Two Ways To Succeed

Two Ways To Succeed

Hustle & Endurance

Some successful entrepreneurs, writers, artists are hustlers. They beat the competition because they work harder, faster, smarter. They give themselves short deadlines they never miss. They run laps around their competitors.

The other successful method is endurance. If you can just outlast your competitors, you will succeed. People who blog every day for four years, manage to host a podcast seven days a week, write a book each year, they succeed because they have built themselves to survive.

Both methods have their tribulations. The challenge is choosing which is true to you, your energy, your passion.

 

Stay Positive & Choose, Then Run With It

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Dana Arnold – On Her Soapbox

Dana ArnoldIt takes less than a minute in the same room as Dana Arnold to hear her signature laugh and see her contagious smile. Behind the smile is a high-powered woman and thought leader who started her own public relations practice at 25 and is currently the Director of Public Relations and Social Media at Hiebing, an integrated marketing and brand development firm in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I’ve always known PR is what I wanted to do,” Dana says, dressed like a CEO, but with her dark brown hair let down. After completing internships while at John Carroll University, she landed a gig at Akhia, a small PR agency in Ohio. Her first full-time boss, Jan, became one of her idols. Today, a photo of Jan rests on a desk shelf in Dana’s office at Hiebing. The photo reminds Dana how great it was to have a boss who is skilled at finding great talent and helping them understand how valuable they are to the agency.

“She taught me how to lead with empathy, to care as much about individuals as the work they are doing,” Dana says. “People don’t work for companies, they work for people. That’s how loyalty is created.”

After three years of learning and building loyalty, Dana moved to Arizona where her passions for food, cooking and restaurants could be combined with her PR skills. In Scottsdale, Arizona, hospitality is big business. Openings of new restaurants and hotels happen every week, building the tourism market and making the market extremely competitive. Dana stepped in that market to create a buzz around businesses that would have difficulty doing so on their own.

At age 25, Dana started Soapbox PR. “Ignorance is bliss,” she says while laughing. At the time she was building her business, her business coach Troy Henson, who was with Be! Coaching, recommended reading the E-myth. The myth is the mistaken belief that a business is started by someone with phenomenal business skills, when, in fact, most are started by those who may know little about running a business, but push forward anyway.

“80 to 85 percent start their own business by saying ‘I can do this on my own, I can do this better on my own, and make money on my own. I got this.’ Which is totally how I was,” Dana says. “What they don’t realize is that starting a business is 1/3 of the work.” They forget they have two other jobs of getting new clients and being a manager of people, according to Dana.

Dana was lucky she enjoyed seeking new clients, kickstarting projects, building new relationships, and everything that goes into the action of getting new clients. As for the action of managing people, she learned something vitally important along the way.

“Initially I subscribed to the notion of ‘I want to hire people I don’t have to manage.’ And that’s just stupid,” Dana says. “[Now] the people I want on my team are those who want to be pushed, want to be given feedback, and want to know what they should be doing different or better… I learned that coming out of the gates.”

While any entrepreneur learns plenty on their own, a mentor is vitally important when starting a business, according to Dana. “Whether you’re a business of one person or 20 people, if you are the head of that business, you are the end of the line, and it’s a stressful place to be,” Dana says. “There was no doubt I was going to continue to climb, but the coach helped me spike and not let the valleys get as deep as they could have if I didn’t have someone to help me there.”

Four years later, Soapbox PR merged with Olson Communications and Dana acquired the title of vice-president. Three years after the merge Dana admitted what many confess when they stop learning. “I was bored,” Dana says. “I don’t know how to explain it any other way.”

Dana came to an agreement with Olson Communications that she would retain the restaurant-related clients for her own independent PR practice called BigKitchen Marketing.

Through her endeavors, Dana learned three main qualities to seek in a work partner. Are they cheap? Are they good? And are they fast? In order to have a successful partnership, you need to pick someone who excels at two of the three qualities, according to Dana. This trifecta framed Dana’s decision-making process of whom to work with.

“I have a client who’s asking for turnaround tomorrow so I can’t work with this guy who is slow as molasses, as cheap as he is or as good as he is. So I’ll go over here to someone who is more expensive, but good and fast,” Dana says. “And some people are only one of the three and you need to get rid of them.” Ultimately it is through trial and error where you figure out who you will ultimately partner with. As with any solo endeavor, there are limitations to what you can do alone.

At Hiebing, Dana found her home, her family, the place where she wouldn’t get bored, wouldn’t need to do things alone, and where she could always learn from others. Not only is Dana on the management committee at the agency, but she is also on the board of directors. “I’d like to think that I play a key role in helping to define our culture, growth trajectory and financial success because of this,” Dana wrote in email. While at Hiebing she gets to mentor aspiring marketers and entrepreneurs, she is also in an environment where she continues to learn.

Dave Florin, president of Hiebing, taught Dana the importance of feedback. “Accountability is so important,” Dana says, reflecting on the lessons from Dave. “It showcases that you care about somebody when you give them feedback.” Feedback also means observing if someone is trying their hardest. “[When] they are selling themselves short of what they are capable of, not realizing their full potential,” Dana says. “That drives me bonkers.”

Today, Dana continues to stretch her capabilities and excel at her role at Hiebing by seeking out new challenges. She dances on the line of being the teacher and the student. Above all, despite her superpowers, Dana continues to be human and makes mistakes.

“The ones that bother me the most are the ones where I thought I should do something, but I didn’t make the time to do it and I regretted it on the other side,” Dana says. “If I only would have spent the five minutes to make the phone call or 10 minutes on a conversation about the thing I just thought of. It’s the little things.”

Two photos of her boys, Frankie (8) and Dominic (6) on her desk shelf and the several hours Dana says she works begs one of the most important questions of a PR pro who has had a habit of putting in 60 hours of work a week: How do you balance work and life?

“Work life balance is what you make it,” Dana says. “I used to sweat the balance, but when I was at South-by-SouthWest (an interactive conference held in Austin, Texas) I saw a panel of female executives, and one of them said to stop talking about balance. It makes you feel like you’re on a teeter-totter. It’s not work-life balance. It’s work-life blend.”

Dana has stopped worrying what other people think her balance looks like and now concerns herself with the blend that works for her, her husband Keith, and her kids. “I checked the box this past year getting over what I should be doing to what feels right,” Dana says.

There is no doubt Dana will continue to climb the PR ladder, to do what feels right, and expose herself to more growing and learning opportunities. “You attract what you are passionate about,” Dana says.

 

Stay Positive & Takes All You Can From This Profile Piece

The What Will Change, Will You Let It?

The What Will Change, Will You Let It?

Startups

I’ve learned from a friend, founder of Bicad, that while the why, where, when, and how of a startup needs to stay the same, the what can often change. And that’s okay. It should…at first.

When you’re resistant to changing your what, you’re preventing yourself from growth, and ultimately success.

Many startups start with the mindset at being remarkable at one thing, their thing, and that’s it. The reality is as they grow and connect with others, clients will ask for different things.

The challenge of startups is to not stretch too thin by taking on whatever is asked, but at the same time not dispel the common needs of potential clients.

It’s much more difficult to instill a need than it is to fulfill a need that is already there.

 

Stay Positive & Find The Best What

Second Best

Rather than quitting, burning the manuscript, scrapping the design because it’s not perfect, not exactly what you wanted, not what you promised, what else could you do with your project?

The business model you began building, but never completed, could you put it online anyway? Perhaps someone could work off it. Perhaps it will inspire someone. Perhaps it would show people you’re onto something and they may start waiting to see what else you share.

The novel you started writing, but didn’t finish. Maybe you can manage writing a conclusion regardless it’s not where you wanted the conclusion to be, and shipping it. Someone may read it and be impressed. Someone may feel confident in shipping their own work because they saw you still did.

Shipping something that’s your second best can still be a place of inspiration, of growth, of connecting with others. When you know you won’t finish with a first place project, consider shipping a second best version.

Two benefits of second best:

1) There’s no resentment, no regret, no disappointment for not finishing and shipping your art.

2) Instead of sitting on the project, waiting to be inspired to finish it, you can just move on.

 

Stay Positive & Move On, Move Forward

They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

Conversations And Opinions Change

Richard Branson. Bernadette Jiwa. Chris Brogan. These idols of ours, they weren’t always this remarkable, this flawless, this all-knowing, this helpful.

Jump back to page 400 of Seth Godin’s blog and notice how different the style of writing is.

Listen to the first few podcasts of Debbie Millman or James Altucher and notice how different their conversations are.

Watch some of Tim Ferriss’s old YouTube videos compared to what he rolls out today.

They weren’t always the way they are now. Through falling, failure, and feedback, they’ve come a long way. However!

If we asked any one of our idols if they are happy with where they are at, they would say there is still room for improvement, that they’re still tweaking things, still trying new ways of communicating, of growing.

The way they are now won’t be the way they are 20 months from now either.

You can’t glide at remarkable, you can’t plateau at incredible, you can’t pause at excellent. These labels are only stamped on those who keep moving forward. It doesn’t do anyone justice when we just accept that someone is talented.

Nor does it do us justice to think we can’t also work to where our idols are at now. They’ve made it to remarkable and work to stay that way. Why can’t/shouldn’t/won’t we?

 

Stay Positive & Let’s Do It

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[The Important] Steps To Building A Business

1) Build your business backwards

Why do you exist? What is your mission? How can you see your mission changing from when you start it to five years from now?

2) Trash the map

But still set goals. You don’t need an exact step-by-step plan. Why? If you didn’t know already, plans change. They always change.

3) How you sing in the shower

is typically the voice that will resonate best with people. It makes you vulnerable, humble, and human. You need to have a voice that sets you apart.

I also suggest dressing the same way each day, too. Steve Jobs built his image around the black turtleneck, jeans and white shoes. Seth Godin has his bald head. And I have my hair. Here’s a good read on this.

4) Clear the fog

Be forward with potential clients and customers. Tell them exactly what you can do for them. Be sure it’s remarkable. Don’t hold back, but still find ways to go the extra-mile.

5) Wear cologne

People can smell your enthusiasm, your excitement, your passion. If you don’t have those characteristics, you’re not doing what you really love. Anyhow, a great chunk of what fills customers with joy is simply seeing you filled with it. Use them as a mirror.

6) Acquire a dislike for vanilla

Do what others are not. Try what others have not. Dream like anything is possible, because it is.

7) Don’t get attached

Be ready to change, adapt, and overcome. You can prepare for this by returning to step #1.

8) Stay Positive

It always works out. But more importantly, it always works out for those who keeping working at it.

 

Stay Positive & Start Incorporating These Steps Now

Movement Tells A Story

Story Ladder

What you’re passionate about doesn’t necessarily come easy. No matter if you’re doing what you love or not, you’re still climbing a ladder, trying to reach the top, trying to make progress.

Creating art is a method of taking on problems from an outer level with complete focus and forming them into an almost subconscious solution process that allows you to then focus on the next problem. Each step of the ladder presents a new problem to solve. At face value, it’s not enjoyable, not fun, but what sets an artist apart from others who climb is that they find a way to love the process, to enjoy the struggle.

We build value in ourselves when we climb the ladder, when we accomplish goals, when we are moving. When we stop moving up the ladder to say “look at me now,” we tell the wrong story. Humans are inclined to see narratives where there are none because it can afford meaning to our lives, Cody Delistraty at The Atlantic writes. Storytelling when standing still is an oxymoron. It doesn’t resonate well, it doesn’t inspire, it doesn’t tell the message you really want to be telling.

People view you differently when seeing where you’re at now, compared to where you’re going. Sure, saying where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished and how you got to where you’re at now can be remarkable, but only if people know there is more to come from you; that where you decided to stop and shout down is not the highest you will climb.

Movement tells a story, and people die standing still.

If tasks start seeming easy, if you tackle all your problems subconsciously, if there’s no longer need to focus, no struggle with a problem, it means you’ve stopped climbing, that you’re standing still.

 

Stay Positive & Is That Really The Story You Want To Tell?

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