Jeff Goins's Blog, page 82

How I Became a Full-time Writer

Today is my last day of work before I launch out on my own as a full-time writer. It’s also Good Friday, a day of new beginnings only made possible by something else ending.

Today is the result of years of hard work and hustling, culminating in a dream finally come true. It’s a good day, but one not without its cost.

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When people ask me how I did this, how I became a writer, and what advice I have for them, I usually caution them. Pursuing a dream is hard and costly. It requires lots of energy and dedication, but it can be worth the effort.

These days, most people I meet are talking about their dreams. They want to launch out into their life’s work or pursue a calling, and they’re doing it all wrong.

They think they need to take a giant leap out into the unknown when, in fact, the opposite is true. It’s all about small steps over time.

Step 1: Turn pro

Most of the work of a dream is committing to it in the first place, deciding to stop acting the amateur and do the work of a pro.

For years, I played around with writing. I wrote when I felt like it and told myself little lies about how I’d be a writer… some day. I wasn’t taking my craft seriously.

Then one day, a friend asked what my dream was. When I said it was to be a writer, he said these words that changed my life:

You don’t have to want to be a writer. You are a writer; you just need to write.

So I started calling myself a writer. Everywhere I went, I introduced myself as “Jeff Goins, Writer,” even put it in email signatures and on my Facebook page.

And you know what? I started acting like it. Eventually, I even began to believe it. Turns out sometimes you do have to fake it before you make it.

The lesson here is simple: If you wait for someone to give you permission to start pursuing your dream, you’ll be waiting a long time. You have to begin before you think you’re ready.

Step 2: Practice in the margins

After I decided to pursue my dream, I still had to find the time to do it. Working a full-time job and having a wife and other commitments, I didn’t have unlimited free time.

I had to find time to practice in the margins of life.

For me, that meant getting up early. Like, 5:00 a.m. early. Every morning, I would wake up, get my coffee, and write for two hours.

At first, this was difficult; I had to force myself out of bed and downstairs before the sun rose. But eventually, it became habitual. I did it without even thinking about it. And soon, what started as a discipline became a daily joy.

By doing this, I learned the excuse I had given myself — “I don’t have enough time” — wasn’t true. I did have enough time; it was just hiding in “inconvenient” places.

I learned that the secret of mastery is frequency, not quantity. It’s more about small, regular repetitions than volume of work.

Step 3: Build a bridge

When my side gig starting yielding results — getting published, having 10,000 people subscribe to my blog, being asked to speak at conferences — I didn’t jump ship.

I stuck it out with my day job, partly because I loved the work and partly because my family was counting on me to not flake out. I didn’t want to dive into a dream prematurely, and I didn’t want to burn any bridges with my employer of six years.

So I took my time, building a bridge between my day job and my dream job, finding ways for the two complement each other. This meant applying what I’d learned from my blog to our organization, while practicing my craft at work so I could do it better on the side.

Wherever I could — and always with my employer’s permission — I recycled materials, using my time and opportunities efficiently. I refused to believe the lie that pursuing my dream and doing my job well were mutually exclusive.

When it came time to tell my boss that I would be moving on (after a lot of deliberation over this), he told me he was proud of me. We both got emotional, said a prayer together, and agreed to stay in touch. I realized then that because I included him in the process, he’d been cheering me on the whole time.

What I learned & what’s next

These past two years, I’ve learned a lot about honoring commitments, pursuing a dream, and launching a business. As I look back on this journey, three lessons stick out in my mind that are worth sharing:

Don’t wait for permission. You have to start acting like a pro before others will believe it.
Don’t jump too soon. There may be an opportunity to build momentum on the side so you can minimize risk once it’s time to launch. People are counting on you; don’t take that lightly.
Don’t believe the people closest to you want you to fail. Some of the people you fear the most could be your biggest allies. They were for me.

In this next season of life, I’ll be focusing on writing books and speaking more. I’ll also continue to create new courses and eBooks for all you lovely readers. But today is about reflection and celebration. So that’s what I’m doing, appreciating that it took to get me here (and how grateful I am to everyone who helped).

The secret to launching your own dream

If this inspires you or makes you think you might want to do this some day, allow me to share something with you…

The real secret to launching out as a full-time writer or full-time anything is will. It comes down to owning your calling and committing to the work, however hard it is.

For me, this meant I had to stop saying “I don’t know how” and start saying, “I’ll figure it out.” It meant learning to be more patient and perseverant at the same time. And you know what? I did figure it.

And with God’s help, some faith, and a little luck, you will too.

What’s your dream and the story of how you’re pursuing it? Share in the comments.

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What Happens After Your World Gets Turned Upside Down [Podcast]

For the next 10 weeks, I’ll be featuring on this blog a new podcast called The Wrecked Sessions.

This show is limited to 10 episodes, each featuring a different guest. We’ll be delving more deeply into the issues I cover in my book, Wrecked — particularly, what it means to live a more selfless, purposeful life.

This is also a fun way for me to experiment with podcasting without making an indefinite commitment. If it works, I may do more of this sort of thing. Let me know what you think.

In this first episode, I’m interviewing my friend, Stephen Proctor, who has an interesting story of how he got wrecked and stays that way while in America.

Listen to the podcast

Download: Stephen_Proctor.mp3

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About our guest

Stephen Proctor is an entrepreneur, artist, and VJ. Stephen spends most of his time traveling with music groups, running the media for live performances. But in his free time, he takes off a part of each year to travel and do missions.

Why does he do this?

Stephen is someone who exemplifies what it means to be wrecked. As someone who had a paradigm-shifting experience when he was younger, he’s now returned to a seemingly ordinary life and has to figure out how to process what’s happened to him.

The result is he’s learning to live in the tension between security and sacrifice.

Show highlights

In this episode, we’re going to talk about:

How you get wrecked
What to do with your extraordinary experiences once they end
Why we may need to wreck holidays like Christmas (and Easter)
The importance of discomfort in growth
Why our guest started his film and media business by going on a mission trip
How to structure your life in such a way that you continue to live out of a place of radical faith and risk


Subscribe to the podcast

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Connect and share

To find out more about Wrecked, including how to buy it or download the first couple chapters for free, click here. It’s available as an audiobook, as well.

For those interested, we’ll also be doing another vision trip again in the future. Find out more here.

And if you get a chance to leave a review of the podcast on iTunes, that would be awesome.

Lastly, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reply to this email (if you’re getting my free newsletter) or leave a comment. Here’s today’s discussion question…

Have you ever been wrecked and had to return to your “normal” life? How did you deal with this tension? Share in the comments.

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A Surprisingly Satisfying Alternative to Self-promotion

It was bound to happen, I suppose. All this talk of platforms and tribe-building finally got to me. I’m sick of it.

Yes, I still believe in sharing messages deserving to be heard, but now I see the unfortunate byproduct of beating this drum. I see the nasty nuisance of incessant me-first mentalities.

And I’m about to quit the Internet because of it.

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The timelessness of selfishness

Maybe it’s always existed — this obsession with “me” and “mine” — or maybe I’ve finally tuned into it.

The truth is self-centeredness has always existed; it’s part of human nature to put yourself before others. People don’t always act out of self interest, but they often do.

And now that everyone has a megaphone and a brand and feels like they have something to say, things are getting noisy.

Can you relate?

Maybe you’ve been frustrated with me for doing the same thing. If so, I apologize.

This is tempting (but don’t do it)

The fact is life is hard, and it can be tempting to look out only for Numero Uno. But that kind of thinking can also get exhausting. Who wants to only help themselves? It’s often an exercise in futility.

As I’ve said before, we find our purpose in life not by staring at the mirror but by looking out the window.

In this competitive world, we can give into the temptation to seek first our own desires and put other people second. It’s quite easy (and normal). But in doing so, we miss out on a beautiful, satisfying part of life.

What we miss is something so simple that we often neglect it or downright forget to do it. So… what is it?

Helping people.

That’s it. Just reaching out and serving someone without agenda or hidden motive. Just. To. Help. To see someone else’s dream come true. It can be a lot more fun than tweeting out yet another one of your articles or trying to earn one more pat on the back.

The benefits of being generous

Here’s what happens when we promote others instead of self:

We earn trust. People like people who care about other people. So the irony is the more generous you are, the less selfish you have to be.
We are humbled. Often, in looking at what other people are doing, I realize my own work isn’t as good as I thought. Promoting others helps me get better.
We feel good. Knowing we did the right thing goes a lot further than you might think. It can cure creative blocks and rejuvenate a tired soul. Plus, it’s quite a rush.

Are you tired of all the self-promotion? Try being counter-cultural. Try serving someone else for a change. It may be all you need to get refreshed.

What do you think about self-promotion and helping others? What does this mean for you? Share in the comments.

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Is Your Writing Timeless?

From Jeff: This is a guest article from Allison Vesterfelt. Allison is a writer, editor of Prodigal Magazine, and author of Packing Light. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband Darrell. Follow her daily on Twitter (@allyvest) or Facebook.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m missing the boat as a writer.

We live in an age when more people are writing than ever before. There are 180 million blogs, and that number is growing. So if you want to become an author, like I do, you feel the heat of competition. And maybe, like me, you feel the urge, in the heat of the struggle, to write what gets attention — controversy.

What’s a writer to do?

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Contention abounds

You don’t have to spend much time on the Internet to get a feel for this. We’re arguing about everything. Presidential candidates, theology, gender roles, delayed adolescence of young adults.

You get the picture.

These topics gain attention so quickly that it seems if you don’t jump on the bandwagon, you’re “nobody.” Sometimes, I find myself swept up in the flurry, wanting to weigh in on every issue — even if I don’t have much to say. I wonder if getting wrapped up in these issues is getting us off track.

I want to be a writer because of the ability that affords me to influence people, not only in my own generation but for generations to come.

But will the same writers, bloggers, and authors who are popular now be popular in 10 years? 20? Is what we’re writing the kind of literature that stands the test of time, that makes it through shifts of culture, language, and popular thought?

Obviously, there’s no way to know the answer to that question… or is there?

Is my writing timeless?

I think about the classic writers we still read today. For some of them, their ideas are outdated or the language is hard to understand. Or even the cultural norms expressed take us out of our comfort zones.

But consider this: We esteem some literature so much that we make high school students read it, despite their perpetual complaining. We make them trudge through Shakespeare and The Grapes of Wrath and Night by Elie Weisel.

Why have these authors stood the test of time, while so many others haven’t?

I look at writers like Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald and can’t help but recognize how they weren’t really popular while they were writing. Although they had small followings, the ideas they were expressing were counter-cultural and were challenging the traditional ideals of their day.

So as writers, we have to be willing to address controversy head-on. We have to be willing to say things that aren’t popular.

But that can’t be all of it…

Most of us who read C.S Lewis or Thomas Hardy don’t often realize the ideas expressed in their books were counter-cultural. Unless we were history buffs or literature majors, most of us don’t know enough about 19th century culture to recognize how offensive a character like Tess would have been to Hardy’s audience.

We read and love these authors and pass them on to our children because we connect to their humanity.

I am human. You are human. We all wrestle with feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, frustration, and fear. We’re all trying to find our voice, and wondering if we’re valuable.

We are all looking for a reason to hope, a person to love (and to love us), something to live for that matters. No matter how much changes about our culture or our language, that will never change.

Why we love a good fight

When it comes to debates, I can see why we’re attracted to them. It’s important to nail down what we believe, so we can live in a way that is morally and ethically responsible. We’re all trying to life a life of meaning and value.

But we could argue issues all day long, and even if we came to some kind of compromise about the most moral way to conduct ourselves or who should be president, tomorrow we’d start over. The next day, we’d wake up and have something else to argue about.

And in 10 years, we’d hardly recognize what we were talking about in the first place. All the while struggling through Old English to find out how Beowulf bares the same humanity as Holden Caulfield.

If you ask me, that’s writing that lasts.

What really matters?

As a writer, I have to ask myself:

In 50 years from now, or a hundred, or five hundred, will the controversy of today really matter?

If I want to be the kind of person who leaves a legacy, does what I write really matter? Not if it will make me a buck or if people will sing my praises, but if it will be the kind of literature that makes a difference.

To be fair, I don’t think that the issues of humanity are altogether disconnected from “hot topics.” What often sets timeless writers apart from those who quickly fade into oblivion is their ability to use writing as a vehicle to bare their own humanity.

That’s the kind of writing we connect to and cling to. The kind that ultimately stands the test of time.

So what do you think makes writing timeless? Share in the comments.

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The Slow Path to Writing Success (or, What I Learned from Drug Addicts)

From Jeff: This is a guest article from Eric Hanson. Eric works in southwest Utah in wilderness therapy. He is the author of The Wild of God: A Global Journey . You can follow him on Twitter @ericishanson.

Drug addicts, alcoholics, people with suicidal tendencies — and writers. We can all relate to each other.

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I work in wilderness therapy with clients who struggle with various addictions and behavioral problems. And I’m also a writer who has spent the last five years writing a book.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of parallels between addiction and creativity. And over the past five years, I’ve learned how they can make us better at writing and at living.

It’s a long road (be patient)

I work with people who realize how much they’ve screwed up. They’ve fought their addictions before, but now the light bulb has just gone off. And they’re ready to make a change.

After this realization, they know what to do.  But they are also in the middle of the desert and hundreds of miles from anywhere. This is where the work starts.

The first year I started writing my book, I immediately sent the manuscript off to publishers. Having completed my first draft, I thought I knew what to do and was ready to get published.

The book was totally ignored — and with good reason. At the time, it closely resembled a steaming pile of crap. I thought I was done before the work had even begun.

A support system helps

Wilderness therapy is group therapy. Someone who struggles with depression is cast into a group with heroin addicts and abuse victims.  Being in a group stirs up more from within and brings more insight than if they were alone, focusing on a single problem.

During year two of writing my book, I focused on telling my story. My head was so deep in the writing and editing process that I lost all perspective.

Then I brought others in and got group help. Others read my work and critiqued it. I talked with them about their writing. Through the eyes of othersm I was able to see more than I could on my own.

Others’ insights took my writing to new levels.

Learn from a master

It’s great to be surrounded by others doing the same thing, seeking and striving for success together. But at some point, a little more expertise is required.

In wilderness therapy, the masters are the actual therapists. Their wisdom gained through experience, education, training, and hard work is priceless. A therapist’s skill set can make all the difference to a client.

In year three, I consulted Stephen King. While he didn’t quite return my calls, he wrote me (and everyone else) a fantastic memoir.

His book, On Writing, challenged how I look at the writing (and reading) process. His mantra of  “read a lot, write a lot” inspired me to look more closely at the writing I enjoy and the writing I don’t like.

Then I realized I had a slew of zestfully bad adverbs, enough stale writing to inspire another season of Seventh Heaven, and my metaphors were a drunk sailor on Tuesday.

Get outside your normal environment

Clients go to wilderness therapy to get out of their unhealthy home life. The solitude of the wilderness affords them an opportunity to immerse themselves into a healthier setting.

Being cut off from what they are used to allows for a new perspective on life. This frequently becomes a catalyst for change.

After almost four years of writing, editing, rewriting, and endlessly shuffling words around, I needed a break from my book. So I put my writing on hold and went to backpack through Europe for six months.

I focused on other things, such as Italian gelato, and read a lot of books. It was necessary for me to pull out of the writing process for awhile and breathe, to live something different for a season.

When I came back to writing, I was able to write with a new perspective. And my book became better.

Work on what is in your control (and let go of what is not)

So often I see clients get worked up over things they can’t control. It’s raining again! I’m cold and wet and the whole world is against me! Nope, it’s just raining again.

But there is something you can control: your attitude, your work ethic, and your preparedness. Why don’t you try putting on your rain jacket for starters?

As a writer, I can’t control how others receive my work. Some might love it, and some may hate it. Others might not give two bits (and other rhyming words).

I can’t control if a publisher will want my work. And I can’t control how successful it is. If I rail against the world for things that are out of my control, I’m unnecessarily giving away power (and expending a great deal of energy). It’s a waste.

But I can control how I feel, how hard I work, and how much I prepare.

How to evaluate your process

We all want to write that overnight success, but life often has a different lesson to teach us. As you endeavor to write your masterpiece, ask yourself:

Am I setting myself up for success?
Am I laying the foundation of consistent hard work?
Am I diligent and persistent?
Am I approaching my day, my work, and my writing, with positivity, hopefulness, and diligence?

After five years of working on a single project, my work is just now starting to pay off. I finally have my this book published. It longer than I thought it would, but I’m glad.

The greatest reward is having something I can be proud of, even if it took half a decade. In fact, I think the fact that it took a long time is what made the journey worth the destination.

So my encouragement to you, dear writer, is this: Invest energy in what you can control, and let go of what you can’t. Write like you mean it, and be okay with the process taking as long as it needs to take.

What project of yours is taking longer than it should? What lessons are you learning? Share in the comments.

Disclosure: The above book links are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you click the link and buy a book. Just my way of keeping this blog going.

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Why You Should Take (and Maybe Teach) an Online Course

The Internet is full of cat videos, bad lip readings, and hilarious memes. But, believe it or not, there’s actually some useful stuff online, too.

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When I set out to start my own online course, I didn’t know much about this space. I knew I wanted to deliver a quality learning experience to my readers that went beyond the scope of this blog, but that was about it.

After hearing Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before you can charge a certain amount for a information product, you better be willing to pay that much, I started signing up for online courses.

And boy, did I learn some things.

The Internet has changed education

This is not like when you were in college and the professor gave you a long, complicated URL to remember to post a weekly assignment.

And it’s not like those foreign language correspondence classes you took in high school because no one in your small town taught Latin.

Things have changed. Big time.

Now, an online course can be comparable to a real, live educational experience. In fact, sometimes it’s better.

Your options

Let’s say you didn’t go to college. Or maybe like a lot of people you got a degree in one field of study and then figured out what you actually wanted to do. What now?

Well, you used to have two options:

Go back to school and get your degree. In other words, return to the system that didn’t work in the first place.
Read a lot of books and teach yourself (AKA the Good Will Hunting route).

Number One is often expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace (which is usually why people go this route).

And Number Two is hard; it doesn’t work for people who need a teacher, someone to walk them through the process (and that’s most of us).

So what’s there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.

Five reasons to get serious about online learning

The web is exploding with legitimate, online education opportunities. But, you wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet thing with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. Here’s why:

Online classes are often less expensive. For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a University-level learning experience taught by industry experts. That is, if you take the right kind of classes (I’ll talk more about that in a minute).
Online classes are more results-oriented. Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line, after all.
Technology makes the whole experience more exciting. Instead of attending a couple 45-minute lectures per week, you now get worksheets, discussion forums, and interactive presentations.
The classrooms are cooler. You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly-lit room. You can go attend class right in your living room — whenever you want.
You get to keep the course. This might be my favorite reason. As opposed to traditional education where you the only keepsakes you get are the overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles, many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including the lessons).

If you haven’t considered taking an online course, I seriously think you should. But — and this is important — don’t just sign up for any class that comes along. Because there’s a lot of swindlers out there (they probably made the cat videos).

Criteria for a good online course

Here’s what to look for:

Credentials. Has the teacher achieved what she claims she has an expertise in? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get published, is a published author teaching it? Or at least someone who has had real-life experience in that industry? If other marks of legitimacy (i.e. licenses and such) are needed for what you want to learn, make sure she has those, too.
Testimonials. What do other students say about the course? Don’t just read the landing page copy, though; find some people who have gone through the class and will give you their honest opinion.
Access to the teacher. This is up to you, but I recommend taking a course that gives you some personal access to the teacher. That may mean live video chats or conference calls with other students. Or it could be personal email access when you get stuck. It really depends on the teacher and the material.
Discussion opportunities. One of the best parts of an online course is the opportunity to connect with other students who are going through the same experience as you (this is the best part of any educational experience). Does the course have a forum or Facebook group, a place to ask questions and get help from their peers?
Refund policy. Just like with college, there should be an initial period of time in which you have the freedom to drop your class, if it isn’t what you’d hoped. A 30- to 60-day money-back guarantee is pretty standard.

Notice that I didn’t include price in this list of criteria, and there’s a reason for that. There is no set standard for what an online course should cost. Many four-week courses are $200–$500, but then others that range for six to 12 months may cost thousands of dollars.

It depends on your field and what kind of value you place on the information. Just know that taking this course online is typically going to be cheaper than paying for it in person.

“I could do better…”

If you’ve ever taken an online course, you may have noticed that there are some skunks out there.

One thing I noticed is that these classes weren’t always worth my money or what I was expecting. There was a lot of hype at the front end, but then when it came time to take the class, the quality was sub-par.

This disappointed and frustrated me. It seemed like some people were using their marketing savviness to take advantage of people who really wanted to learn.

I kept saying to myself, “I could do better.”

So one day, I did.

If you find yourself saying the same thing — about anything, really — maybe that means you should, too. Because it’s not enough to simply say things should be better. Sometimes, we have to be the change we want to see (someone wise said that, I think).

Note: My online course, Tribe Writers, is now open for registration. And if you sign up today, you’ll get some extra bonuses. Click here to find out more.

Have you ever taken an online course? What was your experience? Share in the comments.

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Is This Writing Mistake Getting You Ignored by Everyone?

From Jeff: This is an article by Jonathan Mead (@jonathanmead), whose mission is to transform the paradigm of work to joy, service, and freedom. He’s obsessed with writing, gymnastics, and connecting with fellow renegades. And he wants to help you get paid to be you.

It’s easy to write to try to make something popular. Just follow the standard formula:

Choose a proven headline.
Write a catchy intro that surprises, intrigues or seduces your reader.
Follow up with supporting paragraphs.
Make sure it’s scannable!
Follow the template.

There’s only one problem with this: Formulas rarely work.

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It’s not because they’re not based on sound principles. It’s because they sap all the energy and passion from your writing.

When you write formulaically, you think too hard about what you’re going to write. You waste so much time trying to say the perfect thing, that your message gets watered down. Your attempt at making something viral only comes across as cheesy and predictable.

But the worst part isn’t that your writing doesn’t succeed; it’s that you end up feeling like a fake.

You lose all your energy for what you’re creating. The fire and drive that made you absolutely lit up about writing is now buried under the desire to make something popular.

You might think that my next point would be to tell you to stop trying to follow formulas, to stop trying to be popular, but I don’t think that’s the right answer either. In order to really diagnose the problem I think we need to get a bit deeper.

Getting to the core

Underneath the drive to use a formula is… what, exactly? To create something that’s popular or successful. Right?

Well, what’s underneath that desire? To create great work work that makes you feel competent. Right?

Is there anything underneath that desire? Perhaps your real, true, most fundamental goal is to create something useful and creative.

The goal is to serve and be creative. Now, can’t you make something popular by doing that? Absolutely. In fact, I think the way to creating something that gets shared and is successful can only come when you’re doing those things.

The problem arises when you revert to the formula, or the standard template first. When you try to focus too soon on creating something popular, you fail.

A closer look at formulas and templates

Everyone wants to write stuff that’s popular, that’s successful, that gets noticed. We all have a desire to be recognized for our work, so we try to follow the advice of others and what’s worked for them. The only problem with this is that we tend to get too incestuous.

What worked for someone else may or may not work for you. But when everyone is trying to do what the last successful person has done in any given niche, it starts to become nothing more than a gimmick.

In the book Steal Like an Artist, author Austin Kleon makes a great distinguishment between good theft and bad theft. Bad theft is stealing from one. Good theft is stealing from many.

I agree, but I’d take this a step further. Bad theft is also when everyone steals from many — in the same niche. Instead, why not seek inspiration from many different sources?

If you’re a novelist, look to jazz artists, sculptors, and orators for inspiration. If you’re a poet, take inspiration from carpenters, painters and bellydancers. If you’re a blogger, take inspiration from classic fiction, street performers, and documentaries.

Don’t stay confined to the same typical posses and cliques.

Two possible scenarios

If you’ve felt dead inside with your writing… 

Chances are you’ve put too much pressure on yourself to follow formulas and be successful. You need to spend more time connecting with your heart, and why you’re doing what you’re doing.

What made you fall in love with your work in the first place? Start there.

If you’ve been struggling to make it as a writer… 

Chances are you need to become inspired and energized by the works of others, and learn from those that are incredibly prolific and successful.

Who inspires you on a daily basis? Who can you learn from outside of your circle? How can you be inspired by others but make it your own?

Learn from the greats. But don’t stop there. Uncover and develop your a greatness uniquely your own.

Then maybe one day you’ll be the one others are trying to copy.

Note (from Jeff): Check out Jonathan’s online business training, Trail Blazer, if you want to learn how to start making a living doing what you love. Click here to find out more.

What would it look like for you to not follow the average formula for your given niche? How can you break the mold? Share in the comments.

Disclosure: Some of the above links are affiliate links, which means I get a commission if you click them and buy something. Remember, though: I only recommend products I use and love.

You just finished reading Is This Writing Mistake Getting You Ignored by Everyone?! Consider leaving a comment!

Become Best Friends with Donald Trump… or Start Building Your Own Platform

If you’re trying to get heard in a world full of distractions, you’ve got your work cut out for you. You have two choices:

Get a friend named Donald Trump.
Build a platform you can be proud of.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Compfight cc

If you happen to have a billionaire patron who’s willing to help buy your way into influence, great. Shut the computer down and go start building your empire.

But if not, then you had better get to work.

The good news is you finally have the tools at your disposal to create your own fame. The technology is accessible and cheap; all you need to do now is act. Here’s what you’ll need to get started (the tools and next steps for each):

A permission asset

This is often a blog, what you might call a “platform” or something along those lines. It can be a podcast, acting career, TV station, etc.

A permission asset is a piece of “property” you have control over. In other words, it can’t be taken away from you; you own it. That part is important.

If you have a website on someone else’s domain (e.g. Blogspot.com or WordPress.com), you don’t own your platform.

If you have to ask someone else’s permission to speak to your audience, you don’t own your platform.

If you have a landlord telling you how you can or can’t use what’s been given to you, you don’t own your platform.

So if that doesn’t describe what you’re building, it’s time to start making smart choices to earn trust and build something you can be proud of that won’t be taken away from you.

Next Step: Set up a self-hosted blog (it takes less than eight minutes).

A distribution channel

It’s not enough to have a platform. You can buy a nice house, but that alone won’t get friends to come over. You need a way to invite people. In other words, you need a channel.

Some of the most popular distribution channels in society are the postal service or telephone line. Even Twitter is a way to connect with an audience and bring them back to your platform.

This is something that you may not own, but it’s a vehicle for reaching more people and inviting them back to the asset you’ve built (i.e. your blog).

My favorite channel is email: it’s personal, simple, and timeless (as far as the Internet goes, anyway). Plus, if you have a good list, you can take that with you anywhere — even if you start a new business, blog, etc.

When my blog went down last week, one of the reasons I didn’t freak out was that I still had complete control to communicate with my readers through my email list. It’s a powerful way of connecting with people.

Next step: Set up and start building an email list.

A clock

Yes, a clock. Why? Because this is going to take some time. How much? I’m not sure. It could take a year or a decade. Maybe it happens faster than that, but that’s not really the norm.

It took Chris Brogan over eight years to get more than 100 subscribers to his blog. It took my friend Bryan Allain a decade to earn his first 1000 fans. It took me four years of practicing (and failing) plus two years of hustling before I built my platform.

You’ll need time to create great content, earn permission, build relationships, and get your name out there.

Next step: Start creating content and building relationships.

The bottom line

It requires patience to build trust; the two go hand in hand. And like I said before, if you’ve got some bajillionaire friend who’s willing to help you expedite the process by getting you in front of Oprah, by all means call him.

But if not, these three tools are your best bet.

Good luck!

If you want to know more about this sort of thing, check out my online course, Tribe Writers, where we teach you how to build a platform you can be proud of. The next class opens up for registration later this week.

What’s one thing you need to do to build a platform you can be proud of? Share in the comments.

The Secret to Telling a Great Story Is Living One

Note: This week, my friend Scott McLellan released his book, Tell Me a Story , and I had the honor of writing the Foreword. Below is an adapted excerpt.

When I was younger, my dad used to tell me stories before bed. These were tales that rivaled those of Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn — only they were true. He told me about growing up in Chicago, the same place where I was born, but our experiences were vastly different.

Tell Me a Story by Scott McLellan

Each night, I got to hear a different story from my dad. He told me about the time he saw a UFO or when Santa Claus broke into his bedroom to give him a candy cane.

I became the audience of a mastery storyteller, enthralled with the unusual and interesting characters from another lifetime. These were incredible, audacious tales of bravery and adventure. And I was immediately captivated.

Every night, I would go to bed amazed. And every night, my dad would tell me the same thing:

Some day, you’ll have stories of your own to tell.

But I never believed him. There was just no way I’d ever have stories like my dad’s — I was certain of it. They were just too incredible. And for the longest time, I was right.

Finding my story

For many years, I lived an average life of safety and security. I got good grades, didn’t get into trouble, and never broke a bone. I lived a boring story. I knew this; I just didn’t know how to fix it.

Not until I left home for college did I find a deeper narrative into which I could immerse myself. I began to travel and slowly started coming alive.

At first, the trips were small — weekend jaunts with friends and such. Then they evolved into entire summers, road-tripping across the country to work at a summer.

Eventually, my wanderlust led me out of the country on a study abroad program in Spain, which was where I started grasping what it meant to live a truly great story.

On the streets of Seville, I met a homeless man named Micah. As a kid who grew up in a farm town, I never spent much time around homelessness, so meeting someone who lived on the streets was uncomfortable.

I didn’t have a neat and tidy compartment in which to place such an experience. So I did what most people would do: I walked away.

I ignored the man, at first pretending I didn’t see him and then downright dismissing him. My friends and I had plans for the evening; we were going to check out the city’s nightlife. We didn’t have time for vagrants. We told Micah we’d come back later (we were lying).

“Will you be here tomorrow?” my friend asked.

Micah shook his head: “I could be here, there, I could be anywhere — I could be DEAD tomorrow.”

The statement shocked me, but I wasn’t affected enough to actually do anything. So I walked away. As I did, Micah started screaming at us, begging for help. My pace quickened, and Micah’s shouts got quieter in my ears, all the while growing louder in my mind.

The faster and further I went, the more I could hear his voice. It was unbearable.

Finally, I stopped. Handing my backpack to my roommate, I told him there was something I had to take care of. And I did what I didn’t want to do: I turned around. I’m not sure why; I just knew I needed to. And what happened next changed my life.

I treated Micah to a McDonald’s hamburger meal. As he stuffed his face with fries and drenched the partially-chewed food with his drink, I tried to talk to start a conversation.

At first, he just listened, but then he spoke up, asking me why I came back. I told him I had to. That I couldn’t really explain it, but just knew I needed to turn around. Then he told me something that I’ll never forget:

“You are the only one.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’ve been standing on that street corner for months, and you are the only one who stopped.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I refused to accept it. However, he insisted it was true.

After about an hour, Micah and I shook hands and parted ways. I never saw him again. But I was never able to look at a homeless person — much less anyone in need — the same way again.

Inciting incidents

Sometimes, that’s all it takes to change a story. A simple change of mind. One act that alters the course of your life forever. Turning around when you’d rather run away.

Think of the stories you grew up with. Star Wars. Lord of the Rings. Catcher in The Rye. Casablanca. The Matrix. In each and every epic that moves us, there is an element of surprise, some unexpected turn that sends the hero on a journey.

Storytelling experts call this the “inciting incident.” It’s the event that calls a character, often unwillingly, into a larger story. And it is always uncomfortable.

The word, “incite,” means to stir into action, and that’s what all great stories do. They change us in some way, make us move. And it’s not enough to believe in a good story; you also have to live one.

Whether we realize it or not, we all are storytellers. With the lives we are living and the risks we are, or aren’t, taking, we are crafting a narrative for eternity.

For those who would dare to live differently, the road before us is not the path of least resistance. It’s scary and costly, full of unexpected twists and turns. But on this jagged journey, we find the one thing we’re searching for: meaning.

Answering the question

For years, I never understood why I didn’t have stories like my dad. But now I do. There was one difference between my childhood and his: risk. It wasn’t until I encountered this truth — that without conflict a story is incomplete — did my life change.

All our favorite films and books are telling us the same thing: Safety is not what you were made for.

Most of us want our lives to matter, but few are living differently. Why is this? Because we’re afraid of the cost (I know I am). We know that it’s only in the throes of danger that men and women become heroes. And this scares us (as it should).

But we must consider the cost of not risking safety and comfort. Where would Middle Earth be if Bilbo Baggins had never left the Shire? What would have become of a galaxy far, far away if Luke Skywalker stayed on the farm? In our own lives, there is a similar question.

I pray you have the courage to answer it.

If this resonates with you, check out Tell Me a Story, a new book by Scott McLellan, on Amazon (affiliate link).

Website Maintenance

We’re currently transferring domain registrars for my blog, so if things look funny, give us a few days to work things out. In the meantime, you can find my on Tumblr or read the archives through this web archive. Filed under: Writing