By Ajayi Joel
Welcome to the age of small. This is the only place big things happen.
If you’re a writer, I’m pretty sure you know there are a thousand other writers as you are. Yes, there are a thousand other painters, programmers, cooks, artistes, poets and so on.
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It’s pretty easy to get frustrated in such a time like this because everyone is in a rat race, everyone is fighting for attention, every business wants to get the attention of the media, and every writer wants to get a major contract.
In such a race like this, late comers get to lose even before they start if they join in the push and pull for attention. Attention is a major key, especially in this internet age.
Are they really getting attention? Does anyone really know you’re an artist?
How many people do? How often are you getting deals?
You are actually running a race you would never win. The next social media that would beat Facebook to get 4 billion users would take decades; so, why fight for attention with Facebook?
You have an option and there’s still an easy way to get to the top.
It doesn’t make so much sense but it’s the only option you have. Besides, it’s the best option at any point in time.
It’s simply relying on the power of small.
Small is that 5 friends around your house who don’t know that you sell shoes, and they really need one each badly. Yet, yet you’re trying to get your shoes to a celebrity who already buys from a regular shoe store.
The problem with lots of people who have great ideas is that they are always in haste to the top that they miss the process or journey.
If you have an idea or whatsoever, you start from a small niche. That is a very powerful tool.
Facebook is connecting the world and you want to create another social media? Not smart. Why not connect grannies alone and let Mark deal with the rest of us?
How do you locate the small and how do you use this powerful tool against your competitors?
Well, before I tell you, I would want to put it across to you that you really do not need a million blocks to build a foundation for the tallest building in the world. You actually need just a few thousand blocks that are firmly connected to each other without any room for air or water.
I hope you know that isn’t literal?
To locate the small takes research and proper study. Instead of beating the drum and walking around town seeking who would purchase your shoes, why don’t you go from door to door in your neighborhood and get the first ten people who need new shoes, and sell to them.
That’s how you locate the small. You make researches, ask questions, to know those who need you. You find them. You don’t go around with a placard on your head informing the world that you’re a writer.
There are one million people with placards on their heads fighting for this same attention. Possibly, the largest placards will battle upfront.
However, if you leverage on the small, it helps you build a tribe: from a group of people to a town, to a city and to a planet.
In a tribe, information spreads like wildfire. They share the news among themselves easily and also share it out increasing your tribe.
You just have a little job to do: LEADING!
Small is the new big in this present age. Instead of spending time yelling on Facebook that you’re a graphic designer, pay attention to the secret of small.