“Inspiration is a word used by people who aren’t really doing anything.” — Nick Cave
For the past six weeks I’ve done something you may or may not know about it.
I’ve shared simple exercises that can be done in 15 minutes or less to help people make progress on their projects through my Creator Accelerator program.
Already 124 people have joined and and they’re finding it valuable — saying stuff like “Very helpful!,” “This is a terrific idea,” and my personal favorite, “OH MY I LOVE THIS.”
So far, I’ve helped them:
• Find an easy way to say no to things
• Figure out if their audience understands what they do
• Find people likely to enjoy their creations
• Figure out where to focus their effort and resources
• Find valuable people to follow and connect with on social media
Plus, I’ve enjoyed connecting with and helping members in a private Facebook group as well.
There’s so much more to come.
If you’d like to start getting the exercises, join the Creator Accelerator here.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. My Advice For Creators In 30 Sentences (Give or Take)
“You become a pro by operating like one when you’re an amateur.”
I spend a lot of time working with, studying, and advising creators of all types about what it takes to produce, promote, and profit from their creations.
My advice for creators in 30 sentences is a collection of concepts I find myself pointing out often including that the better your work the less you’ll need to promote it, your desire to succeed must be greater than your fear of failure, and that you should study what other creators do…and then do something else.
Related: The seven videos I most often tell creators to watch.
2. How To Make Connections In Your Industry
“There’s no better way to connect with someone than to provide them value upfront.”
No matter what you hope to accomplish, your ability to identify and connect with others will play a large role in your ultimate success or failure.
Brian Medavoy breaks down how to make connections in your industry using a simple three-step system to create a list of people you’d like to connect with, research them, and reach out to them.
While his advice is geared toward the entertainment industry, the same system will work for any industry.
Related: How to grow your network when you hate networking.
3. How Steve Jobs Approached Marketing
“Our customers want to know who is Apple and what is it that we stand for? Where do we fit in this world?”
Whether you’re promoting a company, a product, your content, or yourself, this video may reframe how approach doing so.
In a 7-minute video from 1997, Steve Jobs explains his approach to marketing and specifically the thinking that led to the creation of the now-iconic “Think Different” campaign.
Related: Prince, Steve Jobs, and Picasso were not perfectionists.
4. Why You Shouldn’t Fear Losing Fans
“In the end, to challenge our fans is to love them, even if it means losing them.”
Every artist should read this.
When asked if he worries his existing fans won’t like his band’s evolving sound, Nick Cave explains why you shouldn’t fear losing fans.
He points out creating art specifically to please fans can be patronizing and exploitative and suggests the only way to move and affect people is to challenge them.
Related: How to make something so unique it can’t be ignored.
5. Choose A Price Before You Build A Product
“Most companies postpone pricing decisions until after the product is developed. They embark on a long, costly journey of hoping they’ll make money rather than knowing they will.”
This one might forever change the way you think about pricing things — I know it did for me.
Madhavan Ramanujam suggests you choose a price before you build a product and shares his three key rules for monetizing new products including to have the “willingness-to-pay” talk early, investigate how you charge as much as what you charge, and don’t settle for a one size-fits-all solution.
Related: Not sure how to price your work? Try this formula.
Before You Go…
Check out other stuff I found interesting this week including 80% of everything you need to know to become a better writer, how to delegate well, and how to respond when people ask to pick your brain.
Last week’s most popular article was 13 places to find free illustrations you can use.
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