12 – Why being human is now a trust signal

We've reached an inflection point. Social media has become scroll media. AI slop is everywhere. And people don't trust businesses the way they used to.

But there's good news for coaches willing to do things differently.

Tune in to discover why a human-centered approach to business and branding is the antidote to the trust recession.

transcript

Hello my friends, and welcome to the Human-Centered Business and Brand Podcast. It's been about nine months since my last episode, and there's a reason for that. I've been in a period of evolution, rethinking my business, my brand, and honestly my place in this industry. And what emerged from that reflection is what you're hearing now, a new podcast name and a renewed sense of purpose.

Today I wanna talk about this idea of creating a human-centered business and brand, what it means. Why it matters more than ever. And the personal connection I have to it because over the last year, so many forces have been converging that have fundamentally changed how we do business online. First, we don't know what's real anymore, okay?

The line between truth and lies, human and ai, authentic and real is no longer clear. I find myself scrolling through social feeds, questioning everything. Is this image real or AI generated? Is this person's story or opinion authentic or just a hook crafted for engagement? And I see others in the comments wondering the same thing.

Beyond confusion, this creates uneasiness. A sense that you're being manipulated. It breeds distrust. And while the tech is amazing, I sometimes feel depressed watching human creativity being outsourced and automated. Okay. One of my LinkedIn contacts recently had an entire debate with someone in her comments only to realize later that it was a bot.

So we're literally arguing with machines now and let's look at the state of social media.

There's been lots of talk about this new era we're in, where even Zuckerberg said last year, that social media, as we know it is over. It's gone from social sharing and connection to passive entertainment, consumption from social media to scroll media, kind of like watching Netflix, more of a passive activity built to capture and keep attention.

The algorithm shows you more interest-based content and less content from friends, so the feed has become endless and even more addictive. There are tons of ads, loads of AI, slop, and for business owners, organic reach is down. With all of this. You might wonder. Why are we even using it still? Well, social media usage is actually down.

Stats show that we've passed “peak social media” and usage is slowly declining, especially among young people. I think as well that people are, lots of people are still using it, but using it with much more intention and much more awareness of the time suck, the addictive factors, right? And in this context, niche micro communities, memberships and group chats have become even more prominent.

This is where you can actually connect with real like-minded humans. Without the noise and distraction. And it's great news actually, if you're a coach who's energized by running group experiences. Now, Reddit is one of the oldest online communities, and I found a post last year by Reddit's, CEO, Steve Huffman really telling, he said.

Reddit works because it's human. It's one of the few places online where real people share real opinions. That authenticity is what gives Reddit its value. If we lose trust in that, we lose what makes Reddit. Reddit. Our focus is and always will be on keeping Reddit a trusted place for human conversation. The internet is changing rapidly. And human perspectives have never been more important.

So again, communities are for conversation and social media is for consumption. Notice also that Steve used the word trust in two places there. Human made content and human conversation are now trust signals. Just look at how Substack is blown up. It's a place where you can find content and conversation that is more human, meaningful, authentic, and long form.

When it comes to trust, we've always relied on certain trust signals as business owners. Testimonials, case studies, signature frameworks, certifications, client logos, right? But now simply being human has become a trust signal, and the most trustworthy kind of content is content that's unpolished conversational.

Honest and infused with your perspective personality, complex emotions, and lived experiences. This content can be delivered in multiple ways, but I think live streaming may become even more popular moving forward simply because it's the most real, which brings me to this buzzword. Everyone's using trust recession.

People don't trust businesses and brands the way they used to. And from where I sit in the coaching industry, I see three major things that have eroded that trust.

Number one over-hyped messaging, overblown promises and income claim marketing. This is messaging gone wrong and we've all seen it, especially from business and marketing coaches. And not to vilify them, you know, heck, I am one of them. So I know there are good people out there, but some coaches are both overpromising in their messaging and underdelivering.

In their service. And of course, this erodes trust and damages the credibility of our entire industry. So what we need to do is communicate the value of what we offer in a way that is compelling, while at the same time keeping it honest and realistic. And of course, we need to focus on creating results and creating a transformative client experience.

Which in turn builds a positive reputation, referrals and repeat clients. I know that the more manipulative techniques and the over the top messaging can be tempting and even work in the short term, but long term people see through it and it doesn't pay off.

The second thing I see that has eroded trust is influencers.

Now if we look at the history of what's happened there, it really started to explode around 2010 to 2015 on Instagram and by 2021, influencer marketing was a full-blown industry, but over that decade, influencers went from kind of being relatable online friends to becoming celebrities. And living luxury filled unattainable lives.

And you know, the financial goal for an influencer is to influence you to buy something. But we could see that they were prioritizing profit over genuine product recommendations and people just got burnt out on their content too, these images of an idealized life. And it all felt really staged and fake.

So again. The public was left feeling scammed and disillusioned.

Interestingly, what we're seeing now is the rise of the so-called comfort creator, a return to more relatable content and authentic storytelling with a sense of warmth, and these creators are fostering a deep emotional connection with their audience.

Now as coaches, our goal is not to be an influencer or a comfort creator, but rather, our goal is to be a business owner who creates content not to land brand deals, not to gain a massive following or become famous, but to reach and nurture a select defined audience. And so what's noteworthy for coaches here is that the approach that's working now to gain trust is a more human centered approach, more relatable and relationship driven.

The third thing that has eroded trust is online courses.

And again, not to vilify all courses and all course creators, but here's what happened. The pandemic created a huge boom in courses, and then we saw lots of coaches selling programs on how to create courses with promises to make money while you sleep.

We saw people bragging about six figure launches without revealing the amount of money spent on ads. It became a kind of modern day get rich quick scheme. And by 2022, the market was really saturated and a lot of courses were really low quality, generic content.

And then along came AI and suddenly knowledge is cheap and the get rich quick scheming became even worse because now I started to see business and marketing coaches teaching people how to create your course with AI in minutes, right? Just completely remove the human. Remove yourself from the chorus content.

And now it's 100% a game of metrics and money over meaning and purpose, a pure money grab. And to maximize profits, we're gonna add in upsells and downsells, create complicated funnels, order bumps and countdown clocks.

And honestly, this was kind of a tipping point for me. I started to ask myself last year, who am I in this landscape? How do I operate ethically when these are the tactics being taught and celebrated?

It really got me down a last straw kind of moment until I realized that I could double down on helping people succeed using a human-centered approach and ethical messaging until I understood that people are gonna get maxed out on generic brands and solace surface level content.

And being human will become the new strategic advantage and the ultimate trust signal. So for me, I define a human centered business and brand in various ways.

It's a brand based on your own self story, heart and mind.

It's messaging that's both caring and compelling. It's relational instead of transactional.

It's having a business model that aligns with your unique goals and situation.

It's a return to long form, in depth content, and all of it feels like an extension of who you are.

Now, you may be wondering, can you use AI in a human-centered business and brand? And I say. Absolutely. Just don't lose your humanity and integrity in the way you deploy it.

It's kinda like social media in the sense that it's a tech tool that can be used in both positive and negative ways.

Lately, I've been paying attention to what people are saying online, and let me read a few comments I've seen lately that validate this shift.

One person said “I noticed I only stopped scrolling for things that seem raw. This AI fatigue we're all starting to feel is definitely a sign to make more genuine content.”

Another person said this… “Personally, I'm tired of watching people's morning routine and get ready with me without substance or teaching me something. Lifestyle has gotten boring.”

Another person said, “I'm just tired of influencers all together. If you present yourself like a brand, I'm not following you.”

So that's where we are. Buyers have become far more sophisticated and skeptical, and I believe we're at an inflection point with ai. In this context, I'm choosing to build trust by building a business and brand with more depth and heart and trying to show up in a way that is more human, more expressive, more brave, and more me.

If there's a particular question or topic you'd love to hear about on the pod, feel free to share by dropping a comment or sending me a DM.