Sometimes The Best Advice Is Your Own

Hey Peeps,

Ever have that friend who wants to start a business or make things easier in their current business and for some reason you have this great insight into what they need in order to succeed?

For example, I have a buddy that is working on starting up a brewing company this year.  He knows what he wants to do but he doesn't know what he wants to do.

I have been there - most times I live there.

One night he was explaining some of the things he needed to get nailed down regarding design, marketing, business structure, etc, etc.

For some reason or another, I started spouting the most interesting ideas to help his business and make work easier for him.  I don't know where it came from, creativity + challenge?  

I know nothing of the beer industry except that I can get the stuff in can, bottle or glass and even though I have certain preferences, I don't usually turn down a brand offered me if it is all there is.

After some back-and-forth, my buddy told me the ideas that I was suggesting were great, but he found it funny that they were also pretty common sense and that he just couldn't think them up himself.

I understood.  

I told him that for most people, it is easier to give advise then to take it.  That's probably why it is so hard for people to come up with "common sense" when it comes to their own work.  Maybe it's because it's personal to them.  Maybe it is hard to be objective when dealing with a passion or a dream.

I know for a fact that I normally couldn't come up with as many great ideas for my own business - a business that I've learned a great deal about over the years - as I did with his brewing business.

So whenever I write or message or blog or speak with someone about their work, I make sure that I take notes of my own advice.  The businesses may be different - whole worlds different - but I find that you can translate almost anything that works for one bizz into another.

The idea here is translate - not copy.  There is a HUGE difference between the two.

Let me explain.

Copying an idea or business aspect doesn't always work, and if it does, it won't work as well as translating.  Like using a puzzle piece for a different puzzle that looks like the piece you need; it may do the job - but not very well.

Translating an idea or business aspect works best for your business because it is the right piece for your puzzle.  It fits perfectly, being custom made for your work.

So when you find yourself helping a friend with a work issue - jot that gold down son!  

Look it over later and see what you can do to translate it for your own. Throw out what you don't want or can't use or are already implementing and go from there. 

Don't let your creative business mind(creativity + challenge, remember?) go to waste or work for free for someone else when it could work for you because... well, Sometimes The Best Advice Is Your Own.(Yeah, cheesy - whatever, get to the task below in red!!)

What's your best business advice?  Did someone take it?  Did YOU?

If I were to ask you what marketing advice you would have for a business, what would it be?  

Now tell me how you would translate it to yours!!

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Laters,

Michael Carty

Michael Carty Photography Website

Michael Carty Photography Email  

What's Your Challenge for 2012?

Hey Peeps,

I hate New Year's Resolutions, don't you?  They never work.  The main reason they fail is that after a few days or a week after you begin, some small, insignificant thing happens and it gives your resolution a hiccup.  

Just a little bump in the road.  But for some reason, that's all it takes to totally derail you from your objective.

Here's an example:

You want to lose 20lbs.  

So you start eating better and exercising, but then it's someone's birthday; or a friend is visiting; or a wedding or *fill in social excuse here* - and it's cake-city and bar-hopping time.  

Your hangover makes you sleep in and you miss your workout the next day and on top of that your pounding head/queasy stomach can't deal with any more effort towards food preparation than a call for pizza delivery.  

Oh well, at least you tried right?  Wrong. 


Screw that.

Want to look like this?  Check out my budd Brad Gouthro @ http://www.bradgouthrofitness.com

I want a Challenge, not a Resolution.  I know, I know, you're saying,"Hey Mike, isn't that the same thing?  Isn't that just semantics?"  

And I say,"In a way, yes,"

"But in another way - it is completely different."

A Resolution is so absolute; without room for flexibility or better yet - adaptability.  Especially in the ever-changing and busy world we live in.  Resolutions are unreal, unobtainable and by design - made to fail.

A Challenge on the other hand is something that the human world was perfectly made for.  Life is about Challenges and it is by adapting to the obstacles we encounter within them that makes us smarter, stronger and better at succeeding.  

When we hit a wall in a Resolution, it's game over(or start over), total fail, our winning streak is finished, it was good while it lasted... 

When we hit a wall in a Challenge, it's call a time out, huddle up, and reevaluate the current situation to see where we need to adapt to continue on from here to our goal.

Notice the difference?  It's more than semantics. This clear and vital distinction can define your unfathomable success or unrecoverable failure.


So back to the Challenge - and the whole point of this blog post.

I'm inviting you to connect with me and share your upcoming challenges and concerns in the New Year.


To get the ball rolling, I will list a few of mine:  

• interview/photograph a minimum of 3 major Canadian icons(I have a HUGE list of names)
• outsource ALL non-creative work
• grow my blog monthly pageviews to a minimum of 3000+
• create small information products within my business to be available online that will create automated income
• shoot with more professionals(models, MUA's, stylists, other photogs) than I ever have before 
• get studio/online support that promotes my work to the clients that fit me(and why my website is temporarily under construction this week :()
• make a difference in this world through my work/website/blog, by promoting worthwhile causes that hold meaning to me and connecting people to organizations and people who can make the difference that I can't in my position
• remember to, and I quote from my interview with Dane Sanders,"...leverage the moment..." in everything I do

It CAN be done!!

Now you will notice this list contains moderately specific challenges, but they are also simply put.  

You can't be vague about this.  Get as specific as possible.  

My mantra this year is:  Keep it Simple - Keep it Specific.  

Simple steps - but specific steps.  

The simplicity keeps the minutiae to a minimum and the specitivity keeps focus on the goal by giving direction to actionable steps.


So what are your Challenges?  Are they work related or just personal?  Do you want to only shoot with prime lenses instead of zoom?  Do you want to run your first marathon(I highly suggest this one)?  

Don't wait - Challenge yourself now.

In fact, I'm not just requesting you share your Challenges - I'm CHALLENGING YOU to share them.  

Love this brand, heed the slogan.

Do it, I dare you.  


Unless there is no challenge for you, you have done it all and are perfectly happy in your life right now.  If that is true, well I feel bad for you, we NEED Challenges to live.  

Or maybe you fear the Challenges ahead of you, the ones that are crucial in achieving what you desire.  

Hmmmm?  Possibly?


If you don't have the perfect life(what is that anyways?), or you are tired of making excuses to cover your fear of success or failure(or milk products), then heed my call and tell me what Challenges you, what you're going to stride towards to change your business/life/health/family - whatever.  


What is going to make 2012 different?


What is going to make 2012 the Year of Challenges for YOU?

Laters,

Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography Website
Michael Carty Photography Email