It’s not easy being your own boss.
Even before the pandemic caused many small businesses to struggle, millions of people were already having a tough time in the gig economy as delivery workers, taxi drivers, and the like. The same goes for people trying to make it big in cryptocurrency and NFTs, all of which goes to show how right Kurt Vonnegut was to write in Slaughterhouse Five (also available on Audible):
It isn’t much fun if you have to pinch every penny till it screams.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! Instead of shunning money completely or trying to strike it rich by profiting from what isn’t yours, there are other means. So, in addition to the articles I published on freelancing tips and how to start an AI business, here are some of my favourite Seth Godin quotes from his 2021 blog posts, together with a recommended title from Blinkist.
The most direct way to become popular is to serve the audience that made the last thing popular. By that definition, popular almost always means ‘not better.’ It simply means that you found a large group and gave them what they wanted. ~ Understanding “popular”
Learn more: Small Giants
Showing up is something almost every creative leader has in common. In business, in the arts, in society. Consistently shipping the work, despite the world’s reaction, despite the nascent nature of our skill, despite the doubts. ~ Born to run (things)
Learn more: The Go-Giver
Getting picked is great, when it works. Someone needs to be in the spotlight and it might as well be you. In the meantime, catch your breath, show up and contribute. It all adds up. ~ Chasing the cool kids
Learn more: Bold
The opportunity lies in finding a viable audience and matching the project’s focus and budget to the people who truly want it. ~ The dance between the long tail and the short head
Learn more: Start Something That Matters
We have a chance to do work we’re proud of, and to do it for people who care. And maybe we can do it in a way that will lead them to tell the others. Traffic from an algorithm isn’t the point, it’s a random bonus. ~ You can’t beat the algorithm
Learn more: Make Your Mark
If you want to grow, you’ll need to get someone to not only decide that you’re worth their time and money, you’ll need to motivate them to act now instead of later. ~ Competition vs. activation
Learn more: Launch
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being different from the crowd. In fact, it might be the ideal path forward. The problem begins when you don’t see what’s not matching up. ~ Can you see it?
Learn more: Finding the Next Steve Jobs
The smallest viable audience isn’t a compromise, it’s a path forward. Find the folks who are enrolled and open and eager. Serve them instead. ~ “You’re not that good”
Learn more: Company of One
Luck might not be a strategy, but setting yourself up to be lucky might be. ~ Luck is not a strategy
Learn more: Can You Learn to be Lucky?
We know how and why the sun sets every night. But we still desire magic. Creating it for your customers and peers is a gift. ~ Disenchantment
Learn more: The Fortune Cookie Principle
Strategies don’t change. They’re not a secret. It doesn’t matter if your peers or opponents know your strategy. Tactics, on the other hand, change often, and are usually best kept quiet. ~ “I don’t want to play”
Learn more: Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO
Being clear about ‘who’s it for?’ and ‘what’s it for?’ is the actual hard work of developing customers. And if you’re not gaining traction, deciding to hype harder is not the right choice. ~ Customer development
Learn more: The Power of Focus
Better to pay a little more than you should and get something you can use than pay too little and end up with nothing at all. ~ In between a total loss and an endless expense
Learn more: The Power of Broke
Focusing on the smallest viable audience makes so much more sense than trying to make average stuff for average people. ~ Not for Diana
Learn more: The Infinite Game
Very few people have the leverage to change the world. But all of us have the chance to change the people around us, and those actions change what gets built, funded and launched. ~ Contagious commerce
Learn more: Impact Players
Staying at a scale that’s working isn’t a cowardly copout. It might be the single best way to do work that matters for people who care. ~ An illusion of scale
Learn more: David and Goliath
The bravest leaders and contributors aren’t worried about appearing afraid. It allows them to see the world more clearly. ~ Afraid of afraid
Learn more: The Leader In You
Yes, you’re entitled. We all are, sooner or later. But feeling that we’re entitled and demanding that others realise that we’re entitled is completely useless and might even get in the way of the work we hope to do. ~ Entitlement
Learn more: Back to Human
There are two confusions. The first is that the next big idea must be fully original. The second is that it has no competition. This is almost never the case. ~ The next big idea
Learn more: The Power of Starting Something Stupid
Don’t worry so much about someone stealing your ideas. In fact, it’s probably worth working harder to get people imagining that they might. ~ Your big idea
Learn more: The Worst Business Model in the World
Engaging with the marketplace requires creating value for people who have a choice. And deciding what to offer your customers is your choice. ~ A freelancer’s dilemma
Learn more: The Wealthy Freelancer
Don’t make something that you would buy. Make something that they would buy. ~ Marketing as a service
Learn more: Dear Founder
As our world gets more connected, the projects that change us are more and more likely to have a form that would be hard to recognize just a generation ago. But inventing and choosing and supporting these projects is now on us, and it begins by recognizing that they even exist. ~ Kinds of projects
Learn more: Future Shaper
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