How To Build In Plain Sight Of Everyone

Sharing with everyone your progress and working out becomes a methodical scrapbook where people buy-in and your work becomes stronger.  

When you take everyone on the journey, you get to present your results, milestones, learning, wins as well as the fails. Working in plain sight of everyone is a way where everyone gets to learn and you develop your thinking, out loud!

A lot of what I do is share with you how things work from You Are The Media.

It’s effectively doing things I haven’t done before, to encourage you to try yourself. I had never delivered a conference, online learning, Zoom shows, hybrid events, or set up in other cities, but stepping up and showing you allows me to document the ride and hopefully something for us to both learn.

When you strip it right down it works where you are part of the audience you serve, you step forward, you deliver, you share how it worked, you get further feedback, you adjust, your audience wants more, you repeat. It all comes down to being ready to share and learn at the same time. 

What I have realised over the years is that if this becomes a part of what you do, where you are open to building and sharing, you will never run out of ideas. It becomes a goldmine of resources to tap into. 

The two most important decisions are to i) create/build and then ii) share. Let’s break it down into when to create and when to share. 

You build when you want something to happen and bring it alive.

The central point for everything is having people around you first. The audience that congregates means that you have the right to show them the process and their involvement becomes key. 

You build when:

There is use for your audience.

You can’t just aim for the reward that is going to come back to you. You start because you can see a need for others that can benefit them. From online to offline events, it’s always been about bringing people together, where there is a shared sense of connection. 

You have a gut feeling.

Ok, this might not work, but you are prepared to start. The people around you are what can save you when things go off-kilter. For instance, I wanted to see if YATM could work in another city and we tested Bristol in February 2020. We had to cancel the first attempt due to no interest (read more here). Then people rallied around and we packed out the venue.

You are brave enough to accept it won’t work.

What might feel right, might not even work (see above point). Stepping into a space you might not have an abundance of experience with but feels right is daunting, but if you don’t try, you will never know. For instance, I had never delivered a Zoom show before (have a look at the quick clip below, doesn’t always work), but that became a way to keep people together during the pandemic. Trust had been built, so didn’t feel too much of a risk.

There is a space (with no one else there). 

A lot of what YATM represents is stepping into a space with an idea that isn’t saturated. For instance, there are a lot of in-person events, but none where it’s online and offline at the same time. Ok, it’s time to put that initiative to the side now (read this article on it’s not always going to work as you want), but when you deliver in a new space it gives a greater reason to document how it works.

You share when you have something to say and report back.

If you are building, you are going to be learning at the same time. It could be a new podcast, it could be your own events, it could be a newsletter where you are growing an audience. When you learn, you then have the right to share it with everyone. 

You share when:

Your idea has developed. 

This is when you have committed, it’s everything about doing and not just what you would like to do. It’s the proof that you have stepped forward and whilst you might not have completed it, it’s a way to share progress. 

You have had feedback.

When you have asked for input from others, it’s effectively a way to analyse the data. It might not be what you want to hear, but it can help progress and make adjustments to your original intentions. 

You can see progress.

Stepping forward and seeing motion provides you with a good way to share. This means that it can be useful for others from the persistence you embraced. For instance, it could be how you are seeing more people buy in/subscribe or how your efforts are being recognised on a wider scale. Remember what you are sharing is also for the person you were 12 months ago.

There is an enthused community. 

When you can see the results and it becomes something that others enjoy, is a good time to present. This means that what you are doing has a rightful place for others. You build, people enjoy, and you share. It’s a great feeling when others feel a part of the process too, so find every opportunity to include others. The choices you make a while ago are now working out.  

Building in plain sight of everyone and then sharing validates why I am doing it so I can tailor it to what people want. Thinking aloud allows me to fine-tune and to make something that people enjoy and want to be a part of. 

When you build and share it’s a way to make yourself accountable. Having a way to document and easily come back to (my build/share library is here) allows you to see how you have progressed over time. For instance, a year ago I was all about creating a safe place for people to slowly come back to as we came out of the pandemic (for the record, not one person tested positive from being a part of a YATM Online Offline event). Now my thinking is around a space for people to work and learn together so they become creative entrepreneurs. 

Being able to progress is important, you can’t stand still, you have to be in tune with the world around you. Keeping the pulse going, is what keeps you enthused.

Being prepared to build and share is so much more than your scrapbook of ideas. It’s what keeps you relevant. 

Here is the output from building in plain sight:

You become trusted – people can see the reasons and intentions 

You get buy-in – you can draw people to what you are doing, so they join in

It validates what you do – everything needs a reason, or it becomes an expensive hobby

It builds your audience – when others can see what it happening, they know that when they subscribe/listen/commit/join they have made the right decision

It makes you approachable – being open in front of everyone shows the type of person you are

Progresses your efforts – what starts as an idea can turn into an initiative that has longevity 

Building in plain sight means everyone is in for the ride. It shows what works, the problems faced and the process it takes. It helps you put your stamp and thinking, so you are producing original content that no one else is doing. 

You build when you have a project that can find momentum, and you share when you are ready to report back to everyone. It becomes a place for ideas, inspiration, bonding and being prepared to show people the work that goes into what you do.

Sharing your learning is a way to bring people together and also encourage others to progress with their efforts, but to make these voyages work it always takes someone to put their flag in the sand first and show the way.