Happy fall, everyone!
I know a lot of people look forward to this time of year as the season of crisp days and warm drinks, but I have to admit that – despite my love for pumpkin-spiced goodies – I dread when the summer heat disappears.
The good news is that what I lack in excitement for cooler, shorter days I make up for in motivation and productivity. It’s always in the beginning of fall that I get amped up about finishing the current year on a high note and setting myself up for success in the year ahead.
This surge in energy is pretty common, actually. Just think of all the new B2B products, services, platforms, conferences, and programs that debut around autumn. Not to mention all the talk about what’s trending now and what will be “hot” next year.
All of this can contribute to feelings of overwhelm for those of us who are trying to create, run, and grow our businesses. The pressure to constantly identify, learn about, and leverage all the most up-to-date tools and techniques out there is very real, and it can eat up enormous amounts of time and energy. Talk about exhausting!
So what if I told you that you didn’t have to do all that?
What if I told you there was an easier, more reliable, and all around better approach to building your business than going from fad to fad?
Today on the blog, I’m going to talk about the latest business trends — specifically, how to know when to follow them and when to disregard them completely!
Trends Are Not Roadmaps, in Life or in Business
I talk a lot about the steps you should take to build a successful business, and I hold firm to the belief that taking action is the most important part of the equation.
At the same time, though, I think it’s important to consider how you approach your business and the zillions of decisions you have to make for it day-in and day-out.
A lot of business owners are all about jumping on latest trends in marketing, sales, web design, or whatever in order to get the most out of them while the getting’s good. They see these fads as a sort of a magic trick that can make building their businesses so much easier.
In reality, jumping from trend to trend is not necessarily the wisest or easiest path, and it certainly isn’t the salve against hard work people think it is.
In life and in business, fads come and go … but the classics are classic for a reason.
I’m a classic kind of girl. I don’t follow trends in fashion, home design, fitness … almost nothing. It’s not that all trends are inherently bad or anything — I’m just not that great at (or particularly interested in) keeping up with them.
This classic approach is exactly how I do business. I don’t immediately jump on fads in social media, I don’t keep up with the “latest” marketing schemes, and I definitely don’t switch to the new slick sales tactic of the month.
Instead, I’m all about tried-and-true methods for building online, service-based businesses that put amazing things out into the world and bring in plenty of cash for the brilliant women who run them.
Those of you who join my programs – whether it’s Get Your First 1000 Subscribers, Make It Work Online, or Make $10k – will learn (and come to love!) this fad-free approach to building a business because it WORKS — consistently, simply, and beautifully.
It’s Your Business. Build It Your Way
The very best part about having your own business is getting to create whatever you want, however you want.
That means you get to decide who you and your clients are, adopt the strategies and tools that work for your business, discard those that don’t, change your mind about any of the above when conditions change, and not worry one bit about jumping on any bandwagons.
Click to TweetThere is no reason you should feel obliged to follow trends just for the sake of it.However, and this is equally important, this does not mean you get to label things that are hard, intimidating, boring, or time consuming as “trendy” in order to avoid doing them. (I know all of your excuses!)
Blogging, list building, and being of service on social media, for example, are not “trendy” — they’re enduring ways of connecting with your market and vital to your business.
I’m also not suggesting you buck trends for the sake of it. It doesn’t make any sense to dismiss things out of hand as soon as they gain a bit of traction without first considering them carefully for your business.
We all need to keep up with changes to Facebook and the CAN-SPAM law, for example. And I can’t ignore that Periscope seems to be growing in popularity, though I haven’t yet found a reason or way of using it that’s in alignment with how I like to do business.
What I’m talking about here is embracing the idea of informed rebellion.
It’s all about doing what’s right for your business first and foremost, and evaluating trends carefully as they come and go.
Basically, I want you all to feel free to go against the grain. Approaching business this way is sure to bring out your individuality and creativity — and bring years of sustainable success!
The Dos and Don’ts of Informed Rebellion
It’s totally okay to decide not to incorporate some new tool or tactic, even if it happens to be trendy. Only you know your business, and you have the power to decide what’s best for it.
It’s not okay to do something just because it is trendy. You should have a better reason behind everything you do for your business.
And it’s definitely not okay to label things as trendy just to get out of doing them (so don’t even try it!).
I know this sounds like a lot of rules, but bear with me — it’s actually incredibly liberating!
What this all means is that you don’t have to be a stickler to what’s #trending. It means you have complete control over what you create and how you create it. And it means you can feel free to rely on what really works and not stress out about what doesn’t.
The very best part is that this combination of classic approach + individuality + informed rebellion is the exact secret sauce you need to “make it” in your online business.
Classic or Trendy?
I want to hear all about your approach to business, why you do it, and what you think!
Tell me in the comments…
Which tools have become important mainstays for your business, and which trends have you let pass by?
How do you evaluate new trends for your business?
Have you launched something new and exciting lately that you want to tell others about?
And, of course, are you doing Periscope? Why or why not?
Fill me in!
Jenny, thought-provoking as ever. I’m launching a new psychometric test around productivity this autumn, which needs to combine ageless principles (validated personality research and innate human desire for flow and fulfilment) with cutting-edge productivity science, psychometric technology, and a way of standing out in the marketplace. I like the further idea of thinking of it in terms of ‘trendy/classic’ to decide how to approach each part.
PS Periscope doesn’t grab me either!
Best of luck with your launch, Joanna! It’s so fun to play with classic and cutting-edge at the same time 🙂
Jenny what sage advice you give. I am thankful I found you via Martha Beck’s coaches list. What you have demonstrated to me this year about being a successful solopreneur is priceless. Every line of this post is worth reading, but it all boils down to this:
“It’s Your Business. Build It Your Way”
You got it, Deb — your business your way!
Love this post Jenny! I’ve been feeling a bit of pressure to join the Periscope bandwagon myself. I did reserve a username and download the app, but for now I’m sticking with the classics, blogging, guest posting, networking and list-building. I have a huge case of “bright shiny object syndrome” and constantly need to remind myself to focus. Thanks for the reminder that this is totally OK. 🙂
Love how you keep coming back to the theme of focus, Renee! Yes!
Hi Jenny. YOU are one of the ways I evaluate biz trends, just so you know. So thanks for being such a classicist! On another note, was seeing one of my psychotherapy clients last night, a general counsel for a successful start up now in acquisition, who mentioned a perspective similar to what you call out in today’s post, and took it even further. One of her board members, a Harvard MBA proff., was suggesting that not only should we sometimes buck trends, but we can even hold on to a consumer-identified biz “shortcoming,” one that may in fact contribute greatly to the biz’ financial success, if we have enough of a differentiated and strong brand (ie. Are authentic and exceptional enough with our brand -read Jenny Shih classicism). Being fearlessly who we are in our work seems to be great biz secret, not the trend of the day as you suggested. Not sure if I explained this well, but it seemed connected. Anyway, thanks for being so authentically you. Eva
This is such a huge complement, Eva. Thank you!! Such an interesting perspective from that individual; I appreciate you sharing it here. Thank you!
I totally appreciate this topic. So spot on. Question – can you recommend some decent business books that aren’t trendy or fleeting? Books you’ve personally found valuable and aren’t all hype?
There are a bajillion business books out there — it sort of depends on what you’re wanting to learn or accomplish. If you want to narrow it down to a specific subtopic, I’m happy to scour my bookshelves for some suggestions.