You need these two things.
The other night I was doing some research on a few successful online creators, and I walked away with a lot of clarity.
I wanted to see if I could notice how others have succeeded in their areas of interests.
It’s pretty cool how anyone can reference these people’s journeys as market research.
Their hard work and dedication ends up becoming real-world evidence for what works, and what doesn’t.
Rather than experimenting for weeks, months, or years – you can reference these accounts and decide what may work best for your own journey.
You Need Two Things
I realized two important things.
To succeed in sharing about what you love, you need:
- New ideas (value / personal experience / perspective)
- A creative way to share about these ideas (video / design)
Every single “viral” post from these creators could be simplified down to that.
A good idea, and good delivery.
A valuable post, with an attractive way to present it.
Without those two things – something’s missing.
And a large majority of creating and sharing online is comprised of words, graphic design, or video.
This is why learning these skills is so important if you want to market your business, brand, or interests.
Follow Your Curiosity
Rather than viewing design or video as the “forever thing,” you can experience a season of life that catapults you forward in these creative areas.
Create a project that allows you to learn to write.
Create a project that allows you to learn design.
Create a project that allows you to learn video.
Or, create a single project that allows for all three. (A YouTube channel would be a great example)
Instead of becoming the “best in the world” at the skills – you can learn “enough.”
You can use these skills to share your own message instead of someone else’s (like you would when doing this as an employee).
This is how you make the transition from “client work” to “creative work.”
Follow your curiosity.
Learn from doing.
Max out your potential in that area.
Repeat.
Before you know it, you’ll be “proficient” in several areas instead of a master of one.
You’ll have a wide foundation, instead of a deep one.
This way you can cover more ground.
Story + Skill
Then, this got me thinking that a lot of people have one or the other.
A lot of people have experience, knowledge, or great ideas.
But no technical skills to share this information.
OR…
A lot of people have technical skill in a specific area,
but no real experience or creative ideas worth sharing.
However, when you’re able to successfully combine the two: you create magic.
You begin to connect with real people who are experiencing the same real struggles as you once were.
Your story can make an impact, resonating with people all around the world.
People who are waiting to hear your perspective, ideas, and solutions to their own problems.
Stacking Skills
This is a great reminder of the importance of stacking skills.
One skill is good.
Two skills is great.
Three skills (or more) makes you unstoppable.
Most people spend their lives refining and perfecting their craft in one specific area.
They choose (or are assigned) a certain career path, and never look back.
In fact, they don’t even look around to see how they could compliment this skill.
Rather, they get better and better, digging themselves further into the hole of “their thing.”
But I’ll argue that the missing ingredient is a skill (or interests) that compliment and compound this “one skill” into something exceptional.
The reason you can’t bring your idea to execution is because you lack the skill to make it happen.
One skill isn’t enough to get you there.
It’s better to be proficient in 3 skills, than a master of 1.
If you feel stuck in a rut, learn another skill to pull you out of it.
Takeaways for You
You need a skill to generate ideas.
And then you need a skill to turn those ideas into content.
You need to be creative.
And you need an attractive way to share this creativity.
- Learn to think.
- Then learn to write.
- Then learn design or video.
Knowing one of the skills will turn you into an employee.
Knowing multiple will turn you into an employer.
–Eric Pfohl