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Why It’s Not Enough To Follow Your Bliss
Been hearing a lot of “Do what you love and the money will come” bromides lately. Build the audience first, worry about sales later Love your customers, don’t focus on metrics Follow your passion and the money will find you No. No no no nonononononononoooooooooooo Money doesn’t “come.” It doesn’t find you. It doesn’t fall (…)
This Is What Happens When You Let Other People Get In Your Head
This week I’m in Houston staying with my parents because I’m a great daughter and winner of all brownie points. I was meeting a friend for dinner when my mother said, “I’m not sure you should take the car. You haven’t driven in a while.” She was right. Living just outside Manhattan I never drive, (…)
The Inbox Booty Call: Why You Need to Protect Your Inbox The Way You Protect Your…Other Stuff
I hate my inbox. At any given moment, I have 647 unread messages from people who want something from me. Not just email. It’s Facebook Messenger. Slack channels. SnapChat. Twitter. Text messages. My tombstone is going to read: Here lies Margo, died of trying to respond in a timely manner to all the incoming requests (…)
You Need Some Bunny Therapy
There’s something in the air right now because everyone and their mom is burnt out, exhausted, and ready to punch someone in the face. “I’m. just. so. tired.” <—- Me this week. Burnout’s definitely got some cachet up here in the Northeast, but it feels like sh*t and makes you a horrible human being. You become the (…)
The Pressure To Write Something That Doesn’t Suck
Last week a reader asked me if I’d review her work before she published it publicly. I said that I could, but it wouldn’t help her solve her problem. Her problem was this: “It’s like I know I have a Picasso ready to be painted, but I only know how to do f$%^*@# stick figures.” There are two (…)
What Marketing Stuff Is Worth Your Time?
Messing up and playing around is one of the best things for your business. It’s how you figure out what works.
How To Get People To Listen To What You Have To Say
Have you ever been in a conversation where you couldn’t stop talking? That was me at a party a few weeks ago. Like this: I could not shut up. I finally apologized to the guy I was talking to, I felt so bad. “Sorry for verbal vomiting on you.” “That’s by design,” he said. Huh? (…)
Why You Need Specificity in Your Marketing If You Want It To Work
One thing you should never do is listen to Revisionist History episode 6 while you’re at the gym. The episode is titled “King of Tears” (if that wasn’t a dead giveaway), about the man behind country music’s biggest hits and why country music is so gut-wrenchingly sad compared to other genres. After putting you through “He (…)
A Phantom Gary Vaynerchuk Yells at Me Every Night And It’s Time To Talk About It
Every night around 11PM a weird voice goes off in my head. It says the same thing each night: “I’m sorry, do you think you earned the luxury of going to bed at 11PM? Is your business where it should be? NO. NO, IT ISN’T. STEP UP YOUR GAME. WAKE TF BACK UP!! HUSTLE TIME!” (…)
No One Is Going to “Discover” Your Genius – Here’s What To Do Instead
One of my favorite movies is The Imitation Game. “When people talk to each other, they never say what they mean, they say something else. And you’re expected to just know what they mean.” Great marketing lesson. That’s why I advocate listening to what people don’t say. And one of the things people don’t say (…)