Your name is your title
Social media expert?
Marketing guru?
PR wizard?
One of the most common questions asked in the discussion about personal titles and marketing superlatives is, if we shouldn’t call ourselves experts or gurus or ninja, what should we call ourselves?
In the martial arts, there’s one title that exists at the top of the hierarchy that eclipses all others that we can look to for inspiration: the concept of meijin.
Literally, meijin means “named person”. In the context of titles, a meijin is someone who is so well-known and so respected that their name is their title. They don’t need any other title, and their name is in fact a category of its own. For example, one well-known “name as title” person is Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris needs absolutely no title – his name is his title.
Look around the digital marketing space. Does Chris Brogan need a title? Not really, no. Does Avinash Kaushik? Does Gary Vaynerchuk? Does Seth Godin? These are people whose names are their titles. Look in your own industry, your own vertical. Whose name needs no explanation?
How do you become regarded as a meijin? The answer is as simple as it is difficult: by being the absolute best at what you do until your name is synonymous with that area of expertise.
What if you need to put something else on your business cards until you’re recognized by name? Luckily, we talked about that back in October when we discussed stacking heuristics.
One final caution: avoid at all costs billing yourself as someone else. Aspiring to be the next Steve Jobs or the next Bill Gates pigeonholes your reputation as being a shadow of someone else, at best a copy, at worst a pale imitation. Even more dangerously, it confines your own mind in a prison of someone else’s thinking. Oscar Wilde said it best – be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
6 AM in St. Louis
Two years ago I was wandering around St. Louis at 6 AM before one of the Social Fresh conferences. I had my digital camera with me, and was looking for interesting photos to take. Right around 6:15, I saw the sun start to come up. A look to the east revealed the reds and golds of a spectacular sunrise about to make its way over the horizon, even if obscured by all the local buildings. Amidst the urban clutter was the landmark St. Louis archway. A look to the west revealed my hotel, all 28 stories of it.
Sunrise was on the way.
If you’ve ever done any photography, you know that moments like sunrises don’t last for more than a few minutes. There’s a brief moment of magic when everything is just right, and then it fades as the day begins.
I broke into an all out sprint to get back to the hotel, racing inside to the security desk. The guard on duty probably wondered if someone had been murdered at the speed I ran up to him, but my only question was whether it would be okay if I went up to the closed restaurant on the 28th floor to take some photos. He called the manager on duty, who said yes, and the guard unlocked 28 on the elevator. Up I went.
I immediately had to perform some unplanned acrobatics. The cleaning crew had just mopped the black marble floors of the restaurant and as I dashed out of the elevator, I slipped and fell on what felt like the slickest black ice ever. Thankfully, lots of martial arts experience and luck kept me uninjured and my camera unbroken.
I managed to get to the window in just under 10 minutes from the time I saw the sky change and aim to the east. My luck held:
Be looking for opportunity.
Be prepared with the right gear and talent to take advantage of it.
Seize your opportunities with urgency, because they won’t last.
Be bold about asking.
Prepare to slip and fall, but be able to get up just as fast.
Take the shot.
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
Copying Sutras, Questioning Traditions
In Buddhist monasteries, young monks are often made to practice the art of sutra copying. They’re given handwritten copies of sutras, or religious texts, and are made to copy the words and brushwork of master teachers onto new scrolls and books. These texts are often elaborate and beautifully written, sometimes in Sanskrit. Monks huddle over them and carefully replicate exactly what’s on the page so that the copy is as flawless as the original.
In the Western world, there are similar practices. I remember giving a friend a mezuzah as a housewarming gift once. Mezuzah are tiny scrolls with a portion of the Torah inscribed by hand on them. The scrolls are placed inside a blessed container and hung on the doorway of a house for good fortune or to ward off evil. These mezuzah are meticulously copied by hand, with the belief that an improperly copied one transforms energy into bad luck rather than good luck.
In both examples, there are far more efficient and effective methods to accomplish the same result, a perfectly copied text. Simply take a digital camera or a word processor that can output Sanskrit or Hebrew and start making copies. You could copy the entirety of the Heart Sutra flawlessly just by repeatedly hitting copy / paste on your keyboard. You could mass print mezuzah even at absurdly small font sizes and still have them be perfect copies of scripture.
Of course, that isn’t what’s done. In fact, the respective practitioners of these spiritual practices would find the idea laughable at best and repugnant at worst. Just as there are times when it is wholly appropriate to stop doing what you’ve always done for the sake of tradition, there are also times when it’s vital to dig in and keep the old way intact. In the case of scripture copying, there’s the esoteric argument that only through the human hand can you capture the flavor and energy of the original text, much in the same way that no audio system perfectly replicates the experience of hearing the music performed live.
The more practical reason that these traditions exist is that it’s as much about learning the scriptures by heart as it is replicating data. If you were to hit copy/paste on the sutra, you could mindlessly replicate it without ever learning it. In contrast, monks are forced to learn them word for word, every subtlety and nuance, in order to make a perfect copy by hand.
When it comes to any significant or important practice that you’re doing, whether spiritual or in business, investigate it and question it! Learn why the practice exists as it does and what the underlying reasons for “doing it as it’s always been done” are. Sometimes there may be a valid reason to change the practice and make it more efficient, but sometimes there may be an equally valid reason to leave things exactly as they are.
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
How do I get started…?
If I had to rank the questions I’m asked at conferences and online, probably the single most asked question I’m asked is in the form of “How do I get started X”, where X is SEO, affiliate marketing, social media, Twitter, Google Analytics, etc. Fortunately, there’s an answer for you (and it’s not “Let me Google that for you”).
The answer to “How do I get started…” is always in the format of:
Why / What / How
Why
Why do you want to do X? What’s the overall objective? What’s the biggest possible picture? For example, a lot of people do ask how to get started in social media. Why? What end does it serve?
A few years ago, I was doing Social Media Therapy sessions at MarketingProfs B2B conference, and this one gentleman asked me exactly that question. He explained that his business was in the business of using massive computing resources to adjust prices in real-time for big box stores to maximize profits. In a word, his company’s function was to make buying something as expensive as the market would tolerate. I explained to him carefully that social media had very little to offer to him – in fact, consumers becoming aware that his company existed to make their lives more unpleasant might lead to things like torches and pitchforks at the front door of his office. Better that he focus on his existing customer base and use the networks of tightly-knit executives to help him grow his business.
If you don’t know why you’re doing something, don’t dare do it. Figure out why, figure out what the big picture is, and only then move on to…
What
Once you know why you’re going to do something, you can start to dig into what to do. The simplest way to begin tackling what is to examine what’s already being done. For example, let’s say you want to get started with SEO. Start your search engine of choice and see what’s out there. Chances are, someone has a guide of even mediocre quality that can be a place to start your inquiry.
One of my favorite tricks to start learning any area is to see what books are available about it. Hit up your local library or Amazon or the book source of your choice and start learning the words and phrases people use. Don’t go leaping into anything just yet – just develop a lexicon of the basic terminology for your area of study. For example, if you’re getting started with SEO, a few easy reads will give you a list of things like inbound links, on-site optimization, link building, keyword phrases, etc.
There is no substitute here for doing your homework. Building this kind of lexicon in your head and learning how the different words interact with each other is absolutely essential and there are no shortcuts you can take that won’t cost you obscene amounts of time, re-work, or money later down the road.
That leads us to…
How
Very often, people do this step first, and that’s totally backwards. This is the last step, where you take each of the lines of inquiry from the What phase and learn the nuts and bolts of making the What happen. If you just start searching in the dark without the Why and What understood thoroughly, you’re essentially hoping that you’ll piece together a working plan. It’s roughly akin to going into your kitchen, getting 5 items out of the refrigerator, and hoping it makes a meal. If you draw lime juice, milk, a piece of cheese, a box of baking soda, and the fridge thermometer, you’re in for a very hungry day.
What I recommend most is that you actually draw out a diagram or a mind map with each phase on it. Start with the Why, then add in the What, and you’ll eventually have enough branches to fill out the How. Doing it this way lets you write very detailed questions to ask search engines, colleagues, and your network of resources to get the insights you need.
Drawing out a map like this also lets you add and remove things as your base of knowledge grows and as you find out what works for you and what doesn’t. As an added benefit, when you’re done with the project or line of inquiry, you automatically have all of your documentation pre-built.
So how do you get started with…? Figure out the why, what, and how!
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
Finding hope and heroes
Listen to any of the speeches or talks today by any of our leaders or would-be leaders (political candidates, I’m looking at you) and compare them to Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech.
Is there any wonder we don’t feel a sense of inspiration or excitement about our leaders, or that we’re amazingly quick to leap at following anyone who offers even the slightest glimmer of inspiration? Look at how many people in social media, for example, form unhealthy attachments in the form of putting people on pedestals. I don’t fault anyone for doing it, given our choices of leaders and role models outside of the social media world. Another place to look is at the self help section of any bookstore. The shelves are positively overflowing with life coaches and mentors offering salvation for under $20.
So how do you find help and hope when the world around you seems to be offering none? Conjure up the heroes you do have and use them instead. One of my favorite examples of this was a trend that’s now a few years old, the “What would Jesus do?” meme. This was a wonderful example because it didn’t focus on who the hero was as much as what the hero would do in any given context.
Take your personal heroes and invoke them when situations call for it. There may be times when you have to be strong. Conjure up in your mind what it would feel like to be Superman, and what Superman would do in the situation you face. There may be times when you have to be clever. Conjure up in your mind what it would be like to have the clever insights of a James Bond. What would 007 do facing the problem that you face? If you believe in a religious tradition, look to it for different heroes that embody the hope and inspiration you need and see if you can bring a little (or a lot) of their magic into your efforts by repeatedly asking yourself what that hero would do.
Take on real heroes of eras gone by as well. Bring the power of inspiration and hope from Dr. King, whose efforts we honor today. Find compassion from Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama. Bring get-it-done resolve from George Patton.
The world may not have an abundance of heroes right now. Fortunately, you can have as many as you want inside your heart and mind. All you have to do is remember to call on them and bring their powers into your life.
Thorough but obvious disclaimer: invoking the feelings and attributes of your favorite superheroes does not mean you will gain their actual powers. If you read this blog post and then leap off a tall building in the belief that you can fly, you’re responsible for the consequences. If you do in fact manage to fly under your own power, please post the video to Youtube.
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
How I got my black belt
As Facebook says it’s his social media birthday, I thought it’d be fun to share one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever experienced in my life, thanks to my teacher, Sensei Mark Davis.
Each fall, there’s an event called New England Warrior Camp (which predates PodCamp and BarCamp and other camps by quite a number of years) hosted by senior master instructor Ken Savage out in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The camp is held at a rustic Boy Scout camp site with over a thousand acres of fairly unrefined woodland.
Back in the fall of 2004, Sensei Davis put a few of us up for our black belt test while at New England Warrior Camp. We were given notice that at any time during the weekend event, we’d be asked to test. We had no idea what it would involve, or where in the thousand acre campground it would occur. Right around 11:30 PM on Saturday night, we were instructed to be at a pavilion in the woods on top of one of the taller hills, without flashlights or guides. We needed to use our ability to navigate at night to get to the testing site. After a brisk 10 minute hike (which felt more like hours of anticipation), we reached the pavilion and found the entire corps of black belts of every advanced degree waiting for us. Talk about a moment that truly inspires dread.
My test started around the third or fourth candidate in. I was told to stand in the center of the room and hold the space – that is, don’t retreat, don’t advance, just hold the space and protect myself using all of the techniques and skills I had been taught. Immediately, four of my seniors, the majority of them other teachers of mine, surrounded me, at least two of whom are literally twice as large and strong as I am.
Sensei Davis called out for the test to begin, and the world suddenly caved in.
All four attacked at the same time, dealing out as many physical attacks as they could safely without causing permanent injury. At the same time, half of the room was shouting encouragement, to keep going, to keep fighting. The other half of the room was shouting insults, slurs, and encouraging me to give up, to go home, to quit.
To this day, I have no idea how long the test actually was. I remember glimpses and flashes of moments, but once it started, time and space disconnected, and didn’t resume until after Sensei Davis called for it to stop. I had no idea whether I had passed or failed, only that I had survived.
After all of the candidates had been put through the test, Sensei Davis gathered us all together and told us what the test was about.
Sensei Davis picks and designs his black belt test to emphasize only one core aspect: the ability to keep going in the face of adversity. It’d be simple to pass a test at what you’re good at. Sensei Davis does the opposite. For students who are experienced fighters but not strong academics, he will design a test that consists of textbook-perfect performance and recitation (in Japanese, no less) to push their weakest area of learning. For students who are good at technique but less strong at improvisation, he will design a test that is entirely improvisation. This is the hallmark of an outstanding teacher and an excellent test for endurance.
Our test was to see if we could keep going when every instinct, every part of our minds, bodies, and spirits was being pushed to give up. Physical attacks punished the body, while insults, mocking, and taunts encouraged our hearts to give up. To keep going in spite of all that was the entire test, because that one ability – perseverance – defines so many of our successes in both the martial arts and life. You can have all the advantages in life possible: a wealthy background, beautiful looks, a strong intellect. None of it matters if you give up and fold at the first sign of trouble. Conversely, when you look at all of the people in the world you admire as legitimate successes, all of them share the same unwavering perseverance, the same endurance to outlast temporary difficulties in order to win. Perseverance conquers all.
That is the gift that Sensei Mark Davis has given all of us in our training and lives. Helping us forge that indomitable will on the anvil of the dojo training floor has made many of Sensei Davis’ students immensely successful, and that’s a gift we can all only pay forward and pass along. I don’t exaggerate when I say that everything that I’ve accomplished in my own life is due in very large part to the training I’ve received from Sensei Davis.
Happy birthday, Sensei Davis, and thank you!
If you’d like to bring the same magic into your life, I’d strongly recommend visiting the Boston Martial Arts Center, Sensei Davis’ outstanding school, unsurprisingly located in Boston, Massachusetts.
If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network!
Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now!
Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile!
Marketing White Belt |
Watch me speak:
Attend virtually! |
I recommend: for Twitter audience building. |
Book Me to Speak
Got an event coming up? Learn why you should book me to speak!
• Download my 2012 speaking kit
•Book me to speak now!
Get Marketing White Belt
Grab my new book, Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer, and get better at marketing right now!
Blog Delivery
Things I recommend:
I recommend:
for Wordpress themes like this one.
I recommend:
for Twitter audience building.