I struggled with my creative projects for years, writing and growing a website with NO traffic.

I wondered what I was doing wrong and why few people liked my work -I took it personally. 

An aha moment.

Then I read a famous Steve Martin quote; “be so good they can’t ignore you.” So he gave that line to answer the question about how he became a famous comedian.

Meanwhile, as a Blogger, I longed for online traffic fame. In part to justify the countless hours and dollars spent writing, crafting videos and sharing unique photos.

But, in a more significant realm, I had an insatiable ego that craved the dopamine rush one gets from stats and social recognition. — can you relate?

If and why I wanted fame is a therapist’s conversation. How I would get, my traffic is a discussion for another time.

I’ll cut right to the point.

People ignored me, and no one cared about my work because I needed to make the right effort to make a difference in people’s lives. I was also too impatient for results.

Guess what? I didn’t die!

Of course, I neglected to acknowledge that I took six months off every year to hang out on my 30-foot sailboat at Toronto Island — oh yea and then I’d bugger off to Brazil or Bangladesh a few months at a time. So I averaged only three to four months a year of focused work on my creative projects.

Duh, are you kidding me, Daniel? There’s a clue — your lack of focus and consistent effort are part of the problem.

Should I give up?

So with few likes, no praise, or money coming my way, I assumed that the blogosphere world was merely a pipedream. I had to turn my online tugboat around or face returning to a traditional job.

Working for someone else again would be a gut punch to the soul. I’d rather sleep in a leaky park tent with a shelter dog than return to a 9–5 world.

Ask Steve Martin how many years it took to master his craft. He once worked at Disneyland in the Magic Shop on Main Street, USA. He also worked for neighbouring amusement park Knott’s Berry Farm as a comedian in their “Birdcage Theatre.” During these jobs, he honed his skills in live performance, such as improv comedy, banjo playing, juggling, and lassoing. Read his impressive bio here.

“Here’s the brutal truth: No one cares about your brand because you’re probably typical as muck, and humans are too self-absorbed in their own poop to pay much attention. You’ll be okay!” ~ Daniel-Ibrahim

Do what matters and give it your best shot.

On an intellectual level, I am mindful of the importance of distinguishing oneself in a crowded freelance writer and blogger world. Crafting one’s unique proposition in a highly competitive marketplace takes time.

Through persistence and practice over the years, I learnt to tap into my genuine voice. Eventually, writing became an absolute joy. First, however, I had to permit myself to speak the raw truth and take chances. I had to be a ‘wild and crazy guy’ (another Steve Martin quote)

The social agency and political blurbs I spewed for years served my conservative past employer well but rendered me common as muck in my new liberal way forward.

“I needed a new voice to be radically different — see, design and claim a unique future in a hyper-crowded Blogosphere space.”

Make it about the journey, not the destination.

Today I’m independent enough (financially and otherwise) to express myself on my terms, blessed adequately to do what I want, when I want, with whom I want, the way I want, for the reasons I want, as long as I do so with love and integrity.

Being so good in my field of view includes helping others experience a sense of significance, connection, belonging, contribution, and personal growth as they consume ‘my stuff.’ It’s NOT about likes, traffic or accolades.

Hopefully, as a writer, videographer, and graphic image guy, I’ve inspired and challenged your thinking a little, throw you a curve ball (I didn’t see that one coming) or made you chuckle at the odd truth of the matter.

Someone comically said; May your life be half as good as you pretend it is on social media.

Stop pretending, as I did, because you can’t bear to be ignored. Instead, put in the right time, energy and focus — I know that sounds overly simplistic, but it’s proper time-tested advice, my friend.

I’m not here to say that I’ve achieved the level of ‘standing out’ I desire or deserve (yet!).

Sure, we all crave a little ego stroke and validation. But who wouldn’t want to convert eyeballs into paying customers?

First and foremost, we want to leave this sometimes retched earth knowing we made a difference — can you relate?

A little reframe and more advice.

Wait… what… let’s back up? Steve Martin never said be the best. He said be so good… there’s a huge difference. — think about that.

“If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley, but be the best shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star; It isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are. “— Martin Luther King Jr.

In our context here, I’m referring to being the ideal match to others when ‘they’ need that specific thing only you can offer at that moment in time. — be so good at that.

I don’t aim to be the best writer, coach, or anything. I aim to be me — warts and all. I’m continually refining my craft, wondering if I’ll ever get there. What about you?

I digress

Some guy at the bus stop the other day said, “If I don’t find my destiny soon, they will keep ignoring me, and I may have to return to an office pod the size of a bathtub 40 hours a week, staring at a gray wall smelling the farts of the pair across my plexiglass divider.” — stop it!

FYI, In case you hadn’t noticed.

In a somewhat warped comedic way, I’m not afraid to reference periodic body part functions, blunt innuendo, infused odd analogies that roll off the tongue, and humour disguised as self-defecation peppered with metaphor. I can say what others think or feel but may be hesitant to express it.

That’s part of me being so good and naughty simultaneously — catch my drift?

Like my stuff or hate it… Regardless, I’ll get up giddy, then hit the sac with a grin from ear to ear. Of course, occasionally, I’ll cross the line in error but never with malice intent and always willing to say, ‘oops!’ let’s try again.

Go stand out!

Be yourself