“All we know is still infinitely less than all that remains unknown.” — William Harvey
I just finished reading the book Company of One by Paul Jarvis and highly recommend it.
The book poses — and in many ways answers — an essential question: What if the key to success isn’t to think bigger, but rather to think smaller?
It questions the assumption that growth is always good and suggests we aim for better instead of bigger.
It just may reshape how you approach your work, art, and life.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. Four No-BS Steps To Launch A Successful Newsletter
“You’re not actually selling a newsletter — you’re selling the value the newsletter provides.”
This might be the most valuable podcast interview I’ve ever done.
I recently was interviewed by Louis Grenier on the Everyone Hates Marketers podcast (which happens to be a personal favorite of mine) and shared with him four no-BS steps to launch a successful newsletter.
In the episode I touch on everything from the difference between a newsletter and email marketing, to how to set a goal for your newsletter, to how to position your newsletter’s value to potential subscribers.
Related: Learn how to grow your newsletter in my Newsletter Accelerator course.
2. Four Ways To Build Better Calls To Action
“Calls to action should not feel like an obligation or burden; they should ask people to do something they want to do and that they can do easily.”
No matter what your goals, in order to achieve them you need to figure out how to get other people to take action and that’s where this article comes in handy.
The Stanford Social Innovation Review breaks down four ways to build better calls to action based on behavioral science including to make your call to action specific, achievable, and feel like everyone else is doing it.
Related: How to use a “one-action” strategy to activate your audience.
3. How A Disney Intern Attracted 269,000 Followers On TikTok In Two Months
“When someone hits your profile, they’ve gotta be able to immediately tell what to expect from you to consider following your acct.”
One of the biggest misunderstandings about audience growth on social media is that few people understand what actually makes some creators take off and others struggle to get attention.
Jack Appleby shares an analysis of how a Disney intern attracted 269,000 followers on TikTok in two months while detailing her experience in the internship program.
He credits her success to having a single clear content purpose, a story people want to hear, and leveraging talents that are a perfect fit for the platform.
Related: Get more attention for your creations by telling your three stories.
4. 10 Lessons From 10 Years Of The Unmistakable Creative Podcast
“Because we can go from idea to execution faster than at any time in history, people expect to succeed just as quickly. If you’re not willing to put at least a year of time into creating something, don’t expect to succeed.”
For the past decade Srinivas Rao has interviewed creative people on his podcast and in the process learned a ton about not only what it takes to do creative work, but what it takes to stick with it for the long term.
He shares 10 lessons from 10 years of the Unmistakable Creative Podcast including that everything takes longer than you think, who you become is more valuable than what you get, and it’s important to compare less and create more.
Related: How Tim Ferriss built a successful podcast.
5. How To Build An Email List From Scratch
“After you capture your first 100 emails, your goal should no longer be capturing emails in bursts but instead capturing them steadily and consistently… daily.”
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but if you’re doing anything that requires a connection to an audience then you need an email list (or ideally, a newsletter) because it’s the single best way to reach an audience.
Cole Schafer explains how to build an email list from scratch including how to build a killer email opt-in page, get your first 100 subscribers by tapping into your phone contacts, and implement realistic strategies to grow to 1,000 subscribers.
Related: 13 proven ways to grow your email list.
Three Quick Things Before You Go…
Want help accomplishing your goals? Check out my Creator Accelerator.
Last week’s most popular link was the secret to being more productive is a checklist.
First time here and like what you see? Subscribe here.