Storytelling Becomes Everything When The Barrier To Create Is Near Zero

Let's look at examples from the past to predict the future.

Jun 05, 2023

Photoshop’s AI Generative Fill is the best image creation tool of all time. To help you understand why advancements in storytelling tools are so important, we’ll dig into the past so you can see the opportunities available once the barrier of entry to create is lowered.

Then you’ll get three tips for using Photoshop’s AI feature so you can get save time applying the lessons learned.

Bringing Your Idea To Life Is Now Easier Than Ever

Humanity is entering a new era: If you can think it, you can make it.

For the entirety of human existence, in order to make something, you had to do more than just think. To plant a field, you had to walk out there and plant each seed. To build a house, you had to cut every piece of wood and hammer every nail. To bring an artistic idea to life, you had to spend years perfecting your brushstroke.

Of course, most things will always require some form of human labor. However, the point remains. Tools to help bring an idea to life faster have been in the works since the very first idea popped into someone’s head. The barrier of entry to bring an idea to life has decreased ever since.

Now with the single best image editing tool adopting AI image generation, the barrier of entry to bring the idea to life has dropped drastically.

The same goes for the inevitable innovations in 3D modeling, programming, task automation, finding information, writing, video editing, music creation, fashion designing, spreadsheets, and just about every other task we do on a computer.

So, what happens to society when the barrier to bring just about any idea to life is nearly zero?

Let’s take a look at examples from the past.

Before The Internet…

Before the internet, the barrier of entry for selling products was quite high. You needed a large chunk of cash to lease or buy a physical location, have inventory stocked, and hire an array of staff members.

Now with eBay, Amazon & Shopify, just about anyone can sell anything online. I’m sure you’ve seen a TikTok of a 20-something-year-old making six figures selling things online. There’s little to no worry about a physical location, inventory, or staffing. People buy things directly through the website, Amazon holds onto the inventory in its warehouse, and the entire company is either just one person or a small team.

A lower barrier of entry provides more opportunities for everyone. It’s a chance to spend time doing what you enjoy. The scope of what you can create increases while the time spent making it decreases. You have more options.

Let’s parlay that into one of my favorite things, the modern-day creator economy.

Before platforms like YouTube, getting your message heard by a large number of people required large investments in equipment and broadcast networks. Anyone can now produce and share videos with affordable video equipment and free online platforms.

Due to this monetary barrier being lowered, the entire world has infinite options to connect with like-minded creators. And as creators, we have infinite opportunities to reach like-minded people. Us creators have a better opportunity than ever to cash in on people's most valuable asset: their attention.

We have to understand how important that is.

So what can you do once you have someone’s attention?

I’ll give two examples: One large media empire built from scratch and one personal example for those not looking to take over the world with attention but use it to change their own.

How MrBeast Used Storytelling To Build A $1,000,000,000 Empire

Every aspiring creator should study MrBeast. He and his team have single-handedly changed the landscape by capitalizing on YouTube’s ability to distribute videos to a wide audience.

His videos usually involve interesting challenges using storytelling and viewer retention techniques. His latest video is a challenge between 100 people aged from 1 to 100. It’s surprisingly emotional at the end, and I’m not gonna lie; I teared up watching it.

Once MrBeast honed his ability to make videos that capture and keep an audience’s attention, he capitalized by earning ad revenue from YouTube directly, plus in-video sponsors.

He also started a merch line and launched a successful ghost kitchen restaurant chain, "MrBeast Burger." By the way, the restaurant chain is a cash cow with over 1,000 locations. MrBeast effectively turned attention into a business empire.

All of the businesses were launched off the back of the attention he was able to get by making captivating videos. He has a large audience and found a way to sell a product his audience was willing to pay for.

I want to add that making money from an audience is not an inherently slimy thing to do. If the audience wants to buy a product, that’s their choice. You’re creating a service. They either want it or don’t want it.

You Don’t Need A Media Empire. You Need To Spend Time Doing What You Enjoy.

Creating something is more accessible than ever.

I’m writing this in the park on my phone, using the most powerful AI chatbot in the world to improve my articulation without moving out of the sunlight.

Writing and distributing this newsletter is completely free. Posting about this newsletter on social media is completely free. The only investment I make is my time and energy. The benefit of spending that time is amplified because I enjoy learning about new things. I enjoy improving the articulation of ideas. I learn valuable skills while researching. Then I turn my learnings into an attention-capturing format.

I’d like to get extra specific about why I spend time writing this newsletter.

I’m writing to a small group of individuals interested in using technology to improve their lives. I’ve also been willing to share details and lessons from my life, enabling a deeper connection with y’all. Eventually, I’d like to monetize this attention in some way. I’ve had a few ideas to monetize, but nothing has been glaringly obvious other than releasing my first proper NFT art collection via thoughtful AI art. If you don’t know about the NFT collection, yes, it’s based on written and visual storytelling.

While the efforts of releasing this newsletter every Monday at 7am EST haven’t led to substantial side hustle income, I believe that one day it will.

I don’t aim to start a worldwide media conglomerate. I aim to supplement my income by researching things I’m interested in and spending the extra effort to articulate them for an audience.

The same philosophy goes for you. What do you want to spend time doing, and how can you amplify that time spend by turning it into an attention-capturing format?

With the lower barrier of entry to bring ideas to life, fewer people need to spend time on mundane tasks that computers can eventually do. When that happens en mass, society will value creativity more than ever. Creativity in media is just the ability to tell interesting stories.

Storytelling will be the most valued skill in media creation.