Don’t judge your decisions based on their outcomes.
Just because it worked out, doesn’t mean you made the right decision.
Just because it didn’t work out, doesn’t mean you made the wrong one.
You’re never quite as smart or stupid as you think you are.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. How To Jump Start Your Blog When Traffic Flatlines
“You get traffic by helping others.”
Every blogger hits a rut — I wrote this to help get you out of it.
In this post I break down how to jump start your blog when traffic flatlines including suggestions of what to read, what to write, and even when to publish it.
Related: How to come up with a great idea for your next blog post.
2. How To Grow Your YouTube Channel
“When you’re starting any video, say your credentials.”
This is one of the simplest, most actionable collections of advice I’ve seen when it comes to optimizing your YouTube videos.
In a 26-minute video, noah kagan demonstrates how to grow your Youtube channel with step-by-step instructions you can follow to optimize your channel page, individual videos, titles, descriptions, and even how to leverage your website and email list to drive more views.
Related: The seven videos I most often tell creators to watch.
3. 68 Bits Of Advice From The Creator Of The 1,000 True Fans Theory
“When you get an invitation to do something in the future, ask yourself: Would you accept this if it was scheduled for tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass that immediacy filter.”
Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired magazine and author of the famous 1,000 true fans theory, recently celebrated his 68th birthday.
The occasion led him to compile 68 bits of unsolicited advice including that being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points, pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes, and art is in what you leave out.
Related: How to get more true fans.
4. The Art Of Email Marketing: How To Earn Customers And Make Superfans
“The dynamic is completely different when the people you are sending the promotion to WANT TO RECEIVE IT.”
This one is deep.
It’s really more of a mini-course than an article, but you’ll be happy about that because it’s packed with valuable information.
Andre Chaperon’s dive into the art of email marketing covers everything from how email fits strategically into what you do, to how to write emails and newsletters people will love, to how to use those emails to sell your products and services.
Btw I found this link in Marc Eglon’s newsletter.
Related: The first thing I send to people who give me their email address.
5. 16 Lessons From Spending 10,000 Hours With The Co-Founder Of LinkedIn
“Most strengths have corresponding weaknesses. If you try to manage or mitigate a given weakness, you might also eliminate the corresponding strength.”
Ben Casnocha spent two years working as Reid Hoffman’s Chief of Staff and during that time learned a ton of powerful lessons from the LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist.
He compiled many of them into these 16 lessons learned from Reid Hoffman including that the best way to get a busy person’s attention is to help them, to be clear on your specific level of engagement on a project, and that a key to good partnerships is to identify and emphasize any misaligned incentives.
Btw, I found this in Trevor McKendrick’s newsletter.
Related: How to spot the lessons life tries to teach you today.
My Final Words Of The Week
Do you know this isn’t the only newsletter I write?
I also send a separate email every Sunday morning with a recommended action you can take in 15 minutes or less to make progress toward your goals.
It’s called The Creator Accelerator.
Subscribers dig it.
In the past few weeks, I’ve helped them…
• Grow their network on social media
• Get noticed by people whose work they admire
• Improve communication with their teams, partners, clients, and/or fans
• Manufacture opportunities to get “lucky”
The emails aren’t free — it’s a $10 monthly subscription.
But that’s part of why it works so well for people.
You’re more likely to act on advice you pay for than advice you get for free.
Because you’ve got skin in the game.
So…
If you’d like to check it out, put some skin in the game, and use my suggestions to take action, I’d love to share them with you.
Go here to get the Creator Accelerator emails.
Thanks for your interest.
Have a great week.
Josh