Okay, so on Tuesday, we talked about carving out time for your business to happen.  You scoffed and thought, “DUDE, I am so far ahead of you.  MY desk is perfectly organized and MY calendar is full of business time and MY business plan is in working order and has recently been revisited.”  Kudos to you, darlin’!

Now that you’re in business time mode, there’s just one question to ask: are you scared yet?

That’s it, and it’s the premise that will help to build an exceptional brand: are you scared yet?

Are you copying the marketing promotion of a prominent businessperson or coming up with your own, utterly brilliant concept?  Are you actively seeking media coverage for your brand?  Are you involved in social media in some way?  Have you tackled a ground-up web design (with the help of a professional, of course)?  Are you taking risks — or do you know how things are going to turn out?

Likewise, are you producing the products recommended by x artists on x forums and websites?  What if you created a product that didn’t exist before you, and that can only be created by you? What if you took an active interest in bettering the lives of others in your profession by releasing the product to the general public? What if you made your idea into a company, KNOWING FULL WELL YOU MAY FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACE? Again, I would argue…you’d be scared out of your wits.

…and in being scared, you would be on the road to being exceptional.  Try, fail, try harder, fail brilliantly, and then get down to business.