Transactional
“We don’t do transactional, we do relationship with our clients.” Everything is transactional. They have different depths, dynamics and trade-offs. Are some business relationship something more, though? And here comes the thing: it’s not about the transaction itself, it’s about the meaning. And there are meaningful relationships. And others that are not. Which ones are the ones that will make YOU, and your customers grow? On which ones would you rather focus on?
The focus of transactional
It’s all about deciding —yes, making a choice where you have the power— where the focus of your business is. Short-term v long-term Serving v service What is v What could be It’s all about the potential (what your customers can realize. How they can thrive) you see. Then you’ll focus on what really matters to you.
Being the expert
Even if you don’t see yourself as THE expert, or the authority to be listened to in the work you do with your clients, THEY DO. Doing what they need might not be the best way to approach things. Doing what you want might not be either. Doing what they tell you is for sure a recipe for dissatisfaction. Here’s why While they’re experts in their business and at what they do, they’re not (in 99,9999% of cases) experts at what you do. If you don’t get to ask the right questions. If you only follow…
Don’t choose an enemy
Some say “You need to choose an enemy. This way you and yours will rally together and will make your brand meaningful. ‘Look at Patagonia. They fight climate change.'” Well intended. But bullshit. Patagonia is not focused on defeating climate change. Ryan Gellert, Patagonia CEO, sustains “We must use all the tools at our disposal to secure a safer, more just future.” A future. Opportunities… The difference between those 2 is simple. Fighting is built on a narrative of threats. This is a…
Defining an enemy
Here’s another example of the downside of “choosing an enemy”: introducing animosity. Fabian Geyrhalter Do you want to rally people up? Or to get them ready to war? One is about moving forward, the other, about winning/losing.
A vision over an enemy (or a monster)
It’s not about taking a stand against something —an enemy/monster— to change it. Does it help? Absolutely. It’s about defining what you see in a future without that enemy/monster. Reason 1. We humans can’t process the negatives.Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT think of a pink elephant. See? ????Focusing on a negative won’t last. Reason 2 What’s next after the enemy’s been destroyed? Your mission accomplished? Reason 3 What if the monster/enemy is only a symptom of something even bigger, larger? What…
Be original. (maybe)
What makes you stand out. Sure. Saying you have to be “original”, “authentic”, “focus on the experience” will do the job… of saying nothing, or put you in a place of analysis paralysis not knowing how to move forward and take action. Originality is an spectrum. If you’re thinking “But I got nothing new to say” or “It’s been already said before”, aka “It will (and by default, I) won’t be original”, you might be right. And to be original you don’t need to say something that is *always* new to…
Sampling
In music, sampling is the act of taking one bit of a song/audio media and putting it to a different use from its first intended context. It can go from different songs, like… Fatboy Slim’s Praise you. Grabbing tracks from different, already known songs. To Nirvana’s Smells like teen spirit. Grabbing drum beats from disco’s Gap Band. To Billie Eilish’s Australian crosswalk signal in Bad Guy All of them are original in their very own ways It’s more than just a copy. Even doing a cover, it’s…
If I do a job in 30 minutes…
“If I do a job in 30 minutes it’s because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes.” Nonsense. This whole argument assumes that to know something, it’s about the effort you put on. About the time you “spent” in learning the thing. How much it meant, in terms of effort, for you to do something. It takes that if something feels as simple as breathing to you, but not for others, it shouldn’t be valuable. Or that for it to be valuable, you…
Getting Paid for Years
Internet connection problems. So here’s a great article by Tim Williams on the same subject of expertise. 🙂 Getting Paid for Years – Ignition Group.
