Why shouldn’t you be stupid? Why should you feel dumb when you do something other people aren’t “hip” to? Why should you should believe that following your own pattern will make people dislike you, your business and your beliefs. The truth is, being stupid could be just the thing your business needs in order to grow effectively.
How many of us could sit back 10 years ago, see a company called “Google” and believe it would be the powerhouse it is today? Not many of us. But I bet the creators did. They invented a word and did something that no one else was doing and turned it into their own brand and are now as rich as rich can be 
All because they dared to be stupid. Or how about the guys who create Youtube? Or how about Seth Godin giving away so many great marketing ideas for free every day on his blog? You know, some people actually believe that giving away things is BAD for business. Yea, go figure.
Are you scared to chase your dreams?
When you think about your dream job, or the ‘perfect life’ do you get that same exciting burst of energy and excitement that I get when I am planning different things for my business? Yeah, I bet you do. That my friends, is called Passion. I’ve wrote about passion previously on this blog and when you get a free minute or two, I’d suggest checking it out. So you’ve come to the realization that you have that burning passion, but what do you do next?
If you’re like most small business owners, or aspiring small business owners, you’ve probably let a little bit of doubt sink into your head. Maybe you’ve thought the following thoughts before:
- I don’t have the skills needed
- Where am I going to find all of the money required to do this
- I just don’t know where to start
While these are all perfectly logical thoughts to have, you NEED to realize that they should not paralyze your dreams. I was reading “The 4-Hour Workweek” the other day and came across this line in the book and it fits perfect with our current topic: “Risks weren’t that scary once you took them”. (oh, and did I mention Timothy Ferris is another guy who gives away great marketing and business ideas on his blog for free too?)
So how do we actually “dare to be stupid”?
It’s a simple concept really. Daring to be stupid is essentially the exact way you lived your life when you were a child. You were care free, did things your way and really didn’t care about other peoples opinions. That is how you dare to be stupid in a nut-shell and should be printed out in large, bold text and placed in your office somewhere.
Guerrilla marketing can be looked at as daring to be stupid simply because these marketing strategies are being put to practice in ways that other people haven’t thought of before. As a bootstrapper, you need to realize that being stupid doesn’t always mean failing. Yes, you can make a stupid decision and fail, but without action, there is no reaction. So yes, without trying something ‘stupid’ you can never fail; but you’ll never succeed either.
So find that inner child in you, dare to be stupid and jump with a leap of faith. It just might pay off more then you think.
