news feed surprise

True story:

I was scrolling through my feed on IG the other day when I got served an ad that caught my attention.

Here it is:

Now, there’s nothing special about the ad itself.

You see these types of tweet style creatives all the time.

Instead, what caught my eye is who it was from.

And just in case you can’t see the image…

It’s an ad from content and social media guru Justin Welsh.

Someone who used to brag all the time about “sPeNdInG $0 oN aDs”

Now, to be clear:

I believe everyone should be allowed to evolve their opinions over time.

In fact, being able to change your mind is a good sign that you’re not ideologically captured.

However:

When someone who’s advocated so forcefully in favor of one approach …

(and built a guru-sized audience while doing it)

Suddenly changes their tune…

Well, I’d say that’s noteworthy.

Because not only is Justin running ads after years of boasting about the benefits of building on social…

He also made this comment about LinkedIn in a recent email:

Obviously, AI’s played a huge role in the commoditization of social media content.

But I’d argue Justin’s had a meaningful impact too.

So, moral of the story?

The value proposition of building on social’s gotten SO bad that even someone with millions of followers…

And relationships with many of the biggest creators out there…

Is pulling back and leaning into paid ads.

This is why I’ve been completely blackpilled on lead gen…

And have spent the last 7 months building a list of buyers with paid ads instead.

Something I’ll be going deep on in my upcoming Tiny Visual Books workshop.

So if you’re tired of screaming into the void with no subscribers, customers, or clients to show for it…

And you’re looking for a simple way to attract BUYERS who actually implement your advice…

Without wasting hours on “value” content that doesn’t convert…

Or dropping 50+ comments a day on other people’s posts just to stay relevant…

Then keep an eye out for more details.

I’m targeting the second of June for the workshop.

That’s all I got for ya today, though.

Jim Hamilton