Show your work or show our work. Should we show it or not? If we have work, should we show it or not? Will this show be beneficial or will it become a problem for us instead?
In fact, it is something that should be done if we have real work that can be shown. However, some people have a negative attitude towards showing off their work. They see it in a negative way, like showing off too much, afraid that other people will look at it badly. Or some people are afraid that if they show off their work, their colleagues will steal their ideas or copy their work.
Often, we tend to keep the work that we have created with great creativity and hard work as if it were a priceless treasure, fearing that anyone who knows about this work will steal the ideas and methods in order to copy it, causing us to miss the opportunity to own that creativity.
Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Share Your Creatively and Get Discovery is a New York Times Bestseller written by Austin Kleon, an expert on creativity in the digital age. This book teaches us the opposite of what we ever knew. It will make us dare to share our most cherished work with others, without forgetting to tell us how to create it. It also opens the door for many people who are ready to steal it. Steal it. The more people who steal our work, the better it will be for us.
“As a creator, you have to show what you have and make it visible.”
Having creative work and ideas in hand, it is necessary to put self-promotion on your daily to-do list. Doing good work alone in a dark corner of your home will not attract clients to discover you and your work. What you need to do is introduce yourself, show your work, show how you create it. But that doesn’t mean you have to tell everything, just a fraction or a small part of the whole method. People who are interested in what we do will follow us.
“We must maintain the amateur spirit, embrace uncertainty and the unknown.”
Being an outstanding creative person does not mean that we have to be born creative. Sometimes our creativity comes from experiences and things we have encountered before. The important thing is that these things come and go throughout our lives. We should keep the spirit of an amateur, embrace uncertainty and always be aware that there are many things in this world that we do not know. These things will help us to continue to yearn for learning to create good works.
“For our work to be seen, we need to learn how to use our voice.”
This book does not tell us to go learn singing or music. It is just a metaphor for us to see that if we want someone to hear our voice, we just have to say it because our voice will tell us who we are and what we have. The concept is simple: if we want other people to know something, we tell them about it. The more we understand the concept, the more we will know that this is a sharing that we have nothing to lose and what we get in return is more than worth it.
“Creativity is not just about what we do, but also about how we do it.”
Sharing our creative methods with others is not only to build good relationships with interested groups of people, but it can also turn those interested into customers. Because sharing methods will make them want our work. But sharing must occur within limits. And don’t just want to sell creativity. Because if we share creativity that is beyond our real work, in the end, they will catch on anyway.
“A cat sitting on a mat is not a story, but a cat sitting on a dog’s mat is a story.”
Because our work can’t tell a story on its own, it becomes our job. The better storytellers we are, the more effective the stories we use to share our work will be. Because our brains tend to remember other people’s stories very well. They pay as much attention to the colors, shapes, and forms of the work they want.
What makes a good story?
A good story is divided into three parts:
- Open with a story from the past : Tell the story of the past, what did we do? What have we been through? What happened to us? And what do we want?
- Followed by the present story : It tells how far we have come from that day to today. What work have we completed? And how satisfied are we?
- Dreaming of the Future : This is the crucial point. We need to talk about the future we want, but in a way that interests our audience enough to take action to help us get there. They need to feel like heroes and excited about our story.
“The more you share your experiences and knowledge, the more you will get back.”
Before we can reach the point where we can create our own work, we also need to learn and get advice. So when it’s time for us to be a giver, we should be open and honest in sharing. Don’t keep knowledge, tips or experiences to ourselves. The more we give out, the more it will eventually come back to us.
“Don’t be a talker, you have to listen too.”
We may want to win people over, but if we just talk without listening, we will never know what they really need and we will never be able to serve them properly. While telling a story, it is a good idea to have pauses or allow participants to express their opinions. This creates a sense that they are involved and that you are open to listening.
“In some cases, quantity is not as important as quality.”
When we start sharing our work and methods, what we need to start observing is who is following us, not how many people follow us. Because the number of people following us is not as important as the quality of our followers. We need to start finding out if our followers are interested in the same direction as us. The more our work is pushed out, the more people will be fascinated and attracted to us. It is impossible to attract only people you like. Therefore, you need to choose to keep good feelings and positive energy and push out negative energy that is not useful.
To combat the despair and denial that may come your way, here’s what you need to do.
- Relax and take a breather.
- Make our bodies strong
- Get ready to fight to protect yourself.
- Protect our fragile areas
- Keep your balance right.
“When despair and denial come, don’t waste time on it. Keep going and don’t give up.”
Money and revenue are what make the world go round. Once you’ve found people interested in your work, don’t hesitate to look for ways to monetize it and how you share it. Our goal is to turn interested viewers into customers willing to buy your work.
“When opportunity comes your way, seize it as soon as you can. The more you do, the greater the rewards.”
Making money should be on your to-do list after you’ve successfully shared your work and how. We already know the people who are interested in our work, we can narrow down the market to who we should sell to and who we shouldn’t. If possible, let your target know what they need now and how you can make money from them.
“The work is never finished, it is only abandoned.”
When you reach success, it doesn’t mean that you have reached the finish line and that’s it, but you have to keep asking yourself, “What’s next?”, “What did we miss?”, “What could we have done better?”, or “What haven’t we done yet?” Once you have asked these questions, you can throw yourself into the next task. A task is like a chain that is never-ending, because it can keep adding more loops, unless you throw that chain away.
Conclusion
When we decide to share our work, it is not easy to tell people about it, its creativity and how it was made. But if we follow the unique and exciting ideas in this book, we will definitely do it. We will have followers (who can become customers), we will make money from it, we and our work will be known, and we will have the opportunity to develop our work to be even more awesome and great. It is better than keeping our work to ourselves, until it ends up being just a creative idea that collects dust and may not be used anymore. Because in the outside world, there are many people who are interested in the same things as us. We can always exchange knowledge, experiences and passions with each other.
“When we have something good, we must let others steal it.”
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