Everything to Everyone
A friend of mine recently emailed to say she was going to be in town. This was a little unusual, considering she is contracted to perform in a musical across the other side of the world for another four months. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m off to Kenya to Art Direct a television series.’ To which I replied, ‘isn’t that what people say when their going into rehab?’ But no, she really was off to Kenya to Art Direct a television series, how completely random and fabulous. This latest piece of information governing our spontaneous and unorthodox lives brought up a subject that we often discuss. Is it ok to want to be everything to everyone?
There is a school of thought that says you must create a niche in order to be successful. But unless you’ve already made your first million then you will probably have to do a bit of everything. And personally, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. I struggled with the concept for sometime, trying to define what it is I do. Eventually, with the help of a friend/mentor we decided that I worked under the umbrella of ‘creativity’. I deal in ideas. I produce TV shows, I host TV shows, I write books, I write feature articles, I have a couple of columns, I write music, I perform music and am planning to go into fashion in the near future. It seems a lot but it’s all under the same umbrella, creativity. And because I don’t have a million dollar budget to work from I have to think outside the square a lot in terms of marketing and promotion which again, I don’t think is such a bad thing.
It’s the same as my friend. She is a wonderful singer and charasmatic performer but is also a great director/producer and art director. Why should she sacrifice one for the other?
I have been told many times that if I stuck to one thing I would be much more successful. But I know that I would get bored and frustrated. The entertainment business is a tricky one involving a lot of waiting. Having three or four projects on the go means 1) you increase your chances of getting something off the ground and 2) you don’t have time to get disappointed if one of your projects falls over. There are many others that do the same, Russell Simmons and Richard Branson to name a few. I would love to know how you all deal with it. It’s a tricky one but one I’m sure we’ve all had to deal with.
2 Comments
David Askaripour
August 15th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
When I began a few yeas ago that’s all I thought about: trying to do everything for everyone. I soon came to learn that that is ok to a degree, but at the end of the day it was better for me to stay focused on one or two things that could really benefit me and my overall vision the most — I didn’t want to spread myself too thin and over-extend my operations; not to mention that in doing so, I would be burned out quickly. I think that there is no one answer, but I tend to believe that the ones who are laser-focused usually come out ahead… (i.e. google). Just my 2 cents.
Anthony
August 15th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I tend to agree with Dave. As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to want to wear as many hats as possible, so that you can take more jobs, make more cash, save more cash, etc. But in reality, it’s better to focus. You’ll give up some short-term benefit for long-term success.
Even the big shots stay true to this principle on a much bigger scale. Honda doesn’t sell upscale cars, but Acura doesn, and who owns Acura? Well, Honda, for the couple people that may not have known. This example is one in a million. It’s better for your marketing/image, your efficiency, and much more, if you just focus on what you do best.
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