The Crash of the 'Guru'

I am thoroughly enjoying a leisurely morning with my coffee, laptop, and a little HGTV. There are a few sites I check during the week when I get to my desk before diving into my day, but on the weekends I take a little more time and catch up on some reading.

Which is what inspired this email (remember, #everythingiscontent).

Before I share that, part of this email was inspired by a post my good friend Lee Jackson wrote in his WP Innovators group on Facebook (great group and worth jumping in if you’re looking for quality connections and support). Lee wrote a post about getting clear on “what you want” after seeing yet more ads in his newsfeed about marketers who pose with pictures of fancy cars, houses, and mansions.

His point was simply that none of that drives him and he asked people to share what they wanted. What drove them.

I’m a firm believer in “to each their own.” Whether you want a Ferrari, Tesla, or a Prius… go for it. Do you. I have zero judgments.

At the same time, if you’re doing what you do only to get more “stuff”… I think you’ll end up disappointed. That’s not a real business strategy and it’s not sustainable. Of course, you don’t know what you don’t know, right?

Sometimes we have to go through some of this to get clarity about what it is we really want. I can tell you from my own experience that as soon as I started focusing on fundamentals and work I really loved, I realized I was way more patient than I thought. All of the sudden each day felt ‘on purpose’ as opposed to the means to an end goal of selling something or a ‘launch’.

Which brings me to the ‘crash of the guru’.

And launches.

An email from Andre’ Chaperon this morning (amazing email guy & copywriter) led to an article that sums all of this up perfectly.

And completely validates my gut feeling that markets are maturing. People are wising up to tactics and if there isn’t a solid foundation (content and relationships) to back up the tactics? #Fail.

Often times we look at social media, content creation, and actually engaging as luxuries we’ll get to after the work is done. Something we ‘squeeze’ in when we’re done doing the work that will pay us. This was always how I felt when I was doing service work. It wasn’t until I set some firm rules for myself that all of that started to shift.

It’s time to shift that perspective.

Start treating these activities as part of the work and necessary. Better yet, start having some fun with those activities (I spend a lot of time in my Content Creators Facebook group fostering relationships and connecting with people. It’s a long-term strategy that I know will pay off with where I’m heading and it’s also a ton of fun).

Back to the guru crash…

Here’s a snippet from the article, written by Hillary Weiss I want to share with you:

“Consumers don’t just want to be inspired. In fact, they’re so damn over-inspired if you look closely you’ll notice they’ve got Hero’s Journey Facebook Ads oozing out of their sweat glands.

Of course, stories are great. Stories sell stuff. Stories will never die.

But overall? Consumers are way more interested in what you can help them DO. They want to get to know you better. They want your time and energy- even if you don’t have it to give.

So for every story, you tell? You gotta help them write their story too.”

Need I say more?

This article is worth the few minutes to read…

Read 8 Observations From a Crumbling Niche – and How to Avoid Getting Crushed by Hillary Weiss here

Now I’m off to get some juicing done 😉 It’s a bit of a process, but hey, I’ve got air pods and great audio to enjoy, so no complaints.

p.s. If you’re in this for the long-term, join us in Content Creators to strengthen your foundation and build some amazing relationships!

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