So, what's so special about you?

That is a question I ask myself everyday as I re-evaluate, upload, tweak and observe this thing I call Creative Silence, as well as the myriad of other businesses growing and trying to find their own place in the art, design, photography world. What's so special about you? What is it about you or your business that makes someone decide to choose you for their visual solutions in such a crowded field? What are you doing to ensure people will trust you enough to contact you over someone who does the exact same thing just down the street? A huge part of being a small business owner, entrepreneur, etc, is having one's ear to the proverbial street as trends emerge, become old, and just go away. Another part is finding your voice as I mentioned in a previous post. Many have found the social networking sites to be of great value to their businesses, while others shun it and take to the streets to promote and "sell" themselves and their work.  I believe a little bit of both helps, and in this day and age, it is crucial to be able to navigate facebooktwittertumblrbloggerwordpresslinkedinland in order to be seen and heard by a generation who logs on first thing in the morning before eating breakfast (which is most of us).

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have come to a point where social networking has lost its "fun factor" I suppose. I average approximately 10 - 15 tweets a week, my personal facebook page is more like a place holder so friends still there can find me, and I've even activated a dummy facebook account just to manage my fan page and do it without wasting another 2 hours reading the hundreds of random status updates, cool links, and emo rants of the melting pot that is facebook. Sometimes silence really works for me (pun intended) when trying to find my space and place...but hey, that's just me.  What I have learned is a major part of being successful in small business, regardless of what your craft is, is being liked. There is nothing worse, in some people's eyes, than an overly talented jerk with no personality who isn't genuinely "likeable". Many would  prefer doing business with the moderately talented but extremely liked person or business.  The never ending popularity contest of social networking has impacted businesses to the point where net worth in some instances is based partially on the amount of followers one has on twitter, or "fans" on facebook. Some choose not to have a fan page and simply use their personal page as the face of their business, hence the 4,567 "friends" some have. Again, whatever it is that floats your boat and works for you and your business is all good.

What I do know is while I still struggle to find my comfort zone in the world wide popularity contest of the interwebs, my main focus still remains perfecting my craft and honing the skills that are crucial in my business. In other words, I just want to DO GOOD WORK. A novel idea I'm sure for most, but an every day one for me. Keep in mind, GOOD to me is really GREAT in the grand scheme of things. While some grow followers, I'm refining workflow, while others struggle to update one of the 10 - 15 different networking sites they own, I'm obsessing over an image edit or trying to figure out the best design solution for a business' identity. Ultimately however you decide to work,  as you ask yourself the question "what's so special about me??", I hope one of the first things that comes to mind is the fact that you just DO GOOD WORK. GOOD(GREAT) WORK trumps popularity in my honest opinion, however good work should, in a universe that makes sense, bring popularity. Not the case always, just ask the local artist whose work you swear by as you wonder why no one has snatched them up and given them the break they deserve (we all know that person). Or perhaps the random international pop star with sub par vocals who still manages to sell out arenas across the globe. Of course, there are so many obvious variables besides sheer talent that play a part in success, that's a no brainer, but please, start with GOOD WORK. Do the work, perfect your craft, and let that not be a question as you evaluate yourself and your business. Trust me, I'm still searching, but I'll be damned if failure comes because of the LACK of good work.  Now THAT would just be uncivilized :)

tbc...