Life Lesson

The smartest thing one can do after reading a book is to act on the newly obtained information.

Too often we read books that are meant to propel us in our career, in our love life, in our world, but don’t because we remain inactive after we close the cover.

While we have every intention of putting an authors advice to work, we more often think about the next book we’re going to read and all the things we have yet to do today.

Better, I believe, to take 5 minutes and apply the knowledge you just spent time acquiring (before it is forgotten).

It’s not to say your action needs to be taken at work. It can be as simple as sharing the knowledge in a blog post or calling a friend who you think the knowledge can help.

You can’t call yourself a professional if you don’t do the reading.

You can’t call yourself an artist if you don’t find an application for what you have read.

 

Stay Positive & You’re An Artist, Right?

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The key to being a success isn’t waiting for the largest opportunity to get in front of as many people as possible; It’s choosing a craft that you’re happy to do when the seats are empty.

The gut check of any artist is if no one shows up, do you still perform?

If the answer is no. It’s time to go find your real passion.

We’re told when we’re little that the true test of our character is what we do when no one is watching.

The true test of our passion is what we do when no one is willing to watch.

Do you still perform?

 

Stay Positive & People Show Up After You Do, Not Before

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It’s easy to believe we only need to try something once to get a decent understanding of it.

You don’t need to watch a movie twice. Watching it for the first time will leave enough of an impact on you.

You don’t need to try brussels sprouts a second time. It only takes one test to know you don’t care for them.

We often take this idea of firsts into our marketing: no need to market for second chances.

The reality is that there is so much marketing around getting people to try something once (sampling programs) and tactics to get people who love a brand to keep coming back (rewards programs) that there’s now a massive opportunity to market trying something a second time.

If you think about it…Most people who watch a movie a second time catch subtleties in the film that they appreciate. They find value in having that knowledge and they share it with friends to gain a bit of their respect. Then, all the sudden, that movie becomes their new next favorite.

As for the sprouts…I’ve never met someone who said they love brussels sprouts who has always loved them. It has always been, “I used to hate these things, but now I love them.”

There’s a massive opportunity to market seconds.

 

Stay Positive & You Don’t Need To Change The Product Either, Just Tell A Different Story

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Relevance isn’t a destination.

Each day your target is changing. They’re voicing what they care about. They’re sharing what they’re doing differently today than they were yesterday.

What’s relevant today may not be relevant tomorrow.

It’s our job as marketers to remain relevant, not just be relevant.

 

Stay Positive & Smart Brands Follow The Relevance

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There’s a lot of data you can print out on an excel sheet about a target. There’s plenty of data you can research online. Plenty you can read about at the public library.

What lends power to the accessible data is the less accessible data.

Why is this person part of this tribe? What are they struggling with? How do they want to feel? What are they trying to change (or feel good about not changing, which is more often the case)?

While it helps to converse with enough of the target to learn these variables, I don’t think it’s necessary. In fact, it sometimes removes you from the emotional connection you gleam from having an objective and removed perspective.

Key insights can be attained from a room full of those who are willing to see past their own world views and sink their teeth into the culture of a tribe they’re not part of.

When you look at a tribe rather than an individual, you’re able to remain a step removed and see trends. After all, as marketers, you’re rarely trying to understand just one person, nor are any two people exactly the same even if they are part of the same tribe.

Once you understand why a tribe exists, you can begin to give to them what will resonate.

 

Stay Positive & “Give” Is The Key Word There, Not “Market To”

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Have you ever wondered what a person who you’re meeting for the first time could be looking for in conversation from you?

We network, ask what others do for a living, talk about the weather and the turnout of attendees at the event, but it’s rare we get to the grit of why we’re there – we want to be understood.

We have two actions we can take at a networking event or anywhere we’re meeting new people for the first time.

We can stand around waiting for someone to talk to us and to understand what struggle we’re dealing with related to why we’re at the event.

Or we can remove our concerns from the equation and recognize the struggle of others.

At an event filled with lawyers, loan officers and entrepreneurs I was in search of what would make the lawyers tick. What’s their struggle? After enough prodding, I asked the right question. “Do you work with the three-tier system in Wisconsin?”

Ding ding ding.

From there the conversation cruised, the connection solidified and I made a legal friend to quote in stories and consult.

Sometimes networking isn’t all about what we can give to others.

I had no way of making this guy’s life any easier. I had no answers for him.

Sometimes networking done right is just listening and caring about the struggle of others.

 

Stay Positive & Embrace The Struggle

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You can quickly crash if you’re in pursuit of gaining momentum in specific areas.

Building your momentum by body building, upping the weight regularly and constantly, your body will eventually break and reject any more forward movement.

Building your momentum at writing is capped by the time in the day and your ability to stay awake. There’s a point where you can’t gain any more momentum.

In terms of time invested, too much of a specific good thing can quickly become a bad thing.

When you think about building momentum at work. It can’t be specific to one client, one line of tasks, one particular area.

You build momentum at work by rolling as many snowballs down the hill as you can. You build momentum in your health by exercising, eating right, sleeping right, meditating, and stretching.

Although I only write one blog post a day instead of each day writing one more than the last, I’m still building momentum in writing because I not only write one blog post a day, but I free write, I write social copy for clients, I write newsletters, I write emails, I write recommendations. I’m in pursuit of writing momentum, not an exact momentum in one of the listed areas.

The momentum you want to be after is the big picture movement, the overall momentum; not the specifics.

 

Stay Positive & Run The Gamut (That’s Momentum)

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