8th
What I can’t afford to do — and I deeply hope you guys also won’t even attempt to do — is to live in a world of unlimited access (in- or outbound) that requires you to pretend anyone who happens to trip over your doormat should get precisely the same attention, respect, interest, and focus as Real People You Know. They come first. Scarcity. It’s a real thing.
Holy shit.
Would somebody please get Merlin and Gary Vaynerchuk into a room together and broadcast the conversation? Better yet, do it on a stage somewhere so I can attend in person.
Sure, family and in-person friends probably do deserve our first wave of priority. I’ll give you that much. But…
I’m a card carrying member of the cult of Gary, and the rest of what Merlin said right there, that’s absolute bullshit - especially to someone who’s currently authoring a book and hoping people will buy it. It’s almost 2010 and you’re telling me that you aren’t going to treat every person on the planet like a potential customer? That’s just fucked up. Even if your goal isn’t to make money (Don’t fuck with me, Merlin. It is.), it’s simply a smart thing to do - for your craft, for your business, for your life: to listen to criticism from all sources, and to accept anyone that takes time to contact you. You don’t need to like what you hear and you don’t even need to respond (but you should). But by acting like you don’t care what they are saying, then what you’re telling them is “I think I’m better than you and you are worthless to me.” Do that long enough and the only people left who will want to buy your book will be your wife and any friends that you haven’t arrogantly dismissed.
