Ronan read Snow Leopard - so you didn't have to...
Fast Facts
Week: 7
Title : Snow Leopard
Author: Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon and Nicholas Cole
Rating: 8/10
Adapted from Ronan's LinkedIn newsletter 1/03/2023 -
Books I've Read For You
Summary
Quite a niche subject but the insights into writing are universal. If you want to stand out you will need to create non-obvious content.
One Key Takeaway or Insight
Obvious
Most influencers create BGO’s “Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious.” The true definition of a follower - wired to “fit in”
Video version of Book Review
Too lazy to read the summary? Watch instead.
* Common Sense Events has rebranded to Uncommon Experiences
Introduction
If you're looking to improve your writing skills or understand what makes content truly compelling, this book is for you. Much of what you see from social media influencers and business gurus amounts to "Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious" (BGOs)—think of advice like "Work smarter, not harder." This book simplifies these often convoluted ideas, presenting the "Content Pyramid" framework, a five-level model that spans from basic consumption to the creation of unique content categories. You'll learn how the scale of your questions can shape your audience and how to create content that goes beyond the superficial.
Understanding the difference between passive and active consumers, mastering intentional curation, and making non-obvious connections are key themes. This book will guide you through these concepts, providing tools to elevate your content. It's about moving from creating products and services to offering experiences and transformations, ensuring your content not only reaches your audience but also makes a lasting impact.
When or Why you should read this book
If you need to improve your writing skills or you want to better understand what makes compelling content.
Much of the content and many of the popular “influencers” on social media produce nothing more than “Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious” (BGOs).
Example:
"Work smarter not harder"
Many business ideas are easy to understand, but hard to execute.
Often academics and consultants complicate the language to make a simple idea feel complex to justify their fees.
The 5 levels of the Content Pyramid
Level 1: Consumption
Level 2: Curation
Level 3: Obvious connection
Level 4: Non-obvious connection
Level 5: Category creation
The size of the question dictates
the size of the audience.
People with giant audiences online tend to create the most surface-level, obvious, content-free content.
L1 - 2 types of consumers - Passive and Active.
a. Passive (Lean back) Consumers - read articles but never put their learnings into practice or take action.
b. Active (Lean forward) Consumers - All content is a trade. You’re aware of what you are buying (with your attention) and are okay with the cost (time off your life)
L2 - Curation - begin by imitating and curating thoughts, perspectives, insights, and ideas from people they admire.
Intentional curation: Sharing and adding opinions and insights (these weekly newsletters are exactly that!)
L3 - Obvious & Non-obvious Content
Obvious is simple by design, less esoteric, more actionable, moving audiences forward incrementally.
L4 - Non-obvious connections
Gain in value over time as more and more people “get” it.
L5 - Category design.
Ryan Holiday dominates the category of Stoicism. James Clear dominates the category of habit-building.
If a reader is going to give you their attention and/or money, what they’re really giving you is “time off their lives.”
What is the “give-to-get?” What is the consumer giving (time + money) and what do they expect to get in return?
Obvious content is Actionable: How to's, A-B, Incremental, and Linear.
Non-obvious content is Thinking - “Why” things work, happens, function etc. It’s more complicated but also more timeless and exponential.
What type of content do you enjoy creating the most? Because this will determine your longevity, you’ll stick with it longer.
Obvious creators provide products and services.
Non-obvious creators provide experiences and transformations.
3 Consulting Models
Q&A Consulting - Same questions asked by different people.
GURU Consulting - Content is unique and you are known as the only person who can answer the question.
Outcome Based Consulting - guarantee an outcome - or guarantee to get pretty close. Must be a perception of scarcity.
What’s your POV (Point of View)? What are you actually saying, where are you leading?
What is the transformation as a result of adopting this POV?
How can you get your Superconsumers to hear and adopt your POV?
If you wouldn’t pay for it - either with time or dollars - why are you putting it out there?
The Big 3 Content Marketing Lies
Lie #1 - Most valuable form of marketing is your personal story - ONLY if you can translate it to something that matters to customers
Lie#2 - Anything I say is valuable
Lie#3 - It’s all about how many people see my content; it’s not. It’s about how many are moved by your content.
All ideas have the same 3 components:
“If I believe the problem you are framing is real, then how bad has my life been with this unknown problem lingering for so long?”
“If I use this solution, how much more effective will I be in solving this problem?”
“If I unlock this outcome, how am I different? What will my life be like?”
The true definition of a follower - is wired to “fit in”
Languaging
Languaging is about creating distinctions between old, and new, same and different.
To be seen as a brilliant thinker and writer tends to come down to languaging.
Salesforce successfully Framed, Named, and Claimed the problem with new languaging. Calling the old thing “On Premise” Nexflix used “appointment viewing” to do the same thing.
All legendary languaging represents 1 of 4 maths equations:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
Summary:
Quite a niche subject but the insights into writing are universal. If you want to stand out you will need to create non-obvious content.
Key Insight s:
Most influencers create BGO’s “Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious.” The true definition of a follower - wired to “fit in”
You may also enjoy reading these...