Trent365

If you have a tendency to overthink things, to overcomplicate things...write it down.

By writing down your thoughts, it helps you to clarify them, rather than having those thoughts just running around in your head.

BTW - if you don't like to write, just saying your thoughts out loud can work the same way. Maybe record a short video of you speaking your thoughts.

And conversely, if you oversimplify things, or underthink them...read.

Do some research. Google it. 

The more you learn about your topic, chances are, you'll realise how much you don't know.

NB: Credit to @AlexandBooks on Twitter for the inspiration.

#overthinking #clarity #oversimplification

Decentraland is the place to be.

Well, if you want to be in a Metaverse, that is.

A Metaverse is basically an online virtual world.

A bit like a social network where you actually insert yourself it the virtual world, through your avatar.

You'll be hearing a lot more about the Metaverse.

But my first experience in Decentraland was pretty crappy.

Why? Because there just weren't many other avatars (people) in the 'world' when I was there...at least not on my server.

You see, Decentraland is built for massive scale and that means it's built across multiple servers.

If you happen to be on a server where there are lots of other users, your experience can be great.

But if, like me, you're on a server with not many active users...your experience sucks!

The lesson here for any business is that if you build for scale, you need to remember that you will also have users/customers/guests that use your product or service 'pre-scale'.

If the experience you have created relies on scale, what sort of experience will the 'pre-scale' users get?

By all means, plan for massive scale, plan for massive growth...but don't do that at the expense of the experience of users who come to you 'pre-scale'.

If you do that, they may not hang around long enough for you to actually achieve scale.

#scaleyourbusiness #customerexperience #metaverse

What I love about that statement is that it demands accountability.

You need to take responsibility for how your future turns out.

You have to take control and be an active participant in your future.

That doesn't mean you have to be able to control all aspects and elements of your life.

This is where I think many people get confused.

How can I control my future if things happen that are out of my control?

There will always be factors that are out of our control.

But that doesn't mean that you can't still control the general direction and the ultimate outcome.

NB: Thanks Seth for the inspiration!

#carpediem #accountability #ownyourfuture

Many business struggle when it comes to creating regular content.

One way to get around that is to focus on 'Evergreen Content'.

Simply, content that is as relevant today as it will be in 2-3 years...or more.

But when something like COVID-19 happens, the entire business landscape changes dramatically and so it's almost impossible for Evergreen Content to be relevant. Right? Wrong!

Take a subject like Customer Service.

The core of that topic, the things that really matter, the fundamentals, are still the same.

What might be different is where that Customer Service is now taking place due to COVID-19 - ie: online.

So, take the core piece of content you've created about Customer Service...

add something above it about how COVID-19 has impacted the way we look at Customer Service, where we provide it, how we monitor it, etc etc...

then, insert your core content (the Evergreen bit)...

and finish it off with some thoughts on what will happen in relation to Customer Service on the other side of COVID-19.

Voila!

You just made an Evergreen Content Sandwich!

Enjoy!

PS: For many industries, the pace of change and innovation is not great. Therefore, even if you want to talk about ways to disrupt your industry, that too could be Evergreen Content, at least for a few years.

#contentstrategy #evergreen #contentmarketing

I'm all for having a positive attitude.

In fact, it infuriates me when people use the difficulties and challenges a a reason and excuse to not move forward.

BUT...Toxic Positivity is a real thing.

It happens when we deny the bad, the negativity and instead subscribe to blind optimising and positivity.

In doing that, we effectively suppress the negative emotions...and they just build up...and up...until...

they become toxic.

So please, absolutely do maintain a positive attitude.

But in doing that, don'y deny the negative.

Accept that it's all just part of the game.

Embrace it. Learn from it. Then, move forward.

#postivemindset #toxicpositivity #realist

We like to hear stories about how successful things got started.

What were the early days of the Ford Motor Company really like?

How did JP Morgan go on to become such an important financial institution?

If we understand these Origin Stories then we can use some of the learnings and lessons in them to help us in our journey.

But you need to be aware that all Origin Stories have a certain degree of...let's just call them 'embellishments'.

Little White Lies. Small exaggerations. Tiny understatements.

I'm pretty sure that my personal Origin Story, as told by me, would be a little different from my Origin Stories as told through the eyes of my Mum.

So, by all means, seek out these Origin Stories.

There are definitely valuable lessons to be learned.

Just don't take the entire story as being 100% factually correct.

#storytelling #originstory #founderstories

Yesterday the world took a collective GASP...because Facebook went dark.

And not just Facebook, but what Facebook owns too.

Instagram and WhatsApp also went down.

For the millions of people who have build their businesses on these platforms, it was a scary few hours.

So, learn the lesson.

Get you fans, followers and customers onto your own 'platform', one which you control.

For most of us, that can be as simple as establishing an email list.

To do that, you need to first give them a reason to give you their email address.

A simple email newsletter. Some special Members Only offers. An free eBook.

There's many ways you could go with this.

The key is making sure that you first give them enough value that they're willing to hand over their email and then make sure you stay engaged with them on your new 'platform'.

They will always return to the big social platforms, as that's where they spend so much of their time.

But if you can pull them over onto your platform too, you can at least protect yourself against the vagaries of the big platforms.

PS: if you want to connect even closer with them, try to create a text-type platform. That can be much more engaging than just email.

#socialnetworks #marketing #platforms

Mentors can be great. I'm all in favour of people finding mentors.

It's a useful means to an end.

But, for some people, simply securing a mentor seems to be the end itself.

They almost become obsessed with the idea of having a mentor.

For them, a mentor is seen as a rite of passage on the path to professional greatness.

Are you using the absence of a mentor as an excuse not to move forward?

Do you subconsciously see your mentor's approval of a decision as a way of absolving you from responsibility for the outcome?

Maybe it's time to focus less on your mentor and more on just taking action.

#mentors #takeaction #nomoreexcuses

A nice little quote I picked up from the AppleTV+ series 'The Morning Wars'.

What I like about it is that this quote makes it personal.

Unlike the more general quote 'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

And it's especially relevant in a world of the internet and social media.

These days, you don't even really need to know anything...

You just need to know how to Google it.

Of course, it's great that we can now get a little knowledge really easily.

But just remember, unless you really know that particular topic in depth, it may be that you are just smart enough...to be stupid!

#knowledge #besmart #selfawareness

Once Upon A Time, seemingly not so long ago, we used to have to wait.

We had to wait for the next edition of the newspaper to get the latest news.

We had to wait for next week's episode to find out what happens to our favourite characters.

And we had to wait for the next movie release to watch a movie.

But those days are gone, and with them, the Art of Anticipation.

Anticipation kept people engaged and excited.

But it can be a fine line between making your customers wait...and losing them.

Apple has done a pretty good job of it with their annual launch events.

It's definitely a line worth trying to tread.

If you can do it successfully, you too can unlock some magic!

#anticipation #customerjourney #marketing