Get Rich... by Selling the Lie
They say the best way to monetize people is to tell them what they want to hear.
Maybe that’s true… but in my book, those who are telling others what they want to hear in order to monetize them are assholes, liars, and manipulators…
and sometimes they’ve told the lies so long they even start to believe it all themselves, but that doesn’t change reality… they are not real creators or entrepreneurs…
Yet…
Everywhere you look, self identified “winners” are celebrated for churning out BS braggy content…
or maybe posting things like… “Oh wow, I can’t believe how amazing I am! Look what I did, isn’t it wild?!” (it’s that *cringe* humble brag.)
Why do people do this? Because they’re not actually solving any problems, not building… just feeding an audience’s (or algorithm’s) lust for more, more, more… and trying to grow their social capital and influence... they get monetizable attention…
Then… eventually they try to sell you something (or get paid a lot to sell something to you.)
I Strongly Dislike “Salesman” Types
“I could sell ice to an Eskimo!” they often say…
Really? So you are a con-man… you literally just said you would scam someone… sell them something that they don’t need and are already surrounded by. What other meaning would that phrase have other than a way to brag about how you can take advantage of or manipulate people?
They will sell almost anything… they dress it up and make it sweet… make it drip with honey to hide the transaction underneath. They want something… it’s a means to an end.
They put it out there, then figure out how to convince you to want it…
and… what happens next may surprise you!
(I hate that clickbait line. You hate that clickbait line. And yet, somehow, here we are.)
Welcome to the honeyd*cking era… the “transaction” is covered in sweetness until the rope (the funnels, uncomfortably large investments, or cognitive biases like FOMO, etc.) are used to tie you up, get what they want from you, then broom you fast… and they will get rich doing it over and over to as many people as possible, while somehow making each of you feel “special” or “chosen.”
But you aren’t special (not to them)… 10,000+ other people got the same message.
They don’t know you... they don’t care about you… but they’ll make you feel good, and promise you the world, just long enough to get what they need.
Stop Promoting People You Don’t REALLY Know
Have you ever “given flowers” (or compliments) to someone you barely knew, and can’t even REALLY verify if it’s true or not? Hmmm… why?
Can we please de-normalize this habit?
It’s not kindness… it’s a technically a lie(you don’t actually know them…)
What if other people believe you, and then trust that person and get screwed?
Scammy people don't just reveal themselves… they present as kind, moral, or trustworthy… doing or saying whatever earns trust. They study what people value and mirror it to gain access and control. They build fake websites and bios touting about all their evidence of how trustworthy they are… and people believe it!
That is what makes them so dangerous.
So stop promoting people that you don’t actually know… just stop!
You don’t owe them anything, even if they compliment or promote you first!
Selling the Idea of Selling an Idea is Never a Good Idea
This is where things get really weird…
The thing they are selling… sometimes it’s:
Not an actual product they care about.
Not a real service.
Rather, it’s just the idea that you, too, can profit from selling an idea to other people desperate to get rich by selling big ideas. Huh?
The idea itself is monetized, but it never even matters if it ever launches… in fact, the longer they can delay, the better! They will just keep setting new timelines and milestones, and avoiding any real accountability….
Maybe some copy-pasta or an unremarkable but believable buzz word filled app to solve some global crisis?
Maybe it comes with insider access to opportunities for health, wealth, or eternal life?
Nope… it’s just the chance to pull in others to make your wallet fatter, but of course, mostly only the ones at the top benefit.
Zoom out and look at yourself… you are the product, and the salesman… you can only get rich by selling THE LIE until hopefully it becomes true (it never will).
And you had to pay your way into that? Yeah… feels real genuine.
It’s selling the idea of selling an idea. It’s BS. It’s a scheme, and unfortunately it’s perfectly legal in most cases, just by using the right wording.
But it’s soul sucking, it’s parasitic to real industries, and the algorithms love all the circle-jerking and tribalism, so it grows fast. It’s gutting true creatives and entrepreneurs and pushing away REAL talent that won’t join in those stupid games.
But… They Said Need ME
Do they, really? …or do they just need the next victim or shill… to get more people like you?
Rebels don’t care about appealing to the widest audience, we aren’t here to coddle your emotion or needs, or make you feel special… but if it happens… cool! We don’t even want credit for it.
What we do really care about are real conversations, real ideas, and having genuine connections with the people who want that too… not just the illusion of it, and nothing transactional.
If that means we stay small, or make enemies… so be it.
If that means we don’t scale… or have nothing to monetize… so be it.
We’d rather build something that has a soul, than give shallow fake compliments and chase numbers like everyone else.
So if you’re still here… and you agree, then maybe you’re one of us.
A rebel.
A builder.
Someone who actually gives a damn about core values and integrity.
Not a follower. Not a mark. And NOT trying to get something from anyone else…
They actually DO exist, and they’re the ones whom I believe are worth building for (and with).
Alright, that was all for now Rebel.
By the way… only a few know where the Rebel Speakeasy is. And now you’re one of them—grab a drink and let’s talk. We meet every Wednesday in live audio spaces on X.
Hope to see you there!
- Ani & Rick
RebelSpeakeasy.com by Ani • Rick
Find us on X @NFTrebels & @unl0c7