Insights With Trent Munday

Most of us, most of the time, are just happy staying in our lane. Pick a lane that works for you. One that's moving at just about the right pace for you. A lane that provide just the right combination of good and bad elements for your current situation. But always remember, if at any time you decide that lane doesn't suit you anymore...just changes lanes. After all, it's a Lane...not a Tunnel. You don't have to be stuck there until you reach the end. #stayinyourlane #goals #lifeplan

Facebook was a fad...until it wasn't. TikTok...the same. NFTs? Well, they're also probably just a fad, right? Maybe. Who knows? But just because something isn't going to last forever, doesn't mean that it can't still create real value. It's easy to fall into the trap of saying, if it's not forever, then why bother wasting time with it. But when you do that, you may well be missing the opportunity to bring real value to your business, your customers and your community. If the fad endures longer than the concept of ignoring it...you've missed out. #fads #trends #businessopportunity

Our national flags are supposed to be a symbol of pride, of unity, of strength. So why then are we willing to see the flag on our main flag pole in the town to droop, just because there's no wind? There's nothing too inspiring about looking at a big, bare flag pole! Surely there's a way to ensure our flags are always flying, even when there's no wind. Some sort of mechanism across the top of the flag that pulls it up and down to give it a waving type motion, maybe? Something must be done! Any ideas? #flytheflag #nationalpride #patriotism

We tend to remember the negative accidents in our life. The time we fell off our bike and scrapped your knee. The time you had a fender bender. But what about the happy accidents? Meeting the love of your life. Finding that amazing job opportunity. Or even just being born at this time and place. They were all accidents too..but good one. NB: A nice reminder from Seth Godin. #accidents #perspective #happiness

If you're willing to do the work yourself, to do the leg work, take some risk, spend your time...you can Learn by yourself. But if you want to have it all curated for you and to de-risk the process, then you can opt for Education.  But that can be expensive. Of course, you also get other benefits with Education, especially if you spend the big money for an Ivy League education. At that point, you're getting the brand equity of the institution and, even more importantly, the contacts and connections of your cohort. Of course, it's also all relative to your ambitions. Thanks to @naval for the perspective! #perspective #education #learning

So many people are just so short-term in their thinking these days. I get it. I understand why. It's basically programmed into us to expect instant likes, instant gratification, instant rewards, instant profits. And these days there are so many legitimate ways to get your instant return. So why wait? Get it now. The problem is, not everyone is wired for the instant return game. And when they see everyone else jumping in while they don't, they feel like they've missed the boat. But not so long ago, we were happy to wait a couple of years for a return. That WAS quick. So if you're wired that way, don't worry... In a couple of years, it won't matter how long it took. NB: credit to the Twitterverse for the quote #instantreward #timeframe #patience    

We all know someone who always leaves things to the last minute. That kid on the school bus in the morning frantically trying to finish his homework. That co-worker burning the midnight oil on Thursday because they haven't finished the presentation for tomorrow...coz they've been sitting on it for a couple of weeks. The story these people usually tell themselves is that they just work better under pressure. Maybe that's true. But for most of us, it's not. The real question is this... You may we work better under pressure...but are you doing better work when you do? #underpressure #workstyle #lastminute

When we say Web 3.0, we're really talking about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, NFTs, Metaverse, etc. This space is super exciting right now.  But it's also a scary place too. And there is a lot of REAL money to be made...and lost. Whether you're just poking around for yourself, or maybe your kids are getting into it, it pays to do some homework. Watch - without acting. Search - for voices you can trust. Listen - for sanity (there's a lot of noise and insanity) Forget - FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)...there's sure to be another opportunity just around the corner. Be careful out there. Enjoy!   #web3 #metaverse #blockchain

Wolf.Game is the latest craze in the world of Web 3.0. It's a game. Or at least it will be. Hopefully. And it lives entirely on the blockchain. But right now it's all about accumulating the assets to be able to use in the game. Over the past 48 hours there's been an insane amount of chatter and clatter in their Discord server. The FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) on this thing is incredible. People have already made big profits by buying and flipping these game assets. But of course, that also means that many other people will end up losing lots of real money on this. NB: I AM NOT MAKING?GIVING ANY SUGGESTIONS/PREDICTIONS/ADVICE! But I am saying, if you want to get an idea of what all the fuss is about in this space, it would be well worthwhile clicking on the links below to just sit back and watch what's happening. It's fascinating. And kinda scary. Be careful out there! Here's the Twitter account - https://twitter.com/wolfdotgame Here's the Discord - http://discord.gg/wolfgame And here's the main Gam

It's one of those age old questions. Should you work with your friends? Or should you keep your work life and your personal life separate? I used to subscribe to the theory that you work life and personal life should not mix. However, my thoughts on that have changed...a bit. But it's not so much about working with friends...but working with people whose company you enjoy. That doesn't mean you have to be best friends with them. Nor does it mean you need to hang out with them after work. It simply means that you surround yourself at work with people who you enjoy being around, working towards a common goal. Of course, that might not be quite as easy when you're younger. Sometimes you just need to take whatever opportunities are there. But as you get old, you become a little more comfortable with what you enjoy and what you don't. You also tend to become a bit more selective about how you spend your time..and who you spend it with. Life's short. Work with people whose company you enjoy. #workcultur

When I head off on my morning walk each day, it's still dark. I don't know if it's going to be fine and sunny for the next couple of hours or if it will pour down rain. If it looked like rain, I probably wouldn't head out. But I can't see the skies and so off I go...out into the darkness. And that's a great metaphor for life. We don't really know what awaits us.  We can't be sure what's around the next corner. And if we wait until we know for certain, we would miss all the opportunities. Life gets much more interesting when we head off into the metaphorical darkness. #metaphor #philosophical #lifelessons

It always amuses when people talk about the amazing opportunities previous generations had to get in early on something. 'They were lucky because they were there when the internet first started. So they were able to get in early and win.' But the same could be said of the generation before that. And, most importantly, the could be said in the future about YOUR generation. The reality is that every generation has multiple unique opportunities. Instead of lamenting the ones you weren't around for, keep an eye out for the opportunities happening around you - at this very moment. #opportunities #generations #awareness

If you want to succeed, you need to put in the time. You must make the effort. But Effort and Time are not necessarily the same thing. It's all about the quality and intensity of that effort. To an extent, we can measure that in terms of physical effort. But not when it comes to your intellectual effort or your emotional effort. And then of course, there's the effort it takes to put in the effort in the first place. If you're working 12-14 hours a day, just getting to the gym at the end of the day requires a huge effort. Same applies if your 8 hour work day is on a construction site, doing very physical work. Effort is Multi Dimensional. And Effort is Relative. #effort #hardwork #success  

The messaging is very different. A Sales advertisement must have a very clear Call-To-Action. Simply taking your generic brand ad and placing the current offer or promotion on top of it...does not cut it. Understand your objective. #branding #sales #advertising

The best way to understand if someone really knows what they're talking about, is to ask them to explain it to you in as few a words as possible. Generally speaking, the less words you need to explain it, th edeeper you understand it. Not necessarily 'deeper' in terms of your technically knowledge of the subject. But 'deeper' in terms of how widely you understand it. That may initially seem like a contradiction. But it is in the depth and breadth that the real value and impact can be unlocked. #understanding #deep #wide

The point of advice is not to simply, blindly, follow it. The point of advice is to help you understand. Then, once you have gathered the various pieces of advice, you need to run it all through your own filters. How does that advice make sense to you, in your context, in relation to your previous experiences, where you want to be, etc. Once you've done that, then you make your own decision. Don't absolve yourself of the responsibility for the decision by simply following someone else's advice. NB: Shout out to Matthew Kobach on Twitter for the wise words. #advice #accountability #understanding

One of the keys to success in any business is reducing friction. Making it as easy as possible for your customers to buy your products and services. But it may be that the very thing you've put in place to help reduce friction - ie: your customer service team - is actually contributing to the friction. One example I experienced recently was when we went for lunch at a restaurant. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, we had to scan a QR code to open the menu on our phone and then place our order on the phone. The staff simply delivered the food to the table. The only extra bit of customer service was the filling of our water glass.  The phone ordering process worked well. Super efficient. But I struggled to get the attention of the waiters to have my water glass filled. The only friction I experienced during that meal, was the one element of human customer service they had put in place. #customerservice #frictionless #painpoints

These days there are so many different ways to communicate with our customers. Email, Online Form, Phone Call, Messaging Platform. And if it's a Messaging Platform...which one? Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or just a good old fashioned SMS. The key thing is to make sure you communicate with your customers on the same platform they communicate with you. If they've sent you a WhatsApp, reply to them there. Don't call them. Unless they asked you to. Customer-First...always. #communication #customercentric #customerfirst

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are a form of provenance. If you create something, then attach an NFT to it, forever and a day, you will be creator of that thing. And the owner...unless and until you transfer the rights to someone else, via the blockchain. A trademark is proof that you own a unique symbols or word or words. Now, ponder this... In a world where NFTs become mainstream (which I genuinely believe is not that far away), do we even need trademarks anymore? Will trademark offices around the world embrace the utility of NFTs and the blockchain? I see interesting things emerging in this space. What do you think? Who love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. OR...you can leave me a short voice message here - https://sayhi.chat/trent #NFT #intellectualproperty #trademarks

Whenever we ask a question, or seek feedback, we already know what we want to hear. And so, once we hear that bit that we were waiting for...we kinda tune out. But oftentimes, the real value in the feedback is in the other comments around the part we wanted to hear. You pre-launch your new product to a small test market. They tell you they love it. Great! That's what you wanted to hear.  You stop listening - even though you pretend to be paying attention. What you missed hearing was that the test market though the packaging could be better and that the price point was a little high. This is invaluable feedback. But if you are only listening for what you want to hear, you'll miss it. Try to discipline yourself to almost tune out the bits you do want to hear, and tune in to the bits you do not want to hear. #customerfeedback #listening #marketresearch