We buy products and services every day.

Some we need, some we don’t. But we’ve heard good things about them so we buy them.

Who have we heard good things from?

Our friends. Our family. Our colleagues.

People we trust.

Why do we trust them? Because they’re not a mystery to us.

They don’t wear masks. They don’t hide behind veils. They don’t try and fool us with trickery.

They simply are.

You’re in business. You have a blog. You have a podcast. You want to be popular. You want people to like you; connect with you; follow you.

You want people to trust you.

We will. Just don’t wear a mask. Be yourself. Be true. Be honest.

We know you need to occasionally have your professional head on. Your business head. But does that mean you need to trick us? Does it mean you need to be the person you’re not, the business you’re not, the people we’re not?

No.

So wear the mask, but make it transparent. Wear the hat but make it your own. Pull the veil down but let us know it’s still you underneath. Make us trust you. Let us know who you are and that it’s you each time we talk.

That’s the way you’ll get our business. Our eyes on your blog. Our acceptance on Twitter. Our recommendations to our friends.

If you want us to believe, then make us believe in you. It’s not that hard.

Is it?

Image: GALERIEopWEG

Before We Believe You originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Getting back up? That’s the difficult part. But think how many times you’ve been ready to give up in the past, only to keep getting back in the game for more.

No-one likes giving up, but sometimes it’s the only natural thing to do. How, and if, you get up is the separator.

Ready to get?

Give to Get originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Fear originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Do you get goosebumps talking about your job; your goals; your aim in life? Or do you accept you’re at a comfortable stage and who needs the extra work that goals bring?

I’m driven by passionate people. When someone talks to me and their eyes light up, I get excited too. I’m excited both by them and for them.

If someone is so passionate that you feel breathless with excitement and giddy with anticipation of what they’ll say next, that’s one heck of a strong statement about that person’s desire.

Here’s an example. I met with Shannon Boudjema for coffee a couple of days ago. Shannon describes herself as a “media maven, globe trotter and socially inclined”. I couldn’t have picked a better description myself.

Based in Ontario, Canada, Shannon works for one of Canada’s leading lights in marketing, advertising and event management. She writes an excellent blog, is a livewire chatterbox on Twitter and is also socially conscious (she’s said she’ll donate $100 to a local charity if a good cause reaches 500 followers on Twitter).

We met to chat about the digital space and ideas on how companies can leverage that space. Now, I like to think I’m passionate about all that emerging media has to offer, but as soon as I started talking with Shannon, her energy just flew out. She showed me slide shares she’s put together; case studies; learning ideas for multi-employee companies; and much more.

Simply put, Shannon is a one-person emerging media whiz. Her passion isn’t fake – she genuinely loves (and is excited by) all that our current space has to offer now and soon from now. And anyone she talks to can’t help but feel the same way, even if you’re skeptical of all these tools and their benefits.

Businesses need people like Shannon. There are so many that are just doing the rounds and crunching the numbers that they miss out on the real bigger picture – passion and drive. If you can harness these two qualities and combine with knowledge and reach, you might just start to wonder why you thought previous results were good.

If you want an idea just how driven Shannon is, check out this slide deck from her. Then ask who your passion driver is. Is it you, or are you currently a passenger? If it’s the latter, how will you change seats so you’re the driver? Do you want to?

Passion Drivers originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.