Show up.
Show up and keep showing up.
Show up with at least as much enthusiasm as you had when you first raised your hand to volunteer.
The volunteering part is easy. Making promises is a fun way to get someone's attention.
Keeping those promises is often unsung, but that's how you build something.
Since dawn of the industrial age, tighter has been the goal.
A tighter system, with less slack.
Tighter connection with customers.
Even plastic surgeons deliver tighter skin. No one ever goes seeking more folds and flab.
The thing is, tighter is fine when you're trimming a sail or optimizing a production system.
But many things in our lives need to be looser. More room for innovation. More slack for peace of mind. More spaces for surprise.
A placebo that works becomes more powerful.
Which makes it more likely to work next time.
It's that simple, but it's magic.
Placebos work for two reasons:
And so, we end up with medicines or horoscopes or mantras or methods or devices that help us. Without a lot of expense, without side effects, without a hassle.
The positive ratchet of reinforcement can help us if we let it.
It's hard to believe that I wrote this book in three frenzied weeks in 2000, almost twenty years ago.
You can buy the paperback here.
But the free version, at one time the most popular ebook ever, is still here, unedited, but newly reformatted for students in The Marketing Seminar, a glimpse into the moment.
Special thanks to Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the foreword. I don't think either of us knew how big a deal he was about to become.
We like the flawed hero, bad behavior, tragedy and drama in our fictional characters.
Batman and Deadpool sell far more tickets than Superman does.
If we use social media to attract a crowd, we will, at some level, become a fictional character. Reality shows aren't about reality–they're shows.
Which means that it's tempting to become the sort of trainwreck that people like to watch and jeer and root for.
Personally, and for our brand as well.
Every time DC tries to make Superman more popular, they create drama that isn't inherent in who he is. Brands fall into this trap all the time.
For a long time, people would confirm that they'd rather watch a flawed character, but deep down, they'd like to be Superman. Because his humility, kindness and resilient mental health are a perfect match for his unlimited powers. Unfortunately, as we've turned our lives into a reality show, more people seem happier emphasizing their mess.
It's probably a bad idea to vote for, work for or marry a trainwreck. They belong on screen, not in real life.
Everyone has some Superman in them. But it takes emotional labor and hard work to reclaim it.
We're bad at empathy. As a result, when we're arguing a point with someone, we tend to use words and images that work on us, not necessarily that help the other person.
So, if you want to understand how to persuade someone, listen to how they try to persuade you.
For example, one partner in a conversation might use concepts like power and tradition and authority to make a case, while the other might rely on science, statistics or fairness. One person might argue with tons of emotional insight, while someone else might bring up studies and peer reviews.
What they're actually doing is talking about things in the way they like to hear them.
What factors lead to a search result showing up on page 1 or page 5 of Google?
What about the popularity bar in iTunes? How does it work?
Who decides what your salary is compared to the person down the hall?
On this road, in this town, what's the threshold before you'll get a speeding ticket?
In that magazine article, what's the methodology for ranking these semi-famous people?
How did this image show up in recommended?
There are ratings and rankings that ostensibly exist to give us information (and we are supposed to use that information to change our behavior).
But if we don't know what variables matter, how is it supposed to be useful?
Just because it can be easily measured with two digits doesn't mean that it's accurate, important or useful.
[Marketers learned a long time ago that people love rankings and daily specials. The best way to boost sales is to put something in a little box on the menu, and, when in doubt, rank things. And sometimes people even make up the rankings.]
That's as useful a freelancer marketing strategy as you can fit in a single sentence.
Give a four-minute presentation and take your time.
The alternative is to try to give a six or seven-minute long talk in five minutes. To rush. To get flustered. To go over your time. To act in a way that belies your professional nature.
Nope. Better to stick with the four-minute approach.
The thing is, you’ll never have enough time to tell us every single thing in enough detail. It would take you years.
Portion control is your friend. Figure out how big the plate is and serve just the right amount.
Choosing to develop character is difficult, because it requires avoiding the shorter, more direct path. It can be slow, expensive and difficult work.
And rewarding character is difficult as well, because someone is probably offering you an alternative that's cheaper or faster. A sure road to a quick payday.
But…
Every time we avoid the easy in favor of what's right, we create ripples. Character begets more character, weaving together the fabric of our culture, the kind of world we'd rather live in.
