I’ve been having sleepless nights lately.
Waking up at 2am and staring up at the ceiling.
My mind a whirlwind of what ifs, what abouts and what the Fu£ks.
It’s not to do with the cost-of-living crisis and how a stop off at the Co-Op now financially feels like a weekly shop.
And it isn’t the ever-shifting sands of global geo-politics.
Even the realisation that I’m closer to the grave in terms of cradle as I enter my fifties isn’t behind my night sweats.
So, What’s Up?
It isn’t a matter of what’s up – my anxiety is to do with what’s on.
On Thursday 23 February I’m holding an event for members-only at the Amex Stadium in Brighton.
It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this.
We’re taking a few risks in our approach.
It’s totally our of my comfort zone.
And as is par for the course (so I’m told by wiser heads) exploring new frontiers leads to sh!77ing it.
There’s no financial concern around it.
We’ve sold out and it’s not for profit with £2000 donated to charities put forward by our (very good even if I say so myself) line up of guest speakers.
The fear is fuc7ing up and looking like a fool.
The anxiety is around letting people down, many of who will be travelling a long way for the day.
I suffer with imposter syndrome big time.
Deep down I’m still just a kid on a council estate in north west London trying to make sense of a world that often feels alien and risky to him.
But enough the pyscho analysis. Let’s look at what you and your agency can learn from my voyage into the seas of anxiety.
1.Just Do It – I’ve put off organising an event for my members for years – out of being scared. If you’re swerving doing personal videos to camera because of how you’ll be judged, don’t be. The positives (adding a face to your brand, being more relatable and getting more attention for your agency) outweighs the potential negatives (umming and erring in the first few videos and the occasional snarky comment from a faceless social media profile).
2. AI Will Kill Average – Mediocrity doesn’t take chances. And being average doesn’t often embrace adventure. If your agency isn’t willing to up its game and try new things, you’ll fall behind. The rise of AI and Machine Learning is being predicted by experts to present an existential threat to anyone who falls into the average category. Be they content writers, doctors (yep, you read that right) and even estate agents. So, the question is what have you been putting off for ages due to discomfort or fear,that will keep you our of the average / at risk category?
3. “It’s PR not ER.” – When I worked in Public Relations I made a big cock up with a news release that got sent out globally. I was mortified but my wise boss at the time reassured me (and didn’t sack me). He could see I was conscientious enough to care about my error. And he said something that can apply to most of our mistakes. “No one is dead. It’s PR (Public Relations) not ER (an Emergency Room).”
Making mistakes comes with the territory of doing new things and attempting to do them differently than what’s been done before.
If you’ve been putting off running a marketing campaign, introducing video content into your agency or organising a community event my advice would be to follow Sir Richard Branson’s mantra. “Screw it, let’s do it.”
As long it’s not a terrible idea what’s the worst that can happen?
I’ll let you know how the event goes.
Thanks for reading.
Jerry