Big Brands

Brave.

July 30, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

What a great word. And what a great sentiment – since most of us aim to be brave-er, strong-er, bold-er in our embracing of life and work.

Lately I’ve been asking the “if not now, then when?” question.

Since that started, I’ve taken up African Dance (see a recent performance here!), fired a lucrative strategy client, asked a favorite client for a bigger role, and told a high ranking CEO that his messaging needed First Aid.

All this stuff feels brave. The reason is that it’s possible to lose something by doing it – whether that’s losing face, losing confidence, losing money. But brave has no time for those concerns. When you take brave and decide to connect it with the greatest possible good, productive, exciting, miraculous things happen.

What have you braved lately? Tell me. I want to know. And if you haven’t, how can I help?

Brave waits for only one thing – and that’s you.

August is a slow month….so you won’t see much SMARTY event action. Enjoy the unstructured nature of this lazy summer month!

Blind Spots.

July 23, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

I have them. You have them, too. The question is, are we willing to hear about them from other people?

The hardest thing about a blind spot is that you just don’t know it’s there, no matter how hard you want to know. The only way you find out about it is when someone braves up and tells you – which is usually a disruptive, startling, blind-siding event – like being hit by an emotional truck. Blind spots exist in the professional universe as well as the personal, but it’s the personal that impacts the professional sense of stability, and much less the other way around.

Inevitably, we have enough relationships that go deep enough or become important enough that we become aware of these behaviors that offend, hurt, alienate, control or otherwise damper positive feelings from others – and at that point we have a choice. We can become hyper-present and hope to catch future offending trains before they leave the station, or, decide we are who we are, and change is impossible or at least improbable.

I think the more important question to ask about blind spots is this; what if, instead of the surprise punch to the gut, we actually asked our peers and friends to put us on the hot seat for blind spot reviews? Sort of a tell-me-everything kind of thing. This is totally terrifying. But it’s also potentially liberating. And much less surprising.

Can we manage and hold the nausea of that uncertainty, of that big, blank, pregnant space of “what will they say?” long enough to get to what could be a big, juicy, gratifying, satisfying, elevating, profit-making, game-changing evolution on the other side?

Maybe we should try. Could be worth it.

Bailing or Believing.

July 15, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Morning…

So let’s talk about collective intelligence…

As all of you who are community members know, this is something SMARTY has been touting from the beginning. IE, “the more you know, the more we all know, so let’s talk about it” kind of thing.

If this is true, then I have a question for you (one that keeps being asked of me.) Why wouldn’t I offer myself, as well as other experts in the network who have something to give, into an online group setting where individuals pay some reasonable monthly fee to have a twice a month virtual get-down on small business insights, marketing mastery, communications clarity, selling strategies – why wouldn’t I? Maybe I would. Everyone else seems to offer this model. Maybe you could tell me if you would like this – at say $200/month – two Mondays of every month – key strategies, with time for one-on-one work where needed?

Here’s my resistance (I want to be convinced otherwise, by the way)…it just feels like everyone does “group coaching” and when everyone is doing something, my first reaction is to invent and imagine something better. Do you ever feel that way? We all have our virtual models and ways of capturing customers in a way that front loads costs but rewards itself in numbers, but I can’t help this reaction – that it just feels so formulaic. There’s something unoriginal in it. But am I thinking too hard? Am I aiming too high? Maybe it’s possible to offer something that might SEEM like the average, but really be far above it?

I’m contemplating.

Let me hear from you – reply to this if you have a thought – because I want (and need) to believe!

The Tension.

July 6, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

This is a feeling you’ll recognize to the degree that you’re connected to your gifts and talents. For better or for worse, the more deeply you understand your contribution to the world, the more this thing pains you.

So here’s the tension.

There’s what you know how to do in your business – your general IQ on how to build it, run it, communicate it, position it. And then there’s what you know is missing, even if you don’t know what it is. The wider this gap, the more it hurts. 99 percent of us have a limitation to the resources we want to or can spend on getting our work out into the world. We do the best we can, and fumble, and succeed, and do it all again – all in a days work. But what happens when this goes on for too long? Do you quit? Is the effort worth the rewards that feel far and few?

Living on this edge is what most of us do. We imagine that something will come along to change things, to interrupt a stagnant cycle, or to at least bring inspiration that could lead to turning something around. And those things do happen – but not usually to the point where we see big financial rewards. And that’s ultimately where we want to see the love – on the balance sheet.

There’s no question to each our gifts and skills. That’s not up for debate. But what is in question is how we deliver those to the world. One talent does not lead to another, and when it comes to marketing, it is the only packaging we can (as consumers) rely on to determine if we like you, or we don’t care. If too many people don’t care…well that math is pretty easy to do.

Identify people who get you, and can communicate for you. There’s too much incredibleness out there to be hidden in average copy, mediocre video, mainstream messages…and if you think I’m talking to you, well I am – but I’m also talking to myself as much as anyone. This applies to each of us, just in different ways.

The world needs you. Remove the static and present yourself.

Nobody Likes The Squirrel.

June 25, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

We were given a bird feeder last year that has added immeasurable fun to our lives. We now have a parade of birds and squirrels who appear as early as 4am, and from Chickdees to bright red Cardinal, they give us daily entertainment and joy – it resembles a sanctuary in Costa Rica.

But having observed this feeding system now for months, I’m noticing that no one likes the squirrels. As obvious as it is that they cannot get into this bird feeder, they still try – in the willeyiest, most creative ways, to get a single seed into their busy little rodent paws. The birds patiently wait as the squirrel hangs from the tree, jumps to the feeder ledge, loses his grip, crawls back up, hangs upside down, and repeats – until he gives up. And while I may be projecting, I really see them as the outcasts of the whole yard ecosystem. They remind me of companies and people who will. Not. Let. Up. Even when you say no or make it clear that what you do is NOT for them. They are the sneaky, guileless, lowest-rung player in a diaspora of legitimate interactions.

Sometimes our saturated marketplace starts to feel like an assault from these squirrels. From ads on Facebook to email spam to random (but incredibly consistent) calls from Google specialists – it can send a person into an existential tizzy. Is a sale, a customers attention, a click, so hard to get that our market has resorted to THIS?!

As small business owners and service providers we can make such a different choice. We don’t have to have it all, or even one percent of it all. We just need the right mix of great stores, clients or subscribers who ARE interested, and welcome our knock at their (virtual) door.

I’m amused by the squirrel, doing what he does. So are the birds, I think.

Long live the patient, tolerant, well intentioned bird, happy to take just what he needs to be happy – and no more.

Amy

I Just Don’t Have Time For Friends.

June 16, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

One thing I hear small business owners lament is — “I just don’t have time for my friends anymore.” I call B.S.

It may feel like that sometimes – especially in the early years, when you’re overwhelmed, and scheduling and to-do lists seem endless. But that statement isn’t really true, and even if it is, it shouldn’t be.

We all have cycles of production that are hyper-focused, meaning our heads are down and our brains are on-mission in a way that only realistically allows for work, family, a shower here and there, and more work. Everyone gets that — whether they have a 9 – 5 job or are also self-employed. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that people are only valuable if they add to your growth plan. I’ll admit that the less intimate ones may take a backseat – because prioritization takes over and maybe everyone doesn’t make the ‘cut’, as it were. But there’s another phenomenon that happens in this realm — when suddenly you’re “someone” in your field.

I think it’s safe to say we all hope to achieve a level of respect or fame in our respective disciplines – right? It’s not as though anyone expects to make headlines at the WSJ, but you hope to earn a name for yourself after decades of work. That’s reasonable.

But what happens when an old friend reaches out – maybe one who isn’t in the same arena, who doesn’t compare to your list of fans and followers, who hasn’t published a book, started a brand, taken a stage or been on the Today Show? I’ll give you a quiz – see what you answer.

A. Reach back with an opening for tea in the next month (or sincerely explain why schedules are tight).

B. Have an assistant reach back with events or class times you’ll be leading – because along with a few hundred other people – at least you’ll be in the same room!

C. Don’t reach back because you either don’t really feel like making time (or worse, you don’t see them as helpful in your ascent.)

The only good answer here is A, but unfortunately B and C happen all the time.

Let’s not be jerks just because we’ve become ‘very important people.’ It’s gross. Be the same kind of person you aim for as a business owner. Authentic. Sincere. Grounded.

There’s no point in having high ideals in entrepreneurship if they don’t apply to your soul.

Amy