Making it Big: Selling Books, Growing Blogs or Saving the World

"I don't want to do small things," she told me.

My daughter was curled up by my side. I held her close.

"You'll do big things," I told her. "I have no doubts about that."

She continued to talk very passionately. She has big visions. She wants to make a difference in the world, in a big way. Not everyone has such aspirations, I explained. She has an entrepreneurial spirit. It's a certain kind of gift.

"But there's a saying," I continued. "It's called paying your dues. There are some exceptions, but most people have to go through the process of doing smaller things in smaller venues before they get the privilege to lead the way in bigger things."

Reading Heath & Heath today, I was reminded of this conversation with my daughter. The authors discuss the issue of Credibility and give an example of a company that wanted a big client in a new market.

How did they get the client? By first having another big client in a market where they'd already earned credibility. How did they get that first big client? I have no idea. But I'm willing to bet they paid their dues.

It's a bit of a dance, this reaching for the next thing. Reach too far too fast and no one is going to pay attention to you. Don't reach at all and... no one is going to pay attention to you.

But one thing is sure, whether you are trying to sell your book, or grow your blog, or save the world, you've got to start by taking small steps in the desired direction. That's what I'm telling my daughter anyway. If she saves the world somehow someday, you'll remember she started small, with the sharing of her dream.

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Over at HighCallingBlogs we're reading and discussing Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Want to join us? :)

Staircase photo, by L.L. Barkat.