Last week, it seemed like a foregone conclusion: entertainment industry insiders had pretty much achieved across-the-board consensus that Sandra Bullock would take home the 2010 Oscar in the best-actress category. A few ornery types were holding out for a Gabby Sidibe upset, but it seemed pretty likely that Bullock, a 20-+ year veteran of the acting profession, would take home her first little golden statuette after Sunday night’s festivities.
And — spoiler alert! — that is, in fact, what happened. Most commentators are billing it as a case of an almost-universally appealing (yet formal accolade-deprived) performer finally winning the coveted little gold guy, as much for a body of work and longevity as for her specific role in The Blind Side.
What makes it a really interesting story is that just 24 hours earlier, Bullock won the Worst Actress award (aka “Razzies”), making her the first actress in Oscar history to win the Razzie and the Oscar in the same year for the “same” (leading actress) category.
Normally, actors don’t pop up at the Razzies to claim their ignominious awards. Yet that’s exactly what Bullock did — showing up the night before the Oscars to take home the Raspberry with grace and good humor.
What does any of this have to do with being a successful solo entrepreneur or running a successful business blog? Plenty, as it turns out.
Embrace Your Competitors
One of the greatest parts of Sandra’s acceptance speech was her sincere and vocal appreciation of her fellow nominees. She had something genuinely warm and kind to say about each of her “competitors.”
I got the feeling, listening to these accolades, that they weren’t just motivated by a desire to be nice — no, she wasn’t “just saying that” — she had paid attention, and she knew them. They’d had an impact on her, and she knew exactly what the impact was.
Do you know your competitors that well? Can you appreciate what they have to offer? And more importantly, are you clear on where you differ from them? Find out which business blogs are competing sites to yours. Analyze their “performances” in depth, and learn from both their mistakes and their brilliance.
Don’t Obsess Over Mistakes — Just Try the Next Thing
Sandra messed up with All About Steve — or maybe All About Steve messed Sandra up. Whatever, it bombed, in every way possible, and that’s the role that nabbed Sandra the Razzie. But Sandra just shrugged it off and moved on to the next promo junket for the next movie, and then the one after that … and that’s the one that got her the Oscar.
Are you still obsessing over the last business flub? Knock that crap off! Move on and get yourself headed in the forward direction, buttercup.
So, your blog post last week got zero comments and no one clicked on your Hootsuite links? OK, figure out what you did wrong (or not-so-great) and get back on the blogwagon!
Own Your Failures …
And to top it all off, Miss Sandy didn’t just roll her eyes, grit her teeth and make a funny joke or two about that Razzie. Girlfriend showed up to get that award in person.
Is there some failure in your past you’re still running from? Face up to it — own it — learn from it — and claim the hard-won wisdom you earned from it.
Look, I get it – believe me. Long-time readers of this blog are well aware of my own failure in this regard (if you’re not, basically in a nutshell: started a solo law practice, got sick as a dog, couldn’t work, tried to find new lawyers for my clients, couldn’t, lost business, lost license to practice – in short, huge failure).
Yes, owning that kind of failure is a herculean task. Think of it as eating your spinach, Popeye.
… And Celebrate Your Successes
You just know Sandra felt pretty damn good about that Oscar last night. And you know she celebrated the win with her adoring hubby and menagerie of two-legged dogs. (No, really.)
OK, so it’s a bit easier to own our big successes. But how many times do we let the little wins slide by unnoticed, unremarked-upon, uncelebrated?
Don’t do that! Every little success is a reason to party – even if it’s just a teensy little party for one. Recognize your achievements in some concrete way. Jot them down in a journal or text file dedicated solely to recounting your wins. When things get down — and they will — pull that journal or file out again and take a good hard look at your past successes. Every post that gets a ton more comments than you expected — every steady increase in traffic — a jump in subscriptions to your RSS feed — yes, it all counts. Celebrate!
Don’t Forget Your Team
Sandra didn’t get up on that stage by herself, you know. She knows it too. A whole team of folks got her ready for her big evening, and an even bigger crew helped her deliver that performance.
In the same way, solos aren’t solos — not really. And if you are truly alone in this endeavor? Look around and assemble your team. Find a Jedi Knight Council to surround you with wisdom. Outsource the crap you’re (A) not good at and (B) hate to do, so you can focus on being CEO of You, Inc. and delivering the best, most authentic, helpful blog posts you can muster up on a daily (or whatever) basis.
And whatever you do, when the Academy comes calling, don’t forget to thank your co-stars.
Great advice as usual, and GREAT analogy! Ms. Bullock really is a fantastic example, and you’ve drawn the analogy beautifully. Thank you!
I’d love to see you speak to a point you made at the end of your post — “Outsource the crap you’re not good at…” So many of us know we can’t perform surgery, or repair a transmission, or write java script…and yet, so many of us are convinced we can write, or design, when that is not our forte.
As a graphic designer and copywriter, I can’t tell you how many people I know who are brilliant at what they do (accounting, plumbing, the aforementioned surgery, whatever) and yet are blind to the fact that they should let professional writers and/or designers help them with their marketing (whether that means hiring someone like me, or simply seeking out the various tools available!).
Say you’re a neurosurgeon. You’d be absolutely appalled if your lawn guy decided to perform his own brain surgery, right? Or let’s pretend you’re an accountant. Wouldn’t you do your best to talk your actress friend OUT of doing her own bookkeeping — for her own sake, not just so you could get the job? As a designer and copywriter, I outsource my accounting, my surgeries, and anything else where someone else will do a better job than I!
Even if you’re pretty handy with InDesign or Photoshop, is it really the best use of your time to spend hours tweaking your new direct mail piece, or is it more cost effective — and more effective in general — to hire someone quick and good who does just that for a living, freeing you up to do what you do so well?
Sorry for climbing on the soapbox, Sheryl. This is something I feel strongly about, as you can tell!
Looking forward to more from you!
Carolie´s last blog ..Stalking the Savage Fern
Hey Carolie! Thanks for stopping by and offering your insightful thoughts — and thank you very much for the excellent suggestion for a subsequent post. I’m gonna take you up on that and write a LOT more about that very topic in the next post.
Briefly, though – I couldn’t agree more. The problem arises when a solo or small biz owner takes a look at the cash flow (which – let’s face it – is sucky these days for a lot of folks, or at least not as good as it used to be) and thinks, “I have more time than money… why not do ______ myself and save the money?” It sounds good. It seems reasonable. But as you point out, it doesn’t compute, especially when it comes to your marketing (and your health!) or anything that impacts your bottom line.
More to come tomorrow on this point.
Edited to add: Post is up! “How to Save Your Solo or Small Business By Outsourcing Tasks You Suck At” – thanks, Carolie, for the inspiration!