Trust at Scale: How Content Compounds When You Do It Right | Lazy Leverage #60

2025-05-22

In a time where brands everywhere churn out content for clout, Jon and Peter make the case that there is power in focusing on niche over noise. They talk about the difference between running a media business—one dependent on clicks, views, and CPMs—and running a business powered by media. The latter isn’t chasing virality. It’s using content to build trust at scale, with the right audience. A single engaged viewer—one potential customer who finds real value—can be more powerful than 50 million passive scrolls.

In a time where brands everywhere churn out content for clout, Jon and Peter make the case that there is power in focusing on niche over noise.

They talk about the difference between running a media business—one dependent on clicks, views, and CPMs—and running a business powered by media. The latter isn’t chasing virality. It’s using content to build trust at scale, with the right audience. A single engaged viewer—one potential customer who finds real value—can be more powerful than 50 million passive scrolls.

This mindset reframes media from a vanity metric machine into a quiet engine of asymmetric returns. A podcast that lands one high-value client? Worth more than thousands of empty impressions. A newsletter that converts 1.2% of readers into loyal customers? Incredibly high leverage, even if the list is modest in size.

Still, they wrestle with the usual considerations all operators think about: Should we do short-form? Do we really have to play the algorithm game? Peter and Jon push back against performative content, advocating instead for authenticity, audience clarity, and compounding trust.

Show up. Document. Speak with depth. Build a back catalog for the long game.

If you're a business owner in 2025 wondering where to start, forget growth hacks. Instead, record a podcast. Write a blog post. Hit “publish” once a week. In a year, you'll be stunned by the optionality and leverage you’ve created—not from volume, but from intentional signal.

In the end, lazy leverage is just focused effort, multiplied by time.

Key Topics:
(02:43) Media-Fueled Businesses vs Media Businesses
(10:15) How SMBs Should Create Content for Top-Funnel vs Mid-Funnel
(17:16) The Right Way to Do Short-Form Content
(28:14) Running Ads Without Becoming a Sellout
(35:12) Succeeding as a Niche B2B Brand
(39:22) Getting Clear on Your Audience
(43:30) Changing Up Your Environment

Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@MatznerJon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on X and at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lazyleverage.beehiiv.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Peter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@pslohmann⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on X and at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠peterlohmann.com

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