“Real G’s move in silence like lasagne” – Lil Wayne, 2010.

The internet is a very noisy place with people constantly promoting their work and shouting about how much they are ‘hustling’. It made me wonder; does it make a difference whether you hustle in silence or as loudly as possible?

Example of a silent hustler:
Beyonce. You’re lying if you say you weren’t surprised when she dropped Lemonade.

 

Example of a loud hustler:
DJ Khaled. It seems like this man doesn’t do a single thing without putting it on snapchat.

 

I was so curious that I decided to hustle completely in silence for the month of July. Here’s what I stopped doing:

1. Showing people all the behind the scenes work: late night writing sessions, me shooting flatlays, the webinars and books I’m reading, the meetings about collaborations.
2. Previewing blog posts the night before they came out on Snapchat.
3. Telling people about new blog post ideas.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH3AVzpBvRv/

 

Here’s what happened:

I forgot to read
I realised I actually hadn’t picked up the business books I bought for the whole month of July. There’s something about sharing your new reads with your audience that holds you accountable and makes you actually read those books. Because I hadn’t shared them, I completely forgot about them.

 

I got a little more work done
Every time I went to preview a blog post on snapchat the night before it was due to be published I stopped myself and brainstormed new ideas, double-checked the formatting of the post or just got some extra sleep.

I realised when you’re small fry like me, no one really cares about a product that’s not out yet.

 

I had less content to share
Showing the work I was doing and some behind the scenes action was a large part of what I shared online, so I had to think of other things people might be interested in.

Sharing snippets from blog posts that have already been published has been working really well for me this month, plus there’s actually something to link to.

 

I felt like less of a blogger
If you don’t snapchat your late night writing session, did it really happen? Well, yes it did. And it doesn’t make you any less of a blogger if you don’t show the process.

 

Verdict

When people share their process it makes them more authentic and we can see more of their personality. We see Beyonce as a polished finished product (remember how 7/11 was such a shock because it showed us a very turnt authentic Bey?), and we see DJ Khaled as a work in progress (he literally shows us the work day by day.)

But they are still both huge stars.

Showing your process makes you seem more authentic, allows you to show more of your personality, and reminds people that it’s not all easy breezy being you – there’s more to it than sipping on glasses of Prosecco, going to events and receiving free products.

But every now and then, don’t be afraid to surprise your audience by launching something without teasing it beforehand.

 

TLDR: As long as the work gets done, it really doesn’t matter if you hustle in silence or out loud.

Further reading:
3 Things You Can Learn From Beyoncé To Become An Impactful Influencer by Maya Elious

 

Do you hustle in silence or as loudly as possible? Let me know in the comments.

 

You can now sign up to my email list to receive my free workbook on how to market your content effectively on and offline: http://eepurl.com/b2rdHP 

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” – Proverbs 14:23