I recently put a deck together to help explain my philosophy and execution around building great products. (Want a copy? Send me a note.) The first section is entitled “Clear Vision”.
You can not build great products without a clear product vision. Beyond products, the same goes for anything else you’re hoping to achieve, whether it’s losing 10 lbs or getting up the nerve to finally get that promotion you know deep down that you deserve.
In Start With Why, Simon Sinek, very concisely states that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it, and then he goes on to explain that concept in glorious detail. I highly recommend picking up a copy. I even made a nice link for you, but if you don’t feel like reading a whole book, at least check out his Ted Talk. (Then come back and tell me how inspiring it was in the comments.)
You need to understand your why and use this as the backbone for your vision.
This vision (your why) is what you will use to inspire your team and guide them. This is what you will use to pitch your company to investors or yourself to your boss. This is what you can hold on to when you’re not quite sure what you’re building is the right thing, and it’s your first filter for whether or not what you’re building is the right thing. Does it align with your vision? Is it getting you closer to the future you envision?
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this is a build from the ground up situation, and in that spirit it’s only fitting to share my vision of what I’d like to see this become. My reason behind spending any time on this. My why.
I could be tempted to list out all the things that I intend to do here, like starting an email list, and creating a course or a book or both. I could go on about how I’d like to build a community and launch a podcast, but none of that is why. That’s all what and how. That’s all strategy and that’s what tomorrow’s post will be all about.
My vision for this site is to help people build better things, specifically creative based products, but I feel these lessons can be applied more broadly.
Oh, and one more thing…
That Start With Why link up there is an affiliate link. Basically if you click on it and buy that book, I get some pennies…I’m not even sure how many pennies…but it’s part of the way I intend to monetize this blog, so if you read my last post, then you know this is another step towards making things a little bit better than they were yesterday. Included in that are setting up the email address (mike@mikespotten.com) and starting (but not quit finishing) the about us page. Maybe tomorrow. If you want to set up your own affiliate links on your own blog or site, sign up over here.