The Fear of Becoming a Content Machine

// Tension right?

The last 6-8 weeks have been a whirlwind for my video business - Let Them Create has gone from strength to strength in the last month - I think that's been a catalyst from the work and video I put out at the You Are the Media Creator Day and being able to share my good work with other people in the room.

I've had more clients, more interest and I'm feeling more momentum than at any other point in my solo career - it's been nice to have conversations where people have seen what i can produce and they're asking me to replicate it for them or produce other good work.

The feeling that people want me to create good work for them is a nice one but that's generating a fear - so I'm going to deal with it in the only way I know how and thats to write about it.

I don't want to fall into a trap where I'm producing work or content which feels the 'same' as everything else I've done. Each of my clients have a different style and they need to show up in their own way, whilst I am comfortable with producing my own content in the same way and with the same style, I fear that my clients don't want another version of what I've produced, they want something for them.

There is also the tension between what works, what looks good (and that's the key here) and what I can be efficient in producing - I am a perfectionist, I like things 'right' and quite often, I'll revisit the work which I've done previously and I'll be annoyed at myself for not doing something or not 'finishing' something and I always have to remind myself that there is no such thing as a 'perfect video' - it's never existed and never will.

But I want my clients work to be the best, I want them to be as proud of it as I am and I want it to stand out as theirs.

I've seen what happens when agency's begin to template their work, the same hooks, the same beat and then ultimately, the same outcome - it works because it's a formula but it flattens the personality and the story and I don't ever want my content to become a checklist.

Over the last few weeks, I've travelled to Italy to create content and the environment was a great 'differentiator' when it comes to creating content but I still felt that pull to replicate what I'd done before and I had to dig deeper to be more creative.

// Why it Matters.

This isn't just a personal preference - it's about integrity because I want to build an agency (I love that word) which serves the story and doesn't just perform to an algorithm. Ultimately, I want to tell stories which mean something to someone and I don't want to become a production line for content - churning out stuff that looks good but it says and does nothing.

I would prefer to create a short video which generated 10 likes but connected with someone deeper than a larger, grand scale video which garnered 1000's of views but didn't really have a soul.

Clients should feel that process too - they don't want to be served with scripts or directions which have been served up a thousand times because you've cracked the code - i get it, they'll be asking me for what everyone else has because that's what got me noticed (especially my Relevance video) but what they actually want is something thats as powerful but for them.

It's different I think to whats going to come next from A.I - A.I is going to be 'reading' an A.I script, with A.I generated video and eventually - it will all look and sound the same.

Who remembers those 'drawn' videos from around 8-10 years ago which were, at the time, quite the big deal - it was a storm because it was different and people were telling stories whilst someone drew out that story in front of them. That was until they all became computer generated and the bar to enter the market was set so low - they then became commonplace and no-one listened anymore.

That's whats coming - the guff, the artificially generated fake videos which don't really tell a story - they just show you stuff in the hope you'll listen.

// The Harder Route

Originality takes longer.

Originality is harder.

The fact that I don’t want to be a cut-and-paste creator - that I resist falling into a formula - means I have to sit with each project for longer. I don’t get to slide it into a neat little box and call it done. I have to ask different questions. Take creative risks. Rework ideas that might not land the first time. There isn’t a shortcut for that. It’s just slower. More thoughtful. Sometimes more frustrating, but ultimately, more honest.

And I’ve realised that’s the route I want to take - even if it’s not the easiest one.

There’s a kind of creative pressure that comes with that decision though. Because the thing is, it would be easier to become more efficient and every video on Youtube is screaming at me to become that person - to find the edit rhythm that works and never deviate, to reuse specific formats, recycle hooks, hit ‘render’ and move on to the next. And I’m not above admitting that I’ve felt the pull of that — especially when the to-do list has started to grow and the demand starts to scale.

But I’ve also seen what that can turn into - the glossed-over version of creativity. Where everything looks great, ticks the boxes, performs fine - and says nothing.

No tension, no spark, no risk.

That's what I want to avoid.

And maybe this is the real difference between working with humans and letting AI take over - AI will definitely get quicker, it’ll get slicker and it’ll churn out variations at a speed we can’t match. But that’s all it will be - variations - I've said this before (I heard it in a Casey video) A.I is a photocopy of a photocopy, it tweaks, replicates patterns and just becomes rearranged ingredients from someone else’s meal.

Whereas human creativity, real creativity, is slower - not because we’re inefficient, but because we care more and hopefully, because we’re trying to say something true, not just something that works.

// The Line I'm Drawing

So this is the promise I’m making, just like I did when I stopped writing listicles on my newsletter - I made that promise to myself, and to the people who choose to work with me (or write for in the case of the newsletter)

I’m not here to create churn.
I’m not building a content machine.

I want to create work that still has fingerprints on it, that still feels a little rough around the edges and shows the imperfections
That feels like it was made for someone - not just served to them with a glaze.
It doesn't just look good, but feels real. True. Like it came from somewhere that matters.

That means it might take longer. It might be harder to scale. It might not always feel polished or perfect. But that’s the cost of caring - and I’m happy to pay it.

Because if I ever get too good at this - too slick, too templated, too automatic - that’s when I know I’ve stopped listening. That’s when I’ve stopped making something with people, and started making it at them.

And that’s the line I won’t cross.