Category: Riffs

Is False Abundance or Scarcity Around Your Knowledge Holding You Back?

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

Abundance and scarcity are interesting concepts to me and something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately – especially when it comes to sharing knowledge and teaching. Sometimes we’re hesitant to share what we know. We want to keep it to ourselves because we feel like it creates some sort of scarcity. As if we’re the only ones who know it and if we let it out our value instantly decreases. As if we can somehow maintain our status by keeping it to ourselves. Knowledge does not accrue interest by staying in your head. In fact, it loses value. Knowledge …

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The Most Liberating and Brave Thing You Can Say to Your Content’s Critics

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

The world is a noisy place, and that extends to the professional world. People keep telling you, “you have to create content,” “you should start a blog,” “become active on LinkedIn and share your content there.” Whether you’ve been in an industry and profession for 15 years or 2, it’s still scary to write a blog post and share it out on LinkedIn or Twitter. Creating a short video of your thoughts, perspective, or experience you’d like to share is scary. Imaginary Critics We always hear this imaginary critic in our minds who tells us we’re a fraud. “They” tell …

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Do You Want to Make a Meaningful Career Change? Then Ditch Your Resume

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

Yep. That’s right. If you’re looking to change your career, your resume is worthless. Somehow, we’ve become so attached to the concept of a resume that we think it’s the key that will magically open doors. Get us noticed. The bad news. Resumes aren’t magic keys, and they won’t open doors. They’ll just give you a chance to go through a door that’s already opened, and then it’s only a chance. I’d like to share a story of how I landed my current role (and career change) as a Director of Marketing with a B2B company in Denver, CO without …

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Concerned About Being Too Old to Change Careers? Stop Agonizing Over This and Start Now

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

How Old is Too Old to Change Careers? This is a question that a lot of people ask. Instead, I would ask myself, “why do I want to change careers?” What is it about what you’re doing now that isn’t satisfying, or isn’t the path you want to be on? Do you feel like your values are misaligned with the industry you’re in? Are you not challenged enough? Not learning enough? Do you think that your current career path wasn’t your decision? Stop Focusing on Outcomes If you’re wondering about your age because you realize it will take time to …

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Want to Make a Career Pivot or Career Change? What’s the Difference?

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

On the surface, these two things may sound like the same thing, but they’re not. A career change is an entirely different track than you’re currently on. What you’re doing now has little to no relevance to what you would do if you changed careers. A career pivot is taking the core skills and experience you have and making an adjacent move into something different, but where those skills can still be leveraged and remain core. Career Pivot Examples A career pivot, and one that I’ve made, would be going from a sales role into a recruiting role. They’re different …

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There are Two Kinds of Networking – One is Much Better

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

“Networking is an enrichment program, not an entitlement program.” — Susan RoAne The world is awash in negative headlines right now. COVID-19 is surging across the US and globally. The election that happened weeks ago still isn’t resolved. Companies continue to lay off employees. Congress is gridlocked by political in-fighting. The list goes on and on and on. Meanwhile, you may feel stuck in your current, unfulfilling role. Your career may seem like it’s frozen. You may be telling yourself, “no one is hiring marketers, so why even bother looking?” However, the best time to act is when you don’t …

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Want to Build Your Personal Brand? Focus on These 3 Things First

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

The topic of building your personal brand isn’t a new one, and I’m sure it’s something you hear a lot about. You may be asking yourself, “Do I really need to develop my personal brand?” and my answer would be, “not really.” It’s up to you and what your professional goals are. I think the thought of building a personal brand conjures up thoughts of becoming an ‘expert’ in some area and includes writing and public speaking. Those things can be scary to people, but they’re also not all-inclusive to having a personal brand. You can do many things, but …

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Being an Introvert is Seen as a Weakness- Why That is Complete Bullshit

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

I’m an introvert. Occasionally, with enough alcohol or a topic I am passionate about, I can be coaxed out of my shell. But, for the most part, I actively avoid direct engagement- especially in person. I’ve often been envious of my friends and colleagues who can strike up a conversation with anyone. I feel like everyone loves them and wants to be around them. Meanwhile, here I am on Travis Island. I often ask myself, “why can’t I be more extroverted?” Which is usually followed by, “why do I even care?” I don’t know if it stems from the childhood …

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How to Write Better Quality Content in 3 Steps

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash There’s no question that there’s a lot of noise out there when it comes to content. People are beginning to feel overwhelmed, and it takes a lot to get their attention, let alone keep them engaged long enough to read your article or watch your video. Write Every Day This may sound contradictory, but I think this is the most critical thing you can do to produce quality content. There are several reasons I feel this way. One, you’ll get better at writing over time. Becoming better at something is a surefire way to …

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How I Come Up With Things to Write About – Every Single Day

Travis L. Scottby Travis L. Scott

Photo by Timothy Perry on Unsplash If you’re thinking about further developing your ‘personal brand’ or maybe you’re contemplating a career pivot or a change altogether, you’ve probably thought about creating content. Like me, you’re also eager to get your hands on as many books about your field or areas of interest as you can to soak up as much knowledge as possible. One of the best ways to make an impact and change the trajectory of your career is to be brave and begin sharing your perspectives and knowledge on the areas you would like to take your career.   …

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