Terms

"I have a family business that has a business model that depends on communities flourishing due to the fact that it's an open source," He begins. Therefore, he wished to create a private Discord community, with access to content on WordPress and that's where his first media project, virtualization.info was hosted, it would let him "recycle 20 years of experience".

He decided to use WordPress and not because of his experience however, but due to the flexibility of the platform. "There exists a rationale that 43 percent of all websites around the globe utilize WordPress," he adds. The maturity of the plugin industry means that the results is possible through WordPress is amazing and is done only less time than using other tools."

Never compromise on branding is essential.

Alessandro goes on to say: "Many newsletter and blogging platforms offer little flexibility in terms of creating a brand. They combine the design and feel and everyone is exactly the same. It is possible to customize the theme by a bit and include your own logo, however those are just minor tweaks.

"Every newsletter or blog looks identical. This isn't working for me. As I often mention on social media, do not sacrifice the option that you find most effective. Don't compromise getting the most effective work that you are able to do in order to tick a box. Making compromises on your work is one of the main things that sets you back over and over."

A screengrab of the initial virtualization.info site

"I created a brand that users are still talking about from 20 years ago. They still talk to me about. I must have complete ability and the freedom to make each and every pixel in this site so that it is enforcing my personal brand. I'd like to build my brand and not other publishing brands."

Becoming valuable: niche and voice

"Two essential things to consider when creating an online magazine," Alessandro continues. "The first one is finding your target market. It's easy to say, difficult to do!" he laughs.

The author explains that there's not any value in having someone else who is covering the same subject matter in the same way as others from the same angle. "You can cover the same topics, and that can be about cooking, politics or crochet or squash or whatever else you'd like to cover however you must be able to see things from a different angle. This is what defines your area of expertise and the way in which you approach things is different."

He explains that Synthetic Work is looking at AI from a non-technical perspective as well as how it affects jobs, industries, economy as well as society. "If you think about cooking, say you could find yourself in a niche where your perspective is about the science of it. This is something is not talked about much perhaps about how, on the most fundamental level of chemical what makes something taste good.

Then the second thing is to find your own voice. "Human is a creature that learns by imitating our surroundings. We say, "Wow, I like the way they write' we try to emulate the way they write, which is fantastic - that's the way to get as much knowledge as you can. Then you have to reach a stage where you create your own voice. It is terrifying!"

He acknowledges that it's daunting to consider that some people won't like the way you look at the world or how you write about it. However, that's the only way you can distinguish yourself from others. "If you have identical voice, or similar approach to everyone else, you will disappear quickly."

He goes on to say: "People don't read for content. It may seem counterintuitive but they read for the reason that they believe in the person they read about. They are fascinated by your character, and that interest percolates into what you share." He urges individuals to ensure that their character is evident in the tone they employ when speaking about their niche.

Alessandro present on stage at OpenStack Community event held in Silicon Valley

Alessandro mentions that he's witnessed this happening for over 20 years and still sees it on a daily basis. In one instance I read a guide for students who are considering getting a PhD, that was written by one the co-founders of OpenAI. This has nothing to do with artificial intelligence; it is something that he wrote years back. In this post He suggests going to conferences. He suggests that you look less at the agenda and more at the speakers. Make sure to choose the speakers you've heard of and like, or people you've heard have good taste, regardless of the fact that what they're presenting is not aligned to your research."

Alessandro explains that this is an excellent example of his point to get people excited about your personality and the way you say things, and then the things you talk about can disappear into the background. "Even even if they do not agree with what you say, they'll be interested in the things you say nonetheless because they have come to respect you and think that they are playing a vital contribution to their lives."

More details about Synthetic Work

Learn more on Alessandro Perilli and his Synthetic Work newsletter here: synthetic.work.