Growing up, every morning I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast and that day’s newspaper was sitting on the table for me to browse while I ate.
Looking back, I realize that was more valuable, influential, and defining than anything that happened in school.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. To Make Your Next Creation Better, Make It A Team Effort
“I’ve increasingly noticed — and found in my own work — that incorporating others into your creative process can pay huge dividends.”
Most successful creators have a secret — their creations are a team effort.
In this post I break down the four benefits of making your creations a team effort and share examples of how doing so can make your work more credible, increase its relevance to your audience, and improve the quality of your creations.
Related: 13 ways to turn the next thing you write into the best thing you’ve written.
2. Why Getting Specific Is The Key To Getting What You Want
“You can’t act on a vague desire.”
This only takes a minute to read, but it might forever improve your ability to take action and accomplish your goals.
Derek Sivers explains why getting specific is the key to getting what you want and suggests the key to doing so is to write down every detail you know about what you want and research what you don’t know.
Btw, this is an excerpt from Derek’s book Your Music and Your People which I just finished reading and highly recommend even if you’re not a musician.
Related: The five things you need to be specific about.
3. How Morning Brew Engages Its Audience
“Our newsletter has 2.5 million subscribers, but that’s not the number we actually care about.”
Morning Brew has quickly become one of the most successful newsletters in the world and its success is rooted in the emphasis it puts on connecting with its audience.
Jenny Rothenberg breaks down how Morning Brew engages its audience including how it onboards new subscribers, when it removes subscribers, and the referral program it used to supercharge its growth.
Btw, I found this article in Simon Owens’ Tech and Media Newsletter.
Related: A five-day plan to grow your newsletter.
4. 30 Principles To Guide Your Internal Communication
“Meetings are the last resort, not the first option.”
This is an incredible resource for any company, team, or group of people that need to communicate with each other on a regular basis.
Basecamp’s 30 principles to guide your internal communication include suggestions about how best to communicate day-to-day, how to set expectations for when people should respond (or not), and why urgency is overrated.
Btw, I found this article in the Rad Reads newsletter.
Related: How to use email to spend 50% less time in meetings.
5. Six Keys To Changing Someone’s Mind
“Even if you do everything right, most likely you’re not going to convince them…they’re going to slowly convince themselves.”
This one has wide-ranging applications — especially in our current polarized world.
Eric Barker shares six keys to changing someone’s mind based on science including to be a partner instead of an adversary, to realize facts are the enemy, and to understand serious beliefs are about values and identity.
Btw, I found this article in the Storythings newsletter.
Related: Watching this video every morning could change your life.
This Is How I Write A New Client Proposal
I put together an eight-page PDF that reveals how I create new client proposals that consistently get me clients and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for my business.
Get This Is How I Write A New Client Proposal to see what happens before I send a proposal, a look at an actual proposal I’ve sent, an explanation of why I format proposals this way, and how you can apply these universal principles and format to your own business, product, or service.
Or, subscribe to This Is How I Do It to get access to that resource plus 19 more resources on other topics and a new one every week for the next year.
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My Final Words Of The Week
In 1980, a Northwestern University student started a band.
They were great, got some buzz, put out an album and built a following in Chicago, but ultimately didn’t become famous and life went on.
But, the lead singer’s five-year-old nephew loved their music and would run around the house singing their songs.
You’ve probably never head of the band, but they were famous to him.
Forty years later, that kid grew up to be a huge music fan himself and create his own things.
One of those things was a newsletter that reaches thousands of people.
So when that kid (me) found out his uncle’s old band (The Front Lines) finally started to release their music online, he got the chance to do something cool:
Tell thousands of people about it.
Go listen to the song Dying In Fiction, recorded by The Front Lines in 1980 and just released on Spotify and Apple Music.
You’ll dig it — I know I did.
Have a great week!
Josh
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Thanks!