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me-on-set · 5 years

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Harrowingly Strange

When was the last time you had to face a moral dilemma? I am still reeling. I actually just got home. I think I invented a new selfie style. I wanted to take a photo of my makeup on and off.

As I currently write this, I am not an actor but instead have been doing background work for the past year. I've occasionally been a featured extra and was a body double once.

It's fascinating, seeing and doing the work that embodies being on set.

A couple of days ago, I received a message from a casting agency that had my headshot asking to submit my photo for a featured non-speaking role with a local production company. It was a one or two day shoot at $200 per day. I said yes and I got the gig.

When you are cast, you get an email the night before with details about the set location, start time, special instructions, and wardrobe. This show I booked was for a reenactment TV series about real world events. The exciting news was that this particular episode revolved around a crisis that occurred in my parents' homeland. I was to play someone at home seeing the news on television, and then in a second scene complain to police of their incompetence. I was asked to bring leisure clothing one would wear at home.

When I first started being an extra, I would bring my clothes in a backpack, trying really hard not to care too much. That behavior did not last. I found my interest stumbling forward into a natural evolution. I started taking luggage to neatly carry my wardrobe options. I found that I would mostly get cast as a mid-30's businessman. This led me to comfortably bring my outfits in a garment bag. It's funny how familiarity can grow your views.

For today, I packed shorts, sweatpants, t-shirts, a hoodie, a pair of runners, and a pair of flip flops. I got these flip flops during my last vacation with my mom overseas in her hometown. I also brought some henley shirts and arrived on set in khakis and a short-sleeved polo because there was also a mention of button-ups being an option.

The majority of work involved as an extra is waiting. It's a good idea to bring a book, although in this day and age, occupying oneself with a smart phone is a much more fulfilling time killer. I didn't end up using any of the clothes I had brought except for my belt and my runners. After my hair and makeup were done I decided to satisfy my curiosity by searching keywords of this specific production. I searched the name of the character I was to reenact. Adding quotations to strict strings of words, I had soon discovered the event I was going to portray. This was when my moral dilemma began.

I was born and raised in North America by immigrant parents who arrived in their early 20's. The typical experiences had by people of color paint a relatively positive mural that represents my upbringing. Having visited my ethnic country many times throughout my life, I felt, and still feel, a deep connection to the motherland. This connection is common for others like myself, powered by identity in a time where life will sometimes present it as a limitation. Conversely, this only strengthens cultural pride.

The role I was to play was an international representing their countrymen against the very country I identify with. Pangs of uneasiness flooded my body. There was another featured role performer who had an earlier call time. We sat together in the holding area. He was cast to play the part of a family member learning the news of the event. What surprised me more was the fact that he was a recent immigrant from my country of ethnicity. Us both, cast in roles of coincidental conflict of interest?

When it comes to acting, the only other time I recall having feelings of apprehension was during a big budget movie filmed in a church. I was a church goer among a sea of church goers seated in church pews. We were instructed to portray the enjoyment of a church service. Some of us were selected to stand and sway to the Christian music. Some had their eyes closed, head tilted to the ceiling, palms facing up to the heavens. As easy a physical task that is, I instead opted to clap along to the band and pretend to really feel the sounds of my favorite music. I know it's just acting but I was driven by the thought of my mom seeing me do anything other than that on camera. So, I coursed the music through my veins. I know the history of the band members, the albums, this music moves me, pretend.

I received my paperwork and read it over a cup of coffee from craft services. It was standard paperwork that I've filled out over a dozen times before. I looked at the inviting exit door. I was parked right outside. This is not that big of a deal, is it? I imagined this TV episode making its way to the news overseas, the citizens all over the world deeming me a traitor for perpetuating a negative image, not merely through action but through representation against them. Against us. Am I selling out? For two hundred bucks?

I thought about getting up and leaving. I thought about all of the hard work that people have put into this specific production. If you haven't been behind the scenes before, it is quite the trip. An assortment of heavy duty cables line the floors, taped in place. Racks of props in designated areas. The backstage crew zip around in sync, bursting with walkie-talkie sounds and hollers of instruction. There is a commonality in the many interactions, their minds tuned into the goal meant to be achieved. This is their career.

This is my hobby. I am a prop. Would leaving this put a blemish on my record in the local film community, or the film industry as a whole, because I wasted everyone's time being sensitive? As I languished, I get a message from my best friend and I tell him I'm on set. I tell him:

For some reason, that makes me feel better. I just might be able to work with that mentality. The other guy has finished. He returns his wardrobe and collects his belongings. I ask him if he knows what this show is about. We speak in our language among the English-speakers. I ask him if he thinks people back home are going to be mad at us. I ask him if he knew we were going to be doing this. He seems ok with it all. He said he was there during the actual event. He's new to the industry. We laugh about how we can pass as different races. This is his first time being on camera. He said he enjoyed the experience. I ask him if he'll continue. He said yes. I hope he does.

Finally, wardrobe is set and I am wearing a navy blue golf shirt and some gray slacks. I want to feel good, like the other times I've worked. How can I get that feeling? They're calling me on set. They adjust the lighting while I sit in front of the camera. A fog machine fills the mock living room belonging to my character. When the camera rolls, there is a fake TV in front of me that I am to watch casually at first and then grow increasingly interested as the live footage I am pretending to watch unfolds. I am supposed to build up into a frustration with the host country. My country. As I understand it, the real guy is being interviewed and I am the reenactment; the illustration of his side of the story. I do the scene. Twice. Filming took less than 5 minutes total. The whole time I was thinking about my mom. I can remember it still, a few hours ago today, the director describing the gradual transpiring of the footage to guide me. To help me see a reason to be frustrated on camera. It wasn't helping. It's not his fault. I don't think it's anyone's fault. I don't think they even knew why I would be uncomfortable. I don't think they knew much about the countries involved in the event. They even spelled the city name wrong. I don't even think the takes were that bad.

I wish it wasn't about my country. If it were different, I feel like I could have given more - like I had done at the church.

It's unsettling to perform make-believe, but for myself I have managed to apply a mental exercise that immerses me into a character; to actually be the person. The trick is to relate. To tie the emotion to a real memory and relive it. If it had only been about another country, I'm sure I would have enjoyed the process a lot more.

I'm writing this and I was hoping it would help me shake away this dread. Thoughts of regret imagining if I had only researched the keywords sooner. Maybe I would have cancelled. But that wouldn't have been better. I would be blacklisted and never cast as another role again. Or maybe I'm being dramatic. Hey, that's good for this line of work, right?

I honestly hope the final cut looks great. This is the biggest role I've ever been in. They gelled my hair funny like a nerd, I had on large framed glasses, just like the portrayed, and they put makeup on my upper lip to hide my dark, clean-shaven stubble.

When I got home, before I washed my makeup off, I took a before and after mirror selfie because my face looked comedically smooth. Taking the pictures reminded me of when I was sipping coffee in the holding area. I had taken pictures of my paperwork. I remember my mind racing. The feeling was like gathering license plates and insurance information after a collision. You know, just in case I have to stand trial, my cultural membership in jeopardy. I can review my situation with a lawyer to see what I can and can not say during a variety show interview that is getting my side of the story after viral, captioned screenshots of me flood the internet with embarrassing memes, stamped into history. Jesus Christ, that would be the worst. Here I go again with extreme maybes. It's an entertaining curse that I will forever be engulfed in my own hypothetical torture.

Anyway, here's that selfie I invented:

Yeah my bathroom mirrors are dirty.

I can't wait for my next job that I can cleanse my palate with. I really hope I can accept today as purely an actor's portrayal, and not a turncoat betrayal. This can't be my last go at acting. I ate some of my country's food for supper. I feel a bit better. I'm wearing a shirt that is emblazoned with our country's sports hero.

I have always been excited to see the final release of a production I am in, except for this one now. Uncontrollably, my perverse curiosity into the film world is only strengthening, so I don't think even the worst thoughts can slow my future participation. The silver lining is that the uncomfortable bar is set to a new level. I could reenact a murderous deviant now without batting a moral eyelash, I like to think. All for the sake of film.

- WSS, February 8, 2019

#on set #casting #acting

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gikairan · 2 years

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Royal Mail winning the award for "worst customer service i've ever experienced"....

So back in January, I ordered a little something with my Christmas bonus.

Its made to order, so only shipped near the end of February.

About 2 weeks after I get the shipping notice, I realise it still hasnt turned up here. Its coming from the USA, so long shipping times isnt unusual. But i look at the tracking anyway.

It made it to the UK on the 26th of Feb. From there it was "delivered to *my local delivery office* by mistake, we're re-routing it" And uh... well thats kinda weird? That IS my local delivery office after all, not sure why thats an error?? So I keep an eye on it for a few days, and it still hasnt moved. I also notice its got a customs fee to pay, so I try and pay it even though I haven't had a grey card come in. Its... not payable. Because a delivery date cant be selected - this is because the system believes it to be in transit between two destinations.

So on the 16th March I contact RM like "hey whats up with this? Its gone to my local delivery office, only to be re-routed somewhere?? Can you find it?" It takes a few days but i get a response- its being looked into, heres a case number, give us 10 working days to investigate.

So I give them 10 working days. Translating to two more weeks.

In that time, I hear nothing. So I bump the email- not heard anything, really would not like this package to be returned to sender. Re-iterating the cost of the package, and that its made-to-order so not easily replaced...

When that gets a response (the next day) its just "oh we have no idea why its not been delivered to you, it should have by now. Get the seller to claim on the insurance". No mention of trying to actually find it. Hell, by the sounds of the email they just looked at the tracking and went "well that should have been delivered by now". Which, you know, was not exactly new information to me.

So i DO contact the seller, who just believes its still at the depot just waiting for the fee to be paid off. Which, yeah, I kinda believe it is too! .... Except I cant pay it, and the location of the depot is inaccessible to me. Its literally a 20 minute drive, that takes a 50 minute bus journey... across 2 bus companies (:. And the second bus is not exactly... frequent. I explain its not quite as simple as pay off the fee, because the tracking is showing all kinds of nonsense. Its got like... 2 to 3 "arrived at *my local depot*" time stamps, its somehow stuck in transit between 2 locations and at this point has been for over a month. And thats why the fee can't be paid.

And this sparks a theory in my mind- I think this tracking number has been accidentally scanned for multiple packages. One of those packages followed it to my local depot, but it wasnt supposed to go there. When it was scanned to leave my local depot, MY tracking number was used. But when it arrived at the actual location its supposed to go to... its real tracking number was used. Meanwhile my package has just been sat in my local depot this whole time, not moving. However its tracking number is stuck at "in transit" because its not been scanned as "arrived".

I told Royal Mail this. And once again asked "can someone look for it?" Because if someone FINDS it, and simply scans it as "arrived" in my local depot, ALL OF THIS WOULD BE FIXED. I could pay the fee, and arrange redelivery in the next couple of days. If it can't be found- it really did leave my local depot somehow.

This morning I get a response. Its a straight copy and paste of the last response i got, but from a different name than the last time. .... I was pretty sure up to this point that no one in my local depot had been made aware of this issue, and at this point I think its confirmed. They havent even bothered to contact my local depot to find it, and they have zero interest in actually trying to locate my package. And yet this issue would be almost completely resolved if they did get someone to try and locate it.

So when I contacted the seller, they did actually refund me after explaining the weirdness with the tracking number... which i did feel really bad about for a few days? Because i am pretty sure this is easily deliverable.... IF royal mail get off their arse and find it. Its not exactly lost in transit so much as "One human error was made, and no one can be bothered to fix it". Now... i dont feel so bad about the refund because its pretty clear RM dont want to help.

& I would just re-order, but i actually dont know how long its going to take to remake the order, and I'm not sure exacctlly where i'll be living by the time it dispatches. Hence why i wanted this package to be found and actually delivered BEFORE i start actually moving...

But just... the hostility of this customer service, and the fact they literally dont seem to be want to do anything to help is astounding to me. When I was working returns, if anyone complained about how long it was taking, we bent over backwards to put them at the front of the queue..... we even had a sub-department specifically dedicated to expediated requests. And yet the biggest courier in the country cant even be arsed to talk to a depot and see if a package can be located there....... 🙃

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dorothydelgadillo · 5 years

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"Happy to Help": My Process for Creating Memorable & Engaging Content Every Single Time

One of my core beliefs is that being helpful can feel like a superpower.

What I mean by that is, as brands and thought leaders, if you go out of your way every single time to be as helpful as humanly possible, you can do anything. You can tell stories that genuinely move people. You can grow your business through content. You can become unforgettable.

What's funny, however, is that we've trained ourselves out of being helpful.

True helpfulness is a liability, right?

If we're "too helpful," we give away our "secret sauce." Helpfulness also takes too much time. So, we sign-off emails with sentiments like, "Let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to help!"

But, too often, our expression of being "happy to help" is completely empty.

We don't mean it, and we mentally cross our fingers that there will be no questions, follow-ups, or requests for clarification, so we can move onto whatever "important thing" is on our to do list.

I know this because, as much as I hate to admit it, I catch myself on occasion hoping I'm not called upon to be helpful, when I put myself out there to be helpful.

That's because even though science tells us there are quantifiable benefits to being helpful, we believe that to be helpful isn't profitable.

But Is Helpfulness Really Not Profitable?

In my mind, the answer is no. Helpfulness definitely is profitable. And I realized that when I started thinking about that old adage of:

"Our buyers only stop listening when we start selling."

But then I realized that's only sort of true.

If we all agree that modern digital buyers are turning to brands and thought leaders to answer their questions and solve their problems, then really that statement should be:

Buyers stop listening to us when we stop helping them and we start helping ourselves.

Which means when we're not being helpful, we're not only letting business opportunities walk out the door, we're holding that door open for those opportunities with enthusiasm.

While that idea has traditionally been applied to more traditional "sales conversations" of the past, I see some of today's brands and thought leaders flipping that switch from helpful to not helpful online.

To show you what I mean, here are the three most common "helpfulness" infractions I see:

Websites that make it hard to actually consume the content you want -- with pop-ups, slideshows that reload a new page every single time, deceptive ads that look like buttons, and so on. (Oh, and to the person who invented loud video ads that only play 25 minutes after you've abandoned a page in a tab in your browser, you're a monster.)

Speakers who pull a bait-and-switch in their talks. You're there to learn but, as it turns out, they were there to help themselves out by selling to you instead of delivering on the promise of their talk write-up.

Content (written or visual) that makes the promise, "I'm going to help you with your problem," and then fails to deliver. Either due to thinly veiled sales pitches being woven in, an obvious "phoning it in approach" by the author, or just a complete lack of alignment between what a content author wants to say about a topic and what their audience actually needs.

I am willing to bet many, many dollars that virtually all of you have been on the receiving end of each of these scenarios and thus are keenly aware of how absolutely infuriating it is to seek help from someone -- online, in person, etc. -- and they turn out to be liars who just want to seem like they're being helpful, when really, they just want to help themselves.

While I could spend a lot of time trying to unpack each of these three sins, I'm going to focus exclusively on the last one -- content -- for the purposes of today's discussion.

Where My "Happy to Help" Process Came From

What's funny about the process I'm about to share is that I've been using it for years -- but I didn't realize it was actually a process.

It wasn't until about a year ago, when Carina Duffy (our resident HubSpot genius) came to me with a question from our clients, that I began to realize what I was doing.

After telling her that the best content is the kind that's the most helpful, Carina asked me, "OK, so what does good content that's actually helpful look like? I have a client who wants specific tactics and direction."

To be honest, I've heard some form of this question a lot over the years:

"How much background do I need to include?"

"I don't know how to address this topic, what should I do?"

"Is this too long?"

"Is this too short?"

"Am I even writing about this correctly?"

"Is this any good?"

"I have a story I want to tell, but will anyone even care about it?"

"Does my audience even care about this?"

When Carina asked me that question, however, it clicked in my head that, as marketers and wannabe thought leaders, we (usually) have a good idea of what we should be talking about, because we know what questions, problems, and issues our target audience is trying to address.

But we are tremendously insecure about how to address those questions, problems, and issues in our content.

We either don't know what to say, have too much to say, or don't want to give away the "secret sauce."

Or, more to the point, we either don't have a clear picture on how to be helpful or we don't want to be helpful.

Initially, I responded with some surface-level tips, which I then shared with all of you late last year -- show examples, emphasize the "why," etc.

Still, her question nagged at me, because my answer felt weak.

My response was a set of tactics -- not a broad principle that could guide people with their content or process-based framework someone could use over and over again for everything they ever create.

So, after months of experimentation and reflection, I have finally reverse engineered the mental process I use to ensure every single piece of content I create communicates my genuine desire to be helpful.

Because, in retrospect, I now see that when I fully embrace being helpful in my content -- and when I coach others to do the same -- the results have spoken for themselves. (But I'll get to the results later.)

My "Happy to Help" Content Grid

OK, no more fluffy exposition -- here is what the framework (the grid that is the physical documentation of my process) looks like:

You can access it here -- you don't need to give us your email to get it, because it's completely ungated!

Now, I bet a few of you are thinking, "Are you serious? After all that exposition, this is all you have to show me?"

I know, it looks very simple on its surface, but its simplicity is deceptive -- so, trust me when I say there is more to it than initially meets the eye.

Also, not only do I use this process, I've trained others at IMPACT to use this process and tell me they love it, because it helps them quickly orient themselves -- either mentally or in writing, depending on their preference -- before they outline something or start a first draft.

So, let's talk about how you use it.

What You Need to Know First

Before you can start using it, there are two things about this grid you need to understand.

First, being helpful isn't a single act that occurs in a vacuum.

Instead, true helpfulness lives at the intersection of having a true situational understanding of what someone is concerned about and why (their problem), and knowing exactly what you bring to the table that makes you qualified to help them and what, specifically, you need to give someone to make them feel as if you've solved their problem (your value).

Or, more simply:

Their Problem x Your Value = How You Help

Second, you should think of this tool like a COMPASS -- as I said before, it is not an outlining tool, although it will give you an idea of how you'll organize your thoughts ahead of an outline or a draft.

Instead, if you follow the directions below, you create a full roadmap for any piece of content you need to create in 20 minutes or less -- in fact, if you get really good at it, you can run yourself through the process in your head in about five minutes.

OK, Here's How You Use It

So, the simple answer is you fill out each of those quadrants for anything you want to write about. There's no real mystery there.

However, you have to answer those four questions -- what, who, why, and how -- under those two columns -- their problem and your value -- in a very specific way.

Also, the order in which you answer those questions will depend on your starting point.

But first, we're going to look at each question individually and talk about what questions you're really answering for each.

How to Answer "What?"

The question here that you're answering is, "What are you talking about?"

Of the four, this is the question that will usually have the shortest answer, as it should be a completely one-dimensional descriptor of what you're talking about, completely free of editorializing or context.

To illustrate, here are the "whats" for actual articles and content we've published:

hubspot problems

being nice at work

content style guide process

Vidyard vs YouTube

If you're on the receiving end of assignments from a predetermined content strategy, you may go into this process with this question having already been answered for you.

The important thing here is to keep your answer stripped and simple.

How to Answer "Who?"

My favorite part about this question is that you don't need buyer personas to answer it. In fact, I would advise against answering this question with a buyer persona, because you won't get the depth you need to use the grid successfully.

I say this because, fundamentally, a buyer persona is just a documented version of what you already know.

But more than that, they're generally broad in their descriptions of challenges and goals. So, when you use them, you feel like you've checked the box of "understanding" who your audience is for a particular piece of content, but you haven't really.

Anyway, with that diatribe out of the way, when you answer "Who?" you actually need to ask yourself the following questions:

Who is the person who is interested in this topic? What do they do? What level of responsibility do they have?

Why do they care about this topic? Is it a topic that's causing them pain, fear, or friction? Or is it a goal they want to accomplish? If it's a goal, why do they have that goal? Is it mandated or their own?

OK, now that you know who they are and have a basic understanding of their motives and intentions, what are they looking for from you -- in their words?

Your answer to "Who?" will really be three answers that answer the three sets of questions above.

How You Answer "Why?"

Generally speaking, you're just answering "why" you're qualified to talk about that specific topic ("what") to your defined audience ("who"), so you'll want to fill in this quadrant with:

Your background or particular area of expertise.

A specific event or story that qualifies you.

For example, IMPACT VP of Services Brie Rangel used the "Happy to Help" grid when plotting out her article on The #1 Indicator of a Successful Hire, and she filled out her "why" as follows:

She's got tons of experience in doing the job she now hires for.

Also, in her role as IMPACT's VP of Services, she's conducted hundreds of interviews.

As a result, she's got tons of success stories, but also horror stories about hires they thought would work out but didn't.

In fact, she's only able to talk about this "what" -- how to identify the great employees -- because those bad experiences informed how she (along with others at IMPACT) uncovered that "secret ingredient" all of our great hires possess and adapted our processes to identify those candidates who have it... and those who don't.

Your way shouldn't be some cookie cutter resume or your job title. It should be thoughtfully tailored to the "what" and "who" of your content.

Finally, How You Answer "How?"

Even though I'm about to share with you the two different orders in which you fill this grid out, "how" always comes last.

By the time you answer this question, you know:

What you're talking about.

Who from your audience cares about what you're talking about, why they care about it, and what they want.

Why you're uniquely qualified to help that specific person with the particular goals/fears/problems/questions they have about that topic.

So, when you are answering "How?" what you're really answering is:

"Using what I know about why I am qualified to address this topic, how, specifically, do I need to help this person with their topic, so they feel like they got what they came for?"

Sometimes, this answer is very simple, like, "I will teach them how to do X thing, with examples and in-depth overview of each step."

Other times, however, you may need to push a little deeper.

To show you what I mean, let's go back to the article I shared above from Brie. Her "how" answer was:

I will explain my background and be radically honest about the fact that we only learned what that #1 indicator of a successful hire is by making mistakes.

I will share exactly what those mistakes were and what we learned from them.

I will share how we identified that #1 indicator.

I will share how we updated our hiring processes to proactively identify that indicator.

I will then provide guidance on how other companies can screen for this indicator in their own hiring processes in a way that is flexible to their individual needs.

And for my content style guide how-to playbook... I fell down a rabbit hole. Because the more I dug into what I needed to cover, I realized how much I need to cover in order to thoroughly answer the question of how to build a content style guide.

So, here is how my thought process played out as I was answering my "how":

I will explain what content style is and why it matters to brands.

Which means I should also explain what it looks like when you don't have style.

I will explain what a content style guide is.

Next, I will talk about the three core components of a style guide -- voice, tone, and style.

I will also explain what a content style guide isn't, because it's often confused with a brand's messaging strategy.

Then I need to show an example of a style guide for context.

But since there is no "one right way" to do a style guide, I need to show multiple examples and explain why they each work.

Then I'll need to talk about how to create one. Which means I need to walk them through every step of the content style guide workshop I created.

Oh no, which means I need to give them the presentation deck... and all the worksheets for each of the exercises. Sigh, and then instructions on how to use them.

Also, since I know from experience how... "fiesty" participants can get about the rules of the workshop, I need to tell them all of the objections they'll potentially get from participants and how to handle each of those objections.

Hm, and since some of these folks probably haven't facilitated a workshop before, I'll need to give the general facilitation tips.

(At this point, I paused for panicked dry-heaving, before I continued.)

OK, now I need to teach them how to synthesize everything they got from the workshop, so they can develop their voice and tone.

Then I need to teach them about the different editorial style guides that exist that will inform the "style" paint that should be applied to their voice and tone -- basically, the rules for grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, and so on.

Sigh, but I can't just end it here. I need to explain how to roll it out.

And then how to enforce the rules of the style guide.

Finally, the last question they probably have is how often they should update their style guide, if at all.

Given how "definitive" that guide was supposed to be, the "how" portion of this exercise took on a life of its own.

So, this is an extreme example, but I share it to demonstrate a point.

"How" you will help someone through your content has to be defined the needs and wants of your audience -- how they define success and being helpful.

A lot of times, it'll be pretty straightforward.

But, if my experience shows you anything, it can sometimes feel like you pulled on a thread and started unraveling a sweater.

I'll admit, after going through that process, I felt so drained. Because, in order to be helpful, I had to give away what some might consider my "secret sauce" and then some.

My gut said it was the right thing to do -- that's how I was going to actually be helpful.

Thankfully, shortly after I published that magnum opus on creating a content style guide, someone in IMPACT Elite shared this post with our 4,500+ members:

Since then, I've received emails from others expressing similar thoughts, and I can't tell you how good that feels. To know you've genuinely made someone's life easier or empowered them to do their job better.

I've since institutionalized this as THE process I use with all of our subject matter experts who create our massive guides and playbooks and, as a result, that strategy generated $195,448 in revenue in less than six months.

The 2 Different Ways to Use the Grid

Finally, the order in which you answer those four questions will be determined by your starting point:

You have a chosen topic ("what") already.

You have a story you want to tell about an experience ("why") that teaches a personal lesson.

You have neither.

If you have your "what" or you have neither a "what" or a "why," here's the order you use:

WHAT

WHO

WHY

HOW

If you have a story to put in your "why," here's the order you'll use:

WHY

WHAT

WHO

WHY (again, for refinement)

HOW

Often, people who are in thought leadership type roles will follow the secondary track, because they have stories they need to dig into to determine its contextual relevance.

This is the track Brie used for her super popular Being Nice at Work (& as a Leader) Doesn't Hold You Back article. She had a story -- where she was called nice -- and it took some digging to figure out exactly what she was talking about, who she was telling this story to and what they needed from her (in their words), and so on.

How to Make the "Happy to Help" Content Grid Work for You

See? I told you there was more to that little grid than meets the eye. The best part is you can use this mental (or written) compass exercise for anything -- a blog article, a content pillar, a webinar, a talk you're giving, etc.

Of course, now you might be thinking:

"I do not have the energy to go through this process every single time!"

Yes, you do.

Think about how much easier writing that outline or first draft of your blog article, talk, or presentation will be if you already have this roadmap created for what you're covering?

Moreover, going through this process will it get easier (and faster) with time, and your effort will pay off because this process will ensure that you're genuinely helping people.

And the more you show how helpful you are, the more people will trust you. And the more people trust you and come to rely on you. And the more they'll remember you. And come back to you. And buy from you. And recommend you to others.

And... and... and...

Soon, you'll see the benefit of being helpful, so when you say you're "happy to help," you'll really mean it. Because it'll feel a bit like magic.

Isn't that crazy? Who knew how powerful simply being helpful could be?

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/happy-to-help-content-grid

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