The E{x}hilaration Factor of Entrepreneurship

by Abby Kerr on August 28, 2010 · 19 comments

in Creative Lifestyle,Entrepreneurship,Nichification

Photo by Ryan McCullah courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:

Exhilaration. And what it means with regards to our entrepreneurial lives.

Other words for exhilaration: liveliness, cheerfulness, gladness, elation.

Delight, electrification, elevation, exaltation, mirth, quickening, vitalization, vivification.

Wowzers. I don’t know about you, but I could use a daily dose of exhilaration. Seems like it’d be good for the body, the soul, the spirit, the brain. And, sure enough, the business.

A lot of us are missing the X Factor in our business. We don’t know what’s missing, but we can feel the lack of it. The void keens silently at us like the figure in Van Gogh’s “The Scream.” Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” {Thanks to Sandy Blazek for the correction on the artist behind this work!}

Something we’re doing in our business sucks, either a little or a lot. I mean this metaphorically — as in, sucks the exhilaration right out of us — and I mean this in the vernacular {as in, dude, this sucks}.

What we’re missing in our entrepreneurial lives is the X Factor of e{x}hilaration.

We could find that moment or that hour or that afternoon of exhilaration daily if we dared to make the focus of our business that thing we do that creates exhilaration. That thing we do that lights us up. That makes us sweat. That recruits the very best of us. That makes our customers cry with joy and new realizations.

We all have something like this. And the reason we don’t see it, the reason we overlook it, the reason we discount it, is because it comes so intuitively and intrinsically to us that it becomes easy to overlook.

You don’t realize the miracle of a unique fingerprint when you’re wearing it on the pad of your finger everyday.

But this intuitive, intrinsic, innate, uniquely exhilarating stuff is the stuff that will save us, spiritually, and cause our businesses to thrive.

It’s the stuff you just can’t leave out of your goods or your service offerings.

I would wager that it’s the stuff you need to build your business around.

{It’s your niche.}

Please think about this with me. What is e{x}hilaration factor? What are you overlooking? What are you missing the beauty and power of because it’s so innate to you that it’s almost like breathing?

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Abby,

I partly agree.

It’s true – a very specific niche is an important part – a VERY important part of your biz, at least in the beginning. Becoming fanatical about a small area and dominating it like no other is grrreat way to start one’s (digital) empire.

But I believe it needs more than that – something that’s deep inside.
Every time I talk and write about my fav topic – personal branding and marketing, I think about how I can make it as unique and Mars Dorian as possible.

How can I leverage my true strengths – entertaining writing style + graphic design knowledge, to build the ultimate content ?

It starts with defining your niche and then bringing your 100% edged kick-ass unique flavor to it and transforming your service/product/topic into something unlike any other !
http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Abby,

I partly agree.

It’s true – a very specific niche is an important part – a VERY important part of your biz, at least in the beginning. Becoming fanatical about a small area and dominating it like no other is grrreat way to start one’s (digital) empire.

But I believe it needs more than that – something that’s deep inside.
Every time I talk and write about my fav topic – personal branding and marketing, I think about how I can make it as unique and Mars Dorian as possible.

How can I leverage my true strengths – entertaining writing style + graphic design knowledge, to build the ultimate content ?

It starts with defining your niche and then bringing your 100% edged kick-ass unique flavor to it and transforming your service/product/topic into something unlike any other !
http://www.biggirlbranding.com Cori Padgett

Not sure these days actually! I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch in my personal life, and it’s having an effect on my overall mindset some days.. I often wonder what I could be doing better, and just what exactly it is I do so well that it’s intrinsic to me. I’m always certain I’m overlooking it! But that’s often just because I had a bad day, and I’m allowing negative vibes to bring me down. Other days I feel awesome and love everything I do!

C
http://www.biggirlbranding.com Cori Padgett

Not sure these days actually! I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch in my personal life, and it’s having an effect on my overall mindset some days.. I often wonder what I could be doing better, and just what exactly it is I do so well that it’s intrinsic to me. I’m always certain I’m overlooking it! But that’s often just because I had a bad day, and I’m allowing negative vibes to bring me down. Other days I feel awesome and love everything I do!

C
Abby Kerr

Hey, Mars! –

Thanks for stopping by. Glad to have you here.

I think you and I are talking about the same thing, just putting different descriptors on it. I think that one’s ideal business niche is something crafted from passion, experience, natural gifts, talents, strengths, and desire to serve or make one’s mark in a certain area. So often in internet business/online marketing/social media/blogging circles, we hear about niche selection as part of a very strategic biz plan, decided upon as a result of careful market research, keyword/keyphrase research, looking for gaps in the market, seeing who has money and isn’t yet being served. {Not saying you said anything about this in your comment, I’m just being sort of tangential here.} And that’s a perfectly good way to go about niche selection for certain types of businesses with certain types of goals. It’s neither better nor worse than the way I’ve gone about it for myself.

For me, finding one’s ideal entrepreneurial niche is totally akin to what you’re describing: it does come from deep inside, as you said, and it does necessitate you to find your own unique spin on it, and it’s absolutely about leveraging your true strengths. Nichification is exciting, invigorating, and exhilarating when approached in this way!

And I just love what you said here:

“It starts with defining your niche and then bringing your 100% edged kick-ass unique flavor to it and transforming your service/product/topic into something unlike any other !”

I couldn’t agree more!

@Cori — I so getcha. In fact, I’m thinking a Skype chat might be in our future! It’s very tough to embrace exhilaration of any kind when other things are weighing us down — and I can say that speaking from personal experience! Some days doing business {mostly and intentionally} online feels so very real and other days it feels very ephemeral, you know what I mean? As in, who am I online really? And who am I serving or helping really?

I’m thinking one of us needs to write a post about the existential angst of doing biz online!

And by way of encouragement, I can clearly see one of your forms of creative genius: you write in a way that makes your readers feel heard, understood, and encouraged. Not everybody can do this naturally, but it seems to come to you like breathing. It’s obvious to me when I read your content — both on BigGirlBranding and in your guest posts on other sites — that you have a very good sense of the personality of who you’re writing to. And that is something that many bloggers torture themselves trying to tap into.

See, I bet you overlooked that.
Abby Kerr

Hey, Mars! –

Thanks for stopping by. Glad to have you here.

I think you and I are talking about the same thing, just putting different descriptors on it. I think that one’s ideal business niche is something crafted from passion, experience, natural gifts, talents, strengths, and desire to serve or make one’s mark in a certain area. So often in internet business/online marketing/social media/blogging circles, we hear about niche selection as part of a very strategic biz plan, decided upon as a result of careful market research, keyword/keyphrase research, looking for gaps in the market, seeing who has money and isn’t yet being served. {Not saying you said anything about this in your comment, I’m just being sort of tangential here.} And that’s a perfectly good way to go about niche selection for certain types of businesses with certain types of goals. It’s neither better nor worse than the way I’ve gone about it for myself.

For me, finding one’s ideal entrepreneurial niche is totally akin to what you’re describing: it does come from deep inside, as you said, and it does necessitate you to find your own unique spin on it, and it’s absolutely about leveraging your true strengths. Nichification is exciting, invigorating, and exhilarating when approached in this way!

And I just love what you said here:

“It starts with defining your niche and then bringing your 100% edged kick-ass unique flavor to it and transforming your service/product/topic into something unlike any other !”

I couldn’t agree more!

@Cori — I so getcha. In fact, I’m thinking a Skype chat might be in our future! It’s very tough to embrace exhilaration of any kind when other things are weighing us down — and I can say that speaking from personal experience! Some days doing business {mostly and intentionally} online feels so very real and other days it feels very ephemeral, you know what I mean? As in, who am I online really? And who am I serving or helping really?

I’m thinking one of us needs to write a post about the existential angst of doing biz online!

And by way of encouragement, I can clearly see one of your forms of creative genius: you write in a way that makes your readers feel heard, understood, and encouraged. Not everybody can do this naturally, but it seems to come to you like breathing. It’s obvious to me when I read your content — both on BigGirlBranding and in your guest posts on other sites — that you have a very good sense of the personality of who you’re writing to. And that is something that many bloggers torture themselves trying to tap into.

See, I bet you overlooked that.
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http://flyingcoloursmaths.co.uk Colin

I agree – it’s much more exciting for me to be teaching seat-of-the-pants topics that I have only a half-baked understanding of, rather than the lower level stuff I’ve been over a dozen times. So part of my Plan is to move more into the university-level teaching, and away from high school.
http://flyingcoloursmaths.co.uk Colin

I agree – it’s much more exciting for me to be teaching seat-of-the-pants topics that I have only a half-baked understanding of, rather than the lower level stuff I’ve been over a dozen times. So part of my Plan is to move more into the university-level teaching, and away from high school.
Abby Kerr

Hey, Colin! –

Welcome to my blog.

So you teach full-time HS in addition to the tutoring offerings you have online?

– Abby
Abby Kerr

Hey, Colin! –

Welcome to my blog.

So you teach full-time HS in addition to the tutoring offerings you have online?

– Abby
Francie

Abby, what was your “x factor” as a retailer? And what would you say your x factor is now?

It’s weird how hard it is to identify my own personal x factor! I seem to enjoy simple, stupid things that don’t actually matter – such as messing around on the computer designing a sign for a sale we’re having…….I love choosing the font, working on the layout, playing with different color combinations, etc. I doubt anyone even notices these things, so I end up feeling guilty spending time on such endeavors when I have a million other more important things to do.
Francie

Abby, what was your “x factor” as a retailer? And what would you say your x factor is now?

It’s weird how hard it is to identify my own personal x factor! I seem to enjoy simple, stupid things that don’t actually matter – such as messing around on the computer designing a sign for a sale we’re having…….I love choosing the font, working on the layout, playing with different color combinations, etc. I doubt anyone even notices these things, so I end up feeling guilty spending time on such endeavors when I have a million other more important things to do.
Abby Kerr

Hey, Francie –

You ask really good questions! My X Factor as a retailer was most definitely choosing the merchandise mix — identifying what would be the hot items, pairing them together in my mind with other vendors’ items from totally different product categories to create a curious story. Masterminding the merchandise vision.

My X Factor today, with Abby Kerr Ink, is client coaching and hooking people up with other people and opportunities that will propel them forward further into their dream. I find that I have an almost unstoppable compulsion to do that and so I’m looking for ways to build it into my offerings more intentionally. I think I’m a natural born connector, but on a smaller scale than Malcolm Gladwell described in The Tipping Point.

And Francie, I highly doubt that the work you do with graphic design for your store goes unnoticed. Put it this way — when store signage is *crappy*, it sticks out like a sore thumb. But when it’s just right, it becomes part of the overall effect and the customer’s seamless experience, and anything you do to contribute to that is *very* worthwhile work.

– Abby
Abby Kerr

Hey, Francie –

You ask really good questions! My X Factor as a retailer was most definitely choosing the merchandise mix — identifying what would be the hot items, pairing them together in my mind with other vendors’ items from totally different product categories to create a curious story. Masterminding the merchandise vision.

My X Factor today, with Abby Kerr Ink, is client coaching and hooking people up with other people and opportunities that will propel them forward further into their dream. I find that I have an almost unstoppable compulsion to do that and so I’m looking for ways to build it into my offerings more intentionally. I think I’m a natural born connector, but on a smaller scale than Malcolm Gladwell described in The Tipping Point.

And Francie, I highly doubt that the work you do with graphic design for your store goes unnoticed. Put it this way — when store signage is *crappy*, it sticks out like a sore thumb. But when it’s just right, it becomes part of the overall effect and the customer’s seamless experience, and anything you do to contribute to that is *very* worthwhile work.

– Abby
http://www.jungleoflife.com/ Lance

Hey Abby,
Great to meet you and your amazing site here!

That X factor! I’m loving this…and am going to think about that with some ideas bouncing around in my head (and in my heart).

I wonder why we sometimes hold ourselves back from our true potential…from really letting that X factor shine? …that thing which also gives us the most joy…

Hmmm….

(and this was really a great read tonight…)
http://www.jungleoflife.com/ Lance

Hey Abby,
Great to meet you and your amazing site here!

That X factor! I’m loving this…and am going to think about that with some ideas bouncing around in my head (and in my heart).

I wonder why we sometimes hold ourselves back from our true potential…from really letting that X factor shine? …that thing which also gives us the most joy…

Hmmm….

(and this was really a great read tonight…)
Abby Kerr

Hey, Lance! –

Welcome & thanks for your encouraging comments on this post. I, too, wonder why we hold back and deny ourselves the very things that give us the most joy. Must be something intrinsic to human nature {?}.

– Abby
Abby Kerr

Hey, Lance! –

Welcome & thanks for your encouraging comments on this post. I, too, wonder why we hold back and deny ourselves the very things that give us the most joy. Must be something intrinsic to human nature {?}.

– Abby