In the modern world of the internet, attention means everything. From marketing for a business to being considered for a job, it is all about who you know and who sees you. If no one knows who you are, you will not have as many opportunities as you otherwise would have. This isn’t to say you must be prominent in the public space, but even your private relationships require you to command attention in order for you to grow. Everything is judged by its appearance nowadays. This is why you must stand out in a crowd at all costs. By appearing mysterious and more colorful, you will become a magnet for attention that will separate you from the masses and attract attention to yourself.
Have an unforgettable image
Sometimes it is necessary to court attention no matter the cost because sometimes it is worse to be ignored than slandered. Let’s look at P.T. Barnum for an example, as he was a master of the phrase “All we need to ensure success is notoriety”[1].
One of Barnum’s first big ventures was the American Museum located in New York. As a form of advertising, he hired a beggar on the street to lay bricks in circuit around the museum. He was always to have a brick in his hand, remain serious, and not answer any questions. Literally just walking around the museum, placing a brick on the sidewalk, walking to the next one and replacing it with the brick he held in his hands. He would pass through the museum and go out the back door and continue his circuit. As you can expect, this is rather peculiar behavior, and people began to follow and watch him. After a few laps, he amassed a decent following and people would follow him straight into the museum where they would purchase tickets just to follow him inside. The beggar would then disappear out the back door to make another round, but the people who followed him were already in the museum, so some of them would stay and check it out. Eventually the police came and stopped the circuit, but the rouse had already done its job because people were already coming to the museum. Even negative attention is still attention, especially if you are building your reputation.
Be unforgettable to attract eyes
By drawing attention to himself by doing something different and odd, Barnum was able to bring people into his museum. This also made him somewhat reputable because when people start to pay attention to you, others tend to view you as legitimate. This is how some people today can be viewed as experts in a field just because they have a large following. They may or may not know what they are talking about, but because of their large following, when someone new finds them, they tend to believe they are legitimate.
Barnum is a great example of this because he drew all sorts of attention to himself. He was known to write anonymous attacks about himself just so his name would stay in the papers. This was how he built his reputation when he first started. “At the beginning of your rise to the top, then, spend all of your energy on attracting attentions. Most important: the quality of the attention is irrelevant.”[2] Even negative publicity can be beneficial for you and your business or brand especially if you are looking to become famous or powerful because being ignored is one of the fastest ways to never reach either.
Attracting attention to yourself is a skill to be learned. As noted above, even if you do not have a business, you have a personal brand. A brand is an abstract concept that is almost synonymous with your reputation. Honestly, your reputation is a part of your personal brand, so a lot of the same concepts apply. I’ll put links to my personal branding post as well as my post on reputation below if you would like some further insights on those.
It is important to find a quality or characteristic that would set you apart from other people and attach your name and reputation to that quality. Again, to begin with, the type and quality of the attention you receive is not important, it’s more important to receive any kind of attention than just good attention. Honestly, think about any career politician and pay attention to how their “opinions” and policies have changed over the years. No one really cares about what your policies used to be 20 years ago when you first started, they care about what they are right now. This is why the quality of the attention you receive is irrelevant to begin with, this will change as your experience and reputation grows in whatever space you are in.
Keep in mind that people crave mystery and hate mediocrity. People themselves might not want to stand out in a crowd, but they will always pay attention to the people or things that do stand out. Never be afraid to stand out, even if it causes controversy. Actually, creating controversy can be a great way to get started. If you do not have a lot of attention, create controversy by attacking one of the most famous or powerful figures in your space. This can draw some of the eyes that are normally on them, to you. However, you cannot do this all the time, you will need to adapt and vary your method of courting attention. Not only does this keep you mysterious, and therefore the eyes of others will remain on you, but if you show them that you are in control by acting against their expectations, you can gain their respect and even ensure that their attention remains on you.
Mystery
“Never make it too clear what you are doing or about to do. Do not show all your cards. An air of mystery heightens your presence; it also creates anticipation-everyone will be watching you to see what happens next.”
– Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power
To further the discussion in previous sections, mystery is essential to your presence and reputation. It facilitates the creation of anticipation, which will keep the eyes of other people glued to you because they want to see what happens next. A great example of this is the story of Mata Hari. Known as a dancer who would perform sacred Hindu dances, Mata lived in constant mystery. She would perform for small, selective audiences that she would keep waiting for long periods of time, she would suddenly appear in eccentric costumes and dance in forms that no one has seen before in Paris (this story takes place in Paris, France). Naturally, rumors about her started to spread like wildfire through Paris and eventually all throughout Europe. Every time she was interviewed her origin story changed, but it was always exotic. She eventually was compared to and Indian goddess as people would believe “whatever their imagination wanted to see in this mysterious woman from the East.”[3] However, her mysterious origin and life caught up with her during World War One when she was arrested, convicted, and executed for being accused of being a German spy.
So, what are the lessons from this story?
For one, people need mystery. Mystery requires constant interpretation, something that people never tire of. Mata’s story and behavior were constantly changing and evolving, requiring people to always want more so they can attempt to figure it out. This granted Mata a sense of power because people could not understand her origins and they granted her a significant amount of their attention because they were always trying to guess her next move.
How to create mystery
Since mystery is something exciting that people crave, it is a great way to draw attention to yourself. Sometimes just holding back and saying less than necessary or even keeping silent is enough to create a mysterious or stoic aura. Even being inconsistent on purpose can create this effect. Being mysterious is more about not being predictable than anything else. Predictable people and things are not exciting, that is why people tend to speculate in financial markets rather than investing in fundamentally sound assets. It is a very interesting concept. People hate predictable things but need to try to predict everything. This is a very natural thing for animals because if we are unable to predict something, we are unprepared if that thing happens to be dangerous.
Allow other people to interpret your actions, do not spell it out for them.
When mystery kills
Creating a sense of mystery about yourself will work wonders for you in terms of gaining attention, but sometimes not all attention is wanted. Your mystery needs to seem controlled; it cannot get out of hand. We see this in the Mata’s story. She allowed her mysterious reputation to run free and this literally led to her execution. You can also not allow your reputation to transform into that of deceit, as no one will deal with you. People do not like to be deceived, you want to keep their attention, and people will stop paying attention to you if they think you are just trying to deceive them every time, they look at you.
Always keep in mind who your competition is. Competing with a superior or even royalty can be deadly. Sometimes literally. If you do so, this can make you seem greedy for attention, which can be a signal for insecurity which is a great way to lose any power or reputation that you already have.
Conclusions
This post was inspired by Robert Greens sixth Law of Power “Court Attention at all costs”. If you have not read his book The 48 Laws of Power, I highly recommend you do so. Even if you do not agree with his perspective, it is definitely thought provoking to say the least. Also, that is the entire point of all of my posts. I would love to discuss any of my posts further, so feel free to reach out in the comments section on the particular post or on social media.
To your wealth and future,
James Forsythe
For the personal branding post as promised
https://jamesdforsythe.com/personal-brand/
For more on why you need to foster and guard your reputation
https://jamesdforsythe.com/guard-your-reputation-with-your-life/
For a YouTube video of me going further in depth
For another blog post on building an unforgettable brand
https://www.behindtheshutter.com/5-tips-for-creating-an-unforgettable-brand/
[1] The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene pg. 45
[2] Ibid. pg. 47
[3] Ibid. pg. 50
