How to run a mini propaganda machine for your business

When I was 19 years old, I moved to Dubai to start a commodity trading business.

Coming from sleepy Norway, it was a complete dopamine overload.

I was suddenly surrounded by killers from all over the world making insane amounts of cash.

One guy had a sushi business with 60+ locations.

Another guy had monopolized the water sports rentals for basically every 5-star hotel in the city.

Another was pulling in hundreds of millions a year from his family's hotels and car dealerships.

It was a blast.

But it always had this dark backdrop to it.

You weren't truly free.

You couldn't just post whatever you wanted on social media.

If you stepped out of line, you got in trouble.

And from what I'm hearing, they've completely cranked this up recently.

They are allegedly going after anyone posting anything negative about the current conflicts.

Zero tolerance.

Now, coming from a place like Norway, I obviously don't love the idea of zero freedom of speech.

But if you think about it from a pure, ruthless business perspective?

It makes perfect sense.

Dubai isn't just a city. It's a corporation.

And that corporation prints money because it is perceived as the safest place in the world.

If that perception of safety vanishes, their revenue tanks.

So they protect their brand at all costs.

And honestly?

Every business owner needs to think the exact same way.

I'm not saying you should go after people for a bad tweet.

But your reputation is the most valuable asset you have.

If your market perceives you as the best, safest, and most reliable option... your revenue scales.

If that perception cracks, your bottom line bleeds out.

Since you can't pass laws to dictate what people say about your business, you have to do the next best thing.

You have to control the narrative.

How?

By building your own private media channel.

Specifically, by getting your Ideal Customer Profile onto an email list.

And running a mini propaganda machine on them.

I use the word "propaganda" playfully here.

But the mechanics are exactly the same.

When you own the inbox, you own their attention.

And when you own their attention, you can craft how they see you.

Think about it.

You control the proof: You drip-feed them your biggest wins, best testimonials, and wildest case studies.

You control the framing: You explain why your mechanism is the only logical choice, making your competitors look outdated and cheap.

You control the vibe: You build a massive moat of trust and authority around your brand, week after week.

By the time they are finally ready to pull out their credit card...

They don't even look at anyone else.

In their minds, you are the only logical choice of your industry.

If you aren't doing this, you are letting the open market dictate your reputation.

And the market is rarely kind to people who leave things up to chance.

Build the list to control the narrative.

This is basically the strategy our $1M+/mo clients use.

Want us to build your list full of your ICP?

Let’s talk.

Gunnar