When I attended one of my first personal development workshops more than 10 years ago, I remember Steve Pavlina (1) talking about creating and distributing value. It wasn’t enough just to create value if it was not distributed and it wasn’t enough to spread the word if there was no value in the first place.
What is very common is that we think we need to create the perfect product, book or service, we put it on our website and clients will come. Life doesn’t work like that. People won’t know about it until this information is distributed.
Let’s take Amazon, for example, they are a large distributor of other people’s products. With Netflix, not only are they creating their own series, but they are also distributing them via their platform. In my old Curious Courses business, I was a distributor as I would be marketing other people’s services. In this business, I create value myself and distribute it.
The skill set can be different so it’s important to recognize where you are putting your resources – into creation or distribution. If one comes more naturally to you, then perhaps it is time to consider partnering up with someone, hiring someone or outsourcing that part of the business.
Where does your skill set lie? Are you better at creating or distributing or are you comfortable with both?
Footnotes
- http://stevepavlina.com/
- Photo by Aaron Sebastian on Unsplash