Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Don’t Worry, Be Crappy

March 24, 2009 | Business, Feature

Are you a perfectionist when it comes to your own stuff? When it comes to publishing a blog post, writing a report, launching a product, do you want it to be perfect? Are you afraid of people thinking your stuff sucks? Do you let it paralyze you?

Maybe it’s time to just realize when good is good enough.

Taking action to make things happen is paramount to success in any business. If you spin your wheels thinking too much, nothing happens. I’ve even politely chastised people on this blog about not putting this into practice.

Probably the biggest problem I’ve seen with people (and I’ve been guilty of it, too) is reluctance to go public with something because of the fear that it isn’t good enough. We fear failure. We fear embarrassment. And we want to throw so much stuff into our work that nobody could possibly think these things (at least that’s the idea).

A good friend of mine, Ryan Wade, recently shared a story of how he was putting a business together about how to make money with Myspace (this was years ago, mind you). He was working on it for six months until one day Myspace sent him a “cease and desist” letter and everything stopped. Six months wasted because he was trying to make this perfect product. If he had just written up an e-book or something and offered it, he could have made a bunch of money in those six months prior to the C&D. Ryan used that as a HUGE lesson for business: TAKE ACTION AND DO IT FAST. And, today, I can attest to the fact that Ryan is one hell of an action-taker.

So, if you’re working on a big blog post, a PDF report, a new product – get it to a “good enough” status and launch it. Realize that other people have no idea what you have in your own mind for this thing. They don’t know your intentions. If the product serves the market and helps people, then it is good enough.

Don’t worry. Be crappy. The phrase was first coined by Guy Kawasaki, I believe, and is just awesome advice for anybody.

But!!! And a huge “but”…..

Don’t put out crap. When I say “be crappy”, I’m not meaning that you release junk. You won’t be in business for long if you release crap. So, put out good stuff. The “crap” is going to be in your own head. Like all good business owners, our plans for our products are likely huge. So, if you release anything less than that, you think it is crap. Your market won’t think that, but you have a hard time not thinking it yourself. So, THAT is what I’m referring to.

Keep in mind that you can kick a product out the door even if there is still room for improvement. You can improve it after it is launched.

This stuff is a lot like fishing. The only thing guaranteed about fishing is that you won’t catch a damn thing if your hook isn’t in the water. So, you throw some weird excuse for bait on the hook and throw it into the water. Later on, perhaps you’ll find better bait and you can switch it out. Perhaps you’ll use a higher quality fishing pole. However, in the beginning, cheap tackle and crappy bait still has a chance of catching fish if the hook is in the water.

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  • I'm glad I came across this post -- today of all days -- something I definitely needed to hear. I've come a long way from my perfectionist tendencies, but it is something I continue to work on.

    While it's great to strive to be the best, too much of a good thing can lead to paralysis. Case in point, a new blog idea I've been kicking around for almost a year now. I purchased the domain months ago, but because the idea is something I'm so passionate about, I have just been putting it off. Gotta get on it.
  • This post is perfect! ;)

    This post was a great thing for me to read right now. Very timely.

    I've been sitting on my paitnings, not offering them (prints) for sale, because I've been convinced they're not good enough. Well, how do I know until I try, right?

    I made the decision this weekend to find a place to scan them in and to offer prints. After all, I won't know if people like them until people can actually SEE them!

    Thanks, David! Your blog rocks!
  • Hi David,
    Today, I'm supposed to publish a post in my blog. I'm simply delaying with the feeling in my mind if I can do it or wait another day to prune it, or wait for some good idea to strike!
    Your post strengthened me to post it today. I thank you for the post!
    I'd be happy if some of your readers visit my blog.
    I blog on my experiences of being a copywriter (self-learned) and who started off in the big bad world of advertising with nothing except sheer grit and will-power.
    Here is my blog:http://creativesolomon.blogspot.com/
    thanks in advance! Thanks David for the thoughtful post!
    Regards
    Solomon
  • Fred Schoch
    Thats something I'm guilty of, it seems like I need to learn so much before I do anything.
  • If we wait for "perfect" we'll never do anything. I don't care how many times I edit something I've written - if I go back to it later, I could edit it again.

    I no longer remember where I learned them, but "Ready, Fire, Aim," and "You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going" are two phrases that I try to keep in mind when I'm feeling like something I've written isn't "good enough" quite yet.
  • perfectionism is absolutely a production-killer. get out there are work it...you can bust on Microsoft all you want, but they keep putting that crap out, don't they? And they make billions. Go on now...be crappy :)
  • On a blog, to make it even more worth one's while -- you can always go back to a post, revise it, publish a second post with an edit and new info and link between the two -- there really aren't any mistakes! And if it's really crappy, then maybe it'll inspire a bunch of comments and a good read...
  • I wouldn't mind too much about putting out junk. First of all you will learn from the experience and secondly one never knows what resonates among readers. I'd say that it is a lot like song writing. You can use the right formula, but there are no guarantees for it to be a hit. Actually well scraped post can be boring as eggshell, I've come to jump over "top list posts" and many other post types. Rugged writing is something that hits the nerve.
  • That is the main advantage of the digital media. There is a lot more tolerance to being 'crappy', because you can always fix it later. Not like publishing a book. Once you sign it off and send to printer it is too late to make any changes – you better make sure it is right.

    But for website or blog, if you want to change something you just need to press a couple buttons.

    Its seems the same thing is going on with software. They write it, do some basic tests, and then ship out. As soon as bugs are discovered patches and updates are sent out. The software is constantly being updated...it is never the final product.
  • Ahh ... the good ol' Myspace story ... ;-)

    Great post dude ... and SO SO true!

    Talk with you soon,

    Ryan
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