100 Days of Rejection
A colleague of mine, Jonny Richard (who I got to teach a Marketing and Sales class with recently!) shared this TED Talk that has really impacted me.
If you haven’t seen it, pause and watch it and come by to this email (Seriously, it's a good one!)
Rejection is something that most of us are challenged by and can hold us back. Being rejected feels so intense, it’s similar to actual physical pain. We are taught early on that being rejected (like rejected from our family or friends or community) could be one of the worst things in the world and you want to avoid it.
What I love about this video is that Jia Jiang bravely understands that he knows his rejection is holding him back from his dream of being an entrepreneur (how many of you know folks who are doing the 9-5 thing because rejection is holding them back from running a business?) What we do it’s for the faint of heart!
The experiments Jia Jiang does are very bold and really demonstrate how things are always what they seem. In addition to his TED Talk - I read Jia’s book “Rejection Proof” and here’s some of the biggest takeaways from it and how you can apply it to your marketing:
*Know your audience - Jia speaks about an experiment that a famous, Grammy winner Violinist did - they dressed in street clothes and played their violin in the subway. Very few people tipped and paid attention to him. Yet, a few days before, the same musician sold out a stadium! Has this happened to you, showing up to the wrong crowd or speaking to the wrong customer?
*Test and target the right groups of people - another way to look at this, Jia wanted to teach a class based on rejection and his experiments. He deduced that if he wanted to teach in front of a college class, he would have more luck getting a yes from a business and communications class vs a medical school. Cater and target who your potential audience is so you have a better chance to accomplish. Match like with like.
*Be Open to Referrals - I LOVE his experiment when Jia goes to a stranger’s house and asks him, can I plant this flower in your backyard? The stranger says no and here’s what matters. Jia is brave and asks “Why not?” and then the man says my dog will dig up the flower, I can’t plant anything in my backyard right now. You should go down to Carol’s house down the street, Carol loves flowers. If Jia hasn’t asked “Why not?” - he wouldn’t have ever heard of Carol and guess what Carol is thrilled to see Jia’s flower and definitely let him plant it in her backyard! This approach can be applied in your business - when you get a ‘no’, you can ask ‘why not’ and I bet you will get some useful information and a possible referral. How many times do you ask ‘why not’?
We all have to face rejection and it’s not easy. In fact, many of us avoid it because it’s so UNCOMFORTABLE. What I would love to challenge you is to think back to a recent rejection and how as time passes, you grow and learn from it. Take this time to reframe it, perhaps it was a good thing you were rejected (I was rejected from being an author in a book with peers, I felt so much shame, however years later, I learned that it was the best outcome possible - I’ll save that story for another day!) - Let me know what you think.