Leaving the success of your audio to chance?
Don't miss the crucial element that can ensure your success
If you’ve been following the movies lately, you’ve no doubt seen the trailer for “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith. It’s the mucho inspiring story of Chris Gardner, a guy who battled homelessness – even living out of a bathroom at a subway station – while raising his son as a single parent and completing a stock brokers internship at Dean Witter.Of course, he’s now worth twice the annual income of everyone reading this, so it’s a very inspiring story.
Well, I don’t want to rain on your parade, but if all he had going for him was inspiration he might still be living out of that bathroom.
Instead of hoping inspiration would be enough, he had one crucial element going for him: One that literally insured his success, even though he was homeless.
And its an element the overwhelming majority of product creators are MISSING. Which can relegate even the best-intentioned efforts to the scrap heap.
What Chris had BEFORE HE EVEN STARTED, was a vehicle – his broker’s internship -- that had an outstanding chance to deliver everything he ever wanted, if only he could persevere through to the end.
Not a fantasy outcome. Not a Field of Dreams “if you build it, they will come” outcome. Not an “if I only think positive enough” outcome.
But an actual, cast in concrete formula. . .
. . . that if he simply stuck to his guns and exploited his talent and his training, he had a darn good chance of achieving.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for inspiration. I’m all for triumph over adversity. I’m all for hope. I even cry at movies (don't tell anyone). But hope is only a starting point. Hope is NOT a course of action.
And unfortunately, it’s the only thing a lot of product creators have going for them.
In one of the commercials for “The Pursuit of Happyness” a guy drives up in a very hot sports car. And Will Smith asks him, “What is it that you do?” To which the driver replies, “I’m a stock broker.” Bingo. Evidence of success. Not hope. Not maybe if I look at myself in the mirror and say positive, glowing things I MIGHT achieve this. But a clear outcome that says “If followed completely, with diligence, dedication and talent, the path of stockbroker can eventually lead to great wealth.”
Now I’m not saying great wealth is a worthy goal for everyone. I am saying that if the product creation path you embark on doesn’t have this kind of clear outcome evidence, if you don’t have some kind of a role model, if you don’t have a clear path that has a reasonable chance of giving you the outcome you desire, you’re consigning yourself to a long and possibly fruitless pursuit of your goal.
Yes, I’m being a bit of a sourpuss here.
And I know you’re going to tell me about JK Rowling, the welfare mother who developed her idea for a boy wizard into the Harry Potter franchise of books and movies, in the process becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world. As well as quite a few similar rag-to-riches success stories.
However:
- JK wasn’t after great wealth. She wanted to write for a living. She had no idea Harry Potter would become as successful as it has. Her goal was clear and achievable. She wasn’t looking to get on Oprah with one of her very first efforts. (The fact that she did was gravy).
- JK put her butt in the chair, day-in, day-out developing stories. And even after becoming wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, she still does.
- JK stuck to it, and had the perseverance to hang with her idea, developing it until it became successful, no matter how long that took.
And I gotta be honest with you -- all three of these attributes are generally not shared by folks creating audio products, who generally want to become immediately astronomically successful, and do it without a lot of work. In fact, they expect this to happen. And when it doesn’t in 10 days or less, they give up.
Look I’m not saying don’t believe in yourself or your dreams. I’m not saying to simply cave in and stoop to the lowest common denominator to make a buck. I’m not saying to give up just because someone hasn’t done what you dream of.
I am saying that dreams come with responsibility. And that responsibility means shepherding that dream until it becomes a reality, no matter how long it takes.
I am also saying there are things you can do to maximize the chances that there really is a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow.
After all, how may Harry Potter success stories are there? Do you really want those kinds of odds?
So yes, by all means, go see “The Pursuit of Happyness” this holiday season. Laugh! Cry! Cheer! Be inspired!
But also see that Chris Gardener had a lot more going for him than hope and determination. He had a role model, a path, and a support structure for achieving his dream. He had concrete evidence, not just from one literary miracle, but from scores of folks who trod the path before him that his dream possible. He wasn’t merely hoping things would work out. He had an outcome that was virtually assured, if he could persevere.
And you can take these same steps to insure the success of your products:
- Find folks (preferably more than one) who have been successful doing what you want to do, study how they got there, and apply the lessons.
- Find a path – whether its building your mailing list, a joint venture, or an aggressive live speaking schedule – that provides a structure maximizing your chances for success.
- Find a support structure that provides what is really required to create a successful product, and stick with it.
- Combine your inspiration and dedication with nuts and bolts techniques that can make success more achievable.
To me, the important thing about the story of Chris Gardener is there was an air of inevitability about his success. That it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when. That he chose a path, a vehicle that was perfectly tailored to deliver exactly what he wanted.
Even in the face of tremendous adversity.
And if you’re willing to recognize that inspiration alone is not enough, if you’re willing to combine your dream with proven techniques and avenues that have provided others with success, it can be the same for the success of you and your own products.
