One of the gems from this presentation was the question/comment from the person who was really, I think, speaking for so many of us when they asked why they couldn’t just do their stuff, and why had marketing become so incredibly intense.
Gary and Chase nearly answered in unison… “Because it has…” – or something quite close to that.
So utterly correct.
We can kvetch, and steam over it. We can lament the good old days, and long for the romance of the buccaneers and explorers of our youth till we get drunk on nostalgia.
It will only end up with a ‘snooze and lose’ hangover.
Those days are gone. These days it takes self promotion, marketing skills, engagement, content, consistency, drive, extra cups of coffee with chocolate covered espresso beans… All of it.
There is no zoning out, no “I refuse to play” mentality that will afford success. There simply isn’t.
Being the reticent, articulate critic who kvetches about their rights being stolen, and how terrible the social media world is, and how unfair it is to have to be forced to do this terrible stuff is legendary, mythic hero stuff. Great.
But it will NOT get you to the finish line. In fact, that transigence can only lead to being rooted on the sidelines saying shit like “I coulda done that.”
No. You couldn’t. You had the same opportunity and turned away from it for reasons all YOUR OWN.
So you didn’t compete. You didn’t get an Instagram, or a Facebook Page, or a blog. You held on to those yesteryear values, and the ‘romantic’ view of the ‘old timer’. It became a flag of defiance. Good for you.
“I don’t want to blog, I only want to take photographs” eventually turns into “Hi, welcome to Home Depot, can I help you find a hammer?”
Cool.
You win.
I guess.