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Your craft and your business model
If you’re doing something creative, you’re going to have to make a decision at some point: Are you going to try to apply your craft into a structurally difficult business model? Or are you going to find a different—less prestigious, less crowded, easier—business model to apply your craft? In writing, the decision is to spend…
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On franchises
When you make something on the internet, you’re best off making something that stands out. Even if you follow someone else’s template or structure, you want to put your own little twist on it—so that it cuts through the noise, but also so that people know that you made it. You do this by following…
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What if that’s what it takes?
In the 1990s, Jay Jenkins started his first record label. He had signed artists to record, but they weren’t following through on their commitments. Things were falling apart. When his friend told him, “You might as well do it yourself,” Jay’s first thought was, “I’m not a rapper, I’m a hustler.” In his book, Adversity…
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The pressure sweet spot
There are things you know you are capable of, and there are things you’re not sure about. You might have a decades-long habit of brushing your teeth, so you don’t feel pressure when someone asks you if you can brush your teeth. By contrast, the things you’re not sure about are less certain. For example,…
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“Please make some noise!”
You’ll often hear a recording artist, or their hype person, say this at a show. When people make noise, it’s easier for the artist to believe that everyone there is interested in what they’re doing, and to bring 100% to the performance. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy; the audience, in turn, is energized by the…
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Success vs. happiness
You suffer. You know you are capable of something great, and yet it feels like nobody sees that. Maybe it’s depression, or pain of another sort. It feels like there’s a hole inside of you. You think you can fill this hole by pursuing your art and achieving success. This goal gives you hope, motivation,…
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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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Make the present catch up to the future
When you make a prediction about the future, you are putting your reputation on the line. If your prediction comes true, people trust you more. If your prediction doesn’t come true, people trust you less. When you are working with people’s expectations, making a simple prediction, “I’m going to get this thing done today,” helps…