i was mid-workout when i realized why my content wasn’t working
i gym alone most days.
no trainer. no workout partner. just me, the weights, and whatever playlist i threw together that morning.
and honestly? i prefer it that way. there’s something about being in your own head, just you and the work, that i’ve grown to love.
but the thing about training alone is this: when you’re not sure if your form is right, there’s nobody to ask.
and if you’ve been weight training for a while, you know how important your form is. it’s literally the whole thing
so i do what everyone does now.
i pull out my phone between sets and search TikTok.
not scroll. search.
there’s a difference, and i didn’t really think about it until recently.
scrolling is passive. you show up and let the algorithm decide what you see. you’re along for the ride.
searching is intentional. you have a specific problem, right now, and you need an answer. you’re in control.
i was mid-workout, probably on Romanian deadlifts, trying to figure out why my hamstrings weren’t feeling it. so i typed “RDL workout” into TikTok and got back about a dozen videos.
i know that’s a lazy search term but please let me land lmaoo
here’s the thing though.
i didn’t watch the most technically impressive one. in fact, i actually strayed away from the extreme body builders. ain’t nobody tryna look like that
i also didn’t pick the guy with the most credentials or the most followers, i don’t think this was intentional but that’s what happened.
i picked the one that felt like it was made for me.
there were a few signals i was scanning for without even realizing it.
views and shares mattered. not because i’m chasing popularity, but because a lot of people watching means a lot of people found it helpful. social proof is social proof.
but the bigger thing? i was looking for someone who looked like me.
i’m black. i gym alone. i’m not trying to become a competitive bodybuilder, i just want to move well and not hurt myself. while looking sexier of course.
and when i found a creator who matched that energy, same build, similar goals, talking to me like a person and not like a fitness textbook, i stopped scrolling immediately.
i followed along with the whole video. i saved it. i went back to it the next workout.
and it hit me later, on one of my random walks, that this is exactly what people do when they’re looking for someone to help with their brand.
think about it.
someone right now, maybe one of your ideal clients or partners, is sitting in their couch feeling overwhelmed. and they’re typing something into TikTok search.
“how to price my freelance services.”
“how to get your first clients as a photographer.”
“best skincare routine for hyperpigmentation.”
“how to start selling digital products with no audience.”
“natural hair care for beginners.”
they’re not browsing. they have a real problem, right now, and they need someone to help them solve it.
ten videos come up.
and here’s the part that matters: they’re not picking the most qualified person in those results.
they’re doing exactly what i did. they’re scanning for someone who feels like them. someone who seems to get their specific situation. someone who’s easy to understand and trust fast.
being good at the thing isn’t what closes it.
connection is what closes it.
i’ve thought about this a lot since that workout.
because for a long time i think i was operating like the algorithm was the only thing i had to beat. like if i just posted consistently and used the right hashtags and figured out the right time to post, the right people would find me.
and sure, that stuff matters. i’ve written so many pieces on how to get good at doing that.
but what i was missing was the why people choose question.
when someone finds ten videos on brand strategy, why do they click on mine specifically? and when they click, why do they stay? and when they stay, why do they subscribe, follow, or save it, or reach out and say “i’ve been watching you for a while and i think i need your help”?
it’s not because i said something the other nine creators didn’t say.
it’s because something about the way i said it made them feel like i was talking to them specifically.
that’s the game now. not just being found. being chosen.
but here’s where i want to be honest with you, because i think a lot of creators stop at the “just be yourself” advice and never get to the practical part.
being yourself is the reason people choose you. but they can only choose you if they can find you first.
and TikTok, whether you’ve fully absorbed this or not, is a search engine now.
we’re talking billions of searches every single day. people using it the same way they used to use Google. typing in questions, looking for specific answers, researching people and products and ideas before they ever spend money or time.
and honestly, i don’t blame them. after all, Google has been AI-fied lol.
if your content isn’t showing up for the searches your ideal audience is already making, your personality doesn’t get a chance to do its job.
you can be the most authentic, most relatable, most genuinely helpful person in your space. and it still doesn’t matter if you’re invisible.
so both things have to be true at the same time.
you have to be searchable. and you have to be unmistakably you when they find you.
here’s what this actually looks like in practice.
think about the real problems your audience types into search bars. not the big abstract stuff. the specific, mid-workout-type questions. the ones they’re asking when they’re stuck right now.
“how to write a caption that actually converts.”
“meal prep ideas for busy moms.”
“how to start a candle business with no money.”
“best tools for editing videos on your phone.”
“how to get consistent clients as a coach.”
those are searchable moments. those are the questions you can show up for.
and when you do show up, that’s when your personality gets to be the differentiator. that’s when the way you talk, the way you think, the fact that you’ve lived this thing and aren’t just theorizing about it, that’s what makes someone pick you out of the ten results.
i didn’t pick that fitness creator because he showed up first.
i picked him because when he showed up, he felt like mine.
that’s what i’m trying to build.
not the biggest presence. not the most viral content. just the feeling that when the right person finds me, mid-problem, overwhelmed, looking for someone who gets it, they feel like they’ve found their person.
searchable enough to be found.
human enough to be chosen.
that’s the whole thing.
i’m curious. when you search for something on TikTok, what makes you pick one creator over another? is it what i described, or is there something else going on for you?
reply and let me know. i read every single one.
see you on social!
-Mike