Are you ready for the flood of posts, videos, and tweets about “Marketing Lessons from the Big Game,” or “Why the Halftime Show is a Branding Masterpiece”?
In a way, it’s a little annoying. Can’t there be anything that’s not spoiled by some attempt to squeeze marketing into it. Or sales. Or whatever it is you’re so keen on?
But then I realized … maybe that’s the whole point. If you’re obsessed with something, you see it everywhere. You see the world through the lens of your interests.
I remember asking my orthopedic doctor if he’s always diagnosing everybody as he watches them walk down the street. He laughed and says that does, and that it’s somewhat of a curse.
What is it that you can’t help noticing?
There are an infinite number of ways to look at the world, and the way you see the world is filtered through your interests. Whatever your interest is, you’ll see it everywhere, because it’s top of mind for you.
So that brings up the question — What was top of mind for you when you were watching the Super Bowl? Or … forget the Super Bowl. What’s the topic that keeps haunting you, and showing up in your thoughts? What lessons are you constantly seeing in the world around you?
Whatever that is, that’s your obsession. And maybe there’s more than one of them. Personally I have about ten, and they keep my brain churning about all the time, which is more than a little annoying.
If you can bring that list of interests down to one or two, ask yourself this. Can you turn that obsession into something of value?
My friend Johnny Levy has an interesting post about hotel data, of all things, which includes this advice.
- Find your “interesting” — that’s how you build an audience.
- Find your “actionable” — that’s how you monetize.
If you’re super lucky, you’ll be able to do that with whatever that lens is through which you see the world.
That doesn’t always work. I’m sure you’ve heard that horrible advice, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Baloney. Do something that other people value, for which they’re willing to pay.
Maybe you’re one of those lucky people who has a natural interest in something of value, or maybe you need to cultivate such an interest?
Ask yourself — What’s your “interesting”? What’s your “actionable”? If you can crack that, you’re onto something powerful.
