The Next Big Thing

 Everyone wants to create (or be) the “next big thing.”  We want to start off with a #1 hit.  Or at the very least, we want to have some level of success right away.  But when it comes to sales, building a business or creating content, most of the time, it doesn’t work that way.   It’s done by making small, almost unnoticed steps, each day.  Seth Godin talks about this in this blog post “Two Simple Secrets to Good ideas.”   Secret #1 is the biggest one: More bad ideas. The more bad ideas the better. If you work really hard on coming up with bad ideas, sooner or later, some good ideas are going to slip through. That’s how I feel about creating content and building an audience.  You need to be willing to live through the times when it feels like nobody cares.  You have to keep showing up.  You have to keep providing value without getting anything in return.   Oh, and as a side, note, I “keep” saying “keep.”  Before you can keep doing anything, you have to start.  So if you want to build a business or a personal brand, you have to actually start.  Seth Godin would say you have to “Choose Yourself.”  The bad news is, it will take time.  Most of the time it takes a long time to create a real audience.  But the good news is, that lack of audience gives you time to hone your craft and get better.  It gives you time to make mistakes and not be perfect.  You won’t be.   But start.  As Seth says, start creating a bunch of bad ideas.  Sooner or later a great idea, video, podcast, blog, or business will come. Speaking of people who “chose themselves,” congratulations to the people recognized on the most recent Online 18.  Dale Denham has created this list for the last several years.  It recognizes people that put themselves out there online, hopefully, to the betterment of the marketing community.  Keep it up! We will keep putting this “out there!”  Make sure you never miss a podcast, video, blog or special.  Sign up for our VIP Newsletter here.