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It’s A Lie. Your Content Doesn’t Have To ALWAYS Be Great!

Entrepreneurship, Social Media, Video / By

You listen to a podcast, watch a video, jump on a webinar and hear the person in charge say, “This content is going to be great!” or “This content is going to be extremely valuable.” You dive in and 5 minutes later you’re still being promised great content.

If it’s a live webinar you’ll be blitzed with social proof that the content is spectacular, but you’re wondering if these people are on the same webinar you’re on – ’cause you don’t think the content is all that great.

You visit the iTunes page for the podcast and see many comments giving it 5 stars and think to yourself, “It’s okay, but I sure wouldn’t call it GREAT.”

A blog post that promised great content garners 60 comments and hundreds of Tweets, but you think to yourself, “It was okay, but it wasn’t anything special.”

Does any of that sound remotely familiar? Sure, we’ve all experienced that. And still we feel the pressure to make our blog posts, our podcasts, our videos, our webinars, our e-books, or anything else we touch…GREAT. If it’s not great, then scrap it. Don’t even think of putting your name to anything that isn’t great.

Who am I to challenge such a truth? You’re right, nobody. But I’m still going to challenge it because it’s wrong – and too many people believe it. It’s not only impractical, it’s impossible. And since when are we so discriminating that we don’t read, watch or listen to sub-par content? We all do it daily! Is every TV show you watch stellar? Is every ball game great? Is every book you read spectacular? Is every magazine or news article great?

Then why are we supposed to believe the lie that all our content must be great? Because some popular blogger gained traction with a single post that got on Mashable and now he claims every blog post he writes is filled with high value content. And he’s quick to remind us that his writing instrument is filled with pure gold while ours is full of flat-black ink. He’s special and if you want to be special, well – you’ll have to step up your game and provide great content every single time.

The truth is, you need to create. Deadline or no deadline. Who cares? To those who claim you can’t produce great content under a deadline, tell that to one of any number of great columnists who’ve been doing it for decades. Tell that to countless novelists who were pressed to meet a publisher’s deadline. Tell that to the bands who had a label breathing down their neck to get into the studio and record. Tell that to the cartoonists who must meet daily deadlines with a clever drawing and caption. Tell it to the reporter who lives with deadlines all day long.

When you’re creating regularly, you’ll stumble onto greatness every now and then. I’m not a betting man, but if I were – I’d wager that you’ll create more greatness in the process of creating then you’ll ever create by waiting until you’ve got greatness to share. Being prolific shouldn’t be based on making sure every single creation is great.

P.S. If you need any proof that I’m right, just click here.

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The Powers Of Pivot And Pursuit

Entrepreneurship, Video / By

Habits. The majority of our days are driven by them. They give us structure and structure gives us comfort.

Change is hard.

Improvement demands change though and even though we know that, still it’s hard.

Part of the Marine credo says…

To overcome, to adapt and to do whatever it takes
to complete the mission.

In business and in life, we have to learn to pivot knowing when and where to jump, to GO!

Books mentioned in today’s show include Pivot by Dr. Alan Zimmerman and The Go Point by Michael Useem.

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What’s Your Lifetime Value & How Can You Increase It?

Personal Development, Video / By

Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay held a press conference on Wednesday. Both men are very rich. Both men had successful fathers. I suspect both men will have a high monetary lifetime value. Peyton’s next contract is likely his last, and perhaps will be his highest!

Marketing folks often urge businesses to compute the lifetime value of a single customer. Today, I’m going to encourage you to consider your life in terms of lifetime value.

What do you think?

I’d love for you to share my shows with others. Tell a friend.

Thanks for watching!

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Don’t Be A Marketing Yawn: Competition, Scarcity, Abundance And Muscling Your Way To The Table

Entrepreneurship, Video / By

“There’s still room,” I said.

“You don’t think it’s too crowded, too competitive?” he asked.

“It may be, but if you find an area where nobody is working…there’s likely a good reason,” I replied. “And besides, we’re not talking about a high cost to enter and get started, and to find out if you can carve out your own corner.”

Competition is great. It’s fun. Sure, it’s good for consumers, but as a business person I enjoy it.

Mentioned in today’s show are three guys. They help illustrate that competition can be based on personality, approach and connectivity. One person isn’t going to effectively serve everybody shopping for a service or product…even if the niche is as narrow as podcasting. By the way, I like all these guys and admit I hope they’re all doing well because they all bring something special and unique to the space.

Daniel Clark – QAQN.com – Daniel is very involved in various Internet marketing areas, most notably affiliate marketing. He has his own unique style and personality. Don’t we all? He has his own unique circle of friends and acquaintances, too. Daniel is illustrative of just doing it. He produces shows and doesn’t let kid noise or anything else stop him. Wrap it all up and you’ve got Daniel’s unique approach to podcasting and coaching.

Cliff Ravenscraft – PodcastAnswerman.com – Cliff has a different story than Daniel or Mark. He dumped a career in insurance to pursue a dream of being a full-time paid podcaster. A wife, three kids and a mortgage – they’re all part of his story. But there’s more to his story. He’s got a religious background having served in various capacities with churches. He peels back lots of areas of his personal life. It’s part of his story and he’s very willing to share it. Cliff is a geek’s geek and you can tell he loves technology. Bundle all that together and Cliff has is own unique approach.

Mark Jensen – NewMediaGear.com – Mark is different yet. He doesn’t market himself as a podcasting coach or consultant, and frankly I don’t even know if he does it, but he’s in the space of podcasting having started a show years ago called PodSqod. He morphed that into New Media Gear some years ago and his show is just what the title says, it’s very focused on gear. Mark’s YouTube channel is popular with guys who suffer mic envy (ahem, I resemble that remark). Mark has broadcast radio experience and voice-over experience. He’s very technical when it comes to gear and hardware.

Three different guys. Three different approaches. Three different focal points and backgrounds. And guess what? There are plenty of others I didn’t mention. I think there’s room for these and others because one-size-doesn’t-fit-all.

Competition helps us become better. As Jack Welch often said during his tenure at General Electric, “Get better or get beaten.”

Yes, I’m a strong proponent of competition and being competitive. That doesn’t mean I believe in scarcity. It means I believe in trying to be the very best, which necessarily means others are left in the dust.

 

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One Reason Why You Should Forgive

Personal Development, Video / By

What does forgiveness have to do with careers and business? Plenty, because the focal point of forgiveness is people, or a person.

Whether we’re injured or causing injury – it happens. Sometimes it’s intentional and malicious. I’d like to think that most of the time, it’s not. Maybe it’s just thoughtlessness, or selfishness.

The greater the harm or damage, the greater the effort to accomplish forgiveness. A commitment to harbor ill-will, bitterness, resentment and to seek revenge is exhausting. In business terms, it’s among the lowest ROI propositions going. And because the emotions that fuel it are so high, we often push headlong into bad behavior. Who cares if it pays? We desperately want what we want.

Everybody knows the feeling of wanting forgiveness. What if we could embrace that feeling and flip it over, using it to fuel a desire to forgive others?

I’m not saying it’s easy, but I am saying I think it might be worthwhile.

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If You Don’t Care Enough To Stay Focused

Leadership, Personal Development, Video / By

As a man in search of an epiphany I’m happy to share them when I get them. Especially since I don’t get them very often. 😉

Today’s show was prompted by a familiar story of a frustrated employee dealing with an erratic boss. It dealt with the boss’ control issues and his intense focus shifting to disinterest or indifference. Maybe you’ve experienced a boss like that yourself. I know I have.

But it got my wheels turning as I was working out at the gym. And BAM! I had an epiphany. So here it is.

Thanks for letting me share it with you.

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