Entertainers Seek Likes. Entrepreneurs Seek Leads.

03/10/25 • 7 min

Entertainers Seek Likes. Entrepreneurs Seek Leads.

Have you ever posted something online and received thousands of likes but saw no real business growth?

In today’s digital world, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers—likes, views, and shares. However, if you’re serious about building a brand or growing a business, you must focus on the right metrics.

The Fundamental Difference

Entertainers crave likes. Entrepreneurs crave leads.

Entertainers go after likes. Entrepreneurs go after leads.

This distinction is so critical for one’s success in the digital ecosystem. If you position yourself as someone who simply follows the trends, chasing followers and social media virality without a solid plan to monetize your efforts, you may miss the essence of doing business in this digital age.

Positioning Yourself for Growth

You need to decide: Are you merely entertaining people for likes, or are you strategically positioning yourself to generate leads? Having a post go viral with thousands of likes means little if it doesn’t translate into something tangible.

Consider this—some people have massive engagement on their posts, but it doesn’t lead to anything meaningful. It’s just entertainment. There’s no clear call to action, no structured pathway for conversion. On the other hand, entrepreneurs—real business-minded individuals—focus on monetization. They seek leads, not just visibility.

The Power of Leads Over Likes

Great entrepreneurs understand this concept. You may see their posts getting fewer likes, but behind the scenes, they are generating leads and converting them into paying customers. That’s the mindset small business owners, entrepreneurs, and personal brand builders must adopt.

Your goal should be to provide value, help, and impact lives. But at the backend, there should be a system that constantly generates leads, allowing you to monetize what you do and scale your business.

If you focus only on likes, you may end up with a massive following that doesn’t contribute to your financial growth. That’s why you must shift your focus.

The Business Behind the Content

If you’re an entertainer—creating funny videos, skits, or viral content—that’s great. But what’s the business behind it?

Do you have a long-term plan? Do you want to be a stand-up comedian? Do you intend to monetize your content through brand deals or advertisements? Without a structured strategy, you’ll simply be another content creator hoping for recognition instead of someone strategically building a business.

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

Instead of just posting and hoping for likes, think like an entrepreneur:

How can I generate leads from my audience?
Do I have a landing page to collect emails?
Do I have a lead magnet to attract potential customers?
Do I have a team that helps me convert engagement into sales?
Am I building a system that works beyond social media views?

When you start thinking this way, you’ll realize that every piece of content should have a backend strategy. It’s not just about putting content out there; it’s about building a system that converts engagement into income.

I’ll share three examples from Ghana to illustrate a key difference: entrepreneurs seek leads, while entertainers seek likes.

First, comedian Parrot Mouth, a Christian comedian, runs the Laugh It Off program two to three times a year. While he has a social media presence, he doesn’t rely on online clout to sell tickets. His visibility helps, but he has a solid system that ensures tickets are sold and venues are booked in advance. That’s the difference—a business strategy behind his online presence.

Having a social media following is great, but without a system to generate leads and convert them into sales, it’s just vanity. Your presence should work for you, not just make you visible.

Another example is Dr. Jeff Bassey, who runs ILS International Leadership and Strategy Institution. He has trained corporations, institutions, and multinationals for years. If you check his Facebook presence, he shares deep, insightful content, but his posts don’t always get high engagement. Yet behind the scenes, his business thrives because he has a system in place to secure clients. Many with massive online influence don’t achieve a fraction of his success.

This is the key: online presence is important, but without a business strategy, it’s just noise. You need a system that converts visibility into value. Otherwise, you’ll be seen but not impactful.

A third example is BigGodwin. He blends strong Facebook visibility with an actual business strategy. His large following isn’t j...

Entertainers Seek Likes. Entrepreneurs Seek Leads.

Have you ever posted something online and received thousands of likes but saw no real business growth?

The Fundamental Difference

Entertainers crave likes. Entrepreneurs crave leads.

Entertainers go after likes. Entrepreneurs go after leads.

Positioning Yourself for Growth

The Power of Leads Over Likes

If you focus only on likes, you may end up with a massive following that doesn’t contribute to your financial growth. That’s why you must shift your focus.

The Business Behind the Content

If you’re an entertainer—creating funny videos, skits, or viral content—that’s great. But what’s the business behind it?

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

Instead of just posting and hoping for likes, think like an entrepreneur:

How can I generate leads from my audience?
Do I have a landing page to collect emails?
Do I have a lead magnet to attract potential customers?
Do I have a team that helps me convert engagement into sales?
Am I building a system that works beyond social media views?

I’ll share three examples from Ghana to illustrate a key difference: entrepreneurs seek leads, while entertainers seek likes.

Having a social media following is great, but without a system to generate leads and convert them into sales, it’s just vanity. Your presence should work for you, not just make you visible.

A third example is BigGodwin. He blends strong Facebook visibility with an actual business strategy. His large following isn’t j...

Previous Episode

10x Strategy to Scale your Silent Brand

The ten times ten strategy: creating a silent brand army

“True influence starts small; ten committed individuals can quietly create a movement that echoes across industries.” — Bernard Kelvin Clive

Today, I continue with the emergence of silent brands. Businesses and brands doing remarkably well but unseen in the digital sphere, devoid of clear signs or online presence.

We will use a strategy similar to how several multilevel marketing (MLM) functions.

Using the (MLM), approach in recruiting and building a team, their conventional wisdom such as “bring x number of people, and they will bring x number, in that order” is widely used.

Similarly, we will be using a methodical, scalable technique that will enable us to acquire a presence in the market even without great visibility, therefore strengthening a powerful, selling brand.

Digital Visibility: The Challenge

The concept of “1,000 true fans” and the difficulties of establishing a digital presence in a market growingly saturated are well-known ideas. Still, there are ways people and small businesses could flourish even without a significant online presence. I refer to one such strategy as the “Law of the 10x.” Solopreneurs, business owners, and young professionals ready to work silently but regularly behind the scenes will especially find this approach helpful.

The Law of the 10x Strategy

The Law of the 10x is a basic yet efficient strategy: assemble a ten-committed army. These are folks that understand your vision, are dedicated to your cause, and can assist spread your message. The trick is that each of these 10 people must also recruit their own 10, producing a ripple effect that will multiply your reach tenfold. If you have a strong group of 10, and each of them has their group of 10, you’re now dealing with 100 people. If each of those 100 individuals hires 10 more, you have 1,000. The arithmetic is simple, but the impact is immense.

Addressing Potential Challenges

While this paradigm has considerable potential, it is crucial to overcome a few challenges:

1. Defining Success Metrics

What does success look like for a Silent Brand Army? Growth in numbers alone is not enough. To quantify effectiveness, consider engagement levels, conversion rates, or customer retention. Defining these indicators from the start will assist track development.

2. Recognizing Growth is Not Always Linear

The technique predicts that each individual would recruit exactly 10 more, but in practice, development is typically unequal. Some may bring in fewer than 10, while others may bring in more. A contingency strategy should be in place to accommodate changes in recruiting and assure continued expansion.

3. Upholding Quality Over Quantity

A wider network is great, but quality counts. How do you ensure that recruits remain interested and committed? Clear expectations, constant training, and incentives will assist in sustaining excitement and consistency.

4. Keeping the Momentum Going

Once the Silent Brand Army is founded, how do you sustain it? Regular check-ins, progress tracking, and team incentives can help retain motivation. Without continual interaction, networks risk stagnation.

5. Selecting the Right Initial 10

Your foundation dictates your success. How do you choose the correct first 10 members? Look for individuals who align with your beliefs, have leadership potential, and are willing to actively engage in the success of the business.

Building and Empowering Your Core 10

To recruit your first 10, you may need to reach out to more than 10 people initially. It’s necessary to keep the core group small yet highly focused. The people you select should believe in your vision and be willing to help spread the message.

Once you have your solid 10, your next duty is to empower them. Equip them with the tools, resources, and information they need to market your brand or business. Make sure they thoroughly grasp your product or service, the objective you’re trying to fulfill, and the wider vision you’re working towards. They should be driven not only to perform their jobs but also to inspire others to join the cause.

A Biblical Perspective on Scaling Influence

If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’ll know that Jesus himself worked with 12 disciples. While not 10, the premise stays the same: he focused on a small, committed group who then went on to share his beliefs with others. This multiplying effect is vital to the success of any quiet or “silent” brand approach. The power lies in the numbers, but the foundation depends on the core staff that knows the objective and believes in the cause.

Applying This Strategy Beyond Digital Platforms

This technique doesn’t need to be digital. It...

Next Episode

The Dangers of Trends and Traditions

In this article, we’re looking at trends and traditions—the dangers of following trends blindly and the risks of sticking to traditions when the signs are clear for a transition.

In it right?

In a small business management group, we discussed the content we share for an organization whose portal we manage. One of the interns suggested that we should run the captions in a particular way because they had seen several similar organizations using the same pattern. I paused for a moment and then told them that just because others are following a particular pattern doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for us.

Firstly, it doesn’t mean it’s right. What they are doing may be completely wrong. Just because they are screaming and shouting doesn’t mean we should also scream and shout to get the attention of our audience. We need to run our content through a set of filters to ensure that what we produce aligns with the brand we are working on. Blindly following trends is dangerous both for business owners and brands. The fact that something is trendy doesn’t mean we should all jump on it.

That said, there is a time for leveraging trends. However, for brands to stay on the right path and maximize exposure, they must always have standards and metrics to work with.

Brand Alignment: Does the Trend Fit Your Identity?

When something is trending and we want to follow it, the first check we need to run is what I call brand alignment. What is trending at the moment? For example, everyone is using voiceovers and dancing on TikTok. But is that something that aligns with our brand strategy, values, and signature?

Does it fit with the kind of audience we want to impact? If it doesn’t align in any way—regardless of its reach and impact—or if we can’t find a way to align it with what we stand for, then we must uncheck that trend.

Brand Values: Staying True to What You Stand For

The second filter to apply is brand values. Every brand, whether a solopreneur, MSME, or large corporation, has values. What are your brand values? Authenticity? Honesty? Integrity?

If a trend violates your core values, then it’s not something you should follow. Just because people are craving certain types of content doesn’t mean you should feed them with it. Staying true to your values ensures long-term trust and credibility.

I recall a conversation with a few friends about different types of brands. We observed some individuals skyrocketing in their industries by adopting certain methods. Someone asked why we weren’t trying those methods. We all laughed because we knew what we stood for. Our brand values were based on honesty and authenticity.

Yes, others were succeeding, but for us, it didn’t align. Just because people are making money from a certain trend doesn’t mean we should follow suit. There’s something within a person’s core that tells them when something doesn’t feel right. We can make millions, yes, but if it doesn’t sit well with our conscience, then it’s not worth it.

Ethics: Is It Right or Wrong?

The third filter is ethics. Some believe that to break through in business, you need to be ruthless and relentless—doing wild and crazy things to gain attention. But even amid that, you need to step back and ask yourself: Is this ethical?

Are you violating certain principles or values? Are you twisting arms, misleading people, or engaging in deceptive marketing just to sell products and services? If something is unethical, no matter how successful it appears, it is not worth the compromise.

Every business or industry has its code of conduct and ethics. Journalists, public speakers, PR professionals, and content creators all have ethical standards to uphold. Violating these ethics for the sake of trends can be damaging in the long run. Yes, others may disregard ethical standards to trend, but if you filter your decisions through these values and realize they don’t align, then it’s best to avoid them.

When to Leverage Trends

On the flip side, not all trends are bad. If after filtering a trend through brand alignment, values, and ethics, you find that it doesn’t violate your principles, then you can leverage it.

If it aligns with your brand, go for it.
If it upholds your values, embrace it.
If it adheres to ethical standards, make the most of it.

When all these criteria check out, you can confidently integrate a trend into your strategy. You can experiment with new ideas while ensuring they align with your long-term brand positioning.

The Dangers of Abandoning Traditions

While trends can be useful, abandoning traditions completely can also be risky. Brands that have grown to a certain level must maintain the sta...