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I made a mistake

Right, it’s time to be honest.

Earlier this year, I dabbled in more viral content and I massively regret it.

Just because some types of content grow your following, that doesn’t mean you should post them.

The direction many are heading on LinkedIn - and on social media in general - is not, in my honest opinion, content that’s genuinely high quality.

Of course, what’s high or low quality is entirely subjective - it comes down to what you’re trying to achieve.

If your goal is to build the largest audience humanly possible and then monetise that scale - amazing.

Play the numbers game... viral content works for that.

But most people? They’re building a personal brand to become known in their industry, grow their business, and connect with the right people.

Earlier this year, I got busy. Like really busy.

And in that chaos, for a month or two, I defaulted to what I saw working for others: viral formats and broad ideas targeted at the masses.

My following pretty much doubled.

But it was a trap.

On the surface, everything looked like it was flying - impressions up, engagement up, follower count climbing fast.

But here’s the problem:

The content could have come from anyone.

Which meant I became irrelevant.

People were following the message - not me. And when that happens, slowly but surely, the connection with your audience begins to fade away. It feels hollow.

When people talk about engagement over views, what they’re actually chasing is connection.

Because connection is what drives everything else:

• The warm DMs
• The referrals
• The "I’ve been following you for months" sales calls
• The audience that actually listens

When you chase virality, you lose that feedback loop.

The analytics become useless - distorted by inflated numbers that don’t reflect what your real audience finds valuable.

Yes, you can go viral posting content everyone agrees with. But for 99% of people, that strategy isn’t aligned with the why behind their content in the first place.

If it’s an awareness play - great. But that only works when there’s a clear spotlight shining back onto something else you’re building.

Most of us (myself included) end up over-indexing on these kinds of posts - often unintentionally - and eventually start sounding like everyone else.

Instead, focus on the EDI framework:

• E - Share your Expertise and help others from your experience
• D - Document what you’re working on and who you’re becoming.
• I - Humanise your posts by sharing more of your Interests. Show your personality. Have fun.

So the next time you post, pause, and ask yourself:

“Is this something only I could have shared?”

Because in a feed of AI content, that’s what will stop people from scrolling.

Just like the saying: “People don’t want money. They want what money can buy.”

You don’t want followers. You want what engaged followers bring.

Thank you for reading Creator's Compass!

I appreciate you.

P.S. I'm stoked to get you that Taplio deal - exclusive to Creator's Compass readers only. Enjoy!