Category: Creator Confidential
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Find people who need the best idea
The trailer for Thor: Ragnarok closes with Thor bracing himself for his opponent. He finds out that it’s his fellow Avenger, the Hulk. Thor screams in relief and celebration, “We know each other! He’s a friend from work!” That was one of the best lines in the movie, and it wasn’t in the script. It…
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Three good ways to let go of expectations
I was recently speaking about Creative Doing at a workshop, and had suggested that participants would be better off lowering their expectations for what their creative work would do for them. One participant responded by asking, “What are some good ways to let go of expectations?” Three prompts come to mind for practicing letting go…
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What can you demo?
At some point in the future, you’ll probably need to help someone understand something you want to do. For example, you may need to pitch an idea to someone. A great way to think about this is to build a demo—the closest approximation to your idea that you can make with a few resources and…
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Make another option
A nice way to think about making something new is simply to show up to the marketplace with a new option. That thing you’re making is just an option for the customer that happens to express what you want. If people happen to like and buy your option, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s fine…
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Unscheduled and flexible
When I recently started a new newsletter, Three Thought Starters, I originally intended to send an email out every Sunday. I was very excited, because I’d been planning to put a newsletter out for months. Things were coming along nicely, and my subscribers received the first few issues very positively. After a few weeks, I…
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Helpful overconfidence vs. hurtful overconfidence
Sometimes, being overconfident can actually be useful. For example, when you behave like someone likes you—even when you’re not sure—you create a self-fulfilling dynamic where they may be more likely to reciprocate your behavior. When you are overconfident about how much influence you have over your attitude, you also choose to deliberately shape it. Here…
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Three things I learned after placing Creative Doing in a bookstore
Several months ago, I cold called a brick and mortar bookstore and pitched Creative Doing to the manager of a bookstore. To my surprise, the manager placed an order for a few copies right away. Since cold emails have a low success rate, I had thought the odds would be incredibly low for something like…
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Three dimensional business cards
I once heard a CEO of a construction company describe his buildings as three dimensional business cards. It was a great way of thinking about work, and emphasizing why it’s important to do a good job on everything. When a prospective client sees the work you did for somebody else, even if they’re not on…
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Another business model example blending creativity and expertise
A couple of years ago, I highlighted Chris Do’s business model for The Futur. More recently, I also highlighted Dan Runcie’s business model. Here’s Dan Shipper sharing his business model for Every: At the top of the pyramid are the enterprise deals. I’ve previously written a bit about Spotify’s, Axios’s, and Headspace’s moves into the…
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Presenting uncertainty
If somebody is approaching you about a simple question that you know is impossible to answer, you want to respond with a demonstration of your expertise. Let them know the uncertainty is justified; show historical evidence that what they are asking is difficult to predict. Look at the evidence or circumstances and let the person…