--- title: 'Personal Content: How to Create Content About Yourself and Earn Money' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=23jp9ampdyg' video_id: '23jp9ampdyg' date: 2026-08-06 duration_sec: 611 --- # Personal Content: How to Create Content About Yourself and Earn Money > Source: [Personal Content: How to Create Content About Yourself and Earn Money](https://youtube.com/watch?v=23jp9ampdyg) ## Summary The video explains why personal, vulnerable content is the most powerful driver of growth on social media, using examples of top creators and the creator's own experience. It argues that sharing stories most people are afraid to publish creates a 'blue ocean' of content with little competition, building trust and connection that expert content alone cannot achieve. ### Key Points - **Creator's growth stats** [00:02] — The creator has grown to 200,000 YouTube subscribers, 70,000 Instagram followers, and built a business earning over $15,000 a month through organic social media. - **One principle for growth** [00:15] — After testing dozens of formats and hundreds of topics over 4 years, the creator would keep only one principle that influences views, audience growth, trust, and is rarely used because most people are afraid of it. - **Pattern: fast vs slow growth** [00:56] — There are people who grow quickly and others who produce high-quality content for years without same results; the content that goes viral is often content that most people can't afford to publish. - **Example: Iman Gadzhi** [01:22] — Iman Gadzhi has nearly 6 million subscribers, but his most resonant content is his childhood story: stepfather kicked him out, father left, mother worked as salesperson, lack of money. - **Example: JnYu's viral reel** [01:48] — JnYu grew quickly; one of his most popular reels with 24 million views is not about his niche (social media, productivity) but about his parents' divorce, resentment, and selling house as a child. - **Simple math of competition** [02:29] — Millions publish content about business, money, marketing daily; thousands talk about same thing, but very few are willing to tell a story they were once ashamed of, show pain, complexes, vulnerable thoughts. - **Blue ocean of content** [02:44] — If 10,000 people make business content but only 100 are willing to share hidden pain, you compete with only 100; the more personal and vulnerable, the less competition for attention. - **Example: Alex Hormozi's book** [03:14] — Hormozi's book '100 Million Dollar Offers' begins not with business but with his story of having no money, living with wife's parents, pennies in bank account, and humiliation. - **Creator's personal test** [04:09] — The creator felt uncomfortable about being 32, unmarried, no children, especially in Kyrgyzstan where societal pressure is strong; she decided to talk about it honestly. - **Result: half a million views** [04:39] — The honest post got about half a million views in less than a month; hundreds of women commented they felt the same, felt heard, and realized they were not alone. - **Vulnerability creates connection** [05:09] — Vulnerability creates recognition; recognizing yourself in others' stories creates connection; biggest views are often where we're most afraid to press publish. - **Purple cow phenomenon** [05:35] — Content most people can't afford to post automatically makes you a 'purple cow' — impossible not to notice; concept from the book 'Purple Cow'. - **Balance: personal + expert content** [06:01] — Personal content alone isn't enough; expert content is necessary; strongest blogs are built on a combination of both, with blurred boundaries. - **Transformation stories are both** [06:27] — A transformation story is both personal and expert: you tell your story while demonstrating results, mistakes, insights, competencies. - **People buy the person** [07:07] — People don't buy information; they buy a specific person, their worldview, approach, energy, values; good expert content inevitably becomes personal. - **Goal of a blog: hold attention** [07:32] — Main goal is not to sell immediately but to hold attention long enough for a sale to become possible; people need time to trust. - **Subscription to personality vs expertise** [07:59] — Subscription to expertise is shorter: once problem solved, content irrelevant; but if you like the person, you follow even after problem solved. - **Expert content finds, personal content keeps** [08:26] — Expert content helps people find you; personal content helps people stay; personal content turns blog into a series, people root for you. - **Competition at personal level** [09:06] — There are thousands of financial/marketing experts, but no second you; stop trying to look right and show the real you to attract your people. - **Blog attracts your people** [09:34] — A blog is not a tool for attracting everyone but for attracting your people; they need to see not only your knowledge but who you are. ### Conclusion The key to growth is embracing vulnerability and sharing personal stories that most people are afraid to publish, as this creates a unique competitive advantage and deep connection with the audience. Combining personal and expert content builds a loyal following that trusts and buys from you. ## Transcript become a YouTuber. Since then, I've grown to 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, 70,000 on Instagram, and built a business that brings in over $15,000 a month. We generate leads completely free of charge through organic social media. Over these 4 years, I have tested dozens of content formats and hundreds of topics. But if I had to start from scratch today, I would only keep one. that simultaneously influences views, audience growth, trust, and most people are afraid to use it. That's why it still works so well. Because if everyone did it, it would no longer be an advantage. But most people never make a decision. That's why the fastest rises on social media almost always happen to people who dare to show what why in this video I'll show you what this principle is, how it works, and why it has been the main factor in my growth over the past 4 years. Let's have noticed a very interesting pattern. There are people who quickly grow on social media, and there are those who have been producing high-quality, useful content for years , who really understand their subject matter, but for some reason don’t achieve the same results . And the more I watched big bloggers, the more I noticed one strange thing. The content that flies in is the kind of content that afford to publish. What do I mean ? Let me show you some examples. Let's take Iman Gadzhi. Today, he has nearly 6 million subscribers on YouTube, a multi-million dollar business, and a near- cult following. But if you look resonates most with his viewers, the story of his childhood constantly comes up. The story is about how their stepfather kicked them out of the house, how their father left the family when they were children, how their mother had to work as a salesperson, how there wasn't enough money, and what they had to go through. And what's interesting is that people seem to come for business, for marketing, for information about entrepreneurship, but happening with this creator JnYu, who also grew very quickly on social networks. And one of his most popular reels has garnered over 24 million views. And this is not a video about his niche at all. Yes, although his niche is about social networks, productivity, success. This is the story of how his parents got divorced. about resentment, about a difficult emotional state, about selling a house as a child, and about things that many would prefer to keep within the family. If you think about it, there is some very simple math to this. Every day, millions of people publish content about business, money, marketing, and self-development. And in this huge mass of content, thousands of people are talking about roughly the same thing. But a very to tell a story that they were once ashamed of. Even fewer people are willing to show their pain, their complexes, their vulnerable thoughts. say, 10,000 people are making content about business, but only 100 are willing to hidden even from loved ones, then you are no longer competing with 10,000, but with the 100 people who dared. Essentially, this is a blue ocean of content, publish something, the less competition you have for attention. That's why the most viral stories often fall on the other side of fear. And the most long since hacked this method and are using it strategically. Let's take the same Alex Harmozi. His book, 100 Million Dollar Offers, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and has become one of the most famous business books of recent years. And the most interesting thing is that the book does not begin with business, or marketing, or numbers, right? It begins with a story about how he had practically no money, how he and his wife were forced to live with her parents, how there were pennies left in the bank account and how humiliating and difficult he many people would feel if they said something like that publicly. But Harmosia is not ashamed of this. He does the opposite. He takes a moment that would be the most painful memory for many and places it right in the intro of the book. And this is very telling. And the more I analyzed great creators, the more I noticed the same pattern. The most powerful stories almost always most people would be uncomfortable sharing publicly. At some point I decided to test this theory on myself. For a long time, I felt uncomfortable still had no husband or children. Especially considering that I grew up in Kyrgyzstan, where many girls get married there, much earlier. And the pressure from society on this issue is quite strong. I recently decided to talk about this honestly . I wrote down that I was 32, I didn’t have a husband, and how worried I was about it. And you know, to my surprise, this one got about half a million views in less than a month. But what surprised me most was not the views, but rather the comments. Hundreds of women wrote to me that they felt the same way relatives, that for the first time they saw a person who said out loud what they themselves were afraid to say. And then I realized something super important. People saw themselves in this story. They felt heard. They realized that they were not alone. Do you understand? Yes. Here is my vulnerability, it creates this recognition, and recognizing myself in other people’s stories creates this connection. And the more I work with content, the more I become convinced that the biggest views are often where we're most afraid to press that publish button, where we cringe the most. If you really don't want to post something and the video has been gathering dust for weeks, then most likely Because content that most people can't afford to post automatically makes you a Purple C. That's the purple cow phenomenon, yes, a person. which is impossible not to notice. By the way, I advise everyone to read this book. This concept is described very well there. And here it is very important not to go to the other extreme, because you can draw the wrong conclusion. You might think the secret to growth is simply to constantly share your life, to show your vulnerable stories. But . Personal content alone isn't enough, because people can absolutely no idea what you're selling. Therefore, expert content is also necessary. But in reality, the strongest blogs are almost never built on just personal or expert content. They are built on a combination of these two things. And the border, in fact, between these two things is super-blurred. For example, yes, if a person tells the story of their transformation, is that personal content or expert content? In fact, if it's well written, it's both at the same time, because on the one hand you're telling your story, but on the other hand you're demonstrating your results, your mistakes, your insights, your competencies. When Iman talks about his impoverished childhood, it's personal content, but at the same time, it's a became the entrepreneur he is today. When I told you through YouTube, it seemed like a personal story, but at the same time it was a my path became proof that my methods work. That's why the best content usually falls somewhere in the middle, where you don't just what you learned from it. Because ultimately, people don't buy information. There is too much information on the Internet now. People buy a specific person, his view of the world, his approach, his energy, his values. And that's why any good expert content inevitably becomes personal, because you can't spend a lot of time explaining to people how you think without showing them who you really are. And you need to understand that the main goal of a only to sell. The main goal of a blog is to hold attention long enough for a sale to become possible. Because most people don't buy right away. They need time, they need to watch the content, get used to it, understand the values, and start trusting. And this is where personal content becomes incredibly important, because a subscription to expertise is almost always shorter than a subscription to personality. Imagine this situation. You subscribed to a nutritionist, yes, you subscribed, eh, you watched him, then thanks to him you lost weight, the problem was solved and that's it, the content is no longer relevant to you . But when a person begins to like the person himself, and not just his knowledge, everything changes. You want to follow such a blogger even when a specific problem has long been solved. That's why Harmozia, Alibdal, and all the big, ah, creatives almost always dilute expert content with personal touches, because they've long understood a simple thing. Expert content helps people find you, while personal content helps people stay. Personal content turns a blog into a series. If you show your point, set a goal and share how you are moving towards it and achieving something, people become interested in watching the developments. Whether you succeed or not, whether you give up or not. What will change in a year? And gradually , a, uh, amazing thing happens. People actually start rooting for you. I've had many situations where a person approaches me as if we, uh, have known each other for years, yes, met. And this is a very important observation, because people buy more than just knowledge. There is a huge amount of knowledge on the Internet, especially now. People buy a person. This is why competition on social media occurs not only at the niche level, but also at the personal level. Think about it, you are financial experts, there are thousands of marketing experts, but there is no second one in you . And the sooner you stop trying to look right and start showing the real you, the sooner you will begin to attract people who are close to you. Because, essentially, a blog or YouTube channel is not a tool for attracting everyone. A blog is a tool for attracting your people. And to do this, people need to see not only your knowledge, they need to see enjoyed this video. Please write in the comments what conclusions and insights arose while watching this video. If you want to dig deeper into how to grow on YouTube and how to make your first money through this platform, watch this video. And we'll see you next time. All the see you next time. All the best. Bye bye. M.