My favorite joke from childhood was, where does the eight hundred pound gorilla sit in a movie theater?
Anywhere he wants.
Which is hilarious to a kid, because you wonder what kind of candy he eats. Probably gummy worms.
To businessperson, however, the joke is actually quite insightful. Because in a free market, volume is the ultimate skeleton key. Once you find a way to create more than enough of what you need so that you never need to worry about running out, new doors magically start to open. Luck begins to seek you out. Opportunities coming knocking. And you can sit anywhere you want.
There’s just so damn much of you, so it’s hard for the marketplace to resist the gravitational pull of your orbit.
The misconception, though, is that being an eight hundred pound gorilla is somehow a bad thing. Because the expression typically refers to a person or organization so powerful and aggressive and intimidating, that it can act without regard to the rights of others or the law. Like a geopolitical force or military operation or behemoth corporate entity that crushes its would be competitors with their bottomless resources.
But the reality is, not all gorillas are scary and loud and violent. They’re just big. And so, there’s no reason a one man consulting shop or a husband and wife design firm or a three person punk band or a four man tech startup or a five person digital agency can’t create volume, too.
The question is, what’s the primary asset? What’s the one thing you can create more of than anybody else in your space?
Perhaps it’s your intellectual property. Or your global network. Or your legions of fans. Or your weekly live show. Or your loyal user base.
Understanding and leveraging this asset is your competitive advantage.
It’s what earns you the right to sit anywhere you want.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
If you created more than enough of what you need so that you never need to worry about running out, what opportunities would that volume afford you?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a copy of the list called, “10 Best Books on Creativity You’ve Never Heard Of,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.
Now booking for 2015-2016.
Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!
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