What if
Asking this is to exercise constraints. Unlike what many people think —that to be creative, you need to have freedom— when you’re restrained is when you get to be more creative. Asking “What if” helps in thinking broadly. And that’s the first step. After that, saying “But this is all I have” will set you in a game of constraints. Where you get to push yourself on how to do things different. And depending on how these things get to be different, your approach will be more or less creative.
The less you know…
The more knowledge and more imagination, more originality. How do you get to know more? By knowing less. And then diving deeper. Deepening your expertise. Specializing. Seeing the patterns. With that, you know “What is” and all you have to do after that is ask yourself “What could be?” Start with this: what if?
The (un)curse of knowledge
The curse of knowledge. It’s assuming others know what you know (because you get that all backgrounds and understandings are shared). What if you had an un-curse of knowledge? Not assuming that others know what you know, but bring them something that comes from your background and understanding to help them better understand it themselves. That would become a gift. Philip Morgan calls it a Free Gift of Knowledge. A live test to the market on what you can offer as you specialize. I’m making a…
Laser-focused or Loser-focused?
What’s the thing you’re focusing on when running your business? The goal to get to? Or what others are doing in your same space, so you “don’t lose”? One can take you to new heights. The other one, only down. To zero.
Fill in the blank. By Tanya Moushi.
Today, this is brought to you by daily emailer and amazing writer Tanya Moushi. She’s got it right. Fill in the blank I feel excellent about myself when I ______________. I feel like shit every time I ______________. I’m ready to finally let go of _______________. I’m going to finally explore _______________. I’m extra grateful for ____________. This one is so full of gold and self-reflection. Perfect for preparing yourself for the next year.
3 myths of personal brand
“This is me. These are my values. This is my personality” → Me, Me, Me. It’s focused on you and not on the ones you serve. How are you to be of service and help, if you’re the most important person in the room? “You’re the product” → If you’re a product… then you have no conscience. No morals. No ethics. Because a thing can’t have those. A person does. 🙂 “You build a brand” → Not. Your customers build a brand for the business to thrive.
How not to stand out
When it’s all about yourself (and your brand), it’s hard to stand out. When you get to think —like, really think— of your customers, it changes it all. You don’t show up to sell, but to help them to buy.
From clarity to others
Thinking of “them” —your customers— comes from clarity. It’s how you choose to make a greater impact in your market. It’s about how you can focus on them so that you better serve them. It’s not about how great work you do, how cool you are, how awesome your brand is. (It helps, sure…) While you choose based on your personality, values, interest, access and more, the focus of your business is not you. It’s your customers. Being “others-focused” doesn’t take you off the equation —or means you…
Quantifying fun
How can you quantify the fun you’ll have in a project, so that when thinking of “them” doesn’t become a chore —or a long agony on what to write, how to approach, how to help? Quantifying fun In doing so, you’ll be able to see if the project is worth it and if you have interest in pursuing it. Plus, if you’re ready for the long game on the same type of projects. At its simplest, it’s 5 axis: Impact, Profit, Fun, Access and Credibility. ImpactWhat’s the impact on your clients. Is it a BIG…
Legacy branding
Legacy branding is all about bells and whistles. How YOU or your company —or worse, agencies— build “winning” brands. Because when you have a “winning” brand, you’ll stand out and everyone will care for it. That’s not the case. I have some bad/good news here: People don’t care about your brand. Your customers don’t care about your brand. They care about how they can get what they want —and if your business can help them transform and get delighted, they’re all in. Businesses can’t (and don’t)…