Cracking the Influence Code

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TL;DR: Cracking the Influence Code

1. Like Batman, you don’t need superpowers—you need tools, strategy, and data to become influential.

2. Social media platforms have "codes" (algorithms and analytics) that, when understood, can drive massive results.

3. Data-driven decisions helped me monetize my YouTube channel, proving strategy beats wishful thinking.

4. Influence grows when you actively track and optimize key data points, not just react to them.

5. Success in media, business, and even ministry hinges on setting data-informed goals and taking intentional action.

Cracking the Code: How Social Media Analytics Can Skyrocket Your Influence 

Batman is an interesting superhero. Unlike all the others, such as Spiderman, superman, flash and so on, Batman has no powers to make him super. Batman has tools, weapons, strategies, and a lot of money. We can take a page out of the Batman model and become superheroes in our own space and in the eyes of those we are called to serve when we focus in on acquiring tools, weapons, strategy, and a lot of money.

Today, the focus is on the strategy of data and data analytics. 

1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV "But test everything; hold fast what is good."

My YouTube channel got monetized on August 7, 2023, and that outcome resulted from deciding to focus on data. I have another YT channel, and that was how I started, just randomly throwing any video I made, with no strategy and no data consideration. Youtube was just a free place to hold my video. Over several years I grew that to 677 subscribers. The channel was a smorgasbord of content, and I kept wishing for YT monetization, but wishing and strategizing are not the same. I am making this video today because some of you are where I was—wishing for an outcome without working to make that wish a reality.

Every media platform has codes. Codes are present in their software construct; policies are rules and codes of conduct. Handling YouTube (YT), however, I wanted to be did not bring me the subscribers, views, or monetization. Following YT codes for operating an optimized channel did.

Qualifying for YT monetization at the most basic level meant hitting 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours within the last 365 days. I had two data points to watch to know how close I was to meeting these benchmarks to qualify with YT. However, once I did hit the 1000 subs and 4000 hours, I had new challenges, but that is a story for another day.

Today, our lives are data-driven, even if we are unaware. If you want to go to a location, you need to feed data into your GPS, and while driving, we check GPS for data such as how much longer till we arrive and how many miles away is it - will we need another gas stop to complete the journey?

Elections are won on data, and data is responsive to our influence or lack thereof. Churches watch data. How many were in attendance? If we sell more tickets than our seating capacity, we need to get a bigger location for example. The problem is reacting to data rather than driving your plans based on intended data - data you do not yet have but are working towards.

Mark Twain, "Most people use statistics the way a drunkard uses a lamp post, more for support than illumination."