In The Box Podcast

Episode 22: Stealing Ideas, Working With Narcissists, Making Art For Yourself And More – Podcast

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we took a stab at answer questions about making art for others or for yourself, one way to gain clarity when faced with a decision between two options, why people fear their ideas getting stolen, one way to handle a heavier workload (likely due to a promotion) and what to do when engaging with a narcissist. Enjoy.

Episode 22: Stealing Ideas, Working With Narcissists, Making Art For Yourself And More

Art – Make art for self or others?

Decisions – One way to gain clarity when confused about making a decision?

Stolen – Should people fear their ideas being stolen?

Responsibility load – What is one way to handle being given more responsibility (think like getting a promotion)?

Bonus – One way to deal with interacting with a narcissist?

 

Stay Positive & Remember to subscribe

No Is Free

It’s a curious notion how rejection is free.

It costs nothing to be told no. There are zero consequences to passersby doing what they’re labeled to do – pass by.

So it goes with hitchhiking or publishing a novel or booking a gig, all it takes is one person to ask you on board and the confidence begins to build.

Perhaps, though, picking yourself up, self-publishing and organizing an event to play at is more beneficial to one’s confidence than waiting to be picked.

After all, picking yourself is free too.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Wait For A Yes

They Show Up When You Do

Here are 9 thoughts I had earlier today when I tried writing the start of a new book.

1) I’m thirsty. I’ll get something to drink before I write.

2) I should probably shower and shave now so I don’t have to later. That way I can totally focus on writing.

3) I’m sorta sore. I think I’ll stretch.

4) This couch is comfortable. Maybe I’ll just lay back and think about what I’ll write for a minute or two.

5) I should eat something so hunger doesn’t interrupt my flow once I get going.

6) I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.

7) I wonder if anything interesting is on Facebook or if I got any snaps or I missed that my phone beeped with a message.

8) I’m thirsty again and I didn’t fill my cup with enough water.

9) I wonder what I’ll do after I’m done writing.

The little voices in your head, your fears, your excuses, whatever you want to label them – they show up when you do. Always. It helps to notice them and let them pass, but from my years of noticing them, it doesn’t make it any easier. However, letting them go and pushing forward with my art has always made it more worth it.

Don’t listen to the little voices in your head.

 

Stay Positive & Keep Doing Your Art

Unlocking Potential #16: Q&A With Chris Brogan

chrisbrogan-2014-Credit via Raul Colon

I have to admit, I squealed a bit when Chris’s assistant emailed me back stating Chris would be game for a Q&A as part of my Unlocking Potential series.

Chris is full of wisdom, insight, and complete passion when it comes to marketing and living life to the max. His way of working and writing has gotten me to expand my mindset to be a bit more okay with being a bit more weird.

As Chris would agree, weird is good.

Without further ado, please welcome, Chris.

Q: What’s your story in three sentences?

I started out by writing a blog that got more popular. I helped many businesses figure out how to be human at a distance. I continue to help people find ways to build their business by understanding where they belong and how they can better serve those people.

Q: Alright, that was rude of me. Use some more words to explain. How the heck did you build such a strong tribe?

I rarely need more words. The people who I’ve surrounded myself with are people who seek to be of service and who seek to connect others. Growing capabilities and connections. It’s an easy model.

Q: What have you come to find are the two or three most effective ways to get people to share a product, a story or a blog post with one another?

I find that people share what they feel resonates with them. Where most folks get it wrong is they seek numbers, not resonance. Why try to get “everyone” to see what you do? Share it with the folks who feel they belong in the circle with you. They are who want the information in the first place.

Q: What are three qualities you think every person aspiring to be a successful entrepreneur need to have? Why these three over all the other qualities?

I think entrepreneurs need to be service-minded, need to be brave, and need to be eager to share their resources at every turn where it makes sense. I think these three are great because they set up a simple framework for persistent growth of the self and of one’s networks.

Q: I asked John Saddington, who was my 11th Unlocking Potential interview, this same question. What is the biggest challenge you’re seeing today’s entrepreneurs facing?

I think most of the people calling themselves entrepreneurs are actually just people trying to make and sell things without the mindset of serving a particular group of people. They lead with the question “How can I make money” instead of “how can I help someone else succeed?”

Q: Would you tell about the most recent time you had faced a huge challenge yourself and how you did or didn’t overcome it?

I face challenges daily. I think the theme recently is, “Be willing to be even more humble and learn what you aren’t fully understanding.” That lesson keeps being introduced to my life, so I’ll keep learning.

Q: What are you afraid of? Really. Emotionally.

I’m afraid of sharks. I’m afraid of not being able to provide. I’m afraid that my ability to serve will somehow miss the people who most need what I can do to help.

Q: What are a few habits you’ve developed that were essential to your success?

I’m an expert communicator, so that serves me well. I’m very driven to produce. I’m very disciplined. Those really all help.

Q: What is something you haven’t shared with your tribe yet about yourself?

It’d be really hard to figure out what I haven’t shared. I’ll talk about anything. Poop. Sorrow. Depression. Whatever. I’m a fairly open book.

Q: Right now, in the present moment, what would you do or create if you had unlimited resources and time?

Another universe.

Q: Where can people find your remarkable work and what is the best way for someone to reach out to you?

I’m pretty easy going. chrisbrogan.com is a good enough place to start. Grab my newsletter and hit reply. I write back. 🙂

 

Stay Positive & Learn What You’re Not Fully Understanding

“Everyone else does it.”

Ugh. Just typing that title makes me cringe.

When we reason with it, we forfeit our freedom, we forfeit our desire to create, we forfeit exercising our brain to think about things differently.

When we go along doing, saying, thinking what “everyone” does, says, and thinks, we don’t just stand still ourselves, we don’t just stop our own momentum, we put the brakes of progress on all of society.

People die standing still. By rationalizing your actions on the basis of “everyone” doing it that way, your quickening that death for you and the community you’re now representing.

The only and best option, then, is to catch yourself, change your path, and do things differently.

 

Stay Positive & “Everyone” is almost always wrong.

*I used “Everyone” in quotations because “Everyone” is a specific group.

Thinking Harder May Not Be The Best Option

but thinking differently certainly could be. (Hint: it is)

The best writing, jokes, puns, speeches, services, projects, ads, advice, adventures, plans, business ideas… come from thinking about things differently. Of course, then you must apply action to the thought.

It’s unlikely your idea is original, but the real life creation and implementation of that idea is.

 

Stay Positive & See, Think, Do Things Differently

Unlocking Potential #14: Q&A With Rob Shapiro

Rob Shapiro

I’m glad I went down the path of Journalism as well as PR. Without my passion for journalism, I may not have come across Muck Rack, and, by extension, Rob Shapiro.

Rob does what everyone linchpin needs to do: connects, creates, and crushes it.

If you’re clicking into the Unlocking Potential series for the first time, you can always go back to read the past Q&As with remarkable people here.

Without further ado, welcome, Rob!

1) What got you into entrepreneurship? (What’s your story?) Why entrepreneurship?

I’ve always liked building things – especially things that people value enough to pay for. I don’t know the exact moment I started playing with LEGOs (my mom and dad definitely do), but they were certainly my first creative outlet. I started my first “business” around 7 years old when I bought a snow cone machine from SkyMall (R.I.P) and sold cups of flavored ice at neighborhood softball tournaments. My next venture was to design and create prototypes of a combination bookmark/glasses case.  By high school, I was designing and selling t-shirts that featured our school’s basketball players in unique situations (like our starting five as the heads on Mount Rushmore). Making things and selling them to people who wanted them was not only fun, but just seemed the logical thing to do.

The real entrepreneurial bug bit me during my freshman year of college (majoring in graphic design/communications). I was heading home for Thanksgiving and tragically left my computer on my dorm room desk. Sitting at the airport, I needed something to do. So I bought the book with the coolest looking cover I could find– Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. I finished the book in 24 hours and quickly realized I wasn’t thrilled with the direction my life was headed. I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be, and I absolutely could have been labeled as an emotional mess. At that moment (literally Thanksgiving night), I decided to transfer schools, focus my college studies on entrepreneurship, and build out my toolbelt with business and creative skills.  I wanted to be prepared for when I found my passion (whatever that proved to be), ready to cash in on something I truly loved.

2) A quick look at your LinkedIn/Muck Rack profile shows you’ve left a lot of breadcrumbs in the startup and marketing industry.  Where do you find your motivation to keep creating, keep connecting and keep making your mark?

I have a lot of energy and passion for achieving success.  But I still haven’t figured out exactly what being successful means. That makes it easier to continue trying to find opportunities and adding new tools to my entrepreneurial toolbelt. Frankly, I don’t know if I even want to have a definition of success. I’d rather keep hustling after the unknown.

3) What are some signs of a born entrepreneur? Any skills that define a destined business owner?

A long time ago, someone told me that you either build the product or you sell it. While there is some truth to that, I think that born entrepreneurs have an inherent knack for both.

Outside of that, it’s incredibly difficult to associate a specific skill with any enormous group of incredibly unique people. However, I think one of the skills successful entrepreneurs share is the ability to delegate. Most business owners understand they can’t do it all themselves.  Finding people who bring value to their organization or project is crucial for scaling anything.

They used to say in the civil war that the laziest people became generals because they often had great ideas but weren’t able or willing to go fight in the battlefield. I don’t think that’s directly related, but it’s a short story I’ve always found ironic and fascinating.

4) What are three habits every entrepreneur must develop to be successful in business?

There are a lot of smart, talented people in this world. I think what distinguishes entrepreneurs from everyone else is the ability to work harder, faster and smarter. If you learn how to hustle first, (the other two) more habits will come.

5) What do you regularly see entrepreneurs, business owners and startups fail to see and do? Essentially, what’s preventing them from being successful?

I don’t think there is enough true dogfood-ing going on in most businesses. A lot of entrepreneurs see a market need, fill it with their product, think their job is done and that the solution will continue meeting their customer’s needs. When a product is adopted into the market and the initial problem is solved, the customer’s needs continue developing and the product should too. For continued development, it is so important to sit down with those using the products and truly understand that user’s story (why/how they’re using the tools).

I know we’re all so busy, but it’s something I think more people could dedicate time toward in their day-to-day. It’s proven to be insanely valuable for me and actually saves me time in the long run. Knowing my customer definitely helps me make better decisions more quickly.

6) Do you have a business or life motto you follow?

You never know what you’re best at and capable of until doing until you try.

I’d still like to find out if I’m a really good NASCAR driver, I’ve just never had the chance. I always love a good challenge because it’s an awesome opportunity to find out about a new skill I didn’t know I possessed or identify an area where I could be stronger.

7) For readers who are unsure what their muse is, what would you suggest they do to find it?

Learn how to be alone. It sounds a bit depressing at first, but you can learn quite a bit about yourself if you’re willing to be your own wolfpack once in a while. Don’t be afraid to eat a meal by yourself without checking your phone every few minutes. Find a time to grab a coffee and stare out the window and have some serious “me time” to let ideas and thoughts bubble up to the top of you brain. Giving those thoughts consideration, no matter how obscure, can be quite energizing and quickly can provide a spark that can start your fire.

8) What makes a business or even a public relations or branding strategy remarkable?

This is a tough question to answer, because there are a ton of remarkable strategies out there. I think a commonality between them is that they are well thought out with the eventual customer in mind. Sometimes it’s so easy to think about good ideas for a business, but if that idea doesn’t resonate with your customer, it’s not gonna provide the needed bang.

For PR strategies, I think it’s all about providing value. Our company, for example, ultimately should be providing value to both the journalist and that journalist’s audience (hopefully their customer). Whenever providing value for someone else – in any facet of their life – it’s far easier to build real relationships. Real relationships quickly translate to customers.

9) What is the best way a business owner can get coverage by the press? Could you share an example of a business that did it right and got the spotlight?

Try your very best to build real, human relationships with journalists and people that can help tell your story. It shouldn’t be terribly different than any other facet of your business. You probably try to build real relationships with your customers. Why not do the same for the people that help you communicate those very same customers?

I constantly see business owners and PR people who assume their company’s unique story is that they’ve started a business. When you’ve got a unique founder or a product that’s truly first to market, that may work. For everyone else, we need to be more creative. If your business helps connect two groups of people that otherwise wouldn’t have found each other, you may be better off sharing the details of their success stories, rather than the fact that you’ve been trying to start this business for the last X years.

10) How do you make sure the best results are always achieved in what you do?

I put a lot of emphasis on instincts and critical thought. Instincts help you make decisions quickly and on an emotional level. To balance that, thinking critically about those emotions and instincts can be a logical and rational process. With that balance, I find that I’m able to quickly assess situations, be it from previous experience or foreseeing potential future events, and justify those ideas with more traditional and rational logic.

That being said, I’ve learned a ton on this from everyone I work with at Muck Rack – specifically our co-founders Greg Galant and Lee Semel as well as our Senior Vice President, Natan Edelsburg. When I first started at the company, I too believed that I always needed to produce the absolute best/perfect results (I’m definitely part perfectionist). They were quick to push me in directions that asked for less perfection and more experimentation. Instead of searching for the best idea that I assumed would produce perfect results, I’ve learned (and still work on) creating multiple ideas with various inputs and outputs, to produce a multitude of results. It’s a rather awesome process as we often find a few ways of accomplishing goals and producing multiple “best results.”

11) I know you well enough to know you’ve got a list of ideas and projects you would like to see to fruition in the future. What’s the project you would start first if you had all the resources available for it?

You’re absolutely right, and I’m incredibly lucky to be working on the team that gets to see Muck Rack to fruition every day – something I don’t plan on stopping for a while. I am a bit of a dreamer. I am constantly coming up with different ideas, but I’d actually prefer to think about who I’m working with, rather than what I’m working on. I want to work with the best – no matter what they do.

If you absolutely made me answer this question, I’d keep doing everything that I’m doing today, and start putting together some plans for a vineyard with an awesome selection of pickles and olives. I really love pickles, olives and wine.

12) Lastly, how can people connect with you? There a place people can go to see what you’re up to? Any way readers can show their support for you? (Shameless self promotion here)

Absolutely, I’m based in New York City and always down to grab a beer or cocktail to chat about any and all ideas.

I also use the internet to build relationships with people. You’ll find my Twitter account is a bit more Muck Rack/business focused.  If you’re interested in that world, follow me at @rob_shap. If you want to get to know me as me, head over to my Instagram account.

If you’re curious about what we’re working on at Muck Rack, want to chat through your companies PR strategies and how to build better relationships with journalists online, shoot me an email at rob@sawhorsemedia.com.

Definitely do not be shy (especially if you like pickles).

 

Stay Positive & Go Create Real Value For Real Relationships