Adam Fairhead
The internet has a shortage of bizdev opinions.
Oh wait…
That’s not right, is it.
Everyone who’s ever received a five-figure check is a business guru now.
They’ll all share their opinion about their one new hack that changes everything.
And, impressively, they’re not wrong once about that.
No. They’re wrong three times:
Adam Fairhead
Being an overnight success takes years.
Decades.
Most aren’t prepared to do the work.
They thought it would happen overnight.
But the ‘overnight’ part is just when people discover it… at the finishing line.
Are you truly ready to put in the work?
Adam Fairhead
You don’t have to trick people into clicking your ads.
You don’t have to make “ugly ads” tricking people into viewing something they don’t want.
Why not just make ads people are excited to see?
Just like they were excited for each new episode of their favourite cartoon as kids.
In this video I explore what ads really are, and what people really want to see from your ads.
Adam Fairhead
“Best practices” are dragging marketing down.
Just look at the last few campaigns:
Any ‘best practices’ marketing guru would give you a ‘bombastic side eye’ if you told them that’s your marketing idea.
And yet… these ideas are worth millions today.
Sometimes, doing the opposite of best practices is the real best practice.
Adam Fairhead
I once had a big influencer ask for help…
Publicly, they lived a superstar life.
Publicly, they promised clients on tap.
Privately, they had no clients.
They asked me to help them get some with a great ad campaign.
I will: Help sell quality services ethically.
I will not: Tell lies on behalf of others.
Lessons:
Adam Fairhead
I was mowing the grass over the weekend, and something dawned on me.
Something you don’t hear bizdev influencers talk about on the ol’ social timeline…
…But something super-important while building a business that doesn’t make you want to put pins in your eyes.
So I was thinking:
“I’m here cutting the grass and next week I’ll need to do it again. Same lanes, same yards, same corners, same machinery, same cleanup, same maintenance, on repeat.”
And we could ‘delegate...
Adam Fairhead
Do you have a healthy mind?
An unhealthy mind steals all joys.
An artist can make a living making art they love…
…yet be unhappy because they earn less than peers who continue to do things they hate.
A solopreneur can earn more than they were making in their former career while touting ‘freedom’…
…yet be unhappy because someone else is earning more, shackling themselves to 12 hour workdays.
All four people could be happy. Instead, they choose not to...
Adam Fairhead
The creator economy is losing its love for the creative process.
It’s not enough for someone to love their work and get paid to do it.
It’s not enough to enjoy the toil and feel satisfied with the results.
No:
There needs to be more MRR…
There needs to be more leverage…
There needs to be less time working…
That’s not being a creator. That’s being a creator imposter.
That’s someone who wants to be a proprietor or entrepreneur who...
Adam Fairhead
What you won’t remember in 10 years…
Things you will remember in 10 years…
Prioritise what you’d wish you...
Adam Fairhead
Today, I could have finished a project.
It’s almost finished, but not quite.
Instead, I went to playgroup with my son.
Did that make me an all-star go-getter grindtastic creator?
Nope.
Did it make me a better Dad?
Nope again.
But I really, really wanted to spend that time with him.
So I did.
Success isn’t about completing the most projects, earning the most dollars, or collecting the most accolades.
It’s living your life without stacking more regrets.
Worth thinking...
Adam Fairhead
If there’s one thing that many outspoken creators love more than the ability to produce fulfilling work they love in their own time in their own comforts in ways our parents and grandparents could never have ever dreamed of…
It’s also lusting after the 1%-on-paper lifestyle.
Well if you’ve fallen victim to that energy, good news:
Some studies say as low as 15% of people really, genuinely enjoy their work.
And that around 25% of people get to work from...
Adam Fairhead
Still fighting off the flu.
But the flu reminded me about a key step in the creative process.
Ideas grow in gaps.
Like weeds between patio tiles.
Gaps are when you slow down and pick up a book, or let your mind wander.
Gaps are when you stop thinking about what’s on your plate, so there’s space to think about other realities.
And where there are gaps… there will be weeds.
Mind weeds.
Consider making time for some mind weeds of...
Adam Fairhead
Throw a dart.
But careful, you’ll hit a ‘storyteller’ on Twitter/X.
Is it a fad?
Sometimes.
But only when it’s used as a hot trend to gather followers.
Storytelling is also one of the most important vehicles of knowledge transfer humans have ever had.
When used properly, it’s a fantastic means of empathy, connection and (consequently) sales.
As for the rest, it’s a buzzword to get followers.
You get to decide which path is more virtuous and beneficial for your...
Adam Fairhead
I’m really sick at the moment.
Pushed too hard and my body responded yesterday with a kind, but stern, message:
“Take a break.”
I ignored it, and proceeded to lug huge bags of silage and rubble for four more hours.
Only to be told again, a little more sternly:
“Take a break”.
This time it wiped me out. Not sure where the weekend went. Still feeling it.
Here’s the lesson:
There are no awards for pushing too hard. And no...
Adam Fairhead
“That’ll be so much fun!”
Ever think (or say) that when you encounter a project or product opportunity?
If so, write it down. Here’s why:
When you’re half way through it, you may be inclined to review its worthiness of your time via a balance sheet.
But “That’ll be so much fun!” doesn’t show up on a balance sheet.
Writing it down will help you remember that.
Not everything valuable is numeric.
Adam Fairhead
The one thing that takes care of sales for you:
"Community"
Done right, it can transform your business.
Done wrong, it can be be a stupid, stupid waste of time.
Everyone thinks they’ve got a community.
They don’t.
We don’t "have" communities.
We can "form" communities…
We can "lead" communities…
…But we don’t "have" them.
(That’d be slavery… which is generally pretty frowned upon these days.)
But what is "Community", then?
Isn’t it something for people who...
Adam Fairhead
The thing about deathbed regrets…
Is that the deathbed is a certainty, but the regrets are optional.
The things you value today may not affect those deathbed regrets much.
How much money you made? The dying don’t care anymore.
How much of a legacy you made? The dying rarely care about that either.
How good of a child, parent, or spouse you were? This is regret-central.
How brave you were to do what made you happy? Another regret-magnet.
One day,...
Adam Fairhead
How much time does a 10-minute productivity hack save you?
It sure ain’t 10 minutes.
Sure, use it once and it’s 10 minutes.
Use it once a week for the next year and it saved you over 9 hours.
Use it daily for the next year and it saved you 60 hours.
Wowser.
What could you create with an extra 60 hours this year?
Adam Fairhead
I wasn’t sure about a strategy earlier today.
So I wrote about it.
For about half an hour.
By the end of it, I knew what I thought about it.
And what I should do about it.
When in doubt, write.
Not to tell everyone what you think.
But to reveal what you think to yourself.
Adam Fairhead
Ever find your creator journey a bit difficult?
As though the “no map, no guide, no certainty, aaahhh” side of things can be a bit much sometimes?
Remember that being this way might just be in your bones.
Something you do because of who you are, not because of what you want.
Maybe that’s all you need to remember to throw out the sense of difficulty.
After all…
“Makers gonna make”.
Adam Fairhead
Do you compare yourself online?
Lots of people do.
And it makes me wonder…
If any of the above are yes, then what if you were to just… stop it?
Like, altogether?
If it doesn’t motivate or you… or give you calm focus… or educate you in a healthy way… why do it?
Adam Fairhead
Who makes the best leader on a team?
The one with the highest standards will challenge and raise everyone up, though they may not be thanked for it.
The one with the best communication skills will align players, though they may not be aligned around their best work.
The one who has the highest standards and the best communication skills is thus the best leader.
One is a skill that can be learned.
And the other is a decision.
Adam Fairhead
Is your social ‘engagement’ down?
Are you getting fewer ‘engagements’ at the moment?
Hold on.
Hold on a second.
Please remember this:
You have more supporters than you think you do.
Just like how you don’t click on all the stuff from creators you like.
Just like how you don’t see all of the stuff...
Adam Fairhead
Social is awesome for creators
And terrible for creators (emotional vampire)
At the same time.
For better/worse:
But what algorithms can’t control is:
Focus on what...
Adam Fairhead
Experimenting can feel like wasting time when you just want to crank up volume.
Testing landing pages can feel like wasting time when you just want to beat the phone.
Refining your offer can feel like wasting time when you just want to present it to more people.
It’s not wasting time.
It’s sliding your enthusiasm for action into a higher gear.
Buckle up.
Adam Fairhead
I’m covered in blisters.
Since moving into our new house recently, getting anyone to ship lawn equipment has been unusually difficult.
And we’ve been watching the grass get taller and taller as a result.
Well today, the equipment arrived.
And it’s been hours of battling to get that first cut done without overheating the engines.
It reminded me of building businesses and other projects:
The first cut takes the longest. Getting it done without burning yourself out is harder than...
Adam Fairhead
Sometimes the things you make work great.
Other times, they kind of flop.
Both are okay.
When they work great, if means you learned something.
When they flop, it means you’re learning something.
Flops lead to things working great.
And things working great don’t deny you the opportunity to keep pushing, and flopping forward.
Enjoy the process regardless of outcome.
It’s what growth looks like.
Adam Fairhead
Have an amazing product.
If you can’t have that, have an amazing offer.
If you can’t have that, you’d better have amazing persuasion skills.
If possible, have an amazing product coupled with an amazing offer.
Choose your amazing.
Adam Fairhead
Know what’s gross?
Being gross.
That’s why gross people doing sales make sales seem gross.
But you know what powers businesses?
Exactly.
Creators often find sales scary.
(Like, I’d-rather-go-out-of-business-than-do-this scary.)
So here’s the thing about doing sales:
Adam Fairhead
Know what’s a super-rare trait?
Being an actually-nice person.
Are you? Then you’re ahead of most.
I create a newsletter called GrowthCandy. Each issue shares one idea to help build and spread your work, delivered as a short comic. Fast to read. Easy to apply. Hard to forget!