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Name: Make Your Mark
Rating: 4.3 (42 reviews)
Author: Jocelyn K. Glei

Jocelyn K. Glei

The Creative’s Guide to Building a Business with Impact

4.3 (42 ratings)

18 mins

Brief summary

Make Your Mark by Jocelyn K. Glei is a guidebook that helps readers find and embrace their creative voice. It offers practical advice and inspiration on how to overcome self-doubt and develop a strong sense of purpose in order to create meaningful work.

Topics

Small Businesses Start-Ups Design Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents

Make Your Mark
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Discover the tips and hacks behind some of the most successful creative businesses.

It seems like there has never been a better time to be a creative. The explosion of the internet has provided opportunities for people to turn their skills and knowledge into business opportunities.

Yet despite this chance, most of us have no idea how to start turning our passions into viable, profitable businesses. These blinks, inspired by the opinions of luminaries such as Seth Godin, Chris Guillebeau and Warren Burger, show how anyone with the right drive and skills can become a great entrepreneur.

In these blinks you’ll discover

why every email you write at work should be available to the whole team; and
why the perfect leader is a servant.

Every great, successful business starts with a defining purpose, which focuses on answering a need.

Though it might sound strange, many start-ups and entrepreneurs struggle to answer a simple question: “Why does your business exist?” Many point to their product’s awesome features, or talk about how their service is cheaper than the competition. Yet these replies don’t answer the question.

Regardless of what you offer or how it bests the competition, you will never be successful unless you can answer this simple question. Why? Because the answer outlines your purpose.

Every successful business has at its core a purpose which aims to make society a better place and which its products and services aim to embody. No matter how many features your product may have, if it doesn’t solve someone’s problem, it can’t succeed.

So, before you even begin your business venture, you need to figure out your purpose: How do you hope to benefit the world with your product or service?

Nike, for example, is famous for its innovations, connections with sports stars and cool image. Yet behind all this lies a purpose: to help people reach their athletic potential.

As your business develops you will need to constantly ensure that your actions align with your purpose. One good way to do this is by always asking “why.”

For example, whenever you want to add something to your product or service, ask: “Why does this matter?” Why, for example, would you want to add a voice command function to your kettle?

Answers like “because it’s cool” or “no one else has it” are unacceptable, since they don’t relate to your purpose. On the other hand, if you are trying to solve a problem for arthritic customers who want to make a cup of tea, then your development has a clear purpose and you have a reason to proceed.

Build an operational system that promotes flexibility and development.

While your purpose is fundamental to your success in business, it’s not the only piece of the puzzle. You’ll also have to develop your business in a way that actually moves you closer to achieving that purpose.

The best way to do this is by developing a flexible operating system. Indeed, many visionary companies, including Facebook, Airbnb and Dropbox, have adopted a Responsive Operating System (OS).

Success starts with designing one product that delights users, and then capturing their attention with simplicity.

When we think of creative genius and entrepreneurship, we often imagine prolific inventors who are able to come up with huge numbers of novel innovations. However, when it comes to business success, you don’t need lots of good ideas and products. You really only need one.

In fact, trying to develop too many things simultaneously will simply leave you with lots of half-finished projects, i.e., nearly there products.

You never start with a great product: you grow one through experimentation, failure and feedback.

When you see a product in a store, how do you think that it was conceived? Did it come as a stroke of genius to someone in R&D, complete and in its finished form?

Unlikely. In fact, all great products are the result of tweaking and development, not someone’s muse whispering in their ear.

Build an army of supporters by treating your customers as individuals and giving them your secrets.

When a company releases a statement or an offer online, they often “hope” that it will go viral and win them lots of attention.

However, the most successful companies do this not in hope, but in expectation. For example, when entrepreneur and author Chris Guillebeau posted a single blog entry asking for donations to his Clean Water for Ethiopia campaign, he was able to raise $22,000 in a single day, all without “going viral.” But how?

In order to get people talking about your brand or company, make your company’s story part of their lives.

Do you know anyone who owns a coat made by the mountaineering clothing brand Patagonia? And have they ever been mountaineering in that coat? Probably not. How can this brand be so popular despite the fact that so few people use its products for their intended purpose? The answer lies in the stories they tell.

Indeed, the most successful brands tell stories about themselves which relate to the views and beliefs of society.

The key to leading an effective, efficient team is to promote total transparency.

Imagine that every email you sent from your work account was automatically sent to everyone on your team. Surely this kind of invasion of privacy couldn’t lead to effective work. Right?

Wrong. In fact, the social network managing service Buffer does exactly that, and they enjoy both a loyal team and remarkable successes.

If you want the best people to become leaders, you need to see the role in a positive light.

Ask creatives if they’d like to be in a leadership position and most will say: “No way! I’d never want to give up my creative work just so I could boss people around. It’s just not me.”

While this sentiment is common, it is due, in a large part, to a fundamental misunderstanding of what leadership actually involves.

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What is Make Your Mark about?

Make Your Mark features the wisdom and tips of 21 of the most successful entrepreneurs and creatives of the last few years. These artists, coders, developers and writers share the secrets and ideas that have helped them take their respective markets by storm.

Who should read Make Your Mark?

People working in the creative industry
Anyone looking to turn their creative skills into a business
Leaders, managers and CEOs

About the Author

Jocelyn K. Glei is the editor in chief of 99U, an organization devoted to giving creatives a grounding in the skills that don’t get taught at school, but which are essential for making ideas a reality. In addition, she has edited 99U’s previous publications, Manage Your Day-to-Day and Maximize Your Potential.

Categories with Make Your Mark

Creativity Entrepreneurship

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