Recently, I started as Editor-In-Chief for the National Institute for Social Ethics. (I curate publications from online posts to the official Ethics Report.)
I’ve been planning topics, finding guest writers and interviewees, and posting article after article (and, subsequently, looking up tips on how to make the most of my new domain). Because of that, Twitter started showing me all kinds of content- & SEO-related tweets.
I eventually landed on a post by Jared Kimball (check it, here) which inspired unexpected creativity when it came to what I could do with the NIFSE website.
Social Ethics can be… overwhelming. Dense. Boring to a lot of people, at least on its surface. And I’ve been accused on more than a few occasions of being erudite-bordering-on-condescending & I don’t want to lose the NIFSE audience before I’ve even begun. There’s such a great opportunity to start useful, thoughtful, impactful conversation, especially with the ideas that Ethics Transcend our demographics & I feel a real sense of duty to – at the very least – try to shine a light on the ways we can coexist better.
The methods & approaches I conjured up while reading that article & brainstorming over a couple days (and an afternoon with a few pints of Guinness) were all focused on maximizing this opportunity. And combining certain concepts to my venture got 100% “Yes” returns on inquiries, requests, etc.
The umbrellas it all ended up fitting under:
Think Comprehensively
This goes two ways: internally, looking at everything I have in my arsenal; and externally, looking at who can connect to me.
The first – determining my assets, looking deeper into the value I bring – was easy. I sat down & looked at the obvious stuff (like services and the actual website itself), then I looked deeper. I looked at the website as if it was a piece of real estate, like I’ve seen developers do in the neighborhoods around me in Dallas, turning what was a single-family home’s lot into quadplexes and small apartments.
After identifying them, I just had to maximize my asset. Like a predecessor to wealth maximization, asset maximization is utiliZing every piece of your puzzle fully, in order to get the most from it.
Then, there’s the matter of getting people in, telling my story in a way that allows people to connect. It’s what I like to call Encompassingness. And ‘In Living Color’ had something to do with it.
Promote the Positive
Once I had the pieces, I looked at all the ways I could provide something good with them.
There’s the message floating around social media: “Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.”
And, while I’m loathe to be cliche, that little ditty is spot-on! It’s all about being proactive.
Proactivity is creating new things – ideas, conversations, content – and pursuing… constantly moving toward goals both incremental and long-term.
Then, I found ways for people to join in the positive pursuit of my focus. Through NIFSE, it’s about talking social ethics – what we share, how we can understand and do better, etc. It’s a topic that not only everyone can connect with, but I wanted actual participation from anyone and everyone. This allows me to do good for others, too, creating a network, pointing to people and the ways they learned & view & do good.
Lead the Way
It’s one thing to have an encompassing message, and another to have a positive direction, but it’s all for nought if there’s no tangible action.
I pursued people with the first two things in mind: “I have a place that I want you to be in,” and, “Here’s the good I have waiting for you.” It was as simple as that.
I gave people all the information right up-front, broken down as simple and earnest as possible. With law school classmates, college buddies who have professions, even family friends with unique perspectives, I set the whole thing in context of my vision and why I wanted them, specifically, involved. With business owners and professionals, I approached it with a focus on that arena. My prospecting email was less than 400 words & included the purpose, the benefits, and how to participate – bam, bam, bam. 100% response rate.
I had to figure out the best way to lead everyone to the positive.
Leading is about making contribution effortless and beneficial in the attainment of the goal.
My job, my goal, my key to success was this: create a structure on which growth couldn’t help but happen. I had to create the conditions in which a successful system could exist. It’s Structuring for Success.
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