I was out preaching the new media gospel today to some clients and I got talking about this concept – the New Media Multiplier.
In a pinball game, you can increase your score dramatically by hitting various multipliers on the playing field – 2x, 3x, 5x. Each hit and each bonus gained is worth more and more. New Media is like that for your work and life. New Media can easily multiply the effect you have on the world, if you cultivate it just a little bit.
How does this work? First, you need to start capturing all the content that you are already creating – every day – whether you realize it or not. Giving a talk to the Boy Scouts? – record it. Working up an excellent presentation at work? – record it. Have a good (or bad) experience at a shop, a restaurant, a park? — record it. Have neat friends with cool ideas? — interview them and record it. Get the picture?
“First, you need to start capturing all the content that you are already creating – every day – whether you realize it or not.”
Some people will complain, of course, that this is a lot of extra work. Why? If you are already talking to the Boy Scouts, and you are going to do it anyway, how much more work is it to record it? If you are going to got the restaurant, how much more work is it to make a little videoblog? If you already have cool friends, how difficult is it to get them on tape (or memory chip)? The fact is, with very little effort you can apply a multiplier to everything you are already doing. Each one of these scenarios produces content for a blog, videoblog, web site, podcast, whatever. Too many people think that producing new media requires too much work, but really it is simply about capturing, and using, the content you are creating every single day. Suddenly, everything you do is being used 2, 3 4 different way, reaching 4 different audiences and raising your profile around the world.
How do you think I create all the content for WelchWrite.com? If I had to go out and dream up all this stuff, I would be buried. It would take more time than a typical 40 hour job. Instead, I have integrated new media into my life and continually mine my life for things to share on the web. I was going to bake cookies for my big Christmas Party anyway. Why not record a quick videoblog each day to share with friends, family and the Internet as a whole? I was going to go to a park anyway. Why not record a quick Places LA segment to share with others. I was thinking about the New Media Multiplier and how it effects my own life. Why wouldn’t I type up my thoughts and share them here for you and others to read?
Instead of having an experience and then letting it disappear, why not share it with others. Why not multiply the effect of your experiences 2, 10 or 100 times over. This is the “Year of Visibility” and you need to show people the interesting things you are engaged in. You need to share your life so people can get to know you better – both personally and professionally. Using the New Media Multiplier is one great way of doing just that.
What content could you be capturing today? What thoughts could you be sharing? What great ideas go you be developing with the help of others? The truth is, all of us have some amazing ideas, if only we let people know they exist.