Peter Shankman, being ADHD positive, and scaling a give-to-get mindset – VB Engage

We have a great treat for you today as we discuss press, technology, and ADHD with Peter Shankman, founder of HARO.

Speaking of ADHD, Stewart and I discuss a new report by Jampp, released this week, that shares research on the declining state of attention. With all of the apps, social channels, status updates, images, and advertising hitting us constantly, the attention span of mobile users is decreasing at a rate of 88 percent year on year.

We also discuss Facebook’s announcement that its Instant Articles feature is coming to Facebook Messenger. Similar to Google AMP, Facebook’s Instant Articles store a version of your article on its server. Facebook Instant Articles will slide out on the Messenger app into a browser of its own in an instant — good for all those short attention spans.

Maybe all of the communication with various messenger apps heralds the arrival of Web 3.0, but since few can agree on a definition for Web 3.0, we’re not completely sure.

Peter Shankman goes deep with us in this episode. He discusses his ADHD and how he has learned to hack it. Shankman hosts a weekly podcast called Faster Than Normal, where he shares his experiences with the benefits of ADHD. His guests also have ADHD and share hacks and their thoughts on the topic.

“Not everyone can write a best-selling book on a flight to Tokyo and back. You just need 31 hours on a plane where you can get shit done. If you’re going to be that different, you might as well share it with the world.”

Different is awesome.

He also talks about his philosophy of  “give to get” and about his practice of doing favors and helping others with advice. Shankman noticed that he was spending lots of time giving feedback, so he created the ShankMinds community to provide a place for people to go.

ShankMinds offers great feedback for entrepreneurs who may not have a strong support system. This is a safe place to discuss topics relevant to entrepreneurs.

Peter also shares a story about when he founded his PR firm in 1998. “Titanic” was huge in the box office at the time, and he used his rent money to create a T-shirt that said, “It Sank. Deal With It.”

He sold 500 shirts in 6 hours. He leaked the story to USA Today and ended up selling $100,000 worth of shirts. His parents still lambasted him for risking his rent money.

But it worked.

We also ask Peter about hacks for dealing with all of the distractions that bombard us every day, and he recommends four basic tricks. Listen in to find out what they are.

Of course, we talk about engagement with Peter, especially in a world where we all interact with each other on smartphones.

“As a society, we should stop chasing the likes and start doing likable things,” Peter said. “Engaging. Talking. Asking what you can do to help.”

Do more things that add value to others, and stop looking to always sell to people. Being authentic is the key.

Peter Shankman is an inspirational guest. Make sure you listen to this interview to get every last nugget of knowledge.

And when you’re done, please rate and review VB Engage on your favorite podcast directory. We’ll make sure to keep bringing you great guests to learn from.

Such as last week, with the “Godfather of Martech,” Scott Brinker. And next week, we have the one and only Brian Solis, principal analyst at The Altimeter Group, author of seven books, and an international keynote speaker.

See you next Tuesday with episode 12.