Reading Time: 2 min Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of AI. There are some great things coming from it, but I generally prefer the old way of doing things, and wish that all creativity came directly from human minds. However, it’s not something I can control so I’m digging in deeply to understand AI as well as I […]
Trust
Yes, that’s spam
Reading Time: 2 min As time goes on, my definition of spam has gotten larger and larger. If you’re thinking about sending something and wonder “would this be considered spam?”, yes, it probably would be. My definition of spam has grown to simply include any cold contact. A cold email, a cold LinkedIn message, a cold phone call — […]
Respect includes clear criticism
Reading Time: < 1 min I mentioned a few weeks ago that feedback such as “make it darker” isn’t helpful or acceptable, but it can go a bit further than that. On a recent episode of Brian Koppelman’s “The Moment” podcast, he had Seth Godin on as a guest. Seth takes feedback very seriously, and takes the thoughts from “helpful […]
Confident answers can be problematic
Reading Time: < 1 min Confidence is a good thing. If you can be confident in what you believe, what you know, and who you trust, that’s fantastic. However, if you have to project fake confidence as a way to avoid being seen as vulnerable, that quickly becomes a big problem. In David Clark’s excellent book “Tao of Charlie Munger“, […]
Thought leaders are everywhere
Reading Time: 2 min Depending on your marketing goals, one approach might be to reach “thought leaders” so that they can spread the word about your product to their audience. It sounds good in theory, but determining who a thought leader is can be nearly impossible. There are well-known authors and celebrities, for sure, but the people that others […]
Sell the customer as little as possible
Reading Time: < 1 min It sounds counter-intuitive, but some of the best companies in the world work hard to sell as little as possible to each of their customers. I first shared this a few years ago when talking about how “if you don’t say no, your yes is meaningless“, where the companies I trust most often push to […]
A solid business is built on trust
Reading Time: 2 min The title of this post may seem a bit obvious, and I think it is, but taken from a wider view it can get a little interesting. In Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team“, he breaks down the typical dysfunctions in the form of a pyramid, shown here. In his pyramid, you […]
It’s about time to remove the gates
Reading Time: 2 min “Gated content” on websites has historically been a great way to build an email list. I’m sure you’ve done it — there’s a great PDF that interests you like “10 ways to prepare your lawn for the fall”, and it’s free if you just give over your email address. Generally speaking, it’s a win-win situation; […]
We tend to trust the skills of automatic people
Reading Time: 2 min When it comes to sports, the best athletes are the ones that appear to do things without thinking — and it’s true. As explained in the book “Trying Not to Try“, the more automatically you can perform a task, the better you’ll likely perform at it. This is also why people often choke under pressure. […]
Do you want to be seen as trustworthy? Be trustworthy.
Reading Time: < 1 min Trust is one of the more important qualities you can build in life, whether for yourself or for your business. While there are some shortcuts you can take, they’re generally short-lived. In reading Edward Slingerland’s “Trying Not to Try“, he summed it up very nicely when it comes to building a positive reputation for your […]