To stand out, you need to be authentic.
“You need to be authentic” “You need to stay true to yourself” “Your followers are not following your company, they’re following you. The more personal your posts, the more empathy and engagement you will get.” “To be authentic, it means sharing your true self with your network.” Everyone tells you all of that and more. Yet, what does it even mean? Going a bit deeper than just “it means to be yourself”. Authenticity in business is more than just one thing. It’s a set of attributes that come…
“We’re trained to give ourselves up to be accepted.”
That’s why to be authentic feels like a threat. Check this short video ???? Founder of Metahelm, Guillaume Wiatr, had this to say: “We’re trained to give ourselves up to be accepted.” This resonates big time and explains why authenticity is a scary threat and, therefore, why it requires courage, strength, and honesty to find who we are.” They’re right. And this is why —especially with soloists, freelancers, indies— it becomes so fucking hard to say “No” to bad fits, to red flags. Because we…
The opposite of a good idea
Let me know what —to you— the opposite of a good idea is? 🙂
How much bullshit can you drop?
Have you come across this type of vendor trying to sell you something that’s dressed quite nicely and redefined under a “new category”? When something is already known by you, you have a stand on it, and still they’re trying to convince you to buy? And, if you’re curious enough —or just want to poke around— you follow along and wanna see how much bullshit they’re trying to feed you? That’s the thing about pitching, presenting and convincing. It’s not about them (your customers), but about you…
Legally required
You’re not legally required to say yes to every prospect. You’re not legally required to give a quote. Not even to build a proposal. Definitely not, to play in their terms. So, when you see red flags, saying “No” won’t put you in a bad spot. Spend the best of your time in the customers you want to help and that 1) want help, 2) can afford you.
Is another good idea
The message from yesterday was asking “What’s the opposite of a good idea?”. A bunch of responses —myself included not long ago— said “A bad idea”. And it makes sense…. if we’re living in a world of dualities, win-lose, zero-sum, black and white. But that’s not the case. 🙂 Listening to this amazing conversation between Rick Rubin and Rory Sutherland, here’s what Rory said: “The opposite of a good idea is another good idea.” Because creativity (and originality) is not about beating the…
650
Here’s Billy. A specialized b2b expert in a very niched market. Yesterday, he got to sell a custom application (B) for a client as an added featured to another product (A). The costs of the materials of this added (B) application are $200. The price set, 650. Is this a good or a bad deal? . . . . . . . Your answer here. . . . . . . The price for the base instrument (A) is $ 16 000. . . . Still keep your thought of good / bad deal? Let me know what you think. PS. The main device (D) to where…
Getting some profit
650 in revenue with 200 in costs. It can be a good deal. If you think of covering your costs and get some profit. But here’s the thing. This is self-centered. It’s all about the seller. All about your costs. About your profit. It doesn’t take into account your customer. To what they value. To what they can find fair. Now move this same behavior to an expertise business. It doesn’t cost you anything: Thinking Coming up with new approaches Seeing things differently, Knowing how to do something…
Kryptonite
“What’s your weakness?” is a must question when interviewing for roles. It’s stupid. Just picture this. Superman is applying for a role at the Justice League. He gets the question: “So… What’s your weakness?” He knows. You know. I know. They know. It’s kryptonite. And what are they going to ask? “How can you improve your weakness against it?” What’s he going to do? “Well, when I see it, I’ll run away…?” See the ridiculousness of the question? (: Now, we’re not from Krypton. We’re humans….
Your own prison
A prison where you’re trapped —of your own making. That’s how Blair Enns describes pricing and the feeling of stagnation you might have —how you “can’t” raise your prices just like that. [You can also listen to it here] And he’s right. Traditional pricing (and how most of us have been taught on it) has to do with how we charge, based on what it costs us, and the extra (margins/profits) we’re supposed to make. This margin of what we’re supposed to make usually gets to be based on: what the…