On Writing, Ideas, and Making a Difference
The more you talk, the less people listen. The more noise you make, the more it sounds like a drone. This is an economic principle, and it applies to communication, too. The paradox of attention is this: the more you try to get, the less attentive your audience becomes.
So talk less. Be comfortable with silence. And listen more. Make your message matter by only speaking up when you have something really important to say.
What do we do when the world isn’t listening? This is the question every communicator and leader has to face at some point.
What we want to do is get louder. To pull out the bullhorn. Shout from the rooftops.
In reality, we need to do the opposite.
The mindset of most spammers is this:
If we show up and interrupt you long enough, eventually you’ll pay attention.
For decades, this worked for advertisers and marketers. If you bought TV time or space in a magazine or newspaper, made enough noise, you would eventually get noticed. But now, there’s just one problem:
It doesn’t work anymore.
Last night, I made dinner for my wife and me. We had chili.
Nothing fancy about that meal. But you know what? I did my best to make the meal amazing. I set the table, used cloth napkins, put grated cheese in a bowl — the whole works.
It wasn’t the Olive Garden, but it wasn’t bad.
Why go to all the trouble? Because people eat with their eyes first.
Every communicator wants her message to be heard. Every creative wants his art to be appreciated — right?
But so many writers and artists don’t get the attention they deserve. Why? Because they neglect the single-most important element to building a tribe.
They forsake one simple, but essential online marketing asset:
We’ve talked before about why you need to find your tribe — a unique group of fans, friends, and followers. This can be done with a blog, radio show, or speaking platform.
But how do you actually do this? How do you create a community that wants to hear what you have to say?
If we ask Seth Godin, he would say you need to communicate a message that is personal, relevant, and anticipated.
So what does that look like?
Here are three important steps to building a killer tribe…
I’ve recently become a fan of quitting.
Despite the age-old adage that says, “quitters never win,” I’ve found tremendous value in throwing in the towel. I’ve learned that sometimes, the best thing to do is not persevere, but give up. In so doing, I found my voice and my first 1000 fans.
I recently had an opportunity to interview John Morgan, author, speaker, and marketing consultant.
Years ago, I heard John speak at an event and was blown away. He really understands personal brands and social media better than most people do.
This is an important topic that most bloggers, writers, and authors unforuntately overlook — the fact that you have a brand, whether you like it or not.
So, I asked John five important questions about the topic of branding and his new book, which goes deeper into the issue.
Everyone wants to be heard. They want to be noticed, embraced, accepted. In one way or another, we all want to belong. And for those of us who are communicators, we want to share our art and see our ideas spread. But there’s just one problem…
There’s too much noise in this world.
Every day, thousands of messages inundate you. Advertising. Email. Phone calls. Maybe even a few faxes.
These messages are so abundant — so overwhelming — that it’s hard to know what’s worth our attention. What should we spend our time on? What’s worth noticing? What should we actually be listening to?
Most organizations have forgotten the art of storytelling, which is why their messages aren’t being remembered.
For a while, there was a resurgence of the importance of sharing stories, but then like most fads, it began to fade away.
The trend has once again become facts, statistics, and the incessant boasting of what country is suffering from the greatest injustice. This must change.
