One of my incredible membership members recently sent me a book called The Obvious Choice: Timeless Lessons on Success, Profit, and Finding Your Way by Jonathan Goodman. It’s filled with smart, practical strategies to help readers stand out in an increasingly noisy world.
I struggle with social media. I see it as an incredible tool for reaching people who might never find me otherwise, cheering others on, and even picking up useful life tips. And it can also amplify our doubts, insecurities, and the constant feeling of being behind.
Here are two paragraphs from the book that I found especially enlightening and refreshing:
When you create content online, there's two games to choose from:
The “try to get famous on the internet” game
The “leverage online media to build your business” game
Playing the right game is simple. Do you need (or want) cash now? or can you go for three to five years without making anything?
There's no wrong answer. Neither option is better or worse. They're different - with different rules of engagement, time horizons, reward mechanisms and odds of success.
In many cases, the tools (social media, podcast, email, etc,) are the same. How you use and measure your success on them is what changes.
If you choose the “famous on the internet” game, focus on both hard and soft media skills. Study influencers, learn video editing and up level on public speaking, improv, comedy and dance. Network in communities of others playing a similar game and plan for three to five years before it bears fruit.
If you choose to leverage social media as a place to build a business today, view it as a place to network and convert traffic, not generate it. Turn your platform into a place that showcases customer success, demonstrates your product or service and answers questions. Don't compare yourself to influencers, ignore superficial engagement metrics and instead measure metrics that relate to tangible business success.
While you can only play one well, at any given time, the game can change as your goals change. What's important is that you don't expect (or rely upon) the rewards of one game, if you're playing by the rules of the other.
If you have spotify premium, you can listen to the book as part of your membership here
If you prefer to read your books, you can purchase it here
