Archive of posts from November 2022

Things happen.

And those things cause mind shifts.

Like living through trials and abuse. Such things either make you afraid of people, slow to trust, eager to make the world a better place, or a combination of the above. For us, it was a combination of the above.

Like marrying your favourite person. My work stopped being about me and became about doing things that would give her every opportunity to do everything she wants in life, from telling stories...

Competition gets a bad rap.

Competition is great.

Competition means a market is alive and well, eager to be served in a way that’s best for them, whether that’s by you or one of your comrades offering similar products or services.

Competition encourages innovation, so that you can push the market forward; competitors benefit and advance too, customers benefit and stay engaged in your market, everyone benefits.

Competition often means more education becomes available, more trained staff become available, and...

Your competition isn’t as scary as you might think it is.

They also hesitate, wondering if they’re doing the right thing.

They also worry, wondering if their competitors are outmanoeuvring them behind the scenes.

They also dream, playing with ideas in their minds that may (or may not) see the light of day.

They also wrestle with people problems, payroll, ill-timed quits, software issues, and self-doubts.

Maybe there’s nothing to fear.

Maybe you have exactly what it takes do bring...

2023 is on the horizon…

It’ll be an interesting year…

And it’s tempting to focus entirely upon 2023 because of it…

…But what about 2033?

Whatever 2023 brings, 2033 is still a decade of ideas, building, love and care away…

…So be brave, bring your best, and let your actions speak louder than recessions.

Is free always worth the same?

A free guide is typically valued at $0 because it doesn’t cost anything.

A $49 guide that is reduced to free has a higher perceived value to newcomers (somewhere between $0 and $49) but costs you a lot of goodwill with those who paid $49 for it.

A $49 guide that includes a free extra for a limited time is still worth $49.

A $49 guide that includes a a free extra that normally...

What if we treated it as necessary?

It’s easy to hesitate about investing in brand development, until we treat it as necessary. Because unless that brand is going to be sold in 24 months, it is necessary.

It’s easy to hesitate about investing in activity that contribute directly toward revenue generation, until we treat it as necessary. Because unless we don’t want high probability of surviving the recession, it is necessary.

It’s easy to postpone a dinner date with your...

People often seem to struggle with valuing brands, and brand-building activities.

Here’s how to value them:

Bank accounts holds money. “Making bank” means accruing money.

Brands holds relational equity with a community. “Building brand” means accruing relational equity with a community.

A bank account without a positive balance is worth $0, tops. Same goes for a brand that doesn’t carry a positive balance in relational equity with the community it exists to serve.

If you make an Ask, you spend...

Outbound sales doesn’t have to be hard: just make something really, really good and give it to your people.

Advertising doesn’t have to be hard: just create what your people want to see, and show it to them.

Sales doesn’t have to be hard: just go give your people what they want and make it safe for them.

Marketing doesn’t have to be hard: just give your people gifts and let some recipients tell their friends.

Product dev doesn’t have...

What could you do every day?

Where the thought of having to do it again tomorrow is just… a joy?

For instance, I could build worlds every single day. Fill ’em with characters, stories and mottos that make us better. Flesh ’em out with toys and books and lessons to be learned.

Golly-gosh, the fun!

You probably have some things that get the same reaction out of you.

Some “I could do this every day” things.

Do those things every day....

Sometimes we do and think things because we believe them to be right.

And other times, we do them because we because them to be right once… but they became part of our identity, and now we can’t accept that we might have changed our minds, because that would change our identity.

Maybe our political views changed but we built a reputation in our peer group around our old views.

Or perhaps your personal brand stands for something, but now...

Thinking in words is a vastly different mental process exercise to thinking in pictures.

Drawing, doodling and sketching ideas is easy and natural for me, so I explore ideas in that way by default. Folks who work with me all know how feedback is likely to be a doodle rather than writing!

But thinking in words is important too… that’s why I’ve made publishing a blog post a daily discipline (for almost five years straight!) – in hope that it’ll...

What do small businesses, new ideas, and projects that challenge the status quo have in common?

They’re all a struggle. Most of them don’t work, for a vast number of potential reasons. They fit you with fears and doubts, days where you can’t wait to get out of bed and days where you feel your bones are too heavy to rise up yet again.

What else do they have in common?

They’re all good for us. Challenge is good. It...

Mastodon is tricky to get started with because it’s decentralised. Twitter is easier, but it can come crashing down like it has this week.

Email has many options to choose from because it’s open. iMessage is easier, but it only works where you’re allowed to use it, and you get no say in that.

Lock-in is convenient for the one who holds the keys, but breeds nervous energy around those who may not wish to be locked in forever.

This...

Here’s a secret:

The straight line of success isn’t straight at all.

It doesn’t follow a framework the gurus will teach you.

It doesn’t have a super-secret morning ritual.

It requires doing things that don’t even work most of the time.

It just needs to work a bit, eventually.

And then that bit turns into a lot, if you’re lucky.

The sooner you engage the idea that it’s not a straight line, the sooner you’ll get the result you’re looking...

Things break.

Your product or service is breakable. The question is, how is it most likely to break next? Admitting it’s coming allows us to get ahead of it and fix it before it happens on its own.

Your relationships are breakable. The question is, how are they most likely to break? Admitting it’s possible allows us to get ahead of it and fix those areas before we lose people close to us.

Your body and mind are breakable. The...

I love orderly systems that work like clockwork.

And so it’s tricky for me to admit the need for a little mess.

Mess is the group chat that doesn’t push work forward, but pushes relationships forward.

Mess is the calls with silly reaction tools that don’t add to decision-making, but make team members smile.

Mess is using tools people enjoy, not just tools that are efficient, not because they get the work done better, but because they let people enjoy...

What’s the best superpower?

Being the most talented? Nope. It sure helps, but only if applied with the best one.

Best the smartest? Nope. This helps too but, again, only if applied with the best one.

Being the richest? Nope. And in this market, it’s actually less helpful than the previous two.

Just really, really loving this. Ahh, yes. Whether you come out of the box this way or you just maintain a mindset that keeps your heart and your...

Between the best product on the market and the one you like best, which do you buy?

Between the most popular YouTube channel and the one that really gets your unique, quirky humour, which do you watch?

Best is subjective.

Niches are everywhere and the number is growing proportionally to how weird we all admit to be.

Don’t be the best, that’s boring. Be the kind of best you and your tribe want you to be.

When advertisers think short-term, all that matters is direct marketing. They pursue today’s easy-to-measure win, while wondering why advertising is getting harder over time.

When advertisers think long-term, all that matters is brand marketing. They pursue long-term, harder-to-measure growth, while wondering why everyone’s saying that advertising’s getting harder over time.

The bigger or more important your work is, the more patience is required.

We see it happening all around us:

People preorder Apple stuff before they’ve even tried it.

Comic con is full of people pretending to be characters from businesses they buy from.

Instagram is a shopping app now.

Commerce, learning and entertainment are merging together.

Moving from personal, quirky, limited and fun physical experiences moved to limitless, sterile digital experiences.

We’re rapidly heading back to the personal, quirky, limited and fun world. But online.

Where niche communities congregate, the fans dress...

There are three ways of writing, that I can tell:

We can write to share info: this is often dry, sterile, and uninteresting, until we get to the next stage, which is…

We can write to share an opinion: when we get to this stage, it’s less sterile, but can still come across as a word-salad of thoughts, until we get to the third stage, which is…

We can write to share a new reality: this way include info, and...

If you’re aware, new data comes in all the time.

If you care, you’ll see the important data that affects those you serve.

If you dare, you’ll pivot your work in light of the data to maximise service to your people.

If you prepare, you’ll know these pivots were always a possibility, and you won’t cling on to bad plans just because you still like them, when your fiduciary responsibility is to pursue what is best for those in your...

The Internet was once a little something to play with alongside the real world.

For some of us, it was a novel escape to detox from the real world.

Now, there are no ‘virtual friends’.

Our real friends are there. Our work is there. Our entertainment is there.

How many people look on social media is more important to them than in ‘the real world’, from the food they eat to what their lifestyle looks like.

And when it gets...

There’s still everything to play for.

Things aren’t that different:

Kids who weren’t even alive when Windows 95 launched would nevertheless know how to use it today. There have of course been innovations to the Windows product, but there’s still everything to play for.

The original 2007 iPhoneOS interface and 2022 iOS interface are still basically the same thing, albeit with more apps and functions available. There have of course been many innovations since, but there’s still everything to play...

Your mileage will vary.

When we started our studio, we worked really hard, took no external funds, went full-time from year one, and it continues to operate calmly and profitably after 14 years. This isn’t how these things alway go, your mileage will vary, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

When we started our personal development brand, we worked really hard, took no external funds, and pre-sold to thousands of fans in the first year. This isn’t how these things...

Good ideas are easy to write down.

Bad ideas are difficult to write down.

Good ideas are easy and fun to sell.

Bad ideas are hard and arduous to sell.

If you think good ideas are hard to come up with, just wait until you try working with a bad idea!

Today while journalling I came across this question: “What bad habit can I curb?”

And my mind went immediately to trust. Or a lack thereof!

I have a bad habit of assuming that people will let me down at the first hurdle. After a number of occasions in the past where people I trusted took advantage of that trust, I’m now often slower to trust than I think I’d like.

Epictetus said, “Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but...