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Commandment of Control: Instagram kills Meme accounts, teen loses income overnight

Social media marketing, advertising, and growth

MJ DeMarco

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History always repeats...

Get your income from ONE SOURCE, ONE CHANNEL, ONE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM (like a job) and one day you might find yourself fired.

Instagram’s purge of accounts cost this teenager his sole income of $4,000-a-month

Thankfully the teen is young and he isn't supporting a family.

When it strikes, the Commandment of Control usually isn't so forgiving.

I'm sure he'll recover to better things, and hopefully, will learned a little bit of a life lesson.
 
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MattR82

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Man, so many high profile Instagram personalities really pushing to expand across more platforms lately. Also surprising how much difficulty some are having. A hotel villa I know just worked with a model that has 9 million IG followers and the whole time she stayed they were working overtime shooting content for youtube where she only has 3k subscribers.
 

Andy Black

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History always repeats...

Get your income from ONE SOURCE, ONE CHANNEL, ONE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM (like a job) and one day you might find yourself fired.

Instagram’s purge of accounts cost this teenager his sole income of $4,000-a-month

Thankfully the teen is young and he isn't supporting a family.

When it strikes, the Commandment of Control usually isn't so forgiving.

I'm sure he'll recover to better things, and hopefully, will learned a little bit of a life lesson.
It seems he didn’t just rely on one platform, but curated/reposted other people’s content. If true then he was making money posting other people’s content on someone else’s platform. Now if he could just apply those smarts of his in a better venture next time...
 

Process

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Control is especially important if Bezos, Zuckerberg or Google controls a big part of your income.

They have been incrementally culling the ability for small entrepreneurs to make money. Beware!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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IG Sidenote: My GF was a big IG user but in the last 3 months she says she can no longer go on it as every 3rd slide is an advertisement. She now says it is practically unusable, and that's coming from someone who used IG to follow a lot of her interests (dogs, healthcare, exercise nutrition, food recipes, family matters, etc.)
 

mattwins

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IG Sidenote: My GF was a big IG user but in the last 3 months she says she can no longer go on it as every 3rd slide is an advertisement. She now says it is practically unusable, and that's coming from someone who used IG to follow a lot of her interests (dogs, healthcare, exercise nutrition, food recipes, family matters, etc.)

That's great insight! - IG needs to step up their filtering game. Their spam is excessive as well, unless you like interacting with IG bots.

We broke a commandment on purpose and built a service that runs on IG.. Hurdles & stress galore.. Then seeing posts like these about dedicated IG users walking away. That'll teach me for 'knowing better'.
 
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VentureVoyager

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Really, how? Would you build your own Facebook, ad platform or Search Engine from scratch? I'm not sure if I even know one person (personally) who's not "owned" by google, youtube, amazon, instagram, upwork etc... and the landscape is getting more and more monopolized each day.
 
Last edited:

Dan_Cardone

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Really, how? Would you build your own Facebook, ad platform or Search Engine from scratch? I'm not sure if I even know one person (personally) who's not "owned" by google, youtube, amazon, instagram, upwork etc... and the landscape is getting more and more monopolized each day.

Have backups.

Don't JUST sell on amazon. Sell on ebay and your own site as well.

Affiliate marketing? Have more than one product you promote.

Use multi-channel marketing. FB ads, Adwords, SEO, IG ads, email marketing, etc.

For your website don't get depend on google and SEO, bring in traffic from ads and other marketing efforts.

Youtube is the trickiest one. Dailymotion and other tube sites get only a fraction of traffic as YT but you can at least use FB video.

If you cant avoid giving up control to a company then at least have a backup.
 

Boychamp

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Really, how? Would you build your own Facebook, ad platform or Search Engine from scratch? I'm not sure if I even know one person (personally) who's not "owned" by google, youtube, amazon, instagram, upwork etc... and the landscape is getting more and more monopolized each day.

You're definitely right in a lot of ways. But for the sake of argument and a different perspective, I wanted to answer.

You have to diversify. You can use these platforms to drive traffic/sales/whatever it may be, the big thing is not being entirely reliant on ONE thing. Also, building brand/brand equity is incredibly important in the long run because that isn't tied to a platform, it relates to how people feel about your company/you/whatever. Also, strongly suggest building an email list if you're doing any of the things you mentioned, that IS something you own. Your email list can be built and constantly used to bring people back/continue selling be it affiliate marketing, a blog, a YT/Instagram/FB etc.
 
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Roli

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My GF was a big IG user but in the last 3 months she says she can no longer go on it as every 3rd slide is an advertisement.

Hmm, someone was saying that to me the other day as well, also a former big fan. They've obviously gone full retard with the advertising. Wonder if it will change or simply destroy the platform?
 

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Really, how? Would you build your own Facebook, ad platform or Search Engine from scratch? I'm not sure if I even know one person (personally) who's not "owned" by google, youtube, amazon, instagram, upwork etc... and the landscape is getting more and more monopolized each day.


There are a ton of ways.

As someone that has been doing online marketing for over 20 years now ( Google, FB, affiliate, etc ) my current SaaS relies on none of this.

1. I don't really get traffic from Google or SEO at all.
2. I dont do any PPC on any network
3. I don't post on FB really for my company. I barely do any on LinkedIn or Twitter or any social channel

Most of my traffic comes from WoM.

We have affiliates, but they barely send anything in anymore because THEY all depended on Google, PPC, FB, etc.

People find us a shit ton of other ways.

The "other ways" is what you need to figure out.

One hint I will give you, "traffic leaking". The rest you will need to figure out on your own.


.
 

ChrisV

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Really, how? Would you build your own Facebook, ad platform or Search Engine from scratch? I'm not sure if I even know one person (personally) who's not "owned" by google, youtube, amazon, instagram, upwork etc... and the landscape is getting more and more monopolized each day.
Diversify yo portfolio

build a brand on IG, FB, Twitter. It's unlikely you'll get shut down on all platforms. But just for good measure, make an email list as well.

Advertise on multiple platforms.

Sell on multiple platforms.

Get traffic from elsewhere than google. Make your blog so good it's a productocracy so it grow by word of mouth / shares.


Youtube is the trickiest one. Dailymotion and other tube sites get only a fraction of traffic as YT but you can at least use FB video.

Even that, if people are sharing your videos, you should be good.
 
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Andy Black

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Most of my traffic comes from WoM.
Ditto.

I don't have an email list either. I communicate with people via email, messenger, whatsapp, skype, this forum, etc.
 

James Fake

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

-Selling on Amazon? Bezos owns you
-Affiliate marketing? You're down to many different companies
-Have a website/blog? Google controls your rankings, they change something, your website might fall down from #3 for a main kword to #300 and you're done, at least for a good amount of time
-Youtube channel? See above
-IG marketing? FB Ads for any kind of traffic to generate sales? The same thing again

Imo, by building a "real" Brand.

Aside from the obvious huge Brands like Nike, Coke, Apple, etc.. if you're in a nice sized niche market and you are in the top 5% as a dominant brand known for top quality and premium (or whatever); customers will make sure they find a way to your product. (example: hair or skin care brands that have tremendous reputation on the "ground", golf brands like Titliest, etc.)
 

Rabby

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"I'm a <platform> influencer." OR "They became a <platform> millionaire!"

In my head I always replace <platform> with "temporary."
 

Brian Suh

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History always repeats...

Get your income from ONE SOURCE, ONE CHANNEL, ONE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM (like a job) and one day you might find yourself fired.

Instagram’s purge of accounts cost this teenager his sole income of $4,000-a-month

Thankfully the teen is young and he isn't supporting a family.

When it strikes, the Commandment of Control usually isn't so forgiving.

I'm sure he'll recover to better things, and hopefully, will learned a little bit of a life lesson.
Seems to me giving up the commandment of control is an excuse for laziness. Same can be applied to relationship. Give up control in your relationship and she will leave and you will be emotionally destroyed
 

Solais

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History always repeats...

Get your income from ONE SOURCE, ONE CHANNEL, ONE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM (like a job) and one day you might find yourself fired.

Instagram’s purge of accounts cost this teenager his sole income of $4,000-a-month

Thankfully the teen is young and he isn't supporting a family.

When it strikes, the Commandment of Control usually isn't so forgiving.

I'm sure he'll recover to better things, and hopefully, will learned a little bit of a life lesson.

He was violating more than just the Control Commandment too. If any average Joe Schmoe can start an Instagram pimping service...
 
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I seriously just now discovered this article in my news feed, read it, thought about how it's yet another lesson to be learned from dishonoring the commandment of control, hopped on to TMF and immediately saw that this thread was at the very top of the latest posts. Is the universe trying to tell me something?


Can someone in contact with this teen tell him about TMF ?

I agree completely.
 

MJ DeMarco

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The problem is, how do you maintain 100% control these days in any kind of online biz?

You're complicating it where it doesn't need to be.

The Commandment which boils down to ONE person or ONE company -- If ONE company has the power to kill your business overnight, then you're violating the Commandment and introducing substantial risk in your business. That's all it is. You can violate control for years and be OK because it reflects a risk factor which should be (eventually) mitigated.

We own a business because we to set our own destiny and NOT put our future into the hands of ONE company. That's called a JOB -- pink slip and you're fired.

Start a business when your entire paycheck comes from ONE company and guess what? You also have a JOB, it just so happens you work for yourself. We've cancelled your account and it's the same thing -- you're fired.

People want to complicate it by saying "Gee, we really don't have control over anything!!" Whenever I hear this, then I know that they missed the point, or they just want to edgelord it.
 
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ShamanKing

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IG Sidenote: My GF was a big IG user but in the last 3 months she says she can no longer go on it as every 3rd slide is an advertisement. She now says it is practically unusable, and that's coming from someone who used IG to follow a lot of her interests (dogs, healthcare, exercise nutrition, food recipes, family matters, etc.)


I tested this theory right now. In 30 secs I found 8 ads. And now youtube started playing video ads in the last 30 secs or less in a video. I find it super irritating and unbearable.
 

luniac

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There are a ton of ways.

As someone that has been doing online marketing for over 20 years now ( Google, FB, affiliate, etc ) my current SaaS relies on none of this.

1. I don't really get traffic from Google or SEO at all.
2. I dont do any PPC on any network
3. I don't post on FB really for my company. I barely do any on LinkedIn or Twitter or any social channel

Most of my traffic comes from WoM.

We have affiliates, but they barely send anything in anymore because THEY all depended on Google, PPC, FB, etc.

People find us a shit ton of other ways.

The "other ways" is what you need to figure out.

One hint I will give you, "traffic leaking". The rest you will need to figure out on your own.


.

WOM is god. best social proof.
 

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I tested this theory right now. In 30 secs I found 8 ads. And now youtube started playing video ads in the last 30 secs or less in a video. I find it super irritating and unbearable.

Sounds like a decent biz opportunity - instead of ads, you can have members pay $5/month or something to access a bunch of pics. LOL! I know this sounds crazy but I'm sure something like this already exists and is popular.

Social media is still atrocious as hell.
 
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Teddy L Wang

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History always repeats...

Get your income from ONE SOURCE, ONE CHANNEL, ONE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM (like a job) and one day you might find yourself fired.

Instagram’s purge of accounts cost this teenager his sole income of $4,000-a-month

Thankfully the teen is young and he isn't supporting a family.

When it strikes, the Commandment of Control usually isn't so forgiving.

I'm sure he'll recover to better things, and hopefully, will learned a little bit of a life lesson.
i see this everywhere. everyone is trying to be an influencer on facebook/youtube/instagram, etc. and it's a path i dabbled in. i was thinking of going all in, but i see all these influencers getting slashed by views/subs, etc. and it makes me think of that mlm story you told- how someone's entire downline disappeared because of a certain variable that was completely out of control by the guppy and in control by the shark.

you say not to be a guppy, but what if you jump from being a successful influencer on a single social media platform (as a guppy) over to being a shark on your own? is being a guppy ever a good short-term solution if you're exceptional at the value you deliver to others? justin bieber got started on youtube, like you said in your book.
 

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I have found it hard to evaluate the control issue as my belief system often gets in the way. What is trustworthy? As MJ DeMarco described there is no such a thing as maintaining 100% control. I don't think there is and have had rude awakenings from cratering businesses I thought could not suffer from control breakdown.

Control is in the hands of the 'farmers' of society, even though it is trying to break free. All distribution channels, internet, postal service, radio frequencies, et cetera have a control structure in place. Content can be de-platformed in any distribution channel. The social media platforms are currently most visible in this respect, but any distribution channel could dump you, as recently the case with 8ch.net. Umm, have I strayed into unacceptable waters here? (Note to self: reread site rules)

Anyway, I can always tell when my 'significant other' is on IG by the peels of laughter. She watches the Turkish feed - it has few ads.
 

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Sorry for him :(

I also experienced this kind of behaviour from YT when they terminated my account without reason and no real prior notice!
My appeal - 3 pages explanation - was rejected 1 minute after I sent the mail! Talk about customer service!

All that happened of course before I read the MFL and UNSCRIPTED . It will never happen again!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I tested this theory right now. In 30 secs I found 8 ads. And now youtube started playing video ads in the last 30 secs or less in a video. I find it super irritating and unbearable.

Sounds like a decent biz opportunity - instead of ads, you can have members pay $5/month

Yup, I wonder if that's what they are gunning for. I know she'd pay $5/mo to view IG without ads.
 

ChrisV

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Yup, I wonder if that's what they are gunning for. I know she'd pay $5/mo to view IG without ads.
But I wonder how much they're making off those Ads.. keep in mind those ads are highly targeted. That $5 might need to be raised a lot.

But still a good point.
 

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