As a creator, the internet has given everyone an equal chance to compete. No longer do you have to depend on your geographic location to get clients. The barrier of entry is extremely low.
This is amazing and I'm a huge supporter of this. But with increased competition in a global market, it's no longer OK to be average. You're now competing with the best talent in the entire world. If you find yourself constantly worrying about how you'll compete, you might want to seek to be a double, triple, or quadruple threat.
Scott Adams wrote an amazing article called 'Career Advice' where he broke down the key to having an extraordinary life. Everyone should seek to be a double, triple, quadruple threat (If this sounds familiar its because i stole it from Marc Andreessen.). It's a simple yet effective way to set yourself apart from the crowd.
I could explain it to you but Scott does such a great job id rather have him do it:
Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it. ...Get a degree in business on top of your engineering degree, law degree, medical degree, science degree, or whatever. Suddenly you’re in charge, or maybe you’re starting your own company using your combined knowledge. Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods” until no one else has your mix... It sounds like generic advice, but you’d be hard pressed to find any successful person who didn’t have about three skills in the top 25%. – Scott Adams
A great example of this is Jack Butcher. Jack butcher is a Graphic Designer out of New York who is best known for @visualizevalue.
Although Jack was a talented Graphic designer, he knew he wasn't going to be one of the best graphic designers in the world.
Instead of using this as an excuse to give up, he decided to stack his expertise in order to create a new market for himself.
Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. By focusing on being top 25% in three different areas (Graphic Design, Motion Design & Philosophy) Jack has been able to turn @visualizevalue into a business making $100k/mo.
You make yourself rare by layering your expertise until no one else has your mix. This method of setting yourself apart puts you in the top 5% by default because very few people are doing what you're doing.
It's a very simple idea but highly effective. If you look hard enough, almost every successful person is a double/triple/quadruple threat. Take some time and ask yourself what other areas of expertise can you add to your talent stack. It might be the missing piece taking you to the next level.
Thats all for now. I'll have more for y'all next week. Subscribe to our newsletter for more insights.
What an awesome quote from Scott, I'll have to read the article! Also, I tried clicking the newsletter link and it is giving back a 404. Is it not active?