Content Kleptomaniacs

As a kid, I was a kleptomaniac.

I liked stealing dumb stuff like Pokemon cards and hats. I stole a few t-shirts to impress friends and show them I could do it. And I stole candy to make a girl laugh. As I got older, I grew out of this bad habit. Or did I?

Now, I’m a content-kleptomaniac. And I’m quite proud of it.

What does Picasso mean by this quote? Good artists copy-and-paste ideas. Great artists make them into their own. We’re all taking ideas from our inspirations, the best artists make them their own. “It ain’t stealing if you put a spin on it,” says author Steven Pressfield.

If you want to make it as a creator, you need to get over your fear of stealing. No idea is truly original, we all have our influences. But you should never copy or plagiarize. You must steal with style. As Austin Kleon says, you must “steal like an artist.” Now let’s talk about some people who steal like artists.

HOW DO YOU STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST?

Just ask Ryan Holiday. Yup, the Stoicism guy.

You wouldn’t expect it, but Holiday made millions off content remixing. He is the ultimate content-kleptomaniac.

Watch today’s video and then come back to learn about some more kleptos.

MEMELORDS ARE KLEPTOMANIACS

When I first started out in the content game, I thought I had to invent my own meme templates from scratch. Nope, that’s not how meme-ing works.

You can become a memelord with millions of followers without ever inventing a viral template. That’s the beauty of content remixing. You take an already-existing meme template and put your own spin on it. I only invented a meme template once and that was by accident (read the story).

There is a difference between good and great memelords. There are some pages where they literally just post funny memes or screenshots with no captions. That is a good memelord, they’re lazy but they’re consistent.

Then there’s memelords like myself and the ones I interviewed in Memes Make Millions who remix memes and funny ideas into their own. They add their own clever captions and work hard to make memes in their own style. We are the kleptos. Like it or not, a great memelord is an artist.

Become a content-kleptomaniac, join the memelords.

CYBERPUNK HYPERLINKS

Goal: this is the #1 corner on the internet for cool cyberpunk shit:

📜 A 21-year-old computer science student from Nebraska used AI to figure out what was in a 2000-year-old charred scroll. Badass.

👻 A Russian scientist made immortal, a cheating father, and more in this deep dive on the digital afterlife industry.

🫡 I’m currently reading Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations. Badass book.

NERD OF THE WEEK: ALEX LLULL

Want to learn how to steal content like an artist?

Check out The Steal Club by Alex Llull.

Every week, he shows you how to steal strategies like a pro.

MEMES OF THE WEEK

Lol silly Sam Bank Man

Wearing this everyday not just Monday:

Ok this one was the funniest

Thanks for reading nerds.

Create some cool shit this week.

Jason Levin

P.S. Want to really upgrade your content strategy?

🎥 Subscribe on YouTube for weekly videos.

📞 If you want to chat 1-to-1, schedule a call with me.

📘 Check out my book on meme marketing Memes Make Millions

Until next edition, see you on Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok.