What you think is a reason is probably just an excuse.
While working at my cafe perch I’ll occasionally raise my eyes from the screen and spot a familiar face. This isn’t to say friends or other “regulars” that frequent the public office space, but rather film and tv celebrities — after all, this is Los Angeles.
To the delight of my Facebook friends back on the East Coast, I’ve spotted stars like Will Arnett, Jerry Seinfeld, Megan Fox, Anna Kendrick, Kate Mara, and even the “World’s Sexiest Hair” (aka Bradley Cooper). I’m not a huge Hollywood buff, but fairly decent recognizing faces and love a good story. The types of people I get excited to meet have a far different kind of “fame” — it usually involves quietly brilliant strategy and equally opposing lack of fucks that echoes throughout the halls of the internet.
Enter the magnificently bearded Chris Stoikis, Founder of Dollar Beard Club.
Yesterday, while working at the cafe, I looked up to see Chris’ easily recognized facial mane as he exuberantly recounted a story. I seized the opportunity and went over to introduce myself, this is exactly (word for word) what happened:
BRIAN: Chris?
CHRIS: Yes.
BRIAN: Dude, I love Dollar Beard Club.
CHRIS: Thanks man, you’re rocking a nice beard there.
BRIAN: Well… it’s because I use your beard oil!
CHRIS: Haha, nice! Thanks man.
BRIAN: Fucking love your videos.
CHRIS: Nice, we’ve got another one coming out soon.
BRIAN: Need help with distribution? I do shit with Reddit.
CHRIS: Really?! That is the one place we really need help.
BRIAN: Yea, dude. Let’s connect, happy to chat.
CHRIS: Take my number!
Chris texted me an hour later, scheduled a call that very afternoon, brought on his Creative Director and next thing you know… we’d scripted a new video. While I’m not sure if that project will come to fruition, it was nothing less than magnificent to hear one of my marketing idols in action. No excuses, he just makes shit happen.
That’s the reason I’ve always loved brands like Dollar Beard Club, Cards Against Humanity, Chubbies and Squatty Potty. They’ve opted to refuse society’s constraints and give zero fucks about what so called “experts” believe to be possible.
They explore for themselves.
And they become badasses in the process.
This morning, he shared a video that they’d just released and it hit me in the gut with a lesson. Everyone from content marketers to entrepreneurs make excuses for all the reasons they can’t execute on something. Being in Los Angeles where things tend to cost more (bigger demand means higher prices), people complain about a “lack of studio space” as being the reason they’re not yet shooting their video.
You don’t need studio space to make great content, just look at this:
Chris, and the Dollar Beard Club team, shot a brilliant piece of content… in an Ikea.
Presumably with zero permission… because beards don’t follow rules of mortals.
A lack of resources is not a valid excuse… for anything.
Resources are irrelevant, what’s lacking is creativity. If your content marketing has stalled out, now’s the time to give it a jump. Watch an episode of MacGyver, pound a few espressos, move your ass out of the house, and get the fuck to work.
I’ve made a habit of saving examples from all across the internet where people have saddled up and said “fuck it, I’m going to make this happen.” I’m not saying that this should override an existing strategy, but be honest with yourself — are you waiting because you need to or are you waiting because you’re scared to move forward?