and deeper perspectives on front-page news or industry news that are good reads to keep your audience engaged.

Paid Podcasts. We see both Spotify and Apple going into the paid podcast arena and we also see other platforms overseas. The great thing about paid podcasts is you can go further with ASMR, background music to add sound effects.

Paid Video. Premium videos should be instructional and presentational videos. Describe the big picture of your vision and your operations and your product releases. Show exactly how to perform a task regarding your product or service or give demonstrations.

Paid E-books. E-books should be short and single purpose. You can offer what are cheat codes and easter eggs such as exclusive ways to use your product or service. You can also write about the market and landscape from your perspective and the value the customer can receive participating in the market. Or write about your non-profit causes and the purpose. Many political organizations are now into storytelling for engagement and fundraising.

In terms of social media, I would use social media only as a one-way announcement. That is how our platforms will use social media where we announce and people can come from there. But in reality, social media is not the secret sauce. There is a bigger secret sauce.

The secret sauce is recommendation engines. This is how YouTube recommends videos and Facebook suggests things for you. These recommendation engines can be created offline like a search engine like Google. You can create platforms like Steam for video games where you focus on showing similar video games the user already playing and enjoying. Social media are not efficient recommendation engines because people are attention-seeking on these platforms. Recommendation engines are based on better algorithms using graphs and feedback captures.

Look, your entrepreneurship journey is worth listening to – plenty of entrepreneurs have popular paid media followings that translate into sales. No matter if you running a non-profit, having engaging stories such as recusing stray dogs in the hood for your shelter for adoption can be an engaging story. Stories of ex-cons who are trying to adjust and not get caught back into the system and giving advice – all of this for non-profit revenue-raising opportunities.

Abandon social media in 2021 and focus on paid content as a revenue strategy – paid followers paid subscribers, communicating how you want to communicate. Remember that everything has a story that can be told and be engaging.