How much is ghosting your network costing you?

I think about this question all the time. The opportunities lost to ignorance. The opportune moments where I failed to act. The opportunity costs of being too busy. Too busy to share, to inspire, to lead.

The internet is a distribution machine of ideas with infinite leverage and opportunity. A machine that runs exclusively on premium unleaded…content.

But for a long time the word ‘content’ left a bad taste in my mouth. Until I reindexed the meaning of the word. I’ve been around long enough to know designers don’t like content. I’d go as far as saying most designers despise content.

If you’ve read ‘The War of Art’ by Steven Pressfield, ‘The Resistance’ for a designer is content creation. In short, we get the ick. But content is not what it used to be (promise). There's a new wave of content emerging that is laser focused on:

→ Upfront value
→ Collective growth
→ Skill sharing on mass
→ Problem solving at scale
→ Presale validation

All while signalling in a world of noise, that you are the one for the job. Content has never been less about me, myself and I, and more about good ideas delivering value at scale. And designers just so happen to be in the business of ideas. Remember what I said about opportune moments?

We talk a lot about empathy in business.
We talk a lot about associations in branding.
We talk a lot about reputation in personal branding.

So instead of: How much is ghosting your network costing you? Perhaps a more appropriate question is: How much is ghosting your network costing them?