The Matthew effect is a social phenomenon often linked to the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
In essence, it refers to a common concept that those who already have status are often placed in situations where they gain more and those who do not have struggle to obtain the barest minimum.
A sociologist Robert K. Merton coined the term THE MATTHEW EFFECT, when he observed that prominent scientist often get more credit than a comparatively unknown researcher, even if their work were similar. It also meant that credit will usually be given to researchers who were already famous.
This concept is however not new, as it was inspired by the biblical parable of the talent beautifully told by Jesus Christ in the gospel of Matthew 25:29 which quotes, "Whoever has will be given more and they will have in abundance".
But does this mean that those who do not have an advantage cannot get to the top?
They say that perception is reality. When a person is perceived to be the leader in an industry, that person tends to attract most of the juicy, elaborate, and big jobs or opportunities in their industry.
Lets take the Master of Ceremony industry in Nigeria as a case study, Ebuka and IK Osakioduwa better known as IK are perceived to be the biggest MCs in Nigeria so the big jobs like Big brother Nigeria 2017 went to Ebuka and the Most beautiful girl in Nigeria job went to IK in 2017.
People tend to juggle a lot of careers at a time but it has been proven that taking it one step at a time and focusing on one industry makes your growth faster and effective. Also, pick what you love and not what will make you millions because in the long run you get tired of doing what you do not love.
Position yourself as an expert, by giving out great content (via Videos, blog posts, Podcast, Tweets, Snapchat) relentlessly and consistently every week. If you think your post once or twice a month or is going to make you known then you are wrong. Look at what Crazeclown did with Instagram in 2015!
Call yourself an expert:
Avoid selling yourself short by saying Im new to the business or I will try to. Place yourself on that scale you want to get to.
Attend events, network and show yourself out there:
Sitting behind your computer and phone can only do so much. You need to be around your target market and interact with them regularly which helps to give you ideas on what they want to see.
Fill your social circle with better friends and people that will help with your growth and development, discuss strategies and help each other with investors, mentors, etc.
There it is, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it and I also hope you learnt a thing or two.
