I started following Seth Godin years ago. He has a knack of making every reader think he's shadowing you, watching your life, and then writing about YOU. He's really writing about, and to, ALL of us. This morning (Friday, Feb 19, 2016) he wrote:
How to talk about your project
Not in a marketing sense, but strategically, to yourself, your partners, your coaches, your investors:
What is it for? When someone hires your product or service, what are they hiring it to do?
Who (or what) are you trying to change by doing this work? From what to what?
How will you know if it's working?
What does it remind me of? Are there parallels, similar projects, things like this that have come before?
What's the difficult part?
How much of your time and focus are you spending on the difficult part?
What part that isn't under your control has to happen for this to work? (Do you need to be lucky?)
How much (time and money) is it going to take to find out if you've got a shot at this working out?
What assets do you already own that you'll be able to leverage?
What assets do you need to acquire?
After the project launches, what new assets will you now own?
From which people will you need help? Do they have a track record of helping people like you?
Is it worth it?
Successful project organizers are delighted to engage in a conversation about all of these questions. If you're hiding from them, it's time to find out why.
Oddly enough, I'd been thinking about just these things. As I set up my "Go Fund Me" and my "Kickstarter" funds I've thought about, "Why would anyone want to support me? What's in it for them?" Even the people I tell about it ask that. "What's the reward for a backer?" It's obvious to me, but then I like to support every cause I can simply because I believe in people. Then Seth posts this, so, for those of you who are interested, here's my answer:
What are you *hiring* me to do? I like to think you're hiring me to do the thing you would do if you could. I like to think you're investing in a vicarious experience. You're wanting to see if I can do it. It's entertainment, enlightenment, curiosity and more. If you had the time, the courage, the chance you too would do this, but for whatever reason you can't. But you'd like to see if I can.
What does it remind me of? It reminds me that I did something equally as stupid 10 years ago when my dad died. I bought a van, quit my job and struck out thinking I could survive on my freelancing. And I did, only I did it living in a van with my Rottweiler and my cat! I failed, but ultimately succeeded, ending up at TED GLOBAL, speaking at Oxford. It didn't make me rich, but wow. What an experience!
What's the difficult part? Courage. I'm old. I stumble. I don't have the physical strength. I see ads from people selling their boats on Craigslist that say, "I'm getting too old for this shit" and they're my age and I wonder, "Am I too old?" Then there's the money. In my heart I KNOW I will do this once I raise the money. If I don't, then Wild Betty will simply be strapped into the front seat of my van and I will drive half of her ashes to NC to scatter them in the river there, and FedEX the other half to my brother in Florida to scatter in the ocean there. Seems like an anti-climatic end for her.
How much of your time and focus are you spending on the difficult part? Right now, about an hour a day. Some days more, some less. I have bills to pay. And I'm just getting ramped up. This spring and summer I'm sure I'll be consumed by it all. There will be classes, studying, and being on the water practicing.
What part that isn't under your control has to happen for this to work? (Do you need to be lucky?) The fundraising. Do I need to be lucky? I don't know. I'm not a believer in luck. I need to work hard enough and prepare long enough that when luck comes along she's enamored with what I've accomplished without her, and intrigued enough to join forces with me!
How much (time and money) is it going to take to find out if you've got a shot at this working out? Wow. At least a year or more of my life and $25,000. Just the classes alone will cost $1,000. Then there's the boat, the safety equipment, driving to and from the coast to practice every week thereafter in the Chesapeake Bay, food, gas....bills while I'm gone. Yeah. It's going to get expensive even if I do it on the cheap.
What assets do you already own that you'll be able to leverage? I'm actually cleaning out my storage unit and selling all I can to put towards the project. I'm thinking I'll be able to throw $3,000 towards it if I can land a new client.
What assets do you need to acquire? At this point I don't even know what I don't know. I know boat, safety equipment, depth finders, gauges, small engine know-how (another class). I'll be acquiring stuff, but knowledge. I need to know how to fix a small engine if mine dies. I need to know how to fix broken stuff and how to maintain working stuff. I'll be on my own out there. I'll need a radio, maybe a satellite phone, a way to reach the Coast Guard. It seems like a lot of what I'll need are the tools and skills for failing, not succeeding. Funny. Success does take care of itself. I mean, who prepares for succeeding? Something to think about.
After the project launches, what new assets will you now own? Wow. The project has launched and already, in the first 24 hours, I've had 53 visitors. I tend to think in terms of people. After the project launches the assets I will own will be fans - I hope. Ultimately I want a book that profiles what it takes, what it means to try, fail and overcome. I want people to read my thoughts and think, "I can do this" whenever they're facing hard times - simply because they saw I did. If I can do it, then they can. It's not about the boat or the skills, but is about the boat and the skills. I once told an eighth grader who wrote me about my TED talk that everything that happens to us in life is a lesson. We should embrace every failure and set-back and learn from them. So that's what I'll own - a more developed and engaged sense of my place in the world, among other things.
From which people will you need help? Do they have a track record of helping people like you?
Is it worth it? I'll need help from all kinds of people. I'll need financial backers, but then again, I'll need people writing me and saying, "You can do this!" and cheering me on. I learned from living in a van that people who help are few and far between, but those who do, will rock your world with their gifts of time, information, help and yes, even money. Most of it is on me to do. Not all help is $$. I'm going to need a lot of mentoring and tutoring as well.
Successful project organizers are delighted to engage in a conversation about all of these questions. If you're hiding from them, it's time to find out why. I'm never one to hide from questions! This is the biggest undertaking I've ever conceived. The scariest thing is I'm thinking, planning and doing it right - not just buying any boat and hoping for the best. I learned from the van. These are short answers to complex questions, but they're a start.
What is it for? When someone hires your product or service, what are they hiring it to do?
Who (or what) are you trying to change by doing this work? From what to what?
How will you know if it's working?
What does it remind me of? Are there parallels, similar projects, things like this that have come before?
What's the difficult part?
How much of your time and focus are you spending on the difficult part?
What part that isn't under your control has to happen for this to work? (Do you need to be lucky?)
How much (time and money) is it going to take to find out if you've got a shot at this working out?
What assets do you already own that you'll be able to leverage?
What assets do you need to acquire?
After the project launches, what new assets will you now own?
From which people will you need help? Do they have a track record of helping people like you?
Is it worth it?
Successful project organizers are delighted to engage in a conversation about all of these questions. If you're hiding from them, it's time to find out why.
Oddly enough, I'd been thinking about just these things. As I set up my "Go Fund Me" and my "Kickstarter" funds I've thought about, "Why would anyone want to support me? What's in it for them?" Even the people I tell about it ask that. "What's the reward for a backer?" It's obvious to me, but then I like to support every cause I can simply because I believe in people. Then Seth posts this, so, for those of you who are interested, here's my answer:
What are you *hiring* me to do? I like to think you're hiring me to do the thing you would do if you could. I like to think you're investing in a vicarious experience. You're wanting to see if I can do it. It's entertainment, enlightenment, curiosity and more. If you had the time, the courage, the chance you too would do this, but for whatever reason you can't. But you'd like to see if I can.
What does it remind me of? It reminds me that I did something equally as stupid 10 years ago when my dad died. I bought a van, quit my job and struck out thinking I could survive on my freelancing. And I did, only I did it living in a van with my Rottweiler and my cat! I failed, but ultimately succeeded, ending up at TED GLOBAL, speaking at Oxford. It didn't make me rich, but wow. What an experience!
What's the difficult part? Courage. I'm old. I stumble. I don't have the physical strength. I see ads from people selling their boats on Craigslist that say, "I'm getting too old for this shit" and they're my age and I wonder, "Am I too old?" Then there's the money. In my heart I KNOW I will do this once I raise the money. If I don't, then Wild Betty will simply be strapped into the front seat of my van and I will drive half of her ashes to NC to scatter them in the river there, and FedEX the other half to my brother in Florida to scatter in the ocean there. Seems like an anti-climatic end for her.
How much of your time and focus are you spending on the difficult part? Right now, about an hour a day. Some days more, some less. I have bills to pay. And I'm just getting ramped up. This spring and summer I'm sure I'll be consumed by it all. There will be classes, studying, and being on the water practicing.
What part that isn't under your control has to happen for this to work? (Do you need to be lucky?) The fundraising. Do I need to be lucky? I don't know. I'm not a believer in luck. I need to work hard enough and prepare long enough that when luck comes along she's enamored with what I've accomplished without her, and intrigued enough to join forces with me!
How much (time and money) is it going to take to find out if you've got a shot at this working out? Wow. At least a year or more of my life and $25,000. Just the classes alone will cost $1,000. Then there's the boat, the safety equipment, driving to and from the coast to practice every week thereafter in the Chesapeake Bay, food, gas....bills while I'm gone. Yeah. It's going to get expensive even if I do it on the cheap.
What assets do you already own that you'll be able to leverage? I'm actually cleaning out my storage unit and selling all I can to put towards the project. I'm thinking I'll be able to throw $3,000 towards it if I can land a new client.
What assets do you need to acquire? At this point I don't even know what I don't know. I know boat, safety equipment, depth finders, gauges, small engine know-how (another class). I'll be acquiring stuff, but knowledge. I need to know how to fix a small engine if mine dies. I need to know how to fix broken stuff and how to maintain working stuff. I'll be on my own out there. I'll need a radio, maybe a satellite phone, a way to reach the Coast Guard. It seems like a lot of what I'll need are the tools and skills for failing, not succeeding. Funny. Success does take care of itself. I mean, who prepares for succeeding? Something to think about.
After the project launches, what new assets will you now own? Wow. The project has launched and already, in the first 24 hours, I've had 53 visitors. I tend to think in terms of people. After the project launches the assets I will own will be fans - I hope. Ultimately I want a book that profiles what it takes, what it means to try, fail and overcome. I want people to read my thoughts and think, "I can do this" whenever they're facing hard times - simply because they saw I did. If I can do it, then they can. It's not about the boat or the skills, but is about the boat and the skills. I once told an eighth grader who wrote me about my TED talk that everything that happens to us in life is a lesson. We should embrace every failure and set-back and learn from them. So that's what I'll own - a more developed and engaged sense of my place in the world, among other things.
From which people will you need help? Do they have a track record of helping people like you?
Is it worth it? I'll need help from all kinds of people. I'll need financial backers, but then again, I'll need people writing me and saying, "You can do this!" and cheering me on. I learned from living in a van that people who help are few and far between, but those who do, will rock your world with their gifts of time, information, help and yes, even money. Most of it is on me to do. Not all help is $$. I'm going to need a lot of mentoring and tutoring as well.
Successful project organizers are delighted to engage in a conversation about all of these questions. If you're hiding from them, it's time to find out why. I'm never one to hide from questions! This is the biggest undertaking I've ever conceived. The scariest thing is I'm thinking, planning and doing it right - not just buying any boat and hoping for the best. I learned from the van. These are short answers to complex questions, but they're a start.
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