Survival, LP As A Teacher/Public Intellectual

[Twega]

In my view, public intellectual = a form of teacher. Maybe the name is pretentious, so let's not squabble over definitions.

My life purpose (and my strengths) involve educating, breaking down information, explaining/convincing, and sparking curiosity and interest. I don't want to be part of the university system, but I've always imagined myself being a professor, and I love seeking knowledge and teaching it to others.

However, what is the reality of survival? YouTube seems to be the only platform suitable for this, and making money on youtube is a grind..

 

I have done workshops for government agencies and got paid well, but those are far in between, and I cannot talk about what is most interesting to me.

 

Question Summary:

1. What are the most essential (non-obvious) skills to develop (video editing, etc). Public speaking is obviously one.
2. What are the business ideas/consideration am I missing?
3. Social media is essential for this LP (even if you want to do stuff in person). Given this fact, should it be YouTube?

@Leo Gura and others who have similar LPs (I view Leo as a public intellectual of some sort), would love to hear your thoughts, as your advice and insights might be more relevant to my own LP.

 

[aurum]

18 hours ago, Twega said:

However, what is the reality of survival? YouTube seems to be the only platform suitable for this, and making money on youtube is a grind..

Which platform to post on is less important than actually having something of value to say.

What about your message makes it unique or worth listening to?

[RedLine]

I see two ways: 

 

1. If what you do is pure theorical stuff you can offer some public content and private content where you go more deep (in patreon for example) plus you can make vip lives (¿discord?) where you interact with your followers and make Q&A. I think you can make some money trough this, but not much.

I see some guys doing this kind of things like ContraPoints or Luke Smith

 

2. If you have somo practical "phillosopy of life" you can create VIP groups and form a community. You can sell courses and you can do workshops. Here I see more money but this is a bit far from intellectual work...

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by RedLine

[Twega]

On 6/11/2023 at 8:14 AM, aurum said:

Which platform to post on is less important than actually having something of value to say.

What about your message makes it unique or worth listening to?

I believe I have a combination of things that makes me unique:

• I'm very well-read, and I do deep research (Health, science, self-development)
• I present things in a way that spark curiosity (this is something that people have told me in my public speaking events and with my friends etc)
• I am eloquent in my speech and I believe I have a unique way of looking at things

With that beind said, i am still improving and i'm still far away from my goals. So I'm not worried about my message as I already feel I have so much to say, but its about what I mentioned (survival, first steps, etc)

 

[Twega]

22 hours ago, RedLine said:

I see two ways: 

 

1. If what you do is pure theorical stuff you can offer some public content and private content where you go more deep (in patreon for example) plus you can make vip lives (¿discord?) where you interact with your followers and make Q&A. I think you can make some money trough this, but not much.

I see some guys doing this kind of things like ContraPoints or Luke Smith

 

2. If you have somo practical "phillosopy of life" you can create VIP groups and form a community. You can sell courses and you can do workshops. Here I see more money but this is a bit far from intellectual work...

 

 

 

Thanks for this. I wasn't considering this to be an option.

[Michael569]

the ultimate question as a health educator & science communicator is what problem are you solving? People on the internet have gotten used to not paying for information unless that information are nische to a problem that they are trying to fix where they haven't been able to get free help. 

The second question is also, who is your audience? Because you can't talk to the lay audience the same way you would talk to an expert audience. You're either overwhelm one or bore (even offend) the other. 

Have a look at what Peter Attia does for example. He is a clinician but also a health educator for medical professionals and clinicians. His information is not super well-suited for a general audience and in order to benefit from his Drive podcast and his paid membership, one needs to have a higher level of prior knowledge. 

On the other hand, someone like Rangan Chaterjee talks more to a lay audience. His content is simple, basic. His books can be read by children and adults and all will benefit from it. But if you are a health professional or a clinician, you won't find much that is new there. 

So figuring out who you're talking to is important. Trying to talk about complex biochemical pathways to lay audience will lead to loss of attention very quickly. 

This is an issue I struggle with myself and crack my head with a lot. How to talk so that you capture attention online. My main platforms are Instagram and Facebook right now but the view count is still poor so I try to optimise thre way I write, the design, the length, CTAs and all of that. 

Knowing who you're talking to in each video and what problem are you helping to solve is likely to help 

Good luck!

Edited June 12, 2023 by Michael569

[Twega]

@Michael569 I Always appreciate your insights.

7 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

s a health educator & science communicator

I actually don't see myself as a health/science educator, health and science is a topic of interest (lets say just like Leo is interested in dating/game) but it isn't the sole or main topic I wish to become known for. But I see your point

 

8 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

Have a look at what Peter Attia

On a separate note, I would love to hear your thoughts on some of his claims of downsizing the effect of nutrition on health (dismissing epidemiology). I respect him very much, but everything I've learned about health/my own intuition cannot bring myself to believe his claim...

 

11 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

So figuring out who you're talking to is important.

Excellent point. I suspect that as I grow, my level of complexity and attention to detail will increase, so maybe as I first start naturally I'll be moderate, and as I grow it it will reach expert level.

I actually do not like to talk about strictly educational/scientific, I like to mix story telling / my own ideas / rambling etc.

 

@Michael569 Very good points, thanks so much for your insights.

 

 

[Michael569]

4 hours ago, Twega said:

n a separate note, I would love to hear your thoughts on some of his claims of downsizing the effect of nutrition on health (dismissing epidemiology). I respect him very much, but everything I've learned about health/my own intuition cannot bring myself to believe his claim...

yeah that's an area where I don't agree with him but then it is not his interest, you can see that he considers nutrition inferior to things like athleticism which is his primal topic. I would love if he brought on Drive people like Chris Gartner, Ross Taylor or Kevin Hall to talk about that bit. Layne Norton was on a few times but they ended up talking about exercise nutrition .... as is always the case with BioLayne  - I don't think Layne is quite there yet when it comes to topics like SFAs, seed oils and cardiovascular health nutrition. 

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Michael569