Step Seven: MAINTAIN Your Community
Every Dream Needs a Team
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Brandon Clements loved writing.[1] He wrote all through college. And even after he jumped into a “real” job, the writing bug still infected him. Brandon wanted to write a book, and so he did.
When he mentioned his idea to an editor from a major publisher, they kindly declined his manuscript. According to the editor, his platform wasn’t big enough. Besides that, his content didn’t help him.
Brandon wrote a fictional story that felt too “religious” for secular publishers. Ironically, it also felt too “secular” for religious publishers. His manuscript, Every Bush Is Burning, seemed like it was in its own category.
Aware of the obvious, Brandon took action. He self-published and officially claimed his own category.
Communities Will Kickstart
After researching printers, Brandon landed on Lightning Source. He added a Kickstarter campaign that provided tools to raise funds for the project.
Kickstarter makes crowd funding easy. In their own words, they’re
A home for everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of projects, big and small, that are brought to life. Since our launch in 2009, 5.4 million people have pledged $920 million, funding more than 53,000 creative projects. Thousands of creative projects are raising funds on Kickstarter right now.[2]
Besides generous friends who supported his Kickstarter campaign, Brandon also had a number of talented friends who helped him create a crisp website and an engaging trailer.[3]
And in October 2011, his friends rallied around him and together they launched Every Bush Is Burning in his own city. However, although people gobbled up a couple hundred copies initially, after nine months Brandon had only sold five hundred copies.
More than the money, Brandon cared about the message. Nobody wants their brainchild to sit untouched. Although the book injected hope into his readers, not enough people knew about it.
Feeling despair, Brandon knew he needed a spark.
He met Jeff Goins, a popular author and blogger at a conference.[4] They immediately became friends. Jeff couldn’t see any difference between Brandon’s book and a traditionally published book. He thought it looked that amazing.
Regardless, Brandon’s book lacked momentum. Confiding in Jeff, Brandon explained his dilemma. Jeff suggested he try a program called KDP Select.[5] Essentially, enrolling in this program would make Every Bush Is Burning free for a limited time. Readers worldwide would be permitted to download a free digital version.
Jeff had heard of an author who used the program and gave away six hundred copies of her book in just one weekend. Brandon knew his book needed some fire, and so he decided to give it a shot. Just before enrolling in the program, he guest posted on Jeff’s blog and on AuthorMarketingClub.com to inform people about the free download.
Then he waited.
At lunchtime on the first day of the free download, Brandon looked at his statistics. He couldn’t believe it. His book had been downloaded five thousand times in just a few hours. As the days rolled by he held the #2 spot on the Kindle store. And by the end of the fifth day, his book was downloaded over sixty thousand times!
He was blown away by the response, and stories of impact swept into his inbox. People immediately posted over one hundred reader reviews. The week following the free KDP select campaign, he sold over two thousand additional copies.
Although his results might be uncharacteristic, Brandon didn’t complain.
One reader in his own hometown discovered the book, and since reading it has joined the small group Brandon and his wife lead. She’s now experiencing the message of the book firsthand, finding healing from her painful past.
Besides replying to comments from his new fans, Brandon also found himself replying to responses from publishers. Evidently, they’re now interested in his future writing career. Seems like his growing community surprised them just as much as it did him.
Time for Team Building
If you’re going to escape your day job, you’re going to need some help. DJs know every dream needs a team. But in this endeavor, you must also be selective.
In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy found a true friend in Red. By his own admission, Red said, “There’s a con like me in every prison in America, I guess. I’m the guy who can get it for you.”[6]
That’s exactly what Red did. He got Andy a number of things he needed to escape, including a rock hammer. Yet besides Red, Andy benefited from a number of other teammates, including:
Heywood—he gave Andy rope.
Brooks—he gave Andy a poster.
Captain Hadley—he gave Andy protection.
Andy’s escape was clearly a team effort. Yours will be too.
Cherish your team. Value them. Buy them lunch. Send them cards. Donate blood to them. Be generous. Maintaining your community is not only intelligent, it’s also essential. Every DJ needs four types of strategic teammates.
Four Types of Teammates
| 1. Fans—the people who believe in you. | ||
| 2. Freelancers—the people who work with you. | ||
| 3. Friends—the people who vouch for you. | ||
| 4. Funders—the people who invest in you. |
1. Fans
Fans are followers. Although their motivation may be different, on some level they all believe in you. There are three different types of fans.
Consumers—the takers. These fans hang around because they’re hungry. Maybe your content feeds them for noble reasons. Maybe they steal it for their own gain. Regardless of their intent, don’t let them bother you. Celebrate the fact they follow you. Seth Godin gives us great perspective—piracy isn’t our enemy, obscurity is.[7]
Contributors—the sharers. These fans RT you on Twitter and share your posts on Facebook. They follow you and spread your message. Their comments fuel you and their critiques push you.
Collaborators—the givers. These fans are rare. Some call them superfans. They can’t wait for your next product, post, or podcast. When you ask for help, they’re always first in line.
2. Freelancers
You can’t do it all, nor should you. Find quality people to hire. If you’re on a tight budget, consider exchanging your services for theirs. Freelancers fill two categories.
Generalists—they do what you could do. In Dream Job Bootcamp, I coach clients to determine their per-hour value. This is tough for some to do, but that’s another topic. Once they settle on an hourly value, we do an inventory of their schedules, both personally and professionally. We look for areas where they can save time and money. I’ll give you an example.
Let’s imagine Susie determines her value at $50 an hour. While exploring her week, we discover she wants to order firewood for the winter. The firewood company will deliver the wood for free, but they charge $25 an hour to stack the wood. The company estimates her firewood will take them one hour to stack. Should Susie pay for the wood to be stacked, or should she stack it herself? Although she has freelance work to do, she wants to save the $25 so she decides to stack the wood herself.
By the time she fills up the air in her wheelbarrow tire, locates her gloves, and laces her boots, she’s already got one hour invested. Because she’s not used to the labor, it ends up taking her three hours to stack the wood instead of one.
This job, which could have cost her $25, ended up costing her much more—$175 more to be exact. Here’s the breakdown:
| Value per Hour | Time to Complete Job | Total Cost for Job | ||
| Firewood Company = $25 | 1 Hour | $25 | ||
| Susie’s Freelance = $50 | 4 Hours | $200 | ||
(When I’ve shared this example with audiences, women have told me I failed to factor cleanup time. Turns out hair and makeup can add more time to the illustration. I stand corrected and enlightened.)
By knowing your value, you can outsource unprofitable tasks by delegating them to others. When you focus on the best return for your work, you can increase your influence, impact, and income at a much faster rate. If you choose, you can invest your extra time with the people and tasks most important to you.
Consider hiring a virtual assistant to do the tasks you can do but choose not to do. (Two sites worth checking out: eahelp.com and elance.com.) Assistants (virtual or physical) can do the following work: secretarial tasks, regular transcription, medical transcription, customer service, data entry, graphics, writing, administrative support, editing, proofreading, blogging, chat support, research, tech support, website help, technical or other legitimate work at home.
Your tribe is depending upon you to do what only you can do. Outsource everything else.
Specialists—they do what you can’t do. Why spend dozens of hours learning to do what someone else can do in a matter of minutes? Look on Fiverr or Elance. People rank freelancers based on their performance in previous projects. Read the reviews and eliminate the risk. Filter the talent based on the recommendations.
3. Friends
These are not Facebook “friends.” I’m referring to a different type—three different types, to be exact.
Truth Tellers—they call you out. These friends earn the right to speak into your life. They care enough to say it straight. Although tough to hear, their insight makes you better.
Edifiers—they draw you in. These friends throw sunshine your way. Their good vibes draw you in and their positivity frees you from any funk you might feel. Be prepared to get unstuck.
Challengers—they push you up. These friends see your potential even better than you do. They love you unconditionally and challenge you to rise up to the epic opportunity before you.
A balanced team contains all three types of friends.
4. Funders
A dream team needs specific resources. But don’t only think of money. You need three types of investors.
Time Investors. My best funders are people who’ve invested their time in me. People like Angela Scheff, who taught me about publishing. Or Chris Fabry and Tim Willard, who taught me about ghostwriting. These strategic conversations yielded tremendous dividends. To this day, I’m humbled by their generous hearts.
Who do you need to spend time with? Why do you need their time? If they agree to chat, come prepared. Do your research. Print out your questions. Take notes. Send a follow-up thank-you. Tell them how you applied their advice. Respect these funders by honoring their time.
Treasure Investors. Although money is often perceived as the biggest obstacle, it’s truly the least of your worries. We’ll explore how to make money in Step Nine—Maintain Your Credibility. For the time being, understand you can ask others to invest in you financially. Many people use Kickstarter as a venue. However, I’m not a big fan of asking for treasure investors. This can complicate your day job escape. Although over the years I’ve received a financial gift on a rare occasion, I don’t solicit funds. It’s not my style nor my business model. You may disagree.
Talent Investors. These funders give their brains, not their wallets. Consider creating a Personal Advisory Board. I’ve had one the last ten years. I handpicked leaders who excel in areas I don’t. Currently, I have a lawyer, a CPA, and a former bank analyst on my board. I’ve had pastors and business owners in the past. These board members have rotated on and off throughout the years.
The Personal Advisory Board Simple Structure
Here’s one way to form your board. Use the Personal Advisory Board Simple Structure by filling in the blanks.
WHO—I’m going to ask ______________ to serve on my board because ______________________________________________.
WHAT—This board will achieve the following goals: _____________________________________________. (Create a few initial agenda items, such as form an LLC, give prayer or encouragement, write a grant, publish a book.)
WHEN—This board will meet ________ (times per year. I suggest quarterly) for this amount of time ____________. (start time/end time. I suggest one-hour meetings.)
WHERE—We will meet at __________________________. (Meeting at a restaurant or with food involved causes too many distractions.)
WHY—We will meet for the clear purpose of: _______________________. (This shouldn’t change.)
HOW—We will review old business and tackle the new agenda each meeting. (Have someone take notes. Always email the new agenda before the meeting.)
Through a one-on-one conversation, invite each leader to join your advisory board. Use the Personal Advisory Board Simple Structure as talking points. Ask them to invest four hours over the next year in making your dream a reality (one hour-long meeting, once per quarter). Tell them specifically why you want them to serve in this role. Ask them to think on it. Give them a deadline. And be sure to run your meetings exactly opposite of the Epically Bad Meetings we talked about earlier. (That way they’ll stay.)
Time Out and Huddle Up
Enough talk. It’s time to maintain your community. Start taking inventory of all the amazing people in your awareness. Invite them to step up and step out. Your dream needs a team.
Key Points
(If you RT, use #DJtoDJ to join the conversation with other DJs)