What if it took you ten years to see success?
Would you still do it? If your answer is no – get out.
Out of business that is. I’m always putting off this letter to last minute. Often times, I’m waiting for inspiration to hit. I’ll stew over what to write for days…because I know if I waste your time with crap content, you’re done with me.
So if I’m going to take up your time, then it better be good. And I better be succinct. I’ll do my best.
In business – we should always give our best. We’ll miss the mark sometimes, and that’s okay. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss. A group of us (women and men) had the opportunity to hear Gary Vaynerchuk speak on stage a few weeks ago. If you don’t know who he is, he’s most famously known for his Ask Gary V show – a snapchat investor, a big proponent of being a content machine and leveraging social media to do it.
He says most businesses go wide but don’t build depth. So where does depth come from?
For some of us, it’s the stuff we don’t want to do. For others, it’s the stuff we don’t know how to do. And a lot of this stuff he’s referring to involves spending a lot of your free time. The payoff is huge, but most of us don’t see that far ahead. We’re too busy looking directly in front of us, and all too often – in the rear view mirror.
Gary V says the game is changing in a big way thanks to technology – we can scale our businesses faster, but we can also get lost in the noise.
For those of you who aren’t using content to create value and influence – you’re dead. He said it, not me. But I agree.
- Social Media (a picture is worth a thousand words. use the idiom to your advantage.)
- Written Content (when people don’t have time to listen and just want to read)
- Video (live streaming, and edited footage)
- Audio (think podcasting)
Here’s the problem with doing all the above – for free by the way …it takes time, and so many of us lack the patience when it comes to business (including myself).
The formula he outlined above is a lot of give, give, give. There’s hardly any ask actually.
Here’s where I circle back to my original question: what if it took you ten years?
Someone asked me that – what if it took you ten years to build HER Magazine before it was ‘successful’?
(and success is relative, but let’s be real – we are newcomers to the game of digital media. tv news is in many ways astronomically different.)
And I’m okay admitting that. It’s unique, and here’s why. You get to watch us build this business, from the ground up. There’s something kind of cool and scary about it, all at the same time.
If we fail, we won’t be the first. We will probably fail, many times. We’ve already failed (and learned as a result). We started this crazy venture in 2015. We changed our name, our brand, our niche – because when the market speaks up, you pivot.
What we won’t do is give up. And there’s something terrifying but important about creating that intention in your business.
You may slightly switch strategies (or even entirely) – your business may evolve, but what if it took you a decade before you saw massive success?
Would you still do it? If the answer isn’t yes, entrepreneurship is not for you.
I think you’ll find this month’s cover powerhouse insanely inspiring. Kimra Luna is the epitome of a woman who built her business from the ground up, and she hit a few road bumps along the way. Who doesn’t? Her story however is one you won’t be able to pull away from.
If you had any excuses before, she’ll leaving you wondering why you have so much self-doubt. Kimra knows a thing or two about pain, but she’s also someone who doesn’t allow her past to dictate her future. She’s been to the bottom before, which makes her fearless pursuit even that more moving.
Enjoy our April issue, for free. On the advice of Gary V…
This is my Letter from the Founder in the April issue of HER Magazine. To access this month’s issue for FREE (yes, free) go here to access it in iTunes and here for Google Play.
