Anyone that knows me knows that I’m greatly influenced by Seth Godin. One of the ideas he often talks about is the concept of “shipping.” Shipping is getting work done and out the door to consumers. More importantly, he believes we should ship OFTEN and CONSTANTLY. No matter what your occupation or industry is.

This isn’t necessarily an excuse to do lousy work, but more about getting stuff done quickly and in the hands of your market as soon as it does what it needs to do. Then when a new project comes around get that ready and shipped quickly also.

But why is shipping so effective? The first reason is that it is a way of constantly testing your product. You ship, listen to the feedback on what went right and what went wrong, and then you’re ready to implement for the next time you ship. On an on, constant steady improvement with objective feedback(aka sales).

The second reason, and just as important in my eyes, is because shipping tells a story. More specifically, it tells YOUR story. We can trace the story of Apple by looking at their catalog of products starting with the Apple I computer and continuing up to the present day. Both the successes and the failures. This blog is another example. It may not be perfect, but it represents me at this moment in my evolution. My story.

Humans are suckers for stories, we like to see/hear every step in the struggle. Gory or glorious. Because that’s what’s required to tell a story, and that’s what creates a brand. A story. Not just a beginning and an end.