PP 107: Espresso Yourself By Any Beans Necessary (Coffee Caffeinated Kick Series Pt. 2/3)
Espresso Yourself By Any Beans Necessary
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde
Let that quote wash over you for a minute.We live in a world where outside marketing forces make millions by seducing and influencing us to buy their product or services.Then we spend endless hours on social media unconsciously consuming other people's perfectly-curated feeds.It's easy to feel brainwashed into wanting these people's lives. This desire causes us to mimic what we see so we can attempt to "fit in and be happy."After spending much of my life getting bullied, all I ever wanted was to fit in—but I'm realizing I'd rather express myself as I am and stand out.So many of us creatives want to show up and be seen. However, we play it safe and tiptoe the edge of what's comfortable and what we think others want to see.That's why part two of the Coffee Caffeinated Kick Series is all about Espresso Yourself By Any Beans Necessary.Today's episode is a two-part approach to playing the short game while planning for the long game.
The Short Game
First, our focus starts by helping you find your groove and voice by creating work that expresses yourself. We do this by breaking away from people-pleasing and celebrating our weird.
The Long Game
Second, I'm planting a bigger picture in your head of how your work should target one specific person (your perfect follower). Then, we'll talk about scaling that to 1,000 True Fans to make a living as a creator.As always, keep an open mind and sip your coffee as you follow along.
Breaking the People-Pleasing Mentality
To me, people pleasing is camouflaging your identity and/or what you create into what you feel others wish to see to get their acceptance or praise.Because I was a people pleaser for much of my life, I now live by the motto of You Can't Please Everyone, You're Not Pizza.I go deep into the backstory of this in PP 093: You're Not Pizza (3 Life Lessons Learned From Loving Pizza Series Pt. 1. Essentially, what I'm trying to say is stop trying to be pizza and tailoring your identity, personality, and work to get someone else's approval.Everyone loves pizza, but not everyone needs to love you and your work. Trust me, it's better if they don't.More thoughts on breaking away from people pleasing:
Creating what others want to see vs. what you wish to see
Making your work for everyone makes it hard for it to be for someone
Creating for others should fall under the category of paid work from a client
Create what you wish to see in this world by celebrating your weird
You're Not Pizza (3 Life Lessons Learned From Loving Pizza Pt 1)
Celebrate Your Weird
In 2018, I've noticed a big shift in how people show up online and what people are craving. I've taken countless webinars and courses and listened to tons of audiobooks and podcasts. The underlying theme: people crave authenticity and knowing there's a human on the other side.Feck Perfuction(I failed to mention this during recording but this phrase is from James Victore). People want to know the person behind the killer art, design, or photography.People want to know you!In my opinion, one of the best ways to prove your humanity is by celebrating your weird and waving your freak flag.
This episode goes more in-depth on this topic: PP 081: 3 Super Convincing Reasons to Share Your Weird & Wave Your Freak Flag
Ask yourself these questions:
What are your weird quirks or qualms?
What are some random fun facts about you?
What are the weird things you find interesting that you keep to yourself?
Pours these unique things about you into your work and share your story
Own it by waving your freak flag high and proud
Over time you'll attract:
a like-minded tribe of freaks who vibe to the same ideas, styles, and weird tastes
the type of people who care about the human behind your relatable work, personality, and story
What's the worst that can happen vs. what's the best that can happen?
My most successful products were all things the expressed my weird quirks: pizza, coffee, cats, and outer space
3 Super Convincing Reasons to Show Your Weird & Wave Your Freak Flag
Your Perfect Follower & Getting to 1,000 True Fans
Your Perfect Follower
Wanting to elevate your side hobby or hustled into a full-time career? Pay attention to this section, as this will eventually become an episode in itself.Have you ever thought about who your perfect follower is? Or who your perfect listener, avatar, or client is?I'm not talking about your target audience or segment—I'm talking about that single soul whom your work and message resonates with perfectly.Again, this is something I'm hearing more and more in these courses, webinars, podcasts, and audiobooks I'm consuming. I've been thinking a lot about where I'm taking Perspective-Collective in 2019 and my strategy for scaling this into a full-time job.When you celebrate your weird and share work that resonates with people consistently over time, you'll start to notice patterns in your following.Pay attention to what people engage with the most. What do people like and comment on the most and what are they saying? How does it make them feel?When you notice these things, keep doing more of what works to build a stronger know, like, and trust factor with your audience.The goal is to know that one perfect person that your work is for. Picture them in your mind with everything you create that's authentically true to yourself.This is the formula I believe for the 1,000 True Fans concept by Kevin Kelly.
1,000 True Fans
A quick overview is, that to make a good living as a creator, all you need is 1,000 true, die-hard fans that will support anything and everything you put out.If each one of your fans spent $100 through your product or service, you would have made $100,000.I truly believe achieving this level relies on:
being comfortable with yourself and sharing it in your work
knowing who you're creating for and what's in it for them
staying true to yourself but listening to your audience
repeating this cycle over and over again to build the like, know, and trust factor
I'm currently working on this long game phase and diving deeper into it in 2019. When I have something to share about this, you better believe I'll do an episode more focused on the bigger picture and actionable steps you can take!
Espresso Yourself & Grind Away
Early in your creative grind, learning to express yourself is vital if you want to rise above the noise.This is your time to play, experiment, and fail as you find your voice and style.Focus on you and share what makes you unique. Over time, you'll find that you'll attract like-minded freaks.Savagely play the short game and keep the long game in mind if you're wanting to make living doing your thing.Espresso yourself by any beans necessary and keep grinding away.
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CREDITS
Music - Blookah
Executive Assistant - Paige Garland
Photo & Video Specialist - Colton Bachar
Social Media Coordinator - Hannah Schick
Animation Specialist - Greg D'Amico