Enjoy this 542-word “Micro-Interview” with Marketer, Nick Bennett.
Thanks, Nick.
Let’s get started:
"Do you have a work routine?”
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My days are just so varied that I’ve never been able to make routines work.
One day might be all meetings. Another is spent hosting events. That takes up a lot of time. Instead, prioritizing daily habits allows me to be more flexible while getting stuff done.
I always have a block of deep work. I always make sure I create one thing. I always have evenings blocked for family. Past that, I take each day as it comes.
"What do you wish you'd known about your work when you first started?”
I wish I’d known that it’s okay to fail. It’s okay to ask questions. It’s okay to come into something new and know absolutely nothing about it. When I first started out, I’d see these career “veterans” pointing fingers and putting others on blast for mistakes. I was always afraid of being labeled a failure. It took me years to learn that mistakes are the best teacher you can have.
“What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”
The first time I was laid off was rough. It took me a while to realize that even if you do everything perfect, things might still go sideways. But that doesn’t mean stop trying. No matter what kind of setback you’re dealing with, ask yourself “what lessons did I learn?”, “how can I apply this lesson in the future?” and “how can I help others avoid making the same mistake?”. Not learning from your failures is the biggest failure.
“Has anything helped you shorten your craft's learning curve?”
Social media has put any topic I want to learn on overdrive. Learning requires a feedback loop and you don’t get any quicker than posting something and a few hours later seeing how your audience engages. Likewise, listening in on what the community is talking about or setting up coffee chats have been clutch. I love talking with people who know more than me about something as you can learn from their experience.
“Do you have a book recommendation?”
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. Creators and marketers have to make tons of decisions in their work. Outcome bias is a real issue. We put too much stock in what happens rather than ensuring we make the best decision possible with the information we know at the time. Whether you like it or not, sometimes you can do everything right and it still goes sideways. This book is a fantastic guide to getting used to that idea and thinking more objectively about decisions.
“Any parting piece of advice?”
Haters gonna hate, creators gotta create. You’re never going to please everyone with your content so why bother trying? If you do, it’s probably a sign that your content is bland, generic, and doesn’t really have a strong stance on anything. It’s meant for everyone therefore it’s meant for no one. Instead of letting a few trolls or imposter syndrome get in the way, do this instead: create, listen to your audience’s reaction, then repeat.
