Herbert Lui

Blog on creativity, marketing, and the human condition.

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  • To know vs. to do

    The team at Basecamp recently did a six-week sprint to improve the product’s onboarding flow. They did a bunch of stuff and shipped it. The result was a 30% increase in conversion rate.  “What happened?!” you might ask them. “How? What’s the best practice?”  They don’t know. They don’t care. “The point wasn’t to know,…

    Herbert Lui

    February 4, 2025
    Creativity, Creator Confidential
  • “Never do nothing”

    It was earlier in his life, perhaps when he worked in finance, that Dave Spitz picked up a belief:  “If you do everything on your to-do list, you’re succeeding. If you don’t, you’re failing.” Dave quit finance and eventually started California Strength, a training facility for Olympic weightlifting.  While he owns a gym, he doesn’t…

    Herbert Lui

    February 3, 2025
    Creativity, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories
  • One chance

    Dan Sullivan is a coach for entrepreneurs. He asks every prospective client a question, “If we were having this discussion three years from today, and you were looking back over those three years, what has to have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with your progress?” It’s a…

    Herbert Lui

    February 2, 2025
    Creator Confidential, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories
  • What’s the point?

    “What’s the point in planning, if it could all end at any time?” Dustin Gorton survived the Columbine massacre at age 18. He learned how fleeting life can be that day. A blog attributes a powerful reflection to him, penned when he turned 36. It reads, “I came away with the [lesson that] death is…

    Herbert Lui

    February 1, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories
  • Blogging for smaller audiences and deeper connections

    Making good work requires making mistakes. It’s never a straight path to the final work. If a lot of people see your creative work all the time, then it’ll be more difficult for you to make imperfect work.  You won’t have space to tinker and experiment so much. You won’t even just be able to…

    Herbert Lui

    January 31, 2025
    Creativity, Creator Confidential, Promotion, Revision, Turning Stories
  • Three stories about emotional reactions

    1. Anthony de Mello writes in Awareness: Imagine a patient who goes to a doctor and tells him what he is suffering from. The doctor says, “Very well, I’ve understood your symptoms. Do you know what I will do? I will prescribe a medicine for your neighbor!” The patient replies, “Thank you very much, Doctor,…

    Herbert Lui

    January 30, 2025
    Creativity, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories
  • Chipping away

    I used to drop everything to focus on a single project at a time. I would try to do all the tasks as soon as possible, in the hopes of getting it done and out of the way so I could relax.  For example, if I had an administrative project, I told myself I’d just…

    Herbert Lui

    January 29, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Creator Confidential, Life, Turning Stories
  • Good prose

    The lyrics from a good song will put your feelings into words better than you could have. That’s really the songwriter’s only job. Similarly, the prose from a blog post, article, or book should put your feelings into words better than you could have as well. A good piece of prose should energize you and…

    Herbert Lui

    January 28, 2025
    Creativity
  • Discouragement is a test

    When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a sports commentator. I enjoyed watching sports, and I liked talking, so that sounded like a sweet job. My family gave me a hard reality check:  How many people were there on TV that looked like me? How often did such job opportunities open up? What…

    Herbert Lui

    January 27, 2025
    Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Good Enough

    There are enough people who don’t like how software has evolved, don’t need all of the bells and whistles (and don’t want to pay for it), and remember how much simpler software used to be. It’s how I feel about the music app, Doppler. I don’t know the team at Good Enough, but it seems…

    Herbert Lui

    January 26, 2025
    Contentions, Creativity, Promotion
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