Not everybody wants to be looked at, but everybody wants to be seen—and that fear shows up fast online, especially when friends and family might judge us.

In this episode we also discover that we fall into a new category: “all bite, no bark”—doing real work without talking about it—and why success often needs both strong work and smart marketing.

00:00 Not Looked At, But Seen: The Quote That Sets the Tone
00:42 Looking vs Seeing: Why Visibility Feels So Scary Online
02:15 Art History Lens: The Active Work of ‘Seeing’
03:40 Amanda Palmer & The Art of Asking (Plus How We Save Quotes)
04:59 All Bite, No Bark: Doing the Work Without Talking About It
08:03 Bark vs Bite in the Real World: Billionaires, Brands, and Balance
11:34 Useful Not Famous: Why Fame-First Usually Fails
12:59 The Iron Law of Stardom: The 3-Year Fame Window
15:43 Turn Fame Into a Business: What Actually Sells
18:09 Proof in the Age of AI: Real Humans, Real Trust, Better Output
22:07 AI as a 10x Team: Scaling Creative Output Without Hiring
23:23 Beyond “AI Slop”: Taste, Intentionality, and the Dead Internet Problem
25:09 Proof You’re Real: Why Authentic Local Presence Matters More Now
27:02 Human Slop & Trend Chasing: Why Copycat Content Builds Nothing
27:54 The Influencer Money Myth: Views, Burnout, and the Hamster Wheel
30:19 Own Your Audience: Escaping Algorithm Dependence with an Ecosystem
33:22 All Bark vs All Bite: Start, Keep Going, and Manage Your Time
37:39 No Magic Pills: Temporary Fixes, Root Causes, and Getting to Work
39:41 Resulting & “Thinking in Bets”: Luck, Variables, and Long-Term Compounding
43:10 Closing + How to Support the Show

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Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers.

Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

Follow us! Jeff Sarris | Amara Andrew

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Trust the process. Time is the essential ingredient of success. Use it to your advantage. In this episode, we start with Kevin Kelly and Robert Greene, discuss the value of enduring the slow process of mastery, and emphasize why having the right focus in a hyperlocal market is crucial.

We also share our personal struggles with content creation (despite running a video marketing agency), the paradox of choice, and the importance of transformation in storytelling and business.

00:00 Introduction and Quotes
00:54 Exploring Daily Meditations
01:54 Patience and Process
03:51 Social Media and Attention Span
07:34 Hyperlocal Platform Strategy
18:19 Link Trees and Online Presence
23:36 Client Collaboration and Decision Fatigue
24:24 Hyperlocal Platform Explained
25:15 Personal Content Challenges
26:35 Content Creation Strategies
28:04 Paradox of Choice in Content Creation
30:47 Exploring Video Concepts
37:11 Importance of Storytelling and Transformation
41:27 Sales and Transformation in Business
42:53 Conclusion and Upcoming Plans

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Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers.

Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

Follow Jeff Sarris
Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok

Follow Amara Andrew
Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok

You get no competitive edge from consuming the same things as everyone else.

Join us as we dive into the importance of storytelling, why unique hobbies matter, the nuances of live streaming, and unconventional sales strategies. Small shifts that lead to big changes.

00:00 Introduction
00:35 The Importance of Unique Consumption
01:33 Exploring New Interests and Hobbies
02:18 The Concept of Derive and Mental Breaks
03:37 The Value of Hobbies and Relaxation
07:42 Social Media and Content Consumption
14:21 Live Streaming and Personal Content Creation
19:59 Nostalgic TV Shows and Music Distractions
20:53 The Art of Storytelling in Screenwriting
22:02 The Importance of Character Transformation
23:19 Challenges of Teaching and Performing
24:47 The Struggle of Self-Promotion
25:40 Unique Sales Techniques
27:30 The Aggressive Sales Experience
30:11 MAVEN's Approach to Marketing
33:00 Creative Ideas for Conferences

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Useful Not Famous is the podcast for people who care more about making money than getting likes and subscribers.

Join our useful family at usefulnotfamous.com to get one actionable tip delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

Follow Jeff Sarris
Instagram | X | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok

Follow Amara Andrew
Instagram | X | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok