Today, did anyone tell you the work you do is meaningful? Well, you should go where they do—even if it’s you telling yourself.

Perhaps you are self-employed but work with clients who make you yawn rather than brim with pride and satisfaction of a job well done.

Perhaps the work you currently do at your 9-5 is drab and uninspired because you don’t feel fulfilled or in control.

We certainly cannot expect to receive a pat on the back every time we submit completed work to our manager at work or clients in our business. However, there’s at least one person who should tell us our work is meaningful…and mean it when they say it. That person is you (and I). If we ourselves do not believe our work is meaningful, then how can we expect others to?

If you finish each day drained—not from creative exhaustion caused by an outpour of ideas but rather from a perpetual creative void—it may be time to ask yourself what meaningful work looks like in your eyes. What would make you feel proud at the end of each day and excited to rise the morning after?

And for those of you doing inspired and meaningful work but lacking a supportive significant other, sibling, parent, classmate, team member…Screw ‘em. Your work is meaningful.

Do you dread Mondays? I hereby rename Mondays MYDAY.

This officially kicks off the WE ARE BIGFiSH “Monday is MYDAY” series, and I chose the moustache theme  to support Movember. Movember is an ingenious campaign to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. You can read mo’ about Movember here. Happy Monday MYDAY!

Do you know what it feels like to have your slide presentation hand-picked and featured on the home page of SlideShare? I do, and I can tell you it feels good. The good news is that it wasn’t particularly difficult to accomplish.

This is how it happened:

1. I created a presentation using PowerPoint (called Become a BIGFiSH Online: How to Build a Following & Find Lifetime Customers).
2. I led a workshop at the Freelancing 101 Meetup in Los Angeles using the presentation.
3. I taught my first Skillshare class using a variation of the presentation.
4. People in my network located outside of Los Angeles expressed an interest in my workshops, so I posted the presentation on SlideShare.
5. The team at SlideShare notified and informed me that my presentation was the “Most Tweeted Presentation,” then it was the “Most Shared on Facebook,” and then it was the “Most Shared on LinkedIn,” and then it appeared in the 3rd Featured spot on their home page.

Here’s why I’ll continue posting presentations on SlideShare:

• It’s what I would call a small pond—it’s not horribly difficult to get your work featured.
• It gives me access to a new audience. (Slidegarden’s presentation got featured, and after only 1 month, they received almost 70K views!)
• I enjoy creating presentations, and it only takes a few minutes to post it to SlideShare.
• Why not?

If you’re into presentations or want to take a stab at expressing your ideas through a new medium, create a presentation and post it to SlideShare. Feel free to link to your presentation in the comments below, so we can check it out.

You can view my Become a BIGFiSH Online presentation here. Of course, my goal for my next presentation is to get it in the “Top Presentations of the Day.” Do you think I can do it? …Happy Sliding!

Here is the presentation I created for my Skillshare class and Freelancing 101 workshop. You can read about how it got featured on the home page of SlideShare here.

“My 3 Things” is a document, much like my mantra, that keeps me in check. It ensures that every action I take is a step towards fulfilling my personal legacy. It’s a visual representation encapsulating my goals and vision for WE ARE BIGFiSH.

Notice that My 3 Things are all action-oriented. This ensures that I’m not just wishing on a star (just talkin’ the talk); it ensures that I’m making sh*t happen (walkin’ the walk).

And you know what’s beautiful about My 3 Things? All 3 things come naturally and I enjoy doing them.

I watched Rihanna’s new video for “We Found Love,” and I thought it was genius. I emailed it to someone right away to get confirmation that it was provocative and well…perfect. Here’s what happened:

Me: WOW. I love Rihanna. This is a provocative video. [link to video]

Him: Not particularly original, that video. Guess she is experimenting with drugs heavily now.

I realized he completely missed the point. The video is not a reflection of her life; it’s a reflection of her audience’s life (or their fantasy life). If you noticed, Rihanna’s latest upbeat tracks have been laced by a techno beat. Who listens to techno? People who spend money on music, merch, and shows. (Just look at the top selling tracks and albums on iTunes.) The lifestyle portrayed in the video is filled with popping pills, attending raves, and living a carefree (in the video: mostly dangerous and dysfunctional) existence. As you’ll notice, the people in the video are not doing the dougie or dutty wine; the people in the video are jumping up and down to a raving techno beat. Not only has Rihanna found love, but she’s found her audience for this song.

Although I don’t fit the profile of the audience portrayed in her video, I ate the bold imagery and provocative themes right up. Rihanna and her co-star in the video Dudley O’Shaughnessy make an electric and believable couple. Director Melina Matsoukas (who I was surprised to find is only 30 and of Greek, Jewish, Jamaican and Cuban descent) does a stellar job weaving what she calls a “toxic” and addictive relationship with drugs and each other throughout the video. The moment when Rihanna and Chris—I mean Dudley are yelling at each other at the top of their lungs in the car, and she makes an exit slamming the door behind her, reminds me of a particular incident from two years ago.

All of that aside, there are a few lessons all individuals and companies can learn from this. Do you know the day-to-day activities, interests, and hot button topics of your audience? Do you know what they care about and where they spend their money? Whether you’re part of your target audience or not, it’s important that you speak their language and demonstrate an understanding and sensitivity to their deepest desires. In the case of Rihanna, her target audience wants to feel loved and be respected by their peers. What are your target audience’s deepest desires?

Will Boisture has me reliving my summer in NYC with his captivating footage in ”Metropolis – A New York City Timelapse.” And I’m not the only one falling in love with the cityscapes. “Metropolis” has over 43,000 views after just 11 days.

Not only is this video eye candy with a soulful soundtrack (“Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap), but it is also something Travel & Tourism Boards, Visitor Bureaus, and travel booking sites alike should think about recreating for their own destinations. They have the opportunity to seduce me with the natural elements and other things that comprise a city’s fabric. What better way to capture all of that than in a video?

And now what about you and your business? How can you use video to seduce me? What elements of your brand or business can you highlight to get me to buy you? Kudos to Will Boisture for capturing the essence and getting me to buy NYC.

Metropolis – A New York City Timelapse from Will Boisture on Vimeo.

When I was researching coworking spaces in Los Angeles the other day, I wasn’t able to find an exhaustive list. I consolidated my findings here.

Feel free to contact me or comment below if I left any spaces out. And please email me or comment below with tips and testimonials so I can add for others to benefit. Have fun gettin’ your coworkin’ on!

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Blankspaces (@Blankspaces) | info@blankspaces.com

“BLANKSPACES is a community of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and start-ups, where we provide flexible office plans available by the hour, day, and month.

“We have 2 locations: Santa Monica, in the heart of Silicon Beach, and Mid-Wilshire, central to Hollywood and media firms. Collaboration and camaraderie are the key reasons why members often hire each other. At BLANKSPACES, you ‘work for yourself, not by yourself.’”

When I visited Blankspaces (the Los Angeles location, centrally located on Wilshire), it seemed like a vibrant community—it had just the right amount of people to make me feel comfortable in the workspace. It has a nice balance of cubicles/private working areas and open/communal areas.

Los Angeles: 5405 Wilshire Blvd. | (323) 330-9505

Santa Monica: 1450 2nd St. | (310) 526-2255

CoLoft | (@CoLoft) | (310) 395-3366

hubLA (@thehubLA) | (213) 259-3530

Indie Desk (@indiedesk) | (213) 221-2836 | info@indiedesk.com

Kleverdog Coworking (@kleverdog) | topdog@kleverdogcoworking.com | (323) 924-8463 ext 3

Los Angeles: 418 Bamboo Lane, Suite A

NextSpace (@NextSpace) | (310) 606.2716 | nextspacela@nextspace.us

Office & Company | contact@officeandcompany.com

WHERE: Meet, Mix, Mogul | @wheremmm | (323) 663-6636 | wheremmm@gmail.com

1. Get out of the business you think you’re in. Understand not just what you’re selling but why you’re selling.
2. Look to your customers for guidance—not to your competitors.
3. Invent your own niche. Swim in your own pond.
4. Speak your customers’ languages. Know their deepest fears, desires, and hangouts.
5. Give ‘em somethin’ to talk about. Build word of mouth into your product and packaging. Give your customers the tools to market your product for you.
6. Provide a distinct perspective. Produce content with a specific point of view.
7. Take risks. Experiment. Be the first to try new things.
8. Value purpose over profits and creating meaning over revenue.
9. Select your measuring stick. Decide how you will measure success and what success looks like.
10. Be kind to your customers. Do not take satisfied customers for granted.

Is your brand a shining example of at least 1 of the 10 Commandments? Let me know in the comments below! I love learning from other big fish.

If I can help you incorporate any of the 10 Commandments into your current brand and business strategy, or if you need help turning your business into a big fish, feel free to check out my services or contact me.

(Photo credit: louie imaging on flickr)