Category: Creator Confidential
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Make your business the case study
If you run a web design agency, you may find yourself too busy working on client work to spruce up your own website. If you’re a freelance writer, you’re too busy ghostwriting for clients to put pen to paper for your own thoughts. If you’re in marketing, you promote your client’s products, but you don’t…
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Constructive criticism
People who praise everything you can seem extremely supportive. They hype your work, and build up your self-image. While this energy may make you feel more confident, and can help you gather the energy to nurture an initial idea, pure praise also doesn’t help you make your work better. A statement that sounds like constructive…
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Yardsticks and patience
Ailian Gan believes that it took Seth Godin four years of blogging every day before he found his style and started writing like he does today. It’s tempting to use that as a yardstick; for me, I’m two years into blogging every day, and hopefully I’ll get there in another two. The reality is, there’s…
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The slump
Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to get out of the slump. You feel as though there is barely enough time to make the work good—let alone to escape, clear your head, reset your energy. You’re feeling scared, too. You don’t want the slump to turn into a block. You probably know the answer: keep…
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Independent vs. interdependent
When you work independently—as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or creator—in the early days, you actually could become more dependent on the people you know. For example, you could rely on the people already in your network to help you come across new opportunities, support you emotionally and hold you accountable, and tell their network about your…
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You can just do stuff, you know
Yesterday, Pharrell Williams released an album. He also turned 51. It’s on a WordPress website. It’s not available through streaming platforms. If you want, you can download all of the songs in .mp3 format with one click. It’s delightfully straightforward. He also didn’t promote it, not even on his own social media channels. Not that…
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100 times
If you’re getting started on something and think that a person’s advice is going to help you, you should reach out. If you don’t hear back from them, don’t give up yet. Instead, whatever you’re doing, try it 100 times. For example, if you’re trying to write a book, write 100 articles. (Or 100 pages,…
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Something to respond to
Several years ago, I suggested that responding was a powerful way to make more creative work. Advice columns and call-in radio shows are relatively timeless examples of this dynamic. You can also flip this advice and apply it to someone else: if you want to hear or understand somebody’s thoughts, give them something to respond…
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Prove it
If you want to do something, like really want to do it, you need to prove it. That starts with you proving it to yourself. In difficult circumstances, do you make excuses? Or do you face your problem head on? Are you willing to make difficult decisions to do what you’ve committed to? Are you…
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“What if I’m no good?”
Let’s say you want to do something creative. You’re not sure about how good you really are, or how much money you’ll make, or whether or not you’ll “go somewhere” with it. Would you do it anyway? The answer needs to be a resounding yes. That’s the level of drive and sacrifice that it takes…