Terms

"I have a family business with a model of business that depends on communities flourishing as it's open source software," the founder says. Therefore, he wished to create a private Discord community that had access to the content of WordPress and that's the platform where his very first project in media, virtualization.info was hosted, this would enable him to "recycle 20 years of expertise".

He decided to utilize WordPress and not because of his knowledge however, but due to the versatility of the platform. "There exists a rationale 43 percent of all websites around the globe utilize WordPress," he adds. The development of the plugin ecosystem means what is possible through WordPress is impressive and is done just an incredibly short amount of time using other tools."

Don't compromise the importance of branding

Alessandro continues: "Many newsletter and blogging platforms don't give you much flexibility in terms of creating the brand. They unite the appearance and feel and everyone does exactly the same. It is possible to customize the theme by a bit and incorporate your logo but these are minimal customizations.

"Every newsletter or blog looks similar. It doesn't seem to work for me. And, as I always say on social media: don't compromise on the solution that is right for you. Do not compromise on getting the most effective work that you are able to do in order to make sure you check the box. Doing something you don't want to do is one of the main things that sets you back over the years."

Screengrabs of the initial virtualization.info site

"I have created a brand users have a memory of from twenty years ago. They still talk to me about. I need to have absolute freedom and flexibility to create and shape every single pixel in this site so that it is enforcing my brand. I want to advance my own brand, not other publishing brands."

Becoming valuable: niche and voice

"Two things are incredibly important in the process of creating an online publication," Alessandro continues. "The first one is finding your target market. That's simple for you to think of, but hard to achieve!" he laughs.

He says that there's not any value in having an additional person covering the same topics like other individuals with the same perspective. "You are able to cover the same issues, it could be cooking or politics or crochet, squash, or anything else you want to However, you need to be able to see things from a different angle. And that defines your niche: the way your approach to things will be different."

He explains that Synthetic Work is looking at AI from a non-technical point of view as well as how it affects economics, employment, as well as society. "If you think about cooking for instance it could be an area where your focus is on the science behind it, which is something very few people talk about - maybe how, at the very deep chemical level, why something tastes good.

Then the second thing is to discover your voice. "Human is a creature that learns by imitating our surroundings. We say, "Wow, I like the way this person writes' and so you try to copy this, which is wonderful - that's the way to get as much knowledge as possible. However, you must reach a stage where you can develop your own voice. It is terrifying!"

It's a bit daunting to imagine that people may not appreciate the way that you look at the world, or how you write about it, but this is the only way you can distinguish yourself from others. "If you're using the same style or similar approach to everyone who else, you'll disappear quickly."

He continues: "People don't read for content. This may sound counterintuitive, but people are drawn to reading because they trust them: they're fascinated by your character, and that interest percolates into what you say." He urges individuals to ensure that their character can be seen in the words that they speak with when talking about their niche.

Alessandro performing on stage during OpenStack community gathering on the outskirts of Silicon Valley

Alessandro notes that he's regularly witnessed this happening for over 20 years and still sees the phenomenon on a regular basis. For example, I was reading a guide for students who are considering the idea of pursuing a PhD, composed by one of the cofounders of OpenAI. It is not related to artificial intelligence; it is an old post that was written by him some time ago. In his post He suggests going to conferences. The author suggests looking not so much at the schedule and focus more on the speaker. Make sure to choose speakers you know and admire, or people you've heard have good taste, even if what they present does not match with your own research."

Alessandro says that this is an excellent example of his point that you should make people aware of what you do and the way you say things. Then, what you say can almost disappear into the background. "Even even if they do not agree with what you say, they'll be interested in the things you say nevertheless because they've come to respect you and think that they have a valuable role in their life."

More information on Synthetic Work

Find out more information about Alessandro Perilli and his Synthetic Work newsletter at synthetic.work.