Anger, boundaries, and who you serve
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the word “fierce” in a business context, and what I think the unchanging principles might be.
Because my preference is always to put the work in on something that endures, rather than a fad or a superficial tactic.
I came up with 12 “laws” — but not as in arbitrary rules made up to control you.
They’re also not observations swiped from someone else and wrapped in new packaging, like that book on the “laws of power.”
These are more like gravity. They come from long, systematic observation. Not only my observations, but those of lots of other people who have built sustainable success.
This certainly isn’t a tablet of twelve laws I expect you to obey. Instead, think of them as patterns that may be helpful to understand, so you can work with them instead of fighting them.
Since twelve is a lot (both to write and to read), I’m making this one a two-parter. I’ll catch you next week with numbers seven through twelve.
So let’s get started.
#1: Anger is lousy food but excellent fuel.
People who aren’t angry have the luxury of not paying attention.
If I see one more comfortable dude lecturing us not to “manufacture outrage,” I’m going to start swinging.
You don’t have to let anyone shame you about being being pissed off. There’s plenty that’s worth getting pissed over.
But too many of us swallow anger, until it poisons us with burnout, chronic stress, depression, and sometimes worse.
Instead, burn it.
Use your anger as fuel to build the thing you want to make, in the way you want to make it.
In my experience, anger is underrated.
#2: Nothing sells itself.
If you’re proud of it, go ahead and speak up about it.
This takes practice. And don’t worry, you absolutely do not need to be a “born salesperson.”
But you can learn to speak clearly (and frequently) about why your project is better, and to ask your audience to take the next step with you.
If you’ve worked hard to create your product or service, and you keep clarifying and communicating the reasons it’s good, you’ll find the folks who need what you have.
Don’t expect them to magically come find you. It’s your job to do the work of letting them know you exist, and to explain, specifically, how you help.
#3: You are going to graduate beyond the basics.
It’s ok to grow beyond your early teachers.
The fundamentals stay fundamental.
But the techniques you learn in a beginner course (and a beginner course can take a lot of forms, from a $12 book to a $2000 course or more) will only get you so far.
You’re going to reach a place where your individual combination of values, expertise, and personality, combined with the specific audience you attract, are going to call for a more individual approach.
I don’t mind the big, general digital business and marketing courses. Most of them do a decent job. I’ve taught more than one myself.
Get what you can from them. And realize that at some point, you’ll graduate to needing something more specific to you.
#4: If it stinks at breakfast, it won’t smell good at dinner.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” – Maya Angelou
You may have learned this one for yourself. Over and over again. I definitely have.
And still, our optimism can triumph over our experience.
If someone shows up waving a bunch of red flags that show you they fundamentally do not respect you, it’s a great time to turn around and walk the other direction. If you absolutely can’t, the next-best solution is to make sure you know where the exits are.
This is particularly useful to remember with clients, but it applies to other people and situations, too.
I’m not saying no one ever changes. People change. But they don’t change because you martyr yourself on their sword of bullshit.
#5: Serve humans, not robots.
No Google bot is ever going to buy your product.
Algorithms — those little bits of computer code that make things happen online — serve humans.
When we get that backwards, and start putting too much time, energy, and talent into pacifying those little snips of code, we’re going to have a bad time.
SEO can certainly be useful, and social media can be a great place to be smart in public. It’s wise to use the tools that exist to help us widen our message and find more like-minded people to connect with.
But I’ve never met a Google bot or a social media algorithm that had a credit card to buy my products or services.
#6: It’s better to decorate the bottle than to poison the wine.
New packaging is always better than fake facts.
A lot of marketing is about making a pretty container. Taking something useful or desirable that exists in the world, and wrapping new packaging around it.
It’s really good (and exciting) when we can create something that’s new — maybe by serving an audience that hasn’t had great options before.
But way too often, I see someone take a topic that changes very little (health is the most common, but this comes up in every topic) and make up something “new” by making up something … wrong.
That’s why I tend to prefer leadership over “thought leadership.”
Here’s what I said about it on Copyblogger:
“… thought leadership implies that you have some kind of shiny, new insight that no one has articulated before. To be a thought leader, what you’re saying can’t just be interesting, well-reasoned, and useful — it has to be new.”
New is great when it’s actually needed.
But novelty for its own sake is where we get snake oil and alternative facts, and either of those can kill you.
Ready for laws 7-12? Go check them out here: The 12 Laws of Fierce Business (part 2)
Photo by Juan Camilo Guarin P on Unsplash
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