Last week I met two people who’d been on my “must meet” list for awhile.
Ryan Lee and Ben Settle.
When it comes to voice, these two couldn’t be further apart.
From their writing voice…
Ryan is the eternally optimistic, friend at the bar.
Ben is the anti-establishment, authoritarian.
To the first meeting…
Ryan gave me a hug as soon as he met me and said he already felt like we were good friends because of our email exchanges.
Ben immediately asked me to try my best to impress him because he wanted to know if I was worth the hype.
And on stage…
Ryan teared up as he told us how his family is his “why” for building a successful business (completely with happy pictures on the beach).
Ben called Ryan a “mush cookie” and then handed out copies of his new book “Persuasion Secrets of the World’s Most Charismatic & Influential Villains”
They were the Odd Couple of email.
But here’s the strange part… this morning I was looking back over my notes from the event and these two… opposites in every way had the EXACT same business strategy.
They believed in the same things. They gave the same advice. And, the result was the same.
Both have raving fans.
Both have an extremely profitable business.
And, both live a lifestyle on their terms. Ryan spends time with his beautiful family and Ben– well, I’m not sure what Ben does there in Oregon, but he’s quite happy with it.
There is no “right answer” to voice. There’s no voice that works versus one that doesn’t.
The right answer is owning it. What these two have in common is they are far from vanilla. And they are both authentic. Ryan’s fans don’t want him to be any other way. And, Ben’s masochistic fans love the abuse.
So whether ye be a mush cookie or a maniacal villain… be it. And don’t let anyone tell you to be anything else.
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