So, you show how great work you do and…
What to say when you’ve been ghosted. You made your proposal, sent it and… are still waiting for a reply —that might or might never arrive. Here’s what Blair Enns has to say about this and I’ve found right on point. You might wanna give it a shot. What it does It labels the situation as neutral and takes off the guilt of the other parties to say No. It asks for a detached answer, to a simple fact. It gets you out of the desperation reek when trying to get a reply. You come out as gracious…
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.
Does great work really matters?
The common advice is that, if you do “great work”, you’ll close more deals or that this “great work” will make you stand out —which will automatically bring you clients that value what you do. However, the only ones who can tell good enough on the outside from “great work” are your peers. On the other hand, the ones who can tell work that delivers and brings results on what your clients expect, are your clients. And they fund your mission. While “great work” is a nice way to say what you do…
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?
Great work is not what makes people hire you.
Really. You’ve seen this: “We do great work.” Have you ever seen anyone coming and saying: “We do shit work. Hire us. We’ll make you fail.”? Of course not. It’ll be ridiculous. Of course you want to do great work. Who would not? (taking you actually care about your customers and business). And good-fits for you are customers who actually don’t (really) care about how great work you do, but how great is the transformation you help them go through. Just think about this: If “great work” is what…
The marketing way to do marketing
Give as much as you can, at scale, to help the ones you serve. Write, speak, present, podcast… you choose. As friend-of-the-list Jonathan Stark says: “Help people you like get what they want.” Helping is the only way to do marketing. PS.- While I’m at it, if writing is one thing that grabs your interest, Jonathan is launching Email365 this upcoming monday (Nov 14th) —he’s actually guilty of me being in your inbox everyday for the last 349 days and counting. It’s a game-changer.
PSA
For fun to keep being fun, you also need to take some good rest when needed. Just your friendly reminder that work is part of life. Take a small break. Enjoy. Then go back to it.
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…
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…
Focusing on them is not forgetting about yourself
A few responses to a part of 3 Myths of personal brand were —in the background— asking: if it’s all about them/others… when do i get to think about me? Such a great question. Spoiler alert: It is not an either-or option. Here’s why While speaking to your customers, thinking of ways they can get help into what they’re after doesn’t mean you forget about yourself. On the contrary, it enables you to be more focused and scale your impact. To know what kind of “them” you want to think of starts…