Are you a tyrant to your audience?

Many tales are told about the Roman emperor Nero.

For more than two millennia people have been telling stories of how Nero set fire to his own majestic imperial capital. A fire that we to this day refer to as the Great Fire of Rome, which occurred on the night of July 19, AD 64.

Yet it’s likely that almost none of it is true.

That’s the premise of one of the books I recently picked up. It’s a book I picked up a few weeks ago when I went to visit the Gallo-Roman Museum.

And I don’t exactly remember who mentioned it, but I came across a rule somewhere of forcing yourself to buy at least one book every time you enter a bookshop. It doesn’t matter which book. Just one. The first one that catches your eye.

It so happened that the museum had a bookshop. And so I had to get myself a book. I couldn’t decide between 2, so I just bought both of them.

Trajan by Nicholas Jackson and Rome is Burning by Anthony A. Barrett.

The latter one talks about Nero and the Great Fire.

It’s a fascinating read and I’d recommend it to everyone slightly interested in historical events that shaped the future of mankind.

But back to Nero.

He’s commonly been called a tyrant who ruled with ruthless impulsiveness. Yet he was for most of his rule liked by the general populace of Rome.

The people loved him. He did good. He entertained the people. He often took part in plays and would sing together with the other performers. Nero was a liked and popular emperor.

Yet his popularity plummeted after the fire because of all the rumors. Rumors of how he started the fire. Rumors of his lack of leadership and correct behavior. Some rumors stated he himself started the fire, others stated he could be seen singing on his balcony while Rome stood burning for 6 days straight.

Whatever the case was, he didn’t rule—or even live—much longer after that.

Was Nero to blame for all of this? Did he deserve it? Was he actually insane and tyrannical? Was his popularity and gentleness before nothing more than a facade?

We will never know.

But one thing we do know is this: he could’ve used some lessons on personal branding.

You see. Being the emperor of Rome or building your own brand isn’t all that different. There’s a huge importance in maintaining a strong and likable image, building a strong connection with your ‘audience’, and even building your own world to ensure you’re unreplaceable and effectively ‘cancel-proof’.

Clearly Nero didn’t succeed in this. But you can.

There are a thousand different ways to succeed. And I’ll talk more about those in the future.

But one of the ways to succeed is to get properly informed. To learn from other’s mistakes. To learn what works and what doesn’t. To follow your own curiosities in a way that attracts fans and is efficient so you can keep doing it for a lifetime.

And I happen to know of one particular solution to do exactly that.

The Creator Logic newsletter. Where they give you updates on market insights and interviews with other successful creators.

The goal here isn’t to copy them. The goal isn’t even to get a step-by-step roadmap to creator success.

No. The goal is to get inspired. And there’s no better to get inspired than to see how others achieved their success.

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