Page 142 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

First Say Yes, Then Say “Hell Yeah”
Other business books will tell you about saying no: how you should guard your
time, “only do what you’re good at,” and turn down far more requests than you
accept. As a business grows over time and options for growth become more
selective, that may indeed be useful advice.

But what if you took the opposite approach, especially at first? What if you
deliberately said yes to every request unless you had a good reason not to? The
next time someone asks for something, try saying yes and see what it leads to.
Whatever success I’ve had in my own work thus far has always come from
saying yes, not from saying no.

Derek Sivers, who founded a business he later sold for $22 million (he then
donated the money to a charitable trust), offers an alternative strategy: As things
get busy, evaluate your options according to the “hell yeah” test. When you’re
presented with an opportunity, don’t just think about its merits or how busy you
are. Instead, think about how it makes you feel. If you feel only so-so about it,
turn it down and move on. But if the opportunity would be exciting and
meaningful—so much so that you can say “hell yeah” when you think about it—
find a way to say yes.

Give Something Away and Watch People Jump

Are the crickets chirping in your business? There’s nothing like a contest or
giveaway to get people engaged. I regularly receive 1,000 comments or more on
a single Facebook post giving away a $15 book. I used to wonder, “What is the
last person thinking? ‘Nine hundred ninety-nine people have entered, but maybe
I’ll be the lucky one’?” Over time I realized that it wasn’t so much about
winning as it was about social participation. If all your friends are putting their
names down, why wouldn’t you do the same thing?†

The difference between a contest and a giveaway is fairly simple: A contest
involves some kind of competition or judging, whereas a giveaway is a straight-
up free offer provided to winners through random entries. There are pros and
cons to each: A contest usually requires more work for both the aspiring winners
and the business hosting the contest, but it can generate more interest. A
giveaway is quick and easy and can generate a large quantity of entries, but since