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Vendors vs. Partners

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The difference between being a vendor and a partner is not just marketing.

A vendor is a creative business that provides excellent product and/or services to its clients.  A vendor may go the extra mile for its clients so that the client looks terrific.  Of course, the vendor will do a great job.  At the end of the day though, a vendor is still just hoping to get hired.  For instance, a florist might supply florals to a designer, interesting samples and other product ideas all by way of helping the florist get the event.

A partner, on the other hand, inserts her creative business into a client’s business so that the product and/or service the creative business supplies is but one component of the overall relationship.  Getting hired is just the way the client is able to monetarily compensate the partner for the creative business’ work on the clients behalf.  By no means am I talking about a formal partnership, just simply an attitude.  The mindset is: I will bring my and my creative business’ expertise and knowledge to the table to provide strength and opportunity to my client.  I do not view my clients as a series of “jobs” but rather an annuity revenue stream upon which I will devote substantial resources.  As with any partnership, these creative businesses also have expectations on the other side: yes, they will get the lion share of their client’s business, however, they will also be involved in developing new business opportunities with the client.  In short, these creative businesses become an extension of their client’s creative business.  And while this post is primarily about business-to-business relationships, it need not be.  The question is how far a creative business is willing to go to both identify a void in a business (or person) and then actively fill it.  Every day.

Not every creative business can or should be a partner on either side of the equation.  For some creative businesses, the investment in providing resources beyond the specific art generated is neither practical nor even valuable.  The florist cited above would be an example.  How far can she go in supporting her clients beyond all things floral?  But a stationer?  A photographer?  An interior designer?   It is too easy to say that investing your brand and expertise in a client is beyond what is necessary to secure business.  While you may be right in the short term, you are likely not in the long run.  Given the chance, there will always be another creative business ready to work harder, give more and support your client better as a vendor.  However, they are not you and if you are actively filling a need, then there is a (huge) price your client will pay should they choose to jeapordize your relationship with a competitor.

So what creative businesses make for good partners?  It really has nothing to do with size.  It has to with focus – the creative businesses that know best who they are, what they do and whom they serve.  For these creative businesses, that their art transcends their medium is inevitable.  The question is when and if you can figure out how your creative business can make that inevitability a reality.

Honoring Your Core

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Everything you do has to come from your core.  Your core is what you stand for, what you most believe in and what it is you deliver to your clients along with the physical manifestation of your art.

Your core has nothing to do with the actual art you create.  There are lots of people who take pictures, can design anything, choreograph, perform or sculpt.  Technically speaking, they are probably better than you.  Who cares?  Your core is what your clients come to you for so that when they are able to get a piece of it, they feel better about themselves and the lives they are living.  Lest you think I am all the way out there, just look at Apple.  Better, faster, cheaper products exist for almost anything Apple sells.  Yet, Apple literally cannot make its products fast enough.  We buy Apple products because we feel cooler when we do.  Yes, the products have to be great, but the ethos behind them has to be better.  Lose the ethos, lose the product.  Can anyone even remember that the Palm owned the PDA market for over a decade?

Too often creative business owners believe their core is their art.  Be it a photograph, design (graphic, floral, interior), or cake, the work must be impeccable sure, but what goes behind it matters more.  Why? Because that is what you are really selling and what your clients cannot get enough of.  And from there I will go out on a limb — this is the place from which all of your strategy needs to emanate, not from your art.  Translation: do not sell more or cheaper, sell value.

Take Julie Goldman’s appearance on The Shark Tank last week.  Julie owns The Original Runner Co and she went on the show to ask for money to support her new line of white runners and a DIY kit. The sharks did not like her idea of going “mass” with her product, when her core high-end business was so strong.  She did get any of them to bite (pun intended).  First, I have met Julie and she is very very smart and very very good at what she does.  The Original Runner Co. is a terrific business and I am quite certain that her not getting funding will not impede her progress at all.  It is also easy to see why she did not get funding.  Very hard to invest money in a 50% margin business when your other business makes 300%.  Especially, when there is very little barrier to entry into the lower-end business, which will limit any potential upside.

From my eyes, Julie’s lower-end business belies her core.  The value of Original Runner is not the runner – it is the idea that you can make an incredible statement about your wedding simply and effectively from the moment guests arrive.  The first thing a guest sees is the runner and that sets the tone. Original Runner makes that happen for designers at wholesale and for brides that want to create it with Original Runner. Take that relationship away and, to me, you lose the business.  If Julie is bound and determined to enter the DIY market, why not create a dialogue – a service not just to show the DIY bride how to use the kit, but to talk with her as she does it.  A business much closer to Windsor Smith’s Room-In-A-Box than a here-you-go kit.  These clients will understand the value they are getting for their $150 and will not begrudge those that pay $750+.  And Julie will get to keep doing what she does best – helping brides make statements.

If you know what your core is, you can go anywhere with it, without it, nowhere.  Owning your core means never having to apologize or justify why it is that you do things the way you do.  Mostly though, with your core front and center you will be able to focus on growing what matters most to your clients, whether that is the current physical manifestation of your art or not.

Moving Towards Resistance and The Four Immeasurables

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Danielle LaPorte and Jonathan Fields each wrote a brilliant post today.  Danielle’s was on moving towards, not denying, our resistance to our success.  Jonathan mused on whether Buddhism’s Four Immeasurables – Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Appreciative Joy and Equanimity – can have a place in business.  Taken together, they make one whoppingly profound personal and professional statement.

From Danielle’s post: “Resistance heightens your senses.  Success throws normalcy off kilter – which gives you a primo opportunity to create a ‘new normal’ for yourself….You’ll likely resist.  You’ll fear losing it.  You’ll numb out in disbelief.  You’ll feel unworthy and you’ll delay claiming your prize. But if you can embrace the resistance and use it to stay sharp, then you can bypass the swamp of self sabotage.  Resistance=good.  Self-sabotage=bad, very bad.”  Having been guilty of some major self-sabotage lately after really feeling good and successful in all that I am doing, I can only say that I hear you Danielle.  Loud and clear.  Working through my resistance, embracing it, knowing the new normal is meant for what I am to learn, well, that is my challenge.

We are all ashamed of ourselves when we shoot ourselves in the foot.  Self-sabotage validates all of those voices in our heads that say we are not worthy and what we have to offer is not very good.  Denying our resistance to success is a sure fire way to arrive at self-sabotage.  But there is something more.  If we shoot ourselves in the foot, we deny ourselves the joy we are meant to have, joy we do not believe we are entitled to.

I love what I do.  I feel alive when I can help a creative business owner move from one place to another, to see the world a different way, to actually become a better, truer version of themselves.  Most of you must feel similarly when you deliver your art to clients who value and respect the work you do for them.  In some way, clients must feel transported by the gift (your gift) you have given them.  Who cares whether they paid for it or not.  What we do is bigger than us.  Joy is the gift we are each meant to share unattached to what might or might not come.  A beautiful floral arrangement that is sent to a hospice after an event may be the last glimpse of this world for someone about to pass on.  What a wonderful thought – a small piece of the earth’s bounty being the last thing someone will ever see.  Certainly, the florist did not create the arrangement with this thought in mind, yet there it is.  Joy is bigger than the money we might receive and more than any praise (or criticism) that comes our way.  Yes, woowoo, as Jonathan would say, but joy is embodying the notion that our gift matters, we all matter.  Self-sabotage kills that idea.  Moving toward the resistance is the fuel towards self-awareness and acceptance.  This is the house that joy lives in.  Thank you Danielle.

Throw in Jonathan’s idea of Buddhism’s Four Immeasurables and you have a serious “aha” moment.  Creative business should not be about competition, but about self-awareness and intrinsic value of the art you and your creative business generate.  We all belong to a collective and the deeper we all connect to it, the stronger we all are.  And if you think I am out there on the new age limb, ask yourself why 500 million people would want to be part of the same community (Facebook).  The practice of Buddhist’s Four Immeasurables brings us to the world outside ourselves from which we can draw strength.  No man is an island and no business exists in a vacuum.  Fundamentally, we should all be trying to turn our competition into collaborators.  Growing up, I was ridiculed for thinking this way.  Business was about competition, winning and losing.  Pay the least and get the most no matter what.  If an employee never asked for a raise, you were not going to offer.  Taking advantage was expected and respected.  Kill or be killed.  Countless times I was told that my ideas of community, collaboration and self-expression were naïve, pie-in-the-sky, and never ever going to happen in the real world.

I am not saying we have moved all that much closer to Buddhism’s Four Immeasurables, only about as much as a glacier travels in a hundred years.  However, more than any time in history, the premium is on collaboration, creation and community not the opposite.  We are simply better off when we root for each other’s success than not.  Even more, we do so much better now when we stand on the willing shoulders of giants, embrace their guidance and, yes, their love for the journey we are all taking.  Yertle The Turtle can only go so high on the backs of the turtles beneath him.  Think of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and Stone Soup (children’s stories rock).  People (and trees) find happiness in other’s joy.  Giving selflessly IS self-fulfilling and sustaining even if you think you have nothing (left) to give.  The power of the Four Immeasurables is movement towards selfless self-realization.  I cannot imagine a better business strategy.  Thank you Jonathan.

The End Of The Flip

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Last week Cisco Systems announced that they were shutting down production of The Flip video cameras and taking a charge of some $300 million to shutter the business.  To refresh your memory, Pure Digital launched The Flip, a single purpose, one-click video camera in 2007.  They quickly raced to over $300 million in sales.  Cisco acquired Pure Digital in May 2009 for close to $600 million.  So the entire life-cycle of the business – 4 years — $0 to $600 million and back to $0 again.  I wrote about The Flip when Cisco acquired the business.  As an aside, I still think The Flip is a great product and the opportunity to evolve its tribe into the next stage was entirely possible — at least as much as NetFlix has done with streaming video service to complement its DVD memberships.

The Flip’s social media presence was (and is) impressive – more than 350,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook.  There are more than two million Flips in the market.  That Cisco did not know how to embrace and fully use The Flip tribe is a statement everyone should follow and understand.  Here is a terrific article from The San Francisco Chronicle on the subject.  Social media is a conversation not a presentation, engagement not marketing, relationships not platitudes.  Cisco did not and does not get it.  Then again, Cisco’s clientele are businesses not consumers.  Cisco bought Pure Digital to help their efforts in the consumer business.  This, despite generating $40 Billion (yes, Billion) revenue per year focusing on businesses and their connectivity needs.  Cisco’s core business operates at between sixty and seventy percent gross margins.  Seventy cents of every dollar Cisco generates goes into its pocket before overhead.  This compared with The Flip’s thirty percent gross margins.

The lessons for creative businesses are myriad.  The biggest, of course, is do what you do.  Sexy may not be salable or scalable.  Just because a business or product is a good business does not mean it is a good business for you.  Dipping your toe does make sure that you know the temperature, but then again you will never know what the water feels like unless you jump in.  In the end, The Flip did not matter to Cisco.  It did not represent the future Cisco wanted to embrace in a meaningful way.  And, relative to Cisco’s core, it was a bad business – tons of competition, relatively low margins and virtually no chance to scale without a VERY big commitment to The Flip’s culture.  Not going to happen with 99% of the business going the other way.  An ant will not make a herd of buffalo change direction.

So for those of you who have or are considering multi-level service – full, medium and partial service, ask yourself if all of them fit.  My guess is that the answer is no.  If you are in the lower end business (i.e., partial service), you will be making less money.  That’s ok if you are building to something other – surprising and delighting those who use the service so that they will spend a lot more money with you in the future – see Apple, Zappos, and NetFlix.  However, if you are just doing it to “keep the lights on”, you are making one step forward to take three backwards.  You will not be able to provide value at each level of service unless your core can be front and center at each level.  Keeping the lights on is not your core.  Then there are those of you who are old guard.  You have a website, Facebook and Twitter account just because.  Who cares.  If it is boring and unengaged, your creative business will be too.  Better to stick with all that has served you well and use the tools available to you to improve those techniques rather than jumping on a whole new bandwagon.

The corporate line is that The Flip’s business was doomed and unsellable.  The truth is that it just did not fit with what Cisco is all about.  It was too small to matter.  I am certainly not advising that you bet the farm on the next evolution of your creative business.  What I am advising is that you fully embrace what that evolution is and be fully committed to the seed from which it is borne.  The new new thing matters only if you can draw a straight line from the tried and true.  If you cannot draw the line, take a hard look at why you are bothering to take the walk.

Making Change Happen

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I evaluate creative businesses and suggest change for a living.  Usually, there is a disconnect between what the creative business owner stands for, what he or she most desires and how the business operates.  For instance, a designer might want to be known as a fine artist with only high-end clients but the business is all about price and production.  Or a florist loves her daily accounts but cannot seem to let go of the low-end wedding business that just does not fit.  You would think that when confronted with the reality, change would be easy.  I mean who would not want their creative business to be a truer version of themselves?  And yet it is not.  Change is incredibly hard.  We all resist, often beyond all rational thought.

I certainly wish I knew the key to the resistance and how to solve it.  I do not.  What I do know though is that there are three major barriers to overcome if you want to make change happen: fear of the unknown, distinguishing between “doing it wrong” and “being more effective” and overcoming function in dysfunction.

Fear Of The Unknown.  Once you have grooved yourself into a particular way of doing things, you know what to expect.  Process dictates form and how you do things will have somewhat predictable results, even if not the results you most want.  Changing how you do things, by definition, will change what happens.  Will clients laugh at your design fee?  Will colleagues and vendors think you are crazy to not take commissions any more?  Will all your business dry up if you insist on a minimum album purchase and refuse to deliver digital files?  As much as you may loathe having to provide a proposal before you are hired, to take commissions or to refuse to deliver digital files, the alternative is really scary.  So you do it just because of your fear of being wholly rejected for your decision to change.  Yes, better the devil you know.  To which, I can only say that the price for doing things that are against your nature is not zero.  It will be harder and harder to sleep at night if how you behave in your personal life and how your creative business behaves does not mesh.  At a certain point, something will have to give.  Better to change than to have change foisted on you.

“Doing It Wrong” vs. “Being More Effective”.  True bad actors are few and far between.  99% of the time, a creative business owner and his employees are trying their best to do their best.  They are in the day-to-day of the business of producing art and serving clients.  Suggesting change to this process is a snake-pit.  Is an employee’s job in jeopardy? Are they doing a “bad” job?  Look at all that they do.  Who am I to tell them to do it differently?  I am not a designer, florist, photographer, planner, producer, etc. so how can I know anything about what they do?  I am not walking in their shoes (which, of course, helps me to see the path they are walking).  And the larger a creative business gets and the more removed a creative business owner is from the day-to-day, the more these statements can be made about her too.  Getting past “you are doing it wrong” to “this is how you can be more effective” is about finding frustrations and empowering resolution.  Sounds simple, but see Fear Of The Unknown.  Also, knowing the interdependence of all organisms, creative businesses very much included, effective change in one area demands support in another.  In a restaurant, if the kitchen gets in the weeds, keeping patrons at the bar with a free round will go a long way, keeping the restaurant’s tables full not so much.  You cannot force support, you just have to help everyone understand why you want to do things differently and what it means to you, your art and the creative business they have invested their lives in.  You can talk all you want about teamwork and empowerment, but at the end of the day it is your vision everyone has to believe in or not.  Understanding the need to change things to better reflect that vision is your challenge, especially if those around you think they are already there.

Overcoming Function In Dysfunction.  No matter the bad habit, it does not FEEL bad when you are doing it.  Your rational brain might know it so not a good way of doing things, but you become used to the “mess”.  Part of the reason is fear of the unknown and resistance, sure, but a bigger reason is that doing things differently feels strange.  It is just not how you do things.  Take yoga or pilates for example.  Most of us do not have proper alignment and when we are placed in proper alignment in any pose it feels really wrong.  We have to work very hard to not have our mind and bodies regress into improper alignment.  Taking calls at 3:00 a.m. might feel like that is what you need to do to provide great customer service.  Except it is not unless you have first established how far outside of your boundaries it is.  You need to be paid handsomely (monetarily or otherwise) for breaking your own rules.  In the end, knowing better is never enough.  You have to be convicted to do better regardless of what better feels like.

When image and energy do not match, when the story you tell is not the story you live, when you are hiding, the necessity of change is self-evident.  Making the change happen however will test your mettle, your patience and your humility.  You will need to know that what stands in front of you is larger than you, but must begin and end only with you.

Couture v. Scale

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It is really difficult to scale a couture creative business.  Creating something wholly custom takes enormous effort and requires, by definition, that you “reinvent the wheel” each time.  The moment you use previous design as a baseline to become couture, you are really not couture any more.  The fleet of talent needed to make this a reality as the business grows often exceeds the growth.    Given this intensity of (human) capital and fluctuations inherent in this kind of creative business, making a consistent profit is also incredibly difficult if all you focus on is couture.  Just ask Vera Wang about her couture wedding dress business.  So why do couture?  Because there really is no better brand statement than something completely original and iconic to what you are all about.  From there you can distill that brand ethos into more semi-custom or standardized offerings that are still trend-forward, but also scalable and much more profitable.

And lest you think I am only speaking about fashion businesses, I am not.  By couture I mean the highest end of your creative business – where the budget and project justify (or the client demands) your complete originality.  Even if you are fee based, you will still have to invest far more time and resources to bring this project to fruition than to work on something that would be a permutation on what you have already done before.

As pricing pressure, competition and the desire to grow increases, the inclination is to bastardize the model.  You introduce permutations on things you have done before or even the same elements.  You “standardize” so you can scale.  Since you have done “it” before, you know what “it” costs and how to do “it”.  You might even be able to do “it” better the second time around.  And, at a level,”it” is okay (not great, but okay — we all have to live in the real world).  If, in your million dollar project, there are $100,000 of items you have done before, then, no, it is not 100% custom, but it is also fair to say that it completely original and iconic to you and your client.  Where you start to get in trouble is when you take on smaller “couture” projects that can only afford semi-custom or standard.  Then the percentage might flip and you are doing 10% original work, 90% things you have done before.  Of course, you might say there is not a problem so long as the client is happy.  However, if you sold couture, but deliver off-the-rack I am not sure that is a message you want to send or a viable long-term strategy.  Much better to split the two businesses so those who want couture get it and those that want couture but can only afford semi-custom know they are only buying semi-custom.

All of the above is pretty straightforward.  However, what might not be so obvious is that by bastardizing the couture model, you actually sabotage the viability of both your couture and your semi-custom business.  You hurt couture for the reason I said above – you are selling it but not delivering it.  You hurt your semi-custom business because you do not give your couture business the chance to set the stage for semi-custom.  This is where the fashion business provides such a great study.  The products and trends that come from fashion couture set the stage for just about everything that follows, even if there is only a hint of couture in the product sold.

The scalability of ANY creative business is based on the value of its intellectual property.  Couture creates the intellectual property, everything else in your creative business increases its value.  However, put scale into couture and you will inevitably watch what is most valuable about your creative business disappear.

Stillness

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Sometimes I just go through my days, doing what I do and handling what is in front of me.  I check off my To Do Lists and feel good that I got done what I needed to.  Yet I did not stop to think about all that I have done, why I did it, how it affected me and those around me, or what it is going to lead to.  I realize that at no point did I allow myself to be still, quiet and open – mindful.  And, even more, I refused to take even a moment to take the “I” out of the equation.

None of us, no matter the education, training and experience we have, can say that we really know why we are able to do what we do.  This unknowing, deep connection to something larger than us is the font of our creativity.  We cannot really allow that creativity to flow if we are busy doing the things we need to do or not at least trying to be mindful some of the time.

To be clear, doing nothing is not the same thing as being still, quiet and open.  For me, I can mentally masturbate just about anywhere and anytime.  I make mental notes, play out scenarios, think about all that is coming and ultimately try to shape my future.  I can be in front of my computer or lying on the couch.  It does not matter.  My struggle is to ask these voices to step aside, to let what is right in front of me be what is, to be purposeful in all that I do or not do – to just be quiet.

As much as I know silence and rest is the font of creativity, it does not mean that the practice is not incredibly difficult.  Why?  Because it is easier to go about our day doing stuff than it is to think about the content and context of the stuff.  Our rational brains want to put a rhyme and reason for what it is that we do.  However, the truth is, there is no rhyme or reason but for the compelling notion that it is something you need to do.

So, to bring it to the practical, how do you answer the phone when a client calls?  Your significant other?  Your child?  I have watched a senior investment banker I worked with talk to his son on the telephone with the same intonation and sing-song salesy pattern as he would his clients.  I could only imagine how empty his son must have felt.  When you send your client a hand written note that conveys your gratitude, how do YOU feel?  Connection matters, intention more so.

When is the last time you allowed yourself to just take a walk, without any electronic device attached to you and no particular place to go?  When is the last time you looked up and watched the clouds?  Sounds hokey I know, but try it for fifteen minutes and then see what comes.  Now imagine that you did it every day.

I am always amazed that I can “see” in a new way after I take the “I” out of it — when I let the silence be heard.  There will always be time enough to make happen all of the things stillness creates.

Opportunity?

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A series of recent experiences and insights by businesspeople and authors I deeply respect has my mind spinning.

First, my experience.  I was in Mexico City a few weeks ago talking at Expectations 2011, a conference for wedding professionals in the Latin American luxury market.  There I met several of the speakers, in particular, Eduardo Kohlmann from Mexico City and Efrain Salas from Lima, Peru.  Eduardo is the largest caterer/event producer in Mexico and Efrain has a multi-million dollar lifestyle advice and event design business in Lima.  Both Eduardo and Efrain do far more than just events.  They comment on all aspects of their clients’ lives.  Efrain, in particular, provides interior design services, travel advice, fashion styling and, of course, event design and production.

Next, I have just finished Gary Vaynerchuk’s The Thank You Economy, just started Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment and have been paying close attention to Seth Godin recently.  The common theme among all of them is that it will not be possible to succeed in the future without creating a deep emotional connection with clients.

Last, is BHLDN, Urban Outfitter’s foray into the wedding fashion business.  I know that Urban’s business has suffered a setback recently, but I am still fascinated by what they are intending to do with BHLDN apart from fashion.  These are some seriously smart retailers who have been ahead of trends for a very long time.  In particular, I am interested in the idea expressed in their press release that they intend to provide the bride with advice on all aspects of her wedding – from décor to accessories to gifts.

Together, they have all brought me to this notion: it is a fantastic time to be in a creative business, especially one focused on the social market.  Fashion has been able to transcend its medium for a long time – think how far and wide brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Armani extend outside of clothing.  Now I believe we are coming to the dawn where every creative business has the opportunity to transcend its medium.  Why? The trust relationship, emotional connection and the ability of the work of a creative business to reflect the personal style of its client.  Take weddings, for example.  Twenty five years ago, the ability of the wedding to be a deep reflection of all a bride viewed her style to be really was not possible.  There just was not enough information, choice and inspiration out there to make the wedding as much of a fashion statement as her everyday wardrobe.  Today, of course, not only is it possible, it is almost expected that is what will happen.  The beauty of our on-line world.

The result is that those creative businesses tasked with bringing a client’s vision to reality today now find themselves in a trust relationship far deeper and more intense than ever before.  All of the communication and networking tools available to us today only serve to enhance the relationship.  The deeper and more intense the relationship the bigger the opportunity to carry it further into other business endeavors, especially if your creative business is heavily focused in a particular region.  Lifestyle today means those who know a client best and can help her express herself in areas she may not be most comfortable – be it any kind of design, photography or food.  Once you establish your authority in a particular area it is entirely possible to extrapolate the authority to another area.  As with Efrain, interior designers can comment on travel and fashion.  Event designers on everyday floral styling.  Photographers on health and beauty care.

To me, this is a remarkable state of affairs, not so much to say that the next Martha Stewart is around the corner.  Instead, the idea is that you can be your client’s Martha mostly because you do live around the corner from your client and know her style better than Martha ever could.  Your work with her is a deep reflection of that style.  So now what?

Anger

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99.9% of the time anger has no place in business, creative or not.  Losing your temper means losing control and your ability to effectively communicate.  When you are enraged you have no chance to persuade anyone of anything other than you are f—king pissed off at them.  Screaming and yelling may make you feel powerful, but it is actually doing the opposite.  I have had someone scream at me for an hour straight trying to convince me how wrong I was and how tough he was.  At the end, I had a headache and could only feel sorry for him.

Each and every time I lose my temper I know that I have lost.  And I am so sad for it.  There are always consequences to anger.  Once scorched, it is hard for anyone to come back and try to listen to what you have to say.  The road back is always really hard, even if you think it is not.  If only I could always be a Samurai and use anger as fuel for calm, precise attack, I would be a better communicator and far more effective in what I do.  I am proud that most of the time I can live in this space, but I am also just not that evolved.

There it is. If someone (be it a client, employee, vendor or colleague) takes a swipe at what you believe is your talent, your art, your essence, sometimes you just have to stand up and say no, you are wrong and you do not have the right to tear me down.  Would it be better to do it like a Samurai?  Sure.  But in your rage you might just find your own integrity and faith (again) in all that you do.  So on this rarest of occasions, give yourself permission to push back.  Hard.  Know there will be consequences. That YOUR credibility will be questioned, maybe never to return again with those on the receiving end.  Do it anyway to show (even if only to yourself) how much you believe in all that you are and what you have to give.  Then when it is done, cooler heads can recognize that nobody has the right to assail the essence of anyone’s personhood.  An angry response on both sides is sometimes the only way to make that point abundantly clear to each other.  From there, you can get down to the business of communicating ideas and creating something remarkable together.

All of which brings me to the following: if you cannot say it to someone’s face, do not say it at all.  At base, we are all only the sum of our reputations.  Those that would choose to malign you, your art or your creative business behind your back are cowards of the worst order.  We are not in high school and we are not talking about stealing someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend.  We are talking about our professional careers as both artists and business people.  You are entitled to your opinion as to the value of anything you pay for and receive in this world.  Yelp.com, Zagats and TripAdvisor.com are multi-million dollar examples justifying the point.  You might feel a creative business or its owner is a hack, fraud, huckster or charlatan.  That is your right too.  Just be straight up about it or do not say anything to anybody on the topic.  Besmirching a creative business or business owner’s reputation behind their back might provide you a short-term gain (i.e., a client) or validate your less-than-savory behavior.  However, in so doing you have made yourself and your creative business simply a derivative of those you malign.  Ultimately, the comparison will wear thin and the truth will out.  Especially, to paraphrase Seth Godin, if those you seek to knock down ignore you and go about the business of provoking, inspiring and giving to clients, employees and colleagues alike.

Beginner’s Enthusiasm

seanlow
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When talking with creative business owners recently, so many of the conversations include a statement like: “When I was first in business I really loved and valued all of my clients.  I used to ….”  Whether it was that they would hand deliver their prints, personally wrap their thank-you presents, or make sure they took their client out to dinner after the project was completed, as the business grew, the love faded and so did the unbridled enthusiasm for their clients.  The business became the business and serving it became as important as serving clients.

I am not naïve.  A creative business is a cruel mistress and can easily distract from the art you are trying to create every day.  Employees, vendors, bookkeeping, and even clients just take over the pure, simple relationships you had way back when.  And, no doubt, some of the things you did when you first started you may not be able to do now.  However, I would argue the list is far smaller than you imagine.  Mostly, you do not do them because you have allowed yourself to compromise.  For example, if you are wedding photographer, maybe you used to sit personally with the couple and choose the images you thought best reflected the wedding.  This was when you shot on film and if you took 500 images you took a lot.  Now you shoot 2,000 on digital and put up your favorite 800 on a proofing site.  You send them a form email to let them know the proofs are ready.  The way of the world you tell yourself.  Your competition does it this way and the business is there to prove it – where you used to shoot 10 weddings a year now you shoot 25 yourself and your staff another 50.  Except.

Clients buy your joy – your process as much as your product.  When you become jaded, they know it and then you are relying on the winds of the past to carry you forward.  Your work might just be that good, but with competition as it is, likely not.  You might think that doing a wonderful, professional job is enough.  It is not.  Today, it is about connection first.  To paraphrase, Gary Vanyerchuk from his new book, The Thank You Economy, only surprising and delighting clients matters now. Gary talks about how every business has to establish meaningful, emotional connection with its customers.  To which I add, none more so than creative business.  Your businesses rely on the subjective perception of your art as valuable.  Without emotion, your art becomes a commodity and, I am sorry, there is very little joy in producing a commodity.

Does it mean the end of your business if you cannot find the enthusiasm you had when you first started?  Of course not.  It just makes the road that much harder.  You may not be able to sit with each of your clients and choose images with them, but a Skype call to review your top twenty?  Gary Vee brilliantly points out that today’s technology is about connection at scale.  The idea that you have to remove yourself from the intimacy of customer relationships to grow is a cop out.  You may not have time to talk for an hour a day, but you can still absolutely show your depth of feeling with a video note or something similar. If you will not be giddy and grateful to the right client that said yes to you, your art and your creative business, beware of those that will.

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