Looking for a Way Out or a Way In

I recently wrote in another article here on LinkedIn that before I start a project, I need to feel excited about it.

In full honesty, excitement is not something that happens overnight, at least not for me.

It develops across weeks, months and even years. Once the project shifts from a mere idea to a vision then it is extremely hard to turn away from it.

The vision, like a giant magnet, becomes too powerful to resist.

As I was getting ready to talk about SellNow Inc., I started thinking it would also be important to talk about the factors behind excitement and how those evolve over time.

As an example, while FAR Imaging and SellNow became a genuinely exciting proposition to start building, the drivers behind them are completely different.

FAR Imaging was my attempt at becoming a celebrated photographer that owned a wonderful online art gallery that had the best photography works by the most amazing artists in the world.

It was a wonderful, fantastic dream of escaping my reality to become a fictional character that travels to the most amazing places in the world to take amazing photos, meets famous people while enjoying a luxurious lifestyle.

I could already see myself, having an evening drink at a bar beneath the stars in Bali having lively talks with models, artists in a jet set environment after a successful photoshoot that was going to make me thousands of dollars.

Here for one night only, gone tomorrow to far away, mysterious, foreign lands.

Sure sounds great, doesn’t it?

Reality at that time was a bit less spectacular. I had been working for a large multinational for almost five years.

I was bored, tired, single and had a decent income that allowed me indulging in quick-success, no-real-effort daydreams.

In the end I created an attractive mirage to lure me away for those things I did not want to do anymore.

I was looking for a way out.

On the other hand, SellNow Inc. comes from a different kind of vision, a terrifying one to be honest.

I have been convinced for years that creating content in many forms (written, audio, video, graphics, etc.) is essential for any kind of brand or organization.

Finding, developing, and closing opportunities is about communication and as the world has become more digital, there are new channels where communication naturally expands into.

But when COVID came about and people got sent home, an alarm went off in my mind.

I thought of all those prospects I had talked to; some I had just visited in late 2019.

Those prospects that had not changed their websites since they had created them ten or fifteen years ago, had no online store or a real social media presence for that matter and asked:

How are they going to open new opportunities and find new clients?

I started thinking: “if clients are not in the office and they will not accept face-to-face interactions in a long time, then how does a vendor inspires trust and creates influence?

And my answer was: Well organizations need to be found on the Internet and their brand, offer and communication channels must be aligned to provide useful information that allows prospects to make decisions.

That lead to the name, SellNow Inc., which aims at helping organizations that have a long presence in their sector to identify the main challenge in their current commercial strategy and adapting to the new environment.

And while I knew it would be difficult to start talking about content, communication channels and SEO to people and companies that had not invested on their online presence in forever I feel excited at the possibility of doing so.

In fact I see it as my duty to help and assist and if I provide value then I should be able to do more of it.

In any case, I am looking for a way IN.

There are Places I Remember or How to Keep Motivated.

I believe 2020 is the year that will be remembered as the moment when the world, life and pretty much everything else started changing forever, even if not for better.

I have read so many stories just in the past few days about:

·        a polarized society in U.S. leading to a new civil war in six years.

·        hyperinflation hitting unexpectedly after all the money printing that has been going on and people fighting over food in the streets.

·        cryptocurrency being used by governments around the world as a surveillance and control mechanism

·       Thousands of people losing their jobs as economy nosedives and companies start using more robots and AI tools.

All of this scares the living daylights out of me, not because it is the world I will leave behind but because it is the world my kid (and yours) will have to grow in.

I remain optimistic that the human family finds a way to make this world a better place for everyone and everything on it.

In my vision, we end up creating an abundant, clean world that nurtures lives and dreams and hopes, just like Peter Diamandis describes in “Abundance”.

If you are reading and understanding this, then for you and I, the next 30 years will be the most important in our lives.

I wish you a healthy, happy, and successful 2021. Let’s get cracking.