Edition 14: Know There Will Be Bad Days and Learn to Love the Pareto Principle
Part of solopreneurship is being prepared to deal with crap days, because there will be plenty. It's part of the battle to build. When you stick with the Pareto Principle, life gets a little easier.
Sit in the suck.
Recognize it for what it is.
Don’t be afraid to be mopey for a day or two. Then get back to it.
The bad days can almost get comical. Everything’s going sideways. You’re not quite sure how the s***storm started, but all you can do is laugh.
Don’t Try to Force Better Days, Embrace the Suck
This past Monday was pretty terrible. A few things went sideways that were unexpected. One of which led me to fire a client who had just come on board. Sometimes you have to listen to your gut, but it’s still not fun.
Beyond that, I was totally exhausted. Not sure why. Some days, in this world of ours, you are. I didn’t try to “suck it up” or “push through,” as many of my coaches back in the day might have suggested. I embraced the suck.
I did what I could. And shut the computer and rested. The week’s gotten better, but I’m realistic this will be far from the last crap day.
Solopreneurship and freelancing aren't for the weak-willed.
If you're heading down that path and don't like the occasional crappy day, find an exit now.
There's going to be plenty of them.
Ever Heard of the Pareto Principle? Learn It. Love It. STOP SELLING SO MUCH.
If I could boil down the throughline of the content I see on some hashtag feeds on LinkedIn, it’s this: “Show me the money!”
Everyone’s selling all the time. Selling their services as a coach. Selling their revolutionary course that will change your life forever. Selling their time in hour blocks. Selling their mastermind. Selling their trinkets.
Selling. Selling. Selling.
They’re working off of what I’ll call the “Reverse Pareto Principle.” The Pareto Principle states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. This 20% of actions are known as the “vital few” actions.
If you’re handling content strategy correctly, you should be selling at MOST 20% of the time in your content. There’s nothing wrong with a strictly self-promotional post 1 of 5 posts on the high side.
I don’t do them more than once every two weeks.
Many people are doing them in every single post. There’s no coincidence that the engagement on those posts is 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗 city. I’m not EVER going to consider working with you if you’re trying to sell me before I have any reason whatsoever to trust you.
At least 80% of all the content you create should be a pure value giveaway without expecting anything at all in return. This is how you build trust. Hard selling people over and over again will do absolutely nothing.
You’re better off not even creating content at all if that’s going to be your strategy.
The Content Backbone: Trust, Value & Demand
As your content surfaces in someone’s feed and they like what you’re saying, they still have the question above:
Can I trust you?
Three pillars are the foundation of any early content strategy:
Trust
Value
Demand
The TVD matrix.
You need to create content that shows people why they should trust you. This content speaks to your personal and professional experiences. It talks about what you’ve learned along the way and why that matters.
Trust isn’t enough, though, if you haven’t established value and demand. Value is the unique benefit your products and services bring to the table. Value comes in being a painkiller. When people see you as a resource that can kill their major pain points or help solve the problem that’s keeping them up at night, you’re starting to turn the corner.
Demand pulls it all together. Demand-generating content shows how your approach is different from your biggest competitors. It outlines the steps you’ll take to help someone improve and solve a problem. It helps people who are sitting on the fence about working with you to get off the fence.
Work within this matrix for a while if you aren’t already, and see what happens.
August’s Solopreneur Spotlight Series Guests Are Booked.. and I’m Thrilled
I’m absolutely thrilled about the lineup of guests joining me on the Solopreneur Spotlight Series in August! I’m humbled that all four of these awesome solopreneurs and community builders accepted my invitations!
August kicks off with one of my favorite LinkedIn people, Jahmaal Marshall, joining me on August 4th at 11 am CST to chat about how he juggles all the different parts of his crazy busy world as a podcast host, speaker, and certified counselor.
Jahmaal’s a fascinating guy, and this is one you won’t want to miss!
Tuesday Tactics Kicks Off on August 3rd!
Many of you have expressed feedback that Content Notes is:
Too cutesy
Too long
Not enough actionable content
And I’ve heard you. Thanks so much for your feedback y’all!
Along those lines, I’d like to introduce Tuesday Tactics!
It’s my shiny new object that will be launching on Tuesday, August 3rd, and headed straight to your inbox each week.
Straight-forward and full of actionable takeaways on solopreneurship, marketing, building a personal brand, and so much more.
Less fluffy.
More direct.
Straight-up value.
Til next week:
Embrace the suck. Part of being a solopreneur is fighting through bad days. Get used to it. They won’t last forever.
Stop selling so much in your content. Build trust. Sell rarely. Your content should sell itself.
Lean in on the TVD matrix. Try it for a while and see what happens.
Also, I’d LOVE to hear your feedback about Content Notes!
Like the GIFs? Think they’re annoying as hell?
Taking any value out of the content?
Too afraid to unsubscribe even though you hate it?
Hit me up at kris@krishughes.com and let me know.
I want to make this what y’all want it to be, so we all have a good time with it!
Happy Weekend!