"To get what you want out of life, you have to do the opposite" ~ Jay Abraham

True story:

I was a content promoter for a SaaS startup in Singapore.

And one of the strategies was to join and promote in a lot of Facebook groups. (It's a good way to spend less on ads and be known in a particular community.) So once I got approved, I would copy-and-paste posts across LOTS OF groups.

Some posts were deleted by the admin, some didn't. The results were sorta okay. Nothing to jump about

That's when I finally decided to give first

Fast forward to today, I'm a content promoter again. But I wanted to do something different. I decided to cull my list of groups first. If there was zero engagement on most of the posts, I would leave the group. Then I would post a non-promo question and comment on other people's stuff.

The funny part was it was a better strategy and I was actually enjoying myself.

When you comment on other people's stuff and you eventually post something in the group, the people you came in contact with will be notified. Win-Win!

I know this sounds stupid simple and silly but I couldn't help but remember a famous line from marketing strategist Jay Abraham:

To get what you want out of life, you have to do the opposite -

To get, you have to give.
To be heard, you have to listen.
To be respected, you have to give respect.

And the best part is, giving feels good. (Scientific fact)

It's funny how we all overlook this part when doing business, because it's all about me, me, me, me.

But when you start making it all about them, them, them, you'll start getting more business and friends than ever before.

I strongly urge you to give "giving" a shot. You would be surprised how great and fun your work will be as a result. Peace.

Image courtesy of Gary Vaynerchuk.

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This is a series about breaking down and applying short ideas / books / quotes found online, in books, Twitter, wherever.

There's something magical about quotes and short tweets. It exemplies that writing doesn't have to 3,000 words long to be profound.

The best advice I got for writing is that whatever advice you dispell has be memorable and actionable.

Memorable = very easy to remember (usually a vivid story / something short)

Actionable = something people can put into practice (action reinforces the quote even more)

What's one of your favourite quotes / essays? Let me know in the comments and it will be in the next post!