Real thoughts:
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How to Build More Clout
Clout — to ball up, amass.
Perhaps clout is actually more important than money.
1. Don’t be disingenuous
The first simple thought is this: don’t be disingenuous. Everyone is honest in different ways; just stick to your own gut in terms of what feels right, and don’t do what you feel is “wrong“.
The tricky thing is this; there will be certain times, when you speak what are you personally believe in, and, others will hate you for it. In other words:
There will be times, in which you say something honestly, and are not disingenuous, yet you will be hated for it.
Why is this important? If you desire to build clout, you need to build deep trust with other person. The suspicion that everyone always has, especially when it comes to the Internet:
Why should I trust you?
I know for myself personally, when I hear somebody say something very very unpopular, or unorthodox, my ears perk up and I’m actually more prone to listen to the person. Why? A lot of people who are “nice“ are actually very disingenuous, and have hidden motives. Or in other words, put more trust in the asshole, than a nice guy. Why? It is impossible to fake being an asshole. It is very easy to fake being a nice guy. Similarly speaking, whenever you’re traveling, in the Middle East or in India, never trust anybody who says “my friend“.
Also, with our own personal relationships, real friends don’t call each other their friends; we just consider them as an extension of ourselves.
So, if someone tells you, “I am so happy that you’re my friend”, be very suspicious. They are more likely to use you as a dependency, rather than being a true friend.
2. Think at the decade plus level
With Elon Musk, his success is at least 20 years plus. He has been building SpaceX and Tesla for a very very long time. It did not just happen overnight.
I wonder if I actually agree with Peter Thiel; rather than “iterate “your way forward, better to set an interesting and audacious 10+ year goal, and pursue it with great vigor and tenacity.
Why is it so difficult for people to think long-term? My theory is that it is just not that encouraged; also to think long-term is not natural. We see others right now with social media fame, and we want to emulate it. But if you think long-term, all social media platforms will soon die sooner or later.
Do you remember my space, Napster, Flickr, live journal? Blogger?
Even young kids, don’t use Facebook.
Even in the world of photography, when I started off, it was all about Flickr. Now, nobody uses Flickr, and it is all about Instagram. But, sooner or later, people forget what Instagram is as well. 
3. Own your own platform
Whwb I was in middle school in high school, xanga was popular for blogging. But finally one day, they deceased their services, and all the content which was created on Xanga was deleted. 
I am very happy that about a decade ago, I created my own website. Erickimphotography.com, which was registered through 1and1.com, which is now rebranded as ionos.com
I am very happy that my website have us lasted until now.