1495: The Secrets Behind An 8-Figure Launch by Margo Aaron of That Seems Important on Launching A Business

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[00:00:55] The Secrets Behind an 8-Figure Launch by Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com

[00:01:02] I have no idea what secrets are behind an 8-figure launch.

[00:01:07] But the fact that you assumed I did illustrates a point about human psychology I want to talk about today.

[00:01:12] Our belief that other people know things we don't.

[00:01:15] It's why offering a peek behind the curtain is so darn compelling.

[00:01:19] We want access to that top-secret confidential file that we suspect everyone else but us has,

[00:01:25] that explains all the things about business we're supposed to know, but we don't.

[00:01:29] Because if we just knew the secret, we'd be way more successful in life.

[00:01:33] If I just knew what Holiday knows about marketing, I'd have a New York Times bestseller.

[00:01:38] If I just knew what Ramit knows about product launches, I'd have an 8-figure launch.

[00:01:42] If I just knew what Cynic knows about speaking, I'd have a viral TED Talk.

[00:01:47] You get the gist.

[00:01:48] For those of us pioneering a new way forward in our fields, we're the most susceptible to this

[00:01:53] if-I-just-knew fallacy.

[00:01:55] We want to believe it's just the knowledge we're lacking.

[00:01:58] Much easier to blame lack of knowledge than the real reason your work isn't as impactful as you want to be.

[00:02:03] Fortunately for you, there is one secret to becoming a successful pioneer in your space

[00:02:08] that I am going to share with you today.

[00:02:10] See what I did there?

[00:02:11] And it's hiding in plain sight.

[00:02:12] More specifically, it's in the TV show Sports Night, a mediocre 1990s sitcom about producing a TV show called Sports Night.

[00:02:20] To be honest, it's not that good.

[00:02:22] But in it, you'll find the secret to success for anyone who wants to be a pioneer in their field.

[00:02:27] Admittedly, the tempo of the dialogue is at times annoying,

[00:02:30] and it vacillates incohesively between being a light-hearted sitcom and a serious drama.

[00:02:35] There's even an oddly-placed laugh track that goes off inappropriately during important scenes.

[00:02:39] It also was cancelled after two years on the air due to low ratings and viewership.

[00:02:44] But stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.

[00:02:46] Sports Night was Aaron Sorkin's first-ever TV show.

[00:02:50] That annoying tempo of dialogue?

[00:02:51] That was one of Sorkin's first attempts at the famed Sorkin Sound,

[00:02:55] which The New Yorker calls, quote,

[00:02:57] lightning-quick, repetitive, emotionally supercharged, culturally elusive banter

[00:03:02] that tornadoes into a spiral of stagy one-upsmanship, end quote.

[00:03:06] In fact, nearly every critically acclaimed aspect of Sorkin's work can be found in this show.

[00:03:11] The pace of the conversation, the character types, the moral dilemmas, even the scenes.

[00:03:16] There are plotlines in Sports Night that are almost exactly the same as plotlines in The Newsroom and West Wing.

[00:03:22] Sports Night was the precursor to everything.

[00:03:24] Except it didn't work.

[00:03:26] People didn't like it, executives rejected it, and it was cancelled.

[00:03:30] Which is the secret to everything hiding in plain sight.

[00:03:33] Right. You're only a pioneer in retrospect.

[00:03:35] In the beginning, you're just weird.

[00:03:38] When you watch Sports Night, you can feel Sorkin's colleagues gossiping about why he, quote,

[00:03:43] can't just write normal dialogue, end quote.

[00:03:45] You can feel the disappointment when executives have to tell him that ratings are low.

[00:03:49] You can feel the discomfort of the show itself trying to forge a new kind of TV into the world.

[00:03:54] It's enduring the discomfort between weirdo and pioneer that's the secret,

[00:03:59] not some hidden bastion of information.

[00:04:01] You see this secret everywhere.

[00:04:03] Pioneers leave crumbs behind to help everyone else stay the course.

[00:04:07] Weirdo first, pioneer second.

[00:04:09] Take these weirdos, for example.

[00:04:11] The sensitive woman who couldn't cope with her divorce.

[00:04:14] Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.

[00:04:17] The guy who kept making nerdy s*** in the garage.

[00:04:20] Apple's Steve Wozniak.

[00:04:21] The shady kid selling candy in the parking lot who got really bad grades at school.

[00:04:26] Gary Vaynerchuk.

[00:04:27] Or the struggling writer disguised as a mediocre cook with a minor drug problem.

[00:04:31] Anthony Bourdain.

[00:04:33] When you take people out of context, all the things that make them great look really weird.

[00:04:38] Most of life is not spent around people who get you or what you're trying to do.

[00:04:42] It's spent around well-meaning people who want you to focus more on the things they understand,

[00:04:47] like being nice to Debbie and Lance at the fundraiser next week,

[00:04:50] or having a job title in an industry they recognize so they can judge silently whether

[00:04:54] or not you're successful without having to pry.

[00:04:57] Most of life is spent around normal people who think you're being weird.

[00:05:00] The pioneers, the successful, the changemakers.

[00:05:03] We only make sense in retrospect, after we achieve mainstream acclaim for the weird things we do.

[00:05:09] Sports Night only makes sense to people today in the context of West Wing or Newsroom or Studio 60.

[00:05:14] And here's the clincher.

[00:05:15] Once you embrace the weird part, you start to discover the secrets all on your own.

[00:05:20] Whether through the new connections you make as a result of your being a weirdo,

[00:05:23] through the opportunities that come up when you put yourself in the arena,

[00:05:26] or through the sheer act of falling flat on your face,

[00:05:29] discovering what doesn't work, and figuring out how you can do it better next time.

[00:05:33] There are no secret bastions of information you need to do this.

[00:05:37] There's nothing other people know that is keeping you from being a pioneer in your field.

[00:05:41] All you need is the wherewithal to endure the discomfort of being you while you create Sports Night.

[00:05:51] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:05:53] The Secrets Behind an Eight-Figure Launch, by Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com.

[00:05:59] This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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[00:07:00] And big thanks to Margot.

[00:07:02] You can come by thatseemsimportant.com to read a lot more from her and about her,

[00:07:07] and you can check out her bookstore, too.

[00:07:09] It's got some great ones on there if you're looking for ideas.

[00:07:12] Margot Aaron is a proud graduate of Emory University, where she got her B.A.,

[00:07:17] Columbia University for her M.A.,

[00:07:19] and Alt-MBA, where she earned the prestigious Walker Award.

[00:07:23] She began her career as a psychological researcher for a prestigious mental health clinic,

[00:07:28] accidentally ended up in marketing,

[00:07:30] and today she's co-host of the internet talk show

[00:07:33] Hillary and Margot Yell at Websites.

[00:07:35] She's a regular contributor to Inc.

[00:07:37] and founder of the most popular internet newsletter you've never heard of.

[00:07:41] Again, you can find her at thatseemsimportant.com.

[00:07:44] And that's going to do it for today.

[00:07:46] I thank you, as always, for being here with me

[00:07:48] and listening all the way through,

[00:07:49] and I'll be back here tomorrow for the Monday show,

[00:07:51] where your optimal life awaits.

[00:07:53] Let's go.