Getting a Phone

The other week I was hanging out at a bar with a few friends and someone asked me about a project.

Basically the idea was this– how to build a community around a filmmaker so that they could thereafter fund a film project if they thought it had merit. (A little bit like Kickstarter does now.)

I explained that this was what Chris was (and is) able to do. That’s the power of the platform– to direct attention wherever you’d like it to be, compounding the chances of success for each of your successive projects.

Anyway, my friend was unconvinced. But another was like “Have you ever read his book?” (Like most good friends, almost no one there had.) 🙂 But then Eric, the one that had read it, said something in such a clear way that it’s changed the way I think about it myself. He said:

“Listen, imagine all of your friends get phones. What are you going to do, sit around waiting for a letter all day? Or are you going to get a phone?”

I’ve now totally internalized this idea– and told Eric that I was grateful he wasn’t on the web a lot, or he would have my job. 😉

The way I think about it is this– when people think of a project they want to do, they go out and try to rouse interest and meet people that are doing it. I mean, it’s only natural, right? Go find people that can help.

The only thing is, it doesn’t work.

What does work is to build something with a large network early, before you need it. Meet all kinds of people, no matter who they are. Be generous all the time, before you ever need anything. Go where the people are beforehand, and you’ll know them well if the time comes where you’re in need.

All of this relates extremely well to careers, btw.

Think about it another way. When you go to a house party, do you just go to the fridge and grab a bunch of beer? Or do you bring your own to the party? How you’re seen will depend on what kind of person you are. Decide accordingly.


Posted

in

by

Comments

4 responses to “Getting a Phone”

  1. Amber Whitener Avatar

    What are you going to do, sit around waiting for a letter all day? Or are you going to get a phone?

    LOL, with this statement, I couldn’t help but to think of that old lady that keeps going to check her empty mailbox in “Donne Darko”.

    Speaking of phones, which phones are the best to get for social media ppl? Blackberries? IPhones are only on AT&T right? I have had mine for awhile, it’s lived it’s life though.

  2. Christina Avatar

    This is what I’ve been trying to drive home to my students (freshmen in college). I’m seriously considering creating a list of articles and blog posts they might read for extra credit… and if I do, this one will be on it. It explains the “why” so well.

  3. John McLachlan Avatar

    What a great line about the phones. I’m going to share that with my circle of non-profits I work with.

    I have to say, a year ago, I was somewhat the guy waiting for the letter, which is strange, given that I was so on top of the tools at hand ten years ago when I was running a non-profit arts organization. Back then, it was getting people to get a web site or even something as revolutionary as “email.” Now, it’s the social media tools.

    It’s certainly easy to get comfortable and not want to “get that phone” but it’s so deadly from a business perspective to be like that.

    Great post.

  4. Benjamin Strong Avatar

    Julien,

    When you wrote “Think about it another way. When you go to a house party, do you just go to the fridge and grab a bunch of beer? Or do you bring your own to the party? How you’re seen will depend on what kind of person you are. Decide accordingly” you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for boiling things down for a dumb guy like me to understand. While I am being a bit tongue and cheek I am also serious.

    Your party analogy is so right on. Make connections, help people, and don’t brag about it. I guess it’s like being the Bizarro Oprah. She does good things but promotes the hell out of the good things she does.

    While my network is small, I like to connect people with solutions if I can.

    The biggest challenge for me is once I meet people, getting the contact information into a place where I can easily search/store it.

    Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *