Archive of posts from December 2019

How much traffic does your website get?

Wrong question. Your website isn’t a highway, is it?

Rather, it’s a place designed to help a very particular type of person solve a very particular type of problem.

How often do you treat them as people, instead of traffic?

I am not an “audience”

We want to be acknowledged when we talk to people, whether it’s a business who can help us or an old friend. We want them to know where I’m going, and want to help us get there. We are not just an “audience”, but individuals. The more you make your message hyper-relevant to each person, the more each person will want to have a conversation with you.

I like feeling special, too

Hand-written letters don’t have measurable ROI. Personal videos aren’t particularly scaleable. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider them.

We’re humans. Not robots. We choose what will help us move forward, but we also choose what we like. What we have a connection with. You can’t really A/B test ‘like’.

The pursuit of automation and optimization often entices companies to abandon the idea of going personal. Their loss can be your gain: people want you to care, so use the channels available to you to show that you do.

Every company and family has a culture.

Few have a culture they designed on purpose.

Great companies have intentional culture. They know that what we stand for (and against), how we approach trials and challenges, or how we perceive ourselves (for instance) are all opportunities to bring people together, or push people apart.

Have you decided how you’d like to be? As a company, as a leadership team, as a department, or at home in your family? A culture will form and change over time whether we like it or not.

We get to choose whether or not we’ll be intentional about nurturing a culture that helps us thrive, or leaving it to the winds of chance and change.

These cultures matter. How you approach your mission and meaningful work. How your family pulls together (or doesn’t) at home. All these things influence our ability to make a difference.

Do you belong to cultures you’re proud of?

Every person, business, family and relationship has a story.

While doing work that matters, when we move our choice of market away from their pain and toward their goals in a straighter line than our competitors, why would anyone choose an unclear, convoluted alternative?

When we’re able to answer questions like these critically, then wrap the value we bring to the marketplace in a narrative our audience can resonate with, we have what our Creative team’s clients refer to as “a siren-call that speaks to the hearts of minds of those we wish to serve.”

Leave the flash sales and coercive copy to your competitors. Focus your efforts on creating a real connection with those you wish to serve.

…is that you may hit them, even if you’ve set the wrong targets for yourself.

The young entrepreneur who longs to be a billionaire, assuming that’s where happiness lives. Ignoring the fact that the Gateses and Bransons of the world donate over 90% of their wealth to others.

The wantrepreneur who longs to park an expensive Italian car before an expensive Californian home, assuming that’s where happiness is. Ignoring the fact that those close to them are being pushed away along the way.

The SMBs who long to increase revenue for revenue’s sake, assuming that’s what success means. Ignoring the fact that money does a far better job of creating happiness through making a difference in the lives of others, than it does of creating happiness for those who earned it.

Please, thrive. Just make sure you’ve made an intentional decision about what it means to thrive, before you strive for it.

Everyone has an opinion.

Unfortunately, many deem their opinions empirically factual.

Which is why “I don’t know” works so well:

Amateurs and ‘experts’ know everything. They have definite answers that address everyone’s concerns. They’re vocal about their universal ‘solutions’ in interviews, blog posts and Facebook Ads. And we don’t trust any of it.

Masters know what they don’t know. For every honest “I don’t know” we get, the more certain we feel in their certainty of what they do know. Their understanding of their world, including that which is beyond their mastery, gives us confidence in their abilities.

If you want to be perceived as an amateur, please, continue to have the answer to everything. It lets the rest of us know what’s really going on.

And if you’ve achieved mastery, please, continue to be confident in your “I don’t know”.

Except they’re not, are they?

As we pass through the gift-giving season, we’re intimately familiar with both the giving and receiving of gifts.

What it’s like to buy something for someone that you think they’ll really appreciate.

What it’s like to receive something thoughtful from someone who thought of you.

You’ll likely be running new advertising soon.

What kind of a gift is it going to be for those you wish to serve? The thoughtful kind they’ll see themselves in, where they know how much thought you put into it? Or the kind that says “I don’t know you at all and didn’t really try that hard”?

Your choice.

After you’ve eaten your turkey and mince pies, consider this…

…Last time I did this, was I any closer to your goals?

…to achieving your mission?

If you didn’t have any, perhaps it’s time to set some.
If you did and aren’t, perhaps it’s time to totally overhaul your approach.

You have a few days away from your usual toil.

T’is the season for change. Or t’is the season to repeat your mistakes for another year.

Which is it to be?

Happy Christmas, difference maker.

“I want to be the __ of our industry. I need conversions and sales.”

If I had a nickel for every time our Creative team heard this…!

Increasingly, we find ourselves slowing down the conversation they think they want to have, so that they can focus on the hard questions:

#1 Are you worthy of this goal? What makes you worthy of this goal? What have you done and committed to that makes you worthy of this goal? The market has many players and such aspirations don’t come to anyone by accident.

#2 Is this goal worthy of you? The investment of yourself this goal will take ought not be taken lightly. In the grand scheme of things, is this something important enough to deserve your unbroken focus, dedication and sacrifice?

If both are answered “Yes”, then those asserting the initial statement can commit their resources to making it happen with confidence. If either is not “Yes”, it’s unlikely to happen.

Are you prepared to ask yourself the hard questions?

That thing that you make… what else could it be?

Email, or direct mail? If someone needs us to write one, they may need it written for the other, too. A tiny bit of extra effort opens whole new doors.

eBook, or audiobook? If someone needs the former, they should know part of their audience may want the latter. A bit of extra effort opens whole new doors.

Stakeholders, or beneficiaries? Rather than extra financial padding, a bit of extra effort enables a chosen cause to benefit massively from your additional spoils.

Each time you solve a problem for your choice of market, consider the question: “What else could it be?” Often, we notice the problem we’ve solved goes far beyond the prescription we’ve delivered and, with a bit of extra effort, so much more good can be done.

Since moving back to the UK, I’ve been fascinated with how much better the internet speeds are here relative to what people are asked to pay. Home, cell, same story.

Bandwidth of the mind: When talking to prospects, they’re often less excited about your solution than you feel. They don’t have the mental resources to dedicate to your work that you do. Much like fast internet, if we demonstrate small relatable wins that improve their lives, they’re likely to give you more mind bandwidth.

Bandwidth of time: When asking our audience to spend a lot of time with us, they’re often reluctant to do so. They want value and they often want it now. Much like fast internet, if we close the gap by making more, smaller requests on time – each creating a win – we release more time bandwidth in them.

Bandwidth of effort: When those we serve know a task will take a lot or work, they’re often less tempted to do it. Much like fast internet, when we speed up the sense of speed – by providing small, felt wins along the way – we release more effort bandwidth in them.

Leading them to answer ‘why’ themselves by breaking it up into pieces often gives them something they can engage with.

Everyone thinks they don’t have enough bandwidth. Really, they just don’t get see the reason to give it to you.

Let’s get to the punchline: Get it said.

A client needs to close or leave? Get it said. If they need your help, why delay with timidity and uncertainty when you’re sure you can move them forward? If they’re not a fit, why entertain the conversation and waste both your time

**A team member who needs to join or leave? **Get it said. If they’re the right fit, it’s worth fighting for. If they need letting go, it’s worth sorting it out early. In any case, there’s no sense beating around the bush.

**A cause needs supporting, or changing? **Get it said. Why advocate for those you’re invested in if they no longer represent your values? Better to address early so you can move into work that matters.

Sometimes the punchline needs to come first. No need to delay.

What are you avoiding getting said, that would move your work forward were you to do so?

Do you see the progress available all around you?

• Getting a Lyft/Uber ride with a driver who runs international sustainability projects is an unlikely meeting. Especially when you yourself help sustainability and social good projects move forward every week. This happened this week.
• A family member who had the knowledge you needed but never knew about is an unlikely coincidence. But often that’s how that works – the right people and ideas are everywhere. This happened this week.
• A referral that compounds your progress exponentially. This could be any referral, it could be the one you receive next year or next week. But often that’s how it works – the right people are just around the corner, we just don’t always know which one. This happened to us many times.

Progress is everywhere. We just need to open our eyes to the potential around us to unlock it.

I like rules. They give order to the production of great work at scale. But my favorite rule? The Crazy Rule.

“Would it be crazy if we…” is often the start of a great idea that’s just a little bit bigger and braver than you are today. Look into that.

“I might be crazy but…” is often the start of radical honesty that leads to a vision for the future for your choice of market or for the cause you support. Look into that.

“Would they think it’s crazy if…” is often the start of a go-to-market plan worth exploring. Look into that.

Rules are great. But don’t rule out the crazy.

10 years is a long time. What’s changed?

These people were nobodies.** T**he Vaynerchuks, Cardones and Lopezes. The Aspreys, Lakhianis and Sineks. 10 years changed all that. Hard work and patience paid off.

Mobile apps had only just been born. No Uber, AirBnB, Netflix, WhatsApp or even Facebook app. 10 years changed all that. Hard work and patience paid off.

**Your cause or vision is still there to be pursued. **Still needing someone like you to step in and start disrupting the landscape, doing good work. Will it be you who does it?

10 years is a long time. Patience, friends – great things come to those who play the longest game.

Part of what makes great entrepreneurs or teams (or relationships, really) is the ability to make “all for good”:

Failed? It’s either a failure to wallow in, or a learning opportunity to become stronger. Failures produce the strength and resolve necessary for real, lasting success. One cannot know success without failure.

Fired? It’s either a blow to your finances and your ego, or a learning opportunity to become stronger. It’s not a one-time thing, something built up to this. Now it has your attention. Now you can grow from it.

F’ffed up? Hey, we all do it. Sometimes bigger than others. In any case, is it a setback to be ashamed of and kick ourselves over, or a learning opportunity that can produce a future altogether more powerful than the one we’d have had were this to have never happened?

It’s a decision.

When we’re thinking about buying something, these three questions happen in our minds:

How do I feel about this?

As prospective clients, we all start here. Do I like this? Do I want this?

What will others say?

Shortly after realizing our own feelings on the matter, as social creatures, our thoughts jump to those in our circle; will they like this? What will this think about me? Is that what I want them to think?

How will I respond?

Some scenarios inspire bravery in us to act against the thoughts of those in our circle.

For the rest, we need either to be in alignment with our circle, or helped to find that bravery, otherwise we won’t move forward.

Do you and those you work with nurture and empower your prospective clients with the bravery to do what is best for them?

A lesson in business optimization found from…moving.

Moving reminds us of how much stuff we have. Once you’re done moving, after unpacking most of what you have, you may find yourself looking at a lone box thinking, “What’s in that box?”

When you have everything unpacked and in place, then realize there’s a whole other box remaining to be opened, we have two choices:

1. We allow ourselves to re-attach to every item in there “because it’s ours”,
2. We allow ourselves to look critically at each item “because we already have everything we need”.

In our businesses, these boxes emerge from time to time.

Advertising for EOL products. Recruits who aren’t pulling their weight. Expenses we pay “because we might use it”. Underperforming marketing allowed to continue.

We have two choices:

1. Will you stay attached to these “because they’re yours”,
2. Will you release what won’t get you where you need to go, for the benefit of your cause and those pursuing it with you?

A lesson in business optimization found from…moving.

Moving reminds us of how much stuff we have. Once you’re done moving, after unpacking most of what you have, you may find yourself looking at a lone box thinking, “What’s in that box?”

When you have everything unpacked and in place, then realize there’s a whole other box remaining to be opened, we have two choices:

1. We allow ourselves to re-attach to every item in there “because it’s ours”,
2. We allow ourselves to look critically at each item “because we already have everything we need”.

In our businesses, these boxes emerge from time to time.

Advertising for EOL products. Recruits who aren’t pulling their weight. Expenses we pay “because we might use it”. Underperforming marketing allowed to continue.

We have two choices:

1. Will you stay attached to these “because they’re yours”,
2. Will you release what won’t get you where you need to go, for the benefit of your cause and those pursuing it with you?

If you’re pursuing meaningful work, lasting change, impact… you’re always in the past.

Writing notes to the future: I find sometimes I forget what I thought about things in the past. Or how I would have felt if I’d have known about my successes and failures.

What would he/she say? For me, he’d have told me to celebrate the many successes more than I do. He’d have told me to not beat myself up about the losses, asserting they were all part of the process.

How does this help our work? Big goals are risky. They’re a breeding-ground for self-doubt, self-criticism and burn-out. A great way I’ve found to definitively squash those is to write to the future. So future-me can hear it right from the horse’s mouth.

There are enough obstacles out there. Lean into them, and consider doing so with a letter from your past – a living memory – to help you stay the course.

We all set goals. Did you set the right ones?

Designing a lovely new interface: is the goal a lovely new interface – something never seen before so you can impress yourself – or is the goal to support those who will use it toward their goals?

Pursuing a fatter wallet: is the goal to have more so you can give more to businesses that sell fancier toys – an unfulfilling cycle of ‘more’ – or is the goal to have enough so you’re free to do your meaningful work?

Building a legacy: is the goal to pat yourself on the back and attempt to last forever – which won’t happen – or is it to change the culture so that your time here made a difference for the benefit of those you care about?

We all have goals. The trick is being honest enough with ourselves to know if we’ve really set the right ones.

“Building trust” while marketing your important work need not be a mystery. Here’s why we don’t trust you:

Because we can tell that you’re reading a script. Whether it’s on a sales call or a video for Facebook, we can hear it in your voice. We can see your eyes dancing along the autocue. We know that thoughts aren’t with us in this moment, so we wonder why ours should be with you.

Because we’ve seen this all before. We see your $997 online course and boilerplate ad script. We judge you by the leaders you look up to, that teach you to charm the dollars away from those who need them more.

Because you were afraid to be real with us. We can tell when someone’s being brave. When someone is doing important work for important reasons, something we can get behind. When you pick out gifts just for us, and when you regift last-minute.

Exactly who are you doing all of this for?

One year ago, I wrote my first daily blogging milestone.

The points I made in it are no less true, yet I’ve more to add now I’ve doubled my discipline as of today, as I acknowledge the two year mark of daily posts:

You’re still never sure: Every new day begins with a clean slate for the blog; there are no idea lists or agendas. There is only the daily discipline of showing up for those trying to make a difference in the world, serving that day with the best gift I can with the time I have.

Noticing is a muscle: Noticing things – patterns, problems, opportunities – is largely what intelligence is measured on. While the repetition of ‘brain training’ apps remain a point of debate among scientists and psychologists, I can say unequivocally that my ‘noticing’ muscle has grown 4X in the last 2 years of showing up daily for those like you.

Discipline compounds: While I still like to set a time in the day to produce these, I find I can now enter the right “state” to create at a moment’s notice. Little warm-up or mental prep is required anymore. I’ve been able to apply this discipline to other mediums, as I prepare to produce even more value daily for those like you. Stay tuned for that.

My gift to difference makers like you has become a gift to me, too.

Thank you.

I was asked a question today regarding my book, ‘Marketing Isn’t About You’, and I thought I’d share it with you here on the daily post:

“What are some ways someone can ‘love them first, ask questions later’?”

“It’s worth sharing because it’s a great question.

One worth asking daily. In business, in marketing, in relationships, in life.

It’s one that has no one answer. The question is the answer.

Want to wash cars but nobody’s asking? Go wash their car. Let them know it’s your gift to them and if they’d like you to do it again next weekend, here’s your rate.

Want to help people eat more healthily? Go tailor a meal plan just for them. Maybe arrange a preferential rate on groceries for them, or make the meal for them. Let them know it’s your gift to them, and if they’d like help going further, here you are.

Want to help their business grow? Go make it grow for them. However you can in a way that is ethical and accessible. Maybe arrange a phone call or email lead for them that they didn’t see coming. Let them know it’s your gift to them and if they’d like more, here you are.

The question is the answer.

Allow me to pose it to you: What are some ways someone can ‘love them first, ask questions later’?

Do you keep hearing about how important authenticity is?

In the brand-building circles, authenticity all the rage.

“Just be yourself.”

If you’re doing work that matters, there’s more to this:

If you’re inconsistent, authenticity is likely going to cause frustration for those you serve. Unless the value they’ve bought into is the novelty of frenetic availability, there’s likely to be a desire for a consistently met expectation. You tune into certain channels more than others because you know what you’re going to get, when you’re going to get it.

If you’re struggling today, authenticity is likely going to dampen the experience for those you serve. Unless they bought into a particular “reality TV” storyline from you, where the drama is part of the product, there’s likely to be a desire for you to focus on their problems rather than your own. You trust professionals who dress properly for their work because they focused on fitting into your environment, not expressing themselves in jarring new ways.

If you communicate from strength, authenticity is going to bulldoze through your audience if they communicate from warmth. All your talk about goals and market domination will alienate those who would prefer to talk about feelings and visions of a better world. Unless they’re endeared by your counter-cultural approach to their space, you’ll be better suited to making your communication style about them, rather than about yourself.

Authenticity is important, such as in a trusting personal relationship where you go to heal, grow and nurture. But in the marketplace, authenticity’s praise often casts a shadow over consistency, sensitivity and empathy.

You’re there for them, not for you.

Remember when the answer was, “Who’s there?” instead of, “Go away”?

We’re all experiencing inbox fatigue. It doesn’t have to be this way:

We over-subscribe and under-read because we’re afraid of missing out, or forgot to unsubscribe from the things we don’t actually read anymore. And so, we miss out on the important things.

We over-share and under-connect because people over-subscribe and under-read. There’s less room for quiet, thoughtful connection by email than their used to be. They’re hard to hear over the noise.

We can choose to listen though. There are a few senders that I make time to read from because they chose quiet, thoughtful connection over trying to be the squeaky wheel. We don’t need megaphones to speak with those who care about us.

So what’s the solution to the noise? Care more.

“It’s not the years, honey. It’s the mileage.” – Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark

We all know we should plan.

As in, really plan things out – five year plans, maybe even ten year plans, we’ve heard it all before.

Here’s why you don’t do it, and why it doesn’t work:

• It’s a whole to-do of its own: You’ve enough to do as it is, so sitting and trying to tell the future doesn’t make the cut.
• It’s baseless: The things you write down aren’t based in reality and you’ve no idea if you can actually achieve them.
• It’s forgotten about: The plan was made, then got left in a file on your computer, only to be found months or years later when it’s no longer true.

Here’s why you should do it, and what makes it work:

• It’s a to-do that eliminates other to-dos: When you know precisely what you need to achieve this month to stay on course, a lot of tasks that don’t make that happen suddenly disappear from view.
• You know what to do now: Rather than baseless list-making, the years can become months, the months can become weeks. Now you know exactly what you need to do.
• Remember to plan or forget to live: Nobody realizes all of their life goals by accident. They do so intentionally. A forgotten list is a forgotten life – plan to really live.

We can choose to be busy doing the right things. We can choose to set course and focus on each step with fervor as we approach each one.

Or we can let time pass us by.

I like months. We gave them names, so each means something different to us.

January and July are very different months. As are August and December.

We have emotions attached to each different month. In December we often become more reflective about the year just passed. In January we often become excited about the year ahead.

What about W49?

Enabling “week numbers” on our devices gives names to every week of the year. Except we don’t have much attachment to “W49”. Not like we do with “April”.

If “April” slips away without any progress or momentum, we feel bad. We lose April.

If “W49” slips away without any progress or momentum, we barely think anything of it. There’s always next week.

• W49 should mean something to us: It’s a full week in December, a quarter of that month, and one we won’t get back.
• Attachment to weeks gives us 56 goals to pursue: Not every week needs to launch a new product or other major milestones, but every week should mark a new level of achievement and progress toward things that matter.
• Turn on ‘week numbers’ on your devices: We only get one shot at each week, just like we do each month. Know their names.

How would our meaningful, important work if we were to treat every week with as much significance as a year? What if our personal growth, professional development and relationships each had “W49” goals as well as just “November” goals?

Your weeks are slipping by. We can’t slow time, but we can pour more significance and intention into our weeks, if we choose.

Are you the best at what you do?

Ever notice how it’s usually not the best who help people the most?

I’m a huge advocate of having mastery over your craft. Without this, you can’t create the amount of transformation for those you wish to serve as is possible for you or them.

But it’s not mastery for mastery’s sake. It’s mastery because of the level of result you can produce for someone in the marketplace or in your chosen cause.

That’s only one half of the battle.

I’m also an advocate of being there for those who need you. If I know about you or you’re never there for me when I need you, you’re what use is your mastery?

Even if you’ve not mastered your craft, but you’re there when your audience needs you, equipped with your resolve to figure out how to produce the results they need… isn’t that more valuable than mere mastery?

Mastery is half of the battle. Being there when it counts is the other half.

Both are just as important as each other.

Being ‘the best’ is a noble pursuit that we should all strive for. But never doubt the significance of simply ‘being there’.

As skilled as you may be, you can’t protect anyone if you never leave the dojo.

There are two types of people.

Those who set themselves up for success, and those who expect others to set them up for success.

In our businesses I’ve experienced both. I thought I’d share some takeaways from the experience:

#1 You probably have around you people who want to help you grow and succeed. If you don’t, there’s a lot of people out there – go find yours.

In our businesses there are teams designed to make you grow. Perhaps your environment is the same. In such an environment, there’s no excuse to not grow, none, unless someone isn’t prepared to take advantage of the environment prepared for them.

#2 You are in control of this situation. If you want to grow, then grow. If you’re not growing, it’s up to you to do something about it.

We can all decide to ask for guidance and input on how to grow, then grow accordingly with everyone’s support. Or we can deem our circumstances unfavorable for growth, as though the world is mean and out to get us. We are all in control over how we respond, we all have the power to take initiative and seek guidance to grow. We’ve all the ability to surround ourselves with those who want to see us do exactly that. That’s why we developed an environment like this in our businesses.

#3 You have a decision to make. The question is, will you take the initiative? To become the best version of yourself, commit to doing the best work of your life, to geometrically compounding the quality of your craft and effectiveness of your communication?

We all have the ability to set ourselves up for success. But it rarely gets handed to us on a silver platter. Will you do what it takes?

A problem happened in your company today.

Did you say thank you?

The first thought tends to be one of frustration, anxiety, or disillusion. It could mean our day is derailed, a heavy financial blow, or worse. But these problems that crop up tend not to be as catastrophic as the first seem, most of the time. Moreover, the manifestation of a problem can teach us a lot about our work and how to make it better.

The first thought should be one of thankfulness; appreciation that an opportunity to improve our work has presented itself – a gift of personal and professional development. Each time we solve a problem, we – and our work – gets stronger. If we solve it well, we won’t see it emerge again. Without the problem, we would not have grown.

There will always be problems. Most don’t celebrate them or shout about them from the rooftops on social media, so you wouldn’t really know they were dealing with problems.

But they are.

Be thankful for yours, they are your path to progress.

What is the hump?

It’s when you know you’re ready to buy something, but you teeter on the edge of action. More testimonials, more documentation, more conversations. Getting over the hump is a skill – the bravery to say “Yes” when “Yes” is probably the best thing for you.

It’s when you know they’re ready to buy something, but you teeter on the edge of closing. More calls, more follow-up, more ‘value’. Helping others over the hump is a skill – the selfless act of helping people get to “Yes” when “Yes” is probably the best thing for them.

It’s when you’re ready to start the new project, the book, the business idea, the product… but teeter on the edge of getting started. More ‘research’, more ‘thinking about it’, more procrastination. Getting over the hump is a skill – the important act of taking imperfect action in the face of huge uncertainty and self-doubt.

We are all faced with humps, all of the time. What will you do when the next one hits?

…And it never will be.

The work you care about is not perfect, but the fact you wish it were is part of why you’re the right person for the job. There are many out there who settle for mediocrity, not you.

The relationships you care about are not perfect, but the fact you wish they were are part of why they’re blessed to have you. There are many who would bail at the first sign of trouble, not you.

The causes you care about are not perfect, but the fact you wish they were – to make them in effect ‘redundant’ – is part of why they need you. There are many who would prefer to milk the process instead of solving the problem, not you.

If you can see it’s not perfect, but still have the courage to press Publish while you strive for the next level of excellence, the marketplace and the world is blessed to have you. Remember that.