In a recent meeting with an entrepreneur where we were talking about online marketing activities and building his business, I asked the question, “What are you passionate about?”
His answer…”Wow, let me think about that, that’s a great question.”
Besides the obvious ones of his wife, his child, his extended family, his friends, his favorite sports team, or his church, my question to this entrepreneur really caused him to pause and think.
The word passion can have so many meanings but let’s take the definitions that really apply here:
- any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate
- a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything (i.e. a passion for music).
What led to this question was a discussion about whether online marketing had much of an application for his business. As a group of highly educated professionals performing financial services, most if not all of their clientele come to them as a result of a referral. Word of mouth was their key marketing strategy and there really wasn’t much of a need for him to put any real effort into improving his online visibility or reputation. Blogging, social networks, search visibility are all good things, just for other people, not him.
You may be asking, David, what was his answer, what was he passionate about?
After some thought he said that he was passionate about helping people, and helping them to be more financially independent, so they can do what they really love to do, whatever that is, without worrying about money.
My next question was, “Do you like to write?” He said he does and that it has been a goal of his for some time to write a book. Well, a book is a pretty big undertaking and maybe he could break that down into smaller pieces by writing short snippets, ideas that will help people or….a blog.
I did actually see a light bulb appear over his head. He got it. A good friend of his had tried to convince him he needed to blog but had not explained it in exactly this way.
Write about what you’re really passionate about, not because it’s a great way to market yourself (even though it is) but just because you love to help people. He left the meeting with much to think about.
In this world, those people who find their passion, what they really love, will be the ones that tell you that their work never really seems like work; that their success has been because they immerse themselves so completely in what they love and hence become very good at it.
Engaging in this phenomenon called social media requires time, effort and then some more time if you wish it to be successful. Having a passion for what you are blogging, tweeting, friending, responding to will help you to stick with it. Because, there are very few overnight wonders in social media. Mostly there are people who have a passion for what they do and have been engaged long enough to start to see the great positive results that can be achieved.
What are you passionate about?
I’d love to know.
David