Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
Guerrilla marketing (not the G word I’m referring to) only works when it has this element.
Surprising and delighting only leaves an impact when it has this element.
The products that are remarkable and the conversations that stick in one’s memory have this element.
Here’s a clue: It rhymes with benerosity.
Stay Positive & What Do You Have To Give?
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A few things happen when you interact with the right person.
Your art gets better. You talk about your work in a more articulate way. You keep the good stuff top of mind and you notice the areas for improvement. (Talking about your art is no different from reading an essay out loud. You pick up on the things that sound off or that you don’t actually stand by, then you change them to make it better.)
You inspire them. You get them excited about your idea and they get you to think deeper about how it can benefit them-it’s market research at its finest. The right person becomes a soundboard that will elevate your idea. (If someone says, “Have you ever thought of ____” They’re not trying to bring you down, they’re helping you. The best way you can ever respond? “Tell me more.”)
Lastly, they make you uncomfortable. They bring out a little fear and a little uncertainty. They make you a cocktail of excitement and anxiety. Nothing worth it comes easy and it definitely doesn’t come without a little worry. If the person you’re talking to doesn’t make you feel like you don’t have your shit together, then they’re not pushing you, not asking you to go further than what you’re asking of yourself and the “average” will stay the same. (And your goal is to raise the bar, the stakes, the average, right?)
If you think about it, anyone you interact with fills one of these qualifiers, making them someone worth interacting with.
That’s no mistake.
Stay Positive & Go Share Your Art, Talk About Your Work, Be Vulnerable
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Anger is self-destructive … when you share it.
If you’ve been stood up by someone or screwed over by a business, partnership or friend, please do not allow them the satisfaction of having your anger.
People will lie and steal from you, but they should not get your hate. To respond to their hate with anger would be to yield to the same ignorance that made them who they are.
Above everything, do not sacrifice your freedom for security; that’s what they want–for you to put your walls up, to scrutinize every person you interact with going forward and to live in fear.
By all means, keep your anger. Let it fuel you, but for good. Let it be the reminder to kill with kindness. Whatever you do, do not give them the satisfaction of having your hatred. They don’t deserve it.
Stay Positive & The Higher Ground Awaits
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Some people are terrible at reading others let alone a room full of others.
It’s not that they’re stupid, although that might be the reaction of those around them.
It’s more so a lack of empathy and effort to read the room.
I’m guilty of stupidly not reading the room from time to time. After all, it’s my moment to talk, to share and I care about what I’m saying. Alas, I forget that what I’m saying doesn’t matter if it falls on deaf ears.
More empathy. More effort. That’s all you need to get better at reading the room.
Stay Positive & Try It Out
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The more you vocalize where your attention is, the more those around you will focus on it, too.
If you complain how your business is suffering and how your brand is not being recognized, people will find ways that both are true.
If you mention how you notice when the floor is clean, staff are more likely to mop it before they close up shop.
If you tout how incredible your colleagues are, the more likely you’ll attract equally positive and motivated team members.
It’s no different then when you begin to think of a car you want and then you see it everywhere.
You attract what you put your attention to, and others focus on it, too.
Stay Positive & The Good And The Bad
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There are plenty of artists grabbing the low-hanging fruit.
It’s almost always the case that the artist goes after the short-term, the instant gratification project, the thing that gets them in the magazine now, not later.
An entire society supports that endeavor, too.
We’d rather have something to watch tonight and talk about tomorrow than to wait a year from now to talk about it. Maybe it won’t be as cool later? Risky.
No doubt, though, we need more artists who are in it for the long run. We need you to fight for the sweeping new process change, the giant “impossible” building that provides a better education to students and to use the half of a billion dollars for something better than a NFL stadium.
The artists we need are those in the long run, focused on crafting a legacy whether they get to experience it or not.
Stay Positive & Are You That Artist?
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Two ways to write better for your business.
1. Always have thesauraus.com open, then use it frequently to say what you want to say better.
2. Learn to speak about your business, then write what you say.
It’s the two-step process of what and how you write something about your business that makes all the difference.
Stay Positive & Yup, Words Still Matter (Now More Than Ever)
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