Well, Ok, that’s not totally true. A lot of people can help, but you need to get it started, whatever it is, and once it’s out there in the universe who knows what can happen.

This is the single greatest thing that an entrepreneur has going for them.

I couldn’t help but think about this during the lunch at the  Michigan chapter of the PRSA‘s annual Conference where Peter Shankman was speaking. He had a lot of really interesting and inspiring stories, but more than anything what I took away from what he was saying was: play, experiment, don’t be afraid to take risks.

You never know what can happen and you never know how good it could be. Help could be just around the corner, but you’ll never know unless you put your thing out there.

Over the last year, or even longer (though less consistently) there have three or so major themes here:

1. Music/Sound
2. Electronic communications (social media, Web 2.0, new media, etc…)
3. Our human potential (self-motivation, self-help, goals, etc…)

These themes have taken many forms, including anecdotes, videos, and posts I’ve found online to quotes, book references, poetry, sound samples and musical references. That’s not going to change, but time has given me the benefit of being able to see what this blog is about; what scales, and what’s sustainable as a writer and leader of this endeavor.

If you imagine this blog as an impressionist painting, say a darker Monet (above) or Renoire, and you blur the specific content items into a single whole, the focus of the writing and the message start to get more narrow. You start to see that really this blog is about me and what I’ve tried to do since I came online with my music in 1999, I write a bit about that at the bottom this post here. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s funny because as I write this I remember what it was that attracted me to the Web. I was a musician/composer, and I was working on a recording. After having played guitar for years, being in bands, playing shows, and trying to sell music at venues, I saw that the Web had the power to change everything for me as a working artist — the playing field had been leveled. On the Web, in 1999, Mp3.com had just launched, and it was skies the limit for artists to get out their, hang a virtual shingle, and let the world know about their work. However, it wasn’t about huckstering your product and bombarding folks with spam to inform them about your work (though there was some of that); rather there was an openness that permeated throughout this new platform. There were new channels for sharing what you were doing, as well as for folks, from all the over the world, to share with you.

The Web was, is, the great liberator. It leveled the playing field for artists of all kinds, but for me as a composer, the benefits have been huge. Here are a few reasons why:

• Getting the message out is cheap (often free)
• Exposure is as great as the work you put into it (and free, not historically the case)
• Everyone in the world (with an internet connection) can access your work.
• You are your own limitation because the world is at your finger tips (or to use bad 90′s copy – just a mouse click away)

These items are unprecedented, and while they have, and will continue to, come with their own struggles, it’s has the potential to be a boon for the working artist, writer, and creative. Therefore, the moral of the, blog/story that I’ve been weaving for the past year  starts to look like this:

If you’re a composer, artist, creative, whatever then there’s no excuse to not get your work out there, do the most and be the most you can be; the Web and the many electronic communications tools available to you (including email, social media and even old school listservs and newsgroups) can help you get the message out there about your work.

That’s it.

That’s the fork in the message for creatives out there.

As an entrepreneur, small business person, or artist/musician looking to get themselves or their business more exposure, there’s no single tool greater than YouTube. I’m sure that you’re already familiar with YouTube for funny and silly videos, as well as other things, you’ve seen here or there, but the hidden benefit to YouTube is making your own video, and using it to bring a greater awareness to your work or business.

For instance, let’s say you own a dry cleaners. You might think that nobody could have any possible interest in the business of a dry cleaners on YouTube; you’d be wrong. The Web is filled with just this kind of stuff, these minor curiosities that folks would love to spend a few minutes watching while they’re eating their lunch.

Take this video, for example, with almost 76,000 views… what if you made this video, and promoted your company simply by including a small logo in the bottom corner, or having the people in the video wear shirts with your logo, boo-yaa! I guarantee business would increase:

Then there’s this one, which, Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines talked about at the Digital PR Next Summit I recently attended, and it made me laugh out loud. This is a video of a jet engine being washed, basically, three minutes of water being blown through a jet engine, almost 97,000 views:

Anyway, I think you get the point. YouTube can bring great awareness to your work whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, artist or musician. Surf around YouTube, and look at folks in your business are using it. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find.

Last night on an unanticipated trip for some carry-out to my local eatery El Azteco in downtown East Lansing, I had the radio tuned to Michigan Radio, WUOM, and Marketplace was on. I really do enjoy Marketplace, and Kai Ryssdal, but last night I happened upon an excellent commentary by Charles Handy, a dude that I’ve never heard of, but now I’ll be paying a lot more attention to.

My favorite quote of his from the story was this: “if you are your own boss, it’s up to you how hard you work, or where, or when, or why.” And he doesn’t talk about this just in the context of being a strike out on your own entrepreneur, but also as an corporate entrepreneur working for someone else.

You can read about the story here, and download an Mp3 of his commentary here, but I will tell you what Charles Handy was talking about was absolutely the essence of what The Working Stiff blog is all about, particularly my post about the best investment you can make is in yourself. I highly recommend that you listen to this post. I found it to be fan-freakin-tastic!

If you’re an entrepreneur of any kind, it’s likely you’ve already started, but maybe you’re just not aware of it. Here are few signs of whether you’re an entrepreneur and don’t know it:

• Do you work harder than most for quality and value when others around you would prefer to maintain the status quo?
• Do you feel like you care more about the work, customer, and/or employer than those around you?
• Do you do your best work simply because you couldn’t imagine doing it any other way?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions then surely you’re an entrepreneur.

It’s easy to think that an entrepreneur is a business owner or the like, but really entrepreneurship is the just the willingness to do something and take responsibility for it. And actually, the definition for leadership isn’t much different, which is why entrepreneurship and leadership go hand in hand. The entrepreneur takes responsibility for their life, career, etc… and goes for it. There’s no need to begin at some distant point in the future, as I’ve said, you’re likely already doing it; make a conscious decision to start where you’re at.

Or as a plaque in my grandfather’s office read: Don’t let the bastards grind you down. You can read more about the origin of the quote here. The funny thing about that is that I read that quote so many times through my childhood that I started to use it whenever people were in a bad spot, or a tough position. The earliest that I can remember using it was when I was 13 in my first band, and a friend was having trouble with his parents, and unable to make practice.

I don’t recall my father or my grandfather ever saying that quote to me, or around me, but I certainly remember that plaque that hung in my grandfather’s office. I would say that quote is as timely as ever now. It’s easier than ever to take a look around at unemployment, bankruptcies, home foreclosures, and think it’s someoneelse’s fault. Somebody else is to blame for my situation, or my predicament, but the only thing that we can control is ourselves, and to some extent our situation.

I believe that through attitude, and foresight we can create the trajectory for our life. If we want to be bummed out, rejected, and unhappy with what life gives us, we can, but we’re in charge of that. That’s not to say that this is about some kind of happy, happy, joy, joy affirmation perspective, but it is to say that if we want to ride the suck express, then all aboard, because there’s always room. However, it’s the hope train to tomorrow that’s going to get you off on the right foot and creating a trajectory that’s going to keep you moving forward towards life-enhancing opportunity and joy.

In fact, that’s one of the craziest things that I’ve noticed in life. When I start doing something, and I’m working at it, the endeavor takes on a life of its own. It becomes less about you and more about taking care of the thing that you’ve created. The first couple times I realized this it threw me, because I was on a trip and I wanted to get off. Sometimes, though, there’s no getting off. You have to ride the whole trip. Which, on the one hand, prevents you from beingwishy -washy with the things you build, but on the other hand a sort of synergy is created where the process of what you’re doing intersects with some kind of unseen energy, or current that just keeps flowing out from the thing you created.

The take-away is that if you want to put yourself on a positive life trajectory then be prepared to build something. Even through the tough times, don’t let the bastards grind you down, and eventually things will take off on their own.

Doing good work with good people often has a very positive outcome. Hell, sometimes doing even mediocre work with good people makes all the difference. When I’m starting a project I try to see the absolute best vision of what it can be, pushing all the bureaucracy and unknown variables aside. I try to communicate the vision to the people I’m working with. I want them to see the same vision that I see. I’m not talking unrealistic BS, but truly the good that come out of the project, and the good work and value we can get out of the process. It’s true that good work is it’s own reward. But an even better reward is bringing together good people and good work to create greatness. Surely, there’s nothing better than that.

This post was inspired by recent work I did with Lansing, Michigan-based Such Video. Karen Stefl, David Such and Mike Nelson do great work, and it’s truly a pleasure to work with them. I wish that all of my vendor relationships could be as pleasant. For the sake of full disclosure our relationship is purely professional and I hold no interest in their organization; just wanted to give them props for good work.

Good morning.

Sadness, disappointment, and despair have to flee in the presence of hope!
(HOPE PEOPLE!)

by Steven B. Cohen

Some of my regular readers may have noticed that the site has been changing over the last month or so. This really started with the merging of the Digital Imperative blog and my music/design site. I wanted to bring my career workinline with my creative and artistic work here at mattborghi .com. Since then I’ve been reading some of your comments, emails and past posts (of which this is post #90) and thinking about the editorial direction and content overall of The Digital Imperative. This week it became clear to me that while I might talk about Google, Twitter or Yahoo, or Web and Digital Strategy or communications, as well as posting videos or Mp3s of recent work at the core of my message is that of entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a corporate entrepreneur working inside the walls of a Fortune 500 company, the small business owner who’s reach is much more local than global or a Do-It-Yourself artist trying to gain a broader audience for your work — Entrepreneurship is an attitude.

It took me talking to a trusted colleague this week for that to become clear to me. We spent a good amount of time talking about what it means to be a small business and a small business owner. Entrepreneurship encompasses a series of soft skills, including ambition, persistence, organization, attitude and most importantly a belief in one’s self, but there are many other words that describe what an entrepreneur or entrepreneurship is.

I plan to spend more time talking about entrepreneurship and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Keeping in mind that my definition of an entrepreneur is looser than most. I define an entrepreneur as someone who works to put something together and is willing to take the risk for it.  This goes together with the newly-crafted editorial statement that I crafted for this site: The best investment you can make is in yourself.

So that’s the plan, and the direction I plan on taking with things. I’ll still be talking about social media, Web strategy, communications and the like because of course it’s absolutely the entrepreneurial spirit that drives one to undertake these things, especially as best practices are being written as we go. As always, I welcome your feedback, and look forward to the continued conversation.

We get opportunities,
however irregular
to make a difference.
Sometimes,
we’re able to step up
and take it on,
other times
life circumstances
are too much to bare
and we must stick with
what we’ve got
and where we’re at.
Life is a circuitous and
mysterious
journey will all kinds
of twists and turns,
experiences
and opportunities.
When your moment
comes,
will you be ready?