Jeff Goins's Blog, page 69
April 17, 2014
003: How to Chase a Dream without Quitting Your Job [Podcast]
Ever struggled to chase a dream without flaking out on your friends? Or wanted to pursue a passion but you were worried about getting fired? Welcome to the tension.
Photo Credit: kevinschoenmakers via Compfight cc
It’s one thing to talk about quitting your job to go do what you love and quite another to walk out the process in real life.
In this episode of the Portfolio Life podcast, I debunk the myths of pursuing a passion and share what it really takes.
I also answer listener questions about how to hustle on a side project while still holding down a day job, why work-life balance is a myth, and what I advocate instead.
Plus some more fun stuff…
Click to listen
How to chase a dream without quitting
Pablo Ellsworth asked this question on my Facebook page:
How do you hustle when you have a family or full-time job?
Having held down a full-time job for two years while chasing a dream on the side, I can empathize with this struggle. It can feel downright impossible to balance your work life with your family while pursuing a passion. But it is possible.
Here’s how:
Acknowledge the season you’re in. There’s a difference between a 55-year-old empty-nester building a business and a young entrepreneur trying to raise a family. Wherever you are, don’t compare what you’re trying to do with what someone else has already done. Give yourself grace and acknowledge the season of life you’re in.
Adjust your mindset. Most people think that if they could balance everything — work, family, personal time — then it would all work out. Let me be the bearer of bad news: balance is a myth. Sometimes, you will work more than you play or spend more time at the office than at the dinner table. These things happen. What’s important is to have a series of buckets you regularly fill without giving too much attention to just one thing.
Do the work. Don’t make your greatest supporters your worst enemies. In other words, build a community of people to come alongside in the journey. Make sure you practice in public. If you’re a writer, start a blog. If a musician, take up street performing. Do something generous that will get your work noticed and force you to grow.
How do you actually do this? I mean, all of this? Slowly and intentionally.
Frequency is more important than quantity. Small steps add up to something substantial over time. Put the hours in, trust the process, and the results will come… eventually.
Remember that life is a process of managing tension. That’s what a portfolio life is all about: not focusing too much on one thing and recognizing your many gifts and opportunities.
Just don’t forget to breathe every once in a while.
Resources
Wrecked (my first trade book)
Aweber
How I Started Getting Paid for My Passion
Why You Should Start Building Your Email List Now
Got a question?
In this episode of the podcast, we also talked about why you need an email list, what it takes to build one, and how to get started with email marketing (which is the best way to reach more people, in my experience).
Over the next several months, I intend to answer more questions from listeners, so if you have any send me an email with “Podcast Question” in the subject line.
And if you are enjoying the podcast so far, please be so kind as to leave a review on iTunes (which helps more people find out about it).
What tensions are you currently managing? Share in the comments.
003: On Chasing a Dream While Honoring Your Commitments [Podcast]
Ever struggled to chase a dream without flaking out on your friends? Or wanted to pursue a passion but you were worried about getting fired? Welcome to the tension.
Photo Credit: kevinschoenmakers via Compfight cc
It’s one thing to talk about quitting your job to go do what you love and quite another to walk out the process in real life.
In this episode of the Portfolio Life podcast, I debunk the myths of pursuing a passion and share what it really takes.
I also answer listener questions about how to hustle on a side project while still holding down a day job, why work-life balance is a myth, and what I advocate instead.
Plus some more fun stuff…
Click to listen
How to chase a dream without quitting
Pablo Ellsworth asked this question on my Facebook page:
How do you hustle when you have a family or full-time job?
Having held down a full-time job for two years while chasing a dream on the side, I can empathize with this struggle. It can feel downright impossible to balance your work life with your family while pursuing a passion. But it is possible.
Here’s how:
Acknowledge the season you’re in. There’s a difference between a 55-year-old empty-nester building a business and a young entrepreneur trying to raise a family. Wherever you are, don’t compare what you’re trying to do with what someone else has already done. Give yourself grace and acknowledge the season of life you’re in.
Adjust your mindset. Most people think that if they could balance everything — work, family, personal time — then it would all work out. Let me be the bearer of bad news: balance is a myth. Sometimes, you will work more than you play or spend more time at the office than at the dinner table. These things happen. What’s important is to have a series of buckets you regularly fill without giving too much attention to just one thing.
Do the work. Don’t make your greatest supporters your worst enemies. In other words, build a community of people to come alongside in the journey. Make sure you practice in public. If you’re a writer, start a blog. If a musician, take up street performing. Do something generous that will get your work noticed and force you to grow.
How do you actually do this? I mean, all of this? Slowly and intentionally.
Frequency is more important than quantity. Small steps add up to something substantial over time. Put the hours in, trust the process, and the results will come… eventually.
Remember that life is a process of managing tension. That’s what a portfolio life is all about: not focusing too much on one thing and recognizing your many gifts and opportunities.
Just don’t forget to breathe every once in a while.
Resources
Wrecked (my first trade book)
Aweber
How I Started Getting Paid for My Passion
Why You Should Start Building Your Email List Now
Got a question?
In this episode of the podcast, we also talked about why you need an email list, what it takes to build one, and how to get started with email marketing (which is the best way to reach more people, in my experience).
Over the next several months, I intend to answer more questions from listeners, so if you have any send me an email with “Podcast Question” in the subject line.
And if you are enjoying the podcast so far, please be so kind as to leave a review on iTunes (which helps more people find out about it).
What tensions are you currently managing? Share in the comments.
April 16, 2014
Your Calling Doesn’t Always Look Like You Think It Should
Sometimes, all we need to find our calling is see what’s always been there. The journey of discovering my own life’s work was not a process of dreaming, but remembering — of looking backward, not forward.
Photo Credit: boston_camera via Compfight cc
Little did I know as I was pursuing one path in life that my true vocation was hiding in the shadows, watching from afar like a distant love interest.
That’s the funny thing about a calling. It can sneak up on you.
Some people wait their whole lives for the right career, refusing to begin their lives until clarity comes. Longing for a vocation to complete them, they sometimes never find their life’s work.
What I’ve discovered is that the opposite is true. While we wait for our callings to present themselves, they are waiting on us to wake up.
My first guitar
In high school, my dad bought me a used, electric guitar by trading in my neglected tenor saxophone. It was a $150 Fender Stratocaster knock-off that was blue with a white pick guard and black gig bag.
I picked it up, plugging it into the 15-watt Gorilla amp, and decided at that moment I would become a rock star.
After practicing for six months without much improvement, I got frustrated. Able to limp through only a few simple songs, I wondered why I was no Carlos Santana. Did I just not have what it took? Angry, I took my complaint to my dad.
Snatching the guitar from my hands, he showed me how to play a barre chord by holding down all the strings with one finger. He told me I couldn’t jump from one end of the guitar to the next, that I had to gradually work my way down the neck. The same was true for playing solos, he said.
I had to practice.
Shortly after, I started writing songs. With music, my love for language had a new outlet.
Words and music
Most nights in high school, I stayed up late, crafting poems that would someday have music behind them.
Sophomore year, I found two guys who liked to jam, and together, we formed Decaf, my first band. Determined to not be copycats, my two new bandmates and I played almost all original music, which was rare for other bands in the area.
Finally, I’d found my muse, a reason for living and creating — or so I thought.
In college, I continued to play music and grew more comfortable writing songs. I joined another band that played music for our weekly chapel services, and we formed a side project called The Bygones.
On weekends, The Bygones would travel, playing shows wherever anyone would have us. I was certain this was my destiny. Around the same time, I started tutoring students at the Campus Writing Center. I wasn’t an English major — it was just a job.
After college, I toured the country with yet another music group band. Other than sleeping or eating, music was all I did that year. And as a result, I got better than I ever thought possible.
I could now be as good as I wanted — it was really just a matter of practice. But now, I faced a dilemma: did I really want it?
Playing gigs was no longer exciting, and I often felt distracted. Maybe it was the lull of life on the road, but I began to wonder if music really was my calling.
How my calling crept up on me
In between gigs, I started writing. Not having composed content longer than a set of song lyrics, I decide to write a short story. The idea came to me while driving through the Midwest, surrounded by cornfields, with nothing to do but think.
So I began.
Every night, while I was staying at a different person’s place, I wrote a piece of a story I would then email to myself and resume writing at the next stop.
By the end of the year, I presented the story to my then-girlfriend.
Although no one else will probably ever reader it, there was still something thrilling in the writing, something freeing �— an experience I wanted to have again.
Around that same time, I started a blog — not for readers, but for myself, for the pure act of creating.
A few months later, I was hired by a nonprofit. This was the first time anyone called me “writer.” And though it would take years before I’d be able to say the same of myself, it was a step in the direction that ultimately led to my life’s work.
What I learned
Sometimes, despite what people say, you don’t know what your calling is. Sometimes, you don’t go in search of it, but it comes and finds you, knocking on the door when you’re too busy doing other things.
And how we respond at these moments of interruptions, these in-between times, has an effect on where we end up in life.
It’s disingenuous to tell you to go find your calling. What seems more honest is to say that a calling finds you when you’re open and conscious, willing to listen to what life, and maybe God, is trying to tell you.
For me, my calling looked like pursuing personal fame only to realize halfway down that journey that I was supposed to be doing something else. You may find the same, or maybe life will throw something else your way.
What I think is important, what we can’t forget about vocation, is that we all need some great work to commit ourselves to. We need what we do to matter, and and it needs to be bigger than us. That’s what a calling is.
This was an excerpt from my recent book, The In-Between. You can download the whole story for free via Noisetrade. Just follow this link: Finding Your Calling.
Have you found your calling? Share in the comments.
April 14, 2014
002: This Might Not Work: A Conversation with Seth Godin About Art [Podcast]
Do you ever feel afraid to share your work with the world? Are you secretly worried that if you created something that mattered, people would hate it? That’s what making art is all about — and why I wanted to interview Seth Godin.
The one and only Seth Godin
It’s not every day you get to interview one of your heroes. In this conversation with Seth Godin, I got to do just that. For 34 minutes, we talked about art, fear, and making a ruckus.
It was a lot of fun.
Listen to the interview
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Open in new window | Download
Art and the lies we believe
I’ve always wanted an excuse to chat like this with Mr. Godin. When I saw his recent book, The Icarus Deception, come out, I knew I’d found one.
The book is all about how we’ve been deceived into settling for less than we should — in our work, in our culture, and in the way we relate to one another.
The Icarus Deception is a call to resist the model of the factory, make better art, and create connections that matter.
In my interview with Seth, he mentions artists like Amanda Palmer, who raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter, and Shepard Fairey, whose once-free graffiti art now goes for tens of thousands of dollars. Each is an example of generosity, creativity, and how the world rewards art.
I also took this opportunity to ask Seth some things I’ve always wanted to ask (even taking a few questions from the audience). I hope you enjoy our conversation and that it gives you the courage to create your own art.
Interview highlights
We talk about:
What Seth is afraid of (yes, he actually has fears)
Why generosity wins (and where it comes from)
The book he’d recommend to his younger self
Whether or not artists should get paid for their work (and exactly how that works)
What makes Seth Godin go, “Sheesh!”
The name of his upcoming boy band (honest)
Memorable quotes
“We can’t have an art factory.” [Tweet]
“We don’t reward people who are wandering generalities.” [Tweet]
“Knowing where things are is worth more than the things themselves.” [Tweet]
“The only thing we want to connect to is art.” [Tweet]
“We have been brainwashed into flying too low.” [Tweet]
“I’m better off shipping than I am making it perfect.” [Tweet]
“The reason we read our reviews on Amazon is to beat ourselves up and to hide.” [Tweet]
“If I’m not saying to myself, ‘This might not work’ … then I haven’t pushed myself hard enough.” [Tweet]
Recent books by Seth + how to get a free copy
Seth actually has three new books out (one is a manifesto, another a companion piece, and the third a collection of blog posts). I recommend all of them. They are:
The Icarus Deception
V Is for Vulnerable
Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?
Seth’s new books
I bought each of these and loved them, and I encourage you to do the same. Also, because I’m inspired by Seth’s example of generosity, I will give away four copies of The Icarus Deception in the next 48 hours.
Here’s what you need to do to enter:
Leave a review of my new podcast on iTunes.
Tweet a link to this article or like it on Facebook.
Post a comment on this post answering the question below.
That’s it! Good luck. I’ll announce the winners on this page in 48 hours. (Contest ends on April 16, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. CST).
What’s something you’ve done that might not work? Share in the comments.
April 12, 2014
Writing Your Story Could Be the Most Important Thing You Ever Do
Until a couple of years ago, I was a fiction writer. I didn’t understand why people would want to write about real life when they could create something far more exciting in a fictional world.
Photo Credit: Tim Geers via Compfight cc
Creating characters and placing them in whatever situations I crafted for them was liberating, exciting.
The real life stuff? That got the big thumbs down.
That is, until I discovered the healing power of writing my story.
Becoming vulnerable
It happened quite by accident, really. I was writing a piece for an online magazine and at the time I was going through a significant depression in my life.
I couldn’t concentrate on the topic in hand; I could only think about this dark empty place in which I found myself, lonely and isolated.
Every sentence I wrote was dry because I was trying to write in a positive upbeat way that wasn’t my current reality.
Everything inside me resisted writing the truth because I didn’t want to admit to the way I was feeling. I was also ashamed to reveal myself to others. Finally, I realized I had to write from the dark place or not at all.
And so it was, from the deepest part of my being, that my words began to grow—like buds blossoming into snowdrops from the cold, hard earth.
Connecting with my old story
I allowed my memory to glide back in time, to re-enter a scene in which I ran away at the age of four and had to be returned home by a neighbor who had been out searching for me.
I focused on the details:
my mother sitting on the bottom step of our olive green-carpeted 70s stairs
coarse caramel-colored wallpaper climbing up the wall beside her
a radiator lined with drying clothes to our left
how she pulled me into her arms and squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe
the sound of saliva slipping down her throat as she swallowed hard.
In remembering these details, I felt the emotion again — the guilt and anger at seeing her cry once more.
And as I relived this memory, I barely noticed the tears slipping down my cheeks or the stiffness in my hands from typing so fast. But I do remember the way I felt when I typed that last period.
Relieved. Released. Unburdened.
I began to write about many different scenes and circumstances from my past in the same way, always focusing on what I could see, hear, smell and see, and the emotions that accompanied me as I re-entered those memories.
And I became fascinated with the process of writing as a form of healing.
Writing a new story
Writing our stories and, if we choose, sharing them, is one of the most powerful ways to grow and make that journey from the head to the heart.
By writing our old story we find ourselves in the midst of a new story, one in which we have the freedom to be our true selves.
Since writing my own story, my walk with depression has changed considerably. I have come to accept it as a part of my journey and to realize that healing and growth are available to me if I tune into my needs via writing.
It may not be the whole answer, but it’s a tool, and an extremely effective one.
Where to begin
The thought of writing the story of your past — the lights and shadows of everything that has shaped who you are — can be a daunting one.
I began with my strongest memories and from there, new memories revealed themselves to me. I also bought some great books on writing memoir and finding your story, which helped guide me through the process.
You are the only person who can tell your story, and it is only by writing, sharing and releasing it that you can begin to rewrite your future.
Have you ever written any of your story? What was the process like for you? Share in the comments.
April 10, 2014
001: What Is the Portfolio Life? [Podcast]
You are not just what you do. You were made for more than just one thing. Your life is a portfolio of activities, all of which make you who you are.
In this short, kick-off episode of my new podcast, my friend Jared Easley and I discuss why I’m starting a podcast — and why maybe you should, too.
We also talk about the idea behind the title, The Portfolio Life, and what it means for artists, entrepreneurs, and those who want to make a difference with their work.
I think you’ll like it.
Click to listen
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Open in new window | Download
What is the Portfolio Life?
I didn’t come up with this idea of a portfolio life on my own.
In fact, my friend Keith Jennings introduced me to the concept, who first heard it from Ian Cron. Turns out, neither of them came up with it, either. Like all good artists, they stole the idea from someone else.
As far as I can tell, Charles Handy coined the term in 1989 in his book, The Age of Unreason, which is a fascinating read on the future of organizations and chillingly prophetic.
So what is the portfolio life? In a nutshell, it’s probably closer to the life you’re living than what you tell people you “do.”
A portfolio life isn’t just about what you do — it’s about who you are.
My portfolio, for instance, consists of writing, speaking, blogging, consulting, traveling, and working with nonprofits. Not to mention time with my family and friends, as well as hobbies and pastimes I enjoy.
All of those things make me who I am, and without one, I’m not satisfied.
According to Handy, in the future (which I believe we’re living now), we will all be “portfolio people,” thinking of vocation not as a single career but rather as our whole body of work.
This podcast is aimed at those who want to live that kind of life.
Writers and artists have long had to figure such things out, but as the world of work changes, more people will be forced to think of their work less in terms of a job and more in terms of a portfolio. And as Handy writes, that’s a good thing.
With the Portfolio Life, I want to help you do three things:
Find the work you were born to do.
Identify what makes up your portfolio.
Get started creating it.
Episode takeaways
What you know is more important than what you can do.
You were made to do more than one thing, and it’s your job to discover that creative work.
Look at your whole body of work and create a lifestyle that allows you do all the things you find fulfilling.
Resources mentioned
The Age of Unreason
Portfolio Life
The In-Between
Building a Portfolio Life
Talking Faith and Courage with Ian Cron
What does your portfolio consist of? Also, what would you like to hear me cover in this podcast? Share in the comments.
April 8, 2014
The Gift of Giving: Why I Do Favors and Don’t Expect Anything in Return
Yesterday, I had a phone call with a complete stranger. I offered some advice and perspective, which he found invaluable. At the end of the call, he asked, “Now, what can I do for you?”
Photo Credit: emenegue via Compfight cc
If he could see me, he would have seen me shrug. If I lived in the 1950s, I would’ve said, “Awww, shucks, I dunno…”
The truth is I like helping people. It makes me feel good to give. I don’t do it in order to get anything back, which makes questions like that feel awkward.
It seems that the more you help people, the more people want to help you. It’s human nature, I suppose, to want to reciprocate. But really the best reason to do this, to be generous with your skills and knowledge, is because the giving is the gift.
The best way to build a reputation
I’ve heard a lot of people recently ask me how to build a platform — how to attract an audience and keep them coming back. I’m sure there is more than one way to do it, but the very best that I’ve found is simply this: help people.
If you do, it will eventually come back around to you, even when that’s not your intention (maybe especially then). And when it doesn’t, you get the satisfaction of helping someone, which in my experience, it’s its own reward.
So what I told the guy was this: “Nothing. Just listening to me and being willing to take some advice is a gift in itself.”
And I meant it.
That may not be the case for everyone, but I like teaching and coaching. It gives me life. And maybe that’s the lesson here: Find what you love to do, what you would do even if you didn’t get paid, and do it.
But don’t you have to get paid?
Of course, we all have bills to pay and many of us have mouths to feed. So this kumbaya concept of unreciprocated generosity sounds nice — as an ideal.
But how does it work in the real world? Good question. I’m not really sure, except to say that it’s a little bit of a mystery.
What I do know is that when you help enough people, when you put your work out there in the world and try not to be stingy with it, the world has a way of rewarding such generosity.
It doesn’t hurt to be a little shrewd and not let yourself get taken advantage of, but given the alternative of only doing quid pro quo kind of work that requires someone to return every favor you give, I’d rather be generous.
Given the choice between being Don Corleone and Mr. Rogers, I pick Mr. Rogers. Maybe you should, too.
One little caveat
You can’t help everyone. Not if you set out to make a difference in people’s lives. That’s the catch with this way of doing favors without expectation.
In order to help people, I have to say no. A lot, actually. It’s hard, and I hate it, but I remind myself that when I say no to someone, it means I can say yes to someone else.
And everyone got a yes, that’s just the same as everyone getting a no — because I can’t possibly help everyone who needs it. I just don’t have enough hours in the day.
So, if I were to break this down, I would give you these three rules for favors:
Try to help as many people as you can.
Expect nothing in return. Help them just because you care.
Don’t try to help everyone . That’ll make you crazy. Set some rules, like a maximum time commitment for when and where you will help people, and stick to them. And get comfortable with saying no.
Follow those three rules, and they should help get you started. You just might be surprised by how much people talk about you as a result of your generosity.
How do you respond when people ask you what they can do for you? Share in the comments.
April 3, 2014
A Writer’s Biggest Struggle
Most writers struggle with the same thing, one little thought that threatens to destroy their message before it ever leaves their fingertips: what I say doesn’t matter.
Photo Credit: JosephGilbert.org via Compfight cc
“What difference do my words make?” you ask. This is what holds you back, what keeps you from your potential as an artist.
It’s the doubt that plagues you, the apparition that looms over you, filling you with insecurity and preventing your words from reaching the audience for which they were intended.
How I saw this happen first-hand
A couple years ago, when I was still working for a nonprofit organization, I shared on this blog a story about an orphanage in Haiti that had a dire need. Action was required, and people responded.
In fact, so many people raised their voices in a week that the Haitian government had to do something. 10,000 people banned together via social media, with no other tools to work with than their words — and they made a difference.
A virtual mob of people who wouldn’t keep quiet about injustice shut down a corrupt orphanage that was trafficking little children, selling them into slavery. It made national and international news.
And it made me believe in the power of words again.
Friends who worked for aid groups in the developing world all told me the same thing: “This doesn’t happen.” Not in a week. Not even in a month. What made the difference was the fact that so many spoke up, saying this was not okay.
The conclusion we all should make
Words make a difference. Talk isn’t cheap. Your message matters. And something terrible happens when you don’t speak up. That’s what I’m trying to say here.
Many of us have heard this quote by Edmund Burke:
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
So if you want evil to continue in the world, if you want to see the status quo spread, shut up. Don’t say a word. And don’t give your writing the significance it deserves.
Continue apologizing for your work and downplaying your gifts, but whatever you do, don’t speak. Because when you do, things change. And who wants, or needs, that?
May you, in spite of your fears and apprehensions, believe that your words do matter. And that someone, somewhere, needs to hear them.
(By the way, remember that trip I took to Africa earlier this year? One of the goals for it was to raise sponsorships for children in Uganda. I received word not too long ago that we exceeded our goal, raising over 430. Thanks to all who read, shared, and sponsored! I hope this encourages you that your words do, indeed, matter.)
What’s your biggest writing struggle? Share in the comments.
April 1, 2014
5 Ideas for Writing Blog Posts When You Feel Stuck
We all get stuck, sometimes. Writer’s block, or the Resistance, or whatever you want to call it, gets the best of us and we end up with no words to write.
Photo Credit: vasta via Compfight cc
We stammer and stutter and wonder where our inspiration went. At times like these, it can be nice to have a go-to list of topics, a quick guide for when you feel like there’s nothing to say.
I’ve compiled such a list. Here are five blog post ideas for when you’re just not feeling it:
Confess a dark secret. We all have things we wish the world didn’t know about us. Maybe it’s a silly, embarrassing fact — like one of the first times I met my wife, I spit in her face (true story), or the time I peed my pants in college… on purpose (also true). You know, stuff like that.
Call someone out. I’m not a fan of publicly shaming someone, but it’s hard to deny how much attention these posts can get you. Still, I think there is a tactful way to disagree with someone, especially a celebrity or political figure who might not otherwise respond to you. Open letters are pretty popular these days (here’s an example of someone calling me out in a way that really woke me up).
Ask a question. The world doesn’t need you to have all the answers; it just needs you to speak up, to lead the conversation.
Teach something. Maybe it’s how to replace the oil filter in your car or how to write a book, but we all have skills we want to learn. And we all have skills we can teach. Take something that you’re a natural at and generously share your knowledge with the world.
Pick a fight. We all have those hills we’re willing to die on, whether they be political or religious affiliations or why you think your hometown is the best place in the world. Whatever the cause, take your stand, make your argument, and let the world know. Sure, this is one way to make a few enemies, but it’s also a way to earn some new friends.
What you must remember about blogging, about all writing actually, is that people don’t remember vanilla content. They don’t tweet links to mediocre articles and don’t tell their friends about someone who is average.
We, the readers, want remarkable, something worth talking about. Will you give it to us?
What ideas for writing better blog posts would you add to this list? Share in the comments.
March 19, 2014
What the Web (and the World) Needs from You
If I hear one more “expert” tell me that social media is a “conversation,” I am going to scream.
No, friends. Social media is much more than that — it’s an opportunity to build something that matters.
Photo Credit: an untrained eye via Compfight cc
The world is full of people who want to be heard. But how many are actually saying something? The Internet is crowded with those who are just conversing. But who is creating stuff worth our time?
For years, I blogged in vain attempts at achieving popularity. I wanted people to like me and marvel at the profundity of my words. And I failed. It wasn’t until I built a resource of content that people began to take notice.
If you want to earn the attention your work deserves, you will have to prove you have something to say, that you’ve got something we can’t miss.
And how do you do that? You build something worth our attention.
So you’ve got connections… who cares?
We’ve all heard, “It’s not who you know, but who knows you.” But that’s not true.
Knowing the right people — even being known by them — is no longer enough. In a world where connection is cheap (more like free), it’s easier than ever to get in front of folks, to add their number to your Rolodex.
What’s hard is keeping people’s attention.
So how do you do that? How do you influence people for the long haul? You have to create something people care about, something worth talking about, something that will make a difference.
Let’s break down each of those…
Something people care about
You get people to notice you by adding value (we’ve already covered that here). But how do you get them to care? That’s another matter entirely.
One word: empathy.
My friend Marion Roach Smith, who has taught hundreds of writers how to tell their life’s story, says,
We have to trust you as the narrator.
How do we build this trust? By showing our scars. Sharing our insecurities. Exposing our weakness.
The only way you get people to trust you — and care about what you have to say — is by showing them you’re trustworthy. The best way to do that? Help them see you’re just like them.
Here are a few ways to do that:
Admit a recent screw-up.
Highlight a personal flaw.
Apologize for a mistake nobody caught.
Tell the story of your biggest failure.
Share a fear or challenge you still haven’t overcome.
When you, the writer, let yourself be human, we readers will do the same.
Something worth talking about
Marketing guru Seth Godin says is best when he explains what it means for a product, service, or business to be “remarkable.” Literally, it must be worth remarking on. People have to talk about it. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant.
Your best bet in getting your ideas to spread, your books read, and your influence to grow is to be remarkable. To do something truly epic.
How do you do that? Here are a few examples:
When Andy Traub gave away the audio version, email series, and online membership to everyone who bought his $7.99 eBook.
When Chris Guillebeau gave away $100,000 to a bunch of strangers, asking them to spend it well.
When my friend Kyle proposed to his girlfriend with a giant piece of parchment paper.
Remarkable is interesting. Remarkable is compelling. Remarkable is worth talking about.
Something that will make a difference
This is, perhaps, the most important reason we open our mouths or place our fingers on the keyboard. We want to make an impact, to leave a legacy.
But how do we know when we’re doing that, as opposed to just making noise? Simple. It has to do with multiplication.
If people hear what you have to say and tell you it was “nice” or that they enjoyed it, then you’re in trouble. That’s lip service, friends, and nothing more.
On the other hand, if you empower a tribe of people with an idea that they take, share, and spread, then you may have something special, indeed. If strangers email you, explaining how your message has literally changed their lives, then you are making a difference, after all.
Put it all together
Yes, these are nice ideas. But taken by themselves, that’s all they are — ideas. And this series has been about action, about creating something epic. So let’s apply everything we’ve learned so far:
Success begins with passion, not chasing results. If you love the work, you’ll do good work.
If you want attention, you need to add value. Help people. Solve problems. Connect.
Until you create something, you’re just making noise. You need a legacy, a resource, something that folks will remember.
All good so far? I admit that’s a big vague, so let’s break it down further:
First, you need to take all your passion and value-adding ideas and put them somewhere. In a book. On a website. Maybe even into a conference or event. Have a way to archive your best thoughts and share them over and over again.
Next, make sure this resource has a means of inviting people into an inner circle. For example, on a blog (which is my preferred medium, since it’s free), you could encourage people to subscribe via email so they don’t miss a post.
Lastly, with this thing you’ve built, you should be generous. Give things away for free or for less than they’re worth. Why? Because the point isn’t to make money, but to leave an impact. Get that right, and you won’t have to worry about income.
Dazzle and delight. Give people more than they ask for. Over deliver. And see what happens.
The irony, of course, is that by resisting the temptation to converse and creating something instead, you are giving people a reason to not stop talking about you.
So go. Create. And make it worth our while.
Note: This was the third and final post in a three-part series on how to build a popular blog. If you’ve enjoyed this series, you might like Tribe Writers, an online course to help writers find the audience their words deserve. Registration opens only a few times a year, and tomorrow we’ll begin a brand new class. Stay tuned.
What’s something you’ve thought about building but haven’t? Share in the comments.
