There’s only one growth strategy: work hard. ~ William Hague
There’s never been a better opportunity to make it big on your own — to be a successful company of one. But it’s easy to lose focus on what truly matters.
Ryan Holiday tells the story of a comedian who asked Jerry Seinfeld for advice on marketing and getting exposure.
“Just work on your act,” Seinfeld responded, somewhat annoyed. His advice was to put your head down and do the work of making what you’ve got better until it’s great.
And he’s right.
Cart, then horse?
Look around, though, and you see would-be solopreneurs and artists asking similar questions. They want the optimization tips and tactics before they’ve committed to making something great.
Holiday sees this as the curse that comes with the blessing. We have the reach and technology to do it all ourselves, which unfortunately can lead us to lose sight of (or ignore) what our primary role is in the first place.
It’s the implication at the heart of Seinfeld’s advice that stings:
Your work isn’t good enough. Keep your head down. You still have a long way to go.
It’s not that the business details and marketing side of the equation don’t matter. They just matter after.
A masterpiece bakes the marketing in
Your “job one” is to create the thing that the right people love. To be the someone who makes the something so great that it resonates and spreads among your particular slice of the population.
That’s not to say that you can’t begin serving your intended tribe before you’ve completed your particular masterpiece (you’ll likely discover the right thing to make that way). But that’s still an aspect of your primary work, and the ancillary tips and tricks are not yet of any consequence.
