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In this episode, Haley Janicek from the Kit team joins me for our new Q&A format to explore building community, creating content, and growing your business in the creator economy.First, we explore the power of in-person connections through our experiences with Kit Studios and Craft + Commerce, discussing how community accelerates growth. Then we tackle your questions about AI in content creation, balancing revenue streams, and transitioning to full-time creation.You'll learn practical strategies for building your minimum viable brand, leveraging AI tools authentically, and creating sustainable growth - whether you're starting out or scaling up your creator business.Timestamps:00:00 Introduction01:33 Behind the Scenes at Kit with Haley Janicek02:26 Building Kit Studios: From Idea to Reality in 27 Days08:11 Kit Studios Expansion: New Location Coming in February08:47 Why In-Person Creator Communities Matter10:36 What Creators Can Learn from Taylor Swift's Success13:19 How Events Transform Creator Businesses18:40 Inside Craft and Commerce: The Creator Conference19:47 The Strategic Selfie Method for Networking23:09 Why In-Person Events Beat Online Networking24:56 Craft & Commerce 2025: Event Details27:35 Starting the Q&A Session28:18 Using AI for Authentic Content Creation32:28 Where the Creator Economy is Heading in 202533:48 How to Choose the Right Business Strategy35:11 Preventing Creator Burnout While Growing36:41 Growing a Creator Business with a Full-Time Job39:07 Transitioning from Expert to Full-Time Creator43:21 Balancing Profit with Positive Impact45:58 The Journey to Building a $43M Company48:49 Closing ThoughtsIf you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave us a review. We read every single one.Learn more about The Nathan Barry Show: https://nathanbarry.com/show Follow Nathan:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow Website: https://nathanbarry.com Follow Haley:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyjani LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-janicek X: https://twitter.com/haleyjanicek Featured in this episode:Kit: https://kit.com Craft and Commerce: https://conference.kit.com FinCon: https://finconexpo.com Tim Grahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timgrahl Eras Tour: https://www.taylorswift.com/events Village Impact: https://villageimpact.com Jen Hatmaker: https://jenhatmaker.com Mom 2.0: https://mom2summit.com John Meese: https://johnmeese.com Sahil Bloom: https://sahilbloom.com Michael Hyatt: https://michaelhyatt.com Amy Porterfield: https://www.amyporterfield.com James Clear: https://jamesclear.com Kirsten Grove: https://www.instagram.com/simplygrove Happy Happy Houseplant: https://happyhappyhouseplant.com ChatGPT: https://www.openai.com/chatgpt Claude: https://www.anthropic.com Google Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google Highlights:11:23 Taylor Swift as a Creator14:23 The Value of Community26:40 Craft & Commerce29:39 Navigating AI Tools as a Creator35:53 Creator Flywheels39:21 Personal Branding Advice46:24 Starting a Creator Business
This week, I'm sharing a recent conversation with Justin Moore, a friend of the podcast. Justin has been on the show several times, most recently in May. He's a member of The Lab, the founder of Creator Wizard, and THE guy to learn sponsorship strategy from. Justin is making some big moves – next year, he's publishing his first book AND he's hosting an in-person sponsorship summit. When we were at Craft + Commerce back in June, he and I took some time to talk about how I'd approach that event if I were him. This was originally part of HIS Creator Wizard podcast. Full transcript and show notes Watch this in video Pre-order Justin's Book, Sponsor Magnet Justin's Website / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / TikTok *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #144: Bari Baumgardner – How to create the perfect 3-day event (IRL or virtually) → #187: Michael Stelzner – How to run profitable events (without sponsors or selling from the stage) *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY
Does anyone know you so well, they can describe you in a single sentence?When I was at Craft + Commerce, Mike Pacchione gave some great advice for when you tell stories:When describing someone, use a single sentence that instantly tells the listener who they are. Here's an example:My dad always told people, “Joe would argue with Jesus Christ if he came off the cross.”You probably think I'm…opinionated, to put it nicely.You should do the same thing with your podcast, and episodes.What would that look like?If I'm describing my show How I Built It , I might say, “You get free coaching sessions from the best creators.”I can then extend that out to specific episodes. “You get one coaching session from Mike on Public Speaking,” for example.For this show, I can say, "Bite-sized tips to help you improve your podcast process."As you figure out the best one-liner for your podcast, keep your show's mission in mind.The one-liner can be based on the mission, or even define it. Get your free Podcast Process Templates at https://podcastworkflows.com/templates ★ Support this podcast ★
What do you get when you follow the pack instead of doing what's best for you? A bad content strategy. A year ago, I decided to focus on short-form content because I saw all the “thread Bois” doing it and thought it would help my business. It didn't. But luckily, you can course-correct your strategies. And thanks to some key talks and inspiration from CEX and Craft+Commerce, I've decided that long form is the best strategy for my business (and probably yours, too). Get the top takeaways, show notes, and transcript at https://howibuilt.it/322 Sponsored by: Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA Gapscout: ChatGPT insights, but for market research Get your FREE copy of my Automations Library ★ Support this podcast ★
In this episode I'm sharing my top takeaways from the 2023 Convertkit Craft + Commerce conference and highlighting the importance of focusing on doing only what you can do in your zone of genius. Tune in for my tips on the preparation process and the key mindset shift I embraced as I delivered my speech.
David reflects on 18 months of freedom, Mike reports back from Craft + Commerce, and they both share their best advice for teaching kids how to focus.
David reflects on 18 months of freedom, Mike reports back from Craft + Commerce, and they both share their best advice for teaching kids how to focus.
Ready to transform your thoughts about money and charge more for your products or services? Join me as I share some eye-opening takeaways from the incredible speakers at the Craft + Commerce event, especially Terry Rice, a coach and speaker who captivated me with his message on aligning your offerings with your ability to spend more time doing what you love. Terry's quote resonated: "Increase your rates so that you can spend more time doing what you love with the people that matter most." Besides Terry's impactful insights, I also discuss the importance of sharing your unique perspective on a topic, even if others have already covered it. As a content consumer, I can attest that people need what you offer. I encourage you to listen to Terry's podcast, check out his Instagram, and surround yourself with generous, inspiring individuals like him. Don't miss out on these valuable lessons, and remember to keep it fresh, keep it fun, and just keep going!
I've just returned from the game-changing Craft Commerce conference, and I'm bursting with inspiration, insights, and connections with incredible creators like Terry Rice, Bonnie Christine, and Amy Porterfield. What made this conference truly special was the intimate atmosphere and the chance to mingle with these big names in the industry. So, prepare for a week with excellent takeaways from this unforgettable event!My Google Doc of notes is overflowing with over 100 pages of valuable knowledge from the conference, including screenshots and insights from the speakers. In today's episode, I'll share some highlights and key takeaways from the Craft Commerce conference. But for a deeper dive and even more valuable information, check out my upcoming episode on the Proffitt Podcast. Trust me; you won't want to miss this week of learning and growth. As always, remember to keep it fresh, keep it fun, and just keep going!
I recently got back from ConvertKit's Craft + Commerce Conference in Boise, Idaho and my mind was BLOWN! The online business world is changing and we all need to adapt. This conference brought together some of the biggest names in the industry, but also the up-and-comers who are trying new things and finding out what works. I'm going to share some of my biggest takeaways, why I went, what I had hoped to get out of it, and what people are missing out on when they don't go to conferences. I'll also give you the one takeaway that, if you were to only take one thing from this conference, will make a huge difference in your business. In this episode, you'll hear… 03:12 - Why I chose to attend Craft + Commerce (and why I almost changed my mind) 17:35 - Blogging isn't dead 19:22 - The importance of diversifying your marketing strategy 22:58 - Focusing on the big stuff and less on the trends 35:02 - Getting down with your numbers 37:00 - Titles are so important 40:36 - Public speaking tips 43:07 - Investing in your future self 45:35 - Being high value* 48:47 - Getting clear on what success means to you 50:22 - Doing $10k work In our review of the week, TadaSrah writes: "Sam is so knowledgeable and down to earth. I love listening to On Your Terms! Sam is incredibly knowledgeable and is an outstanding teacher! She makes the “less fun” legal parts of running a business actually interesting and enjoyable to learn. I'm also an Ultimate Bundle member which has helped me tremendously in my business, so I was stoked when she started a podcast because I love learning from her! I listen while I'm doing chores around the house and I always feel like she's right there talking directly to me. I can't recommend it enough to anyone who is starting or running an online business. Thanks for all that you do Sam!" If you'd like a shoutout (and a chance to win a $20 gift card), just leave a review on Apple Podcasts and send a screenshot of it to me on Instagram via DMs! Click https://www.samvanderwielen.com/episode-54 (here) to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode. RESOURCES: Tickets to next year's conference are on sale here: https://conference.convertkit.com/#bottom (conference.convertkit.com) ConvertKit (affiliate link) https://www.samvanderwielen.com/episode-51/ (Goal Setting, Productivity & Evergreen Content (Guest Episode with Louise Henry)) http://radreads.co (Khe Hy) https://bestspeech.co/ (Mike Pacchione) https://carachace.com/ (Cara Chace) https://benjaminhardy.com/ (Dr. Ben Hardy) https://theblogabroad.com/ (Glo Atanmo) http://www.chloeweaver.com/ (Chloe Weaver) https://waitbutwhy.com/ (Tim Urban) https://thehustle.co/ (Sam Parr (The Hustle)) LEARN: Read https://www.samvanderwielen.com/blog/ (Sam's Blog) for the latest legal tips, podcast episodes & behind the scenes of building her seven-figure business. Listen to our https://www.samvanderwielen.com/customer-testimonials/ (customer stories) to see how getting legally legit has helped 1,000s of entrepreneurs grow their own businesses. CONNECT: Gethttps://www.samvanderwielen.com/easy-emails/ ( Sam's weekly email) full of legal tips, marketing advice to grow your brand, and the behind-the-scenes of building your own online business. Join the http://www.samvanderwielen.com/oyt-workshop (Free Legal Workshop) to learn how to get your business legally legit™️ today! Follow Sam on https://instagram.com/samvanderwielen (Instagram) for legal tips, business-building advice & daily food + Hudson pics Like us on https://facebook.com/samvanderwielenllc (Facebook) Follow my podcast, On Your Terms, on https://www.instagram.com/onyourtermspodcast/ (Instagram) so you catch all our episodes Subscribe and follow on all podcast platforms and activate notifications for new episodes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-your-terms/id1576423248 (Apple Podcasts) https://open.spotify.com/show/54rD5CEydcpUITq65RcM9M...
For those of us without a natural artistic gene, designing our brand from scratch can feel incredibly daunting. Even professional designers work tirelessly to perfect a brand's launch or relaunch. Luckily, designers say it's not worth overthinking the details, especially at the start. Taking small steps forward while continuing to focus on what's most important, creating content, will get you to your destination in one well-designed piece.Take it from David Preston, a Senior Marketing Designer at ConvertKit responsible for ConvertKit's stellar brand design, and Morgan Kitzmiller, an account manager at ConvertKit and aspiring designer who's designing a brand of her own on the side. In this episode, David, Morgan, and Miguel discuss how to start designing when the task feels overwhelming, when it's acceptable to settle for an imperfect look, practical tips and promising tools for developing your aesthetic, the right time to change your style, and the wrong time to hit refresh on a rebrand. Key Takeaways [00:53] - An intro to David and Morgan. [03:39] - Have you heard? [03:44] - Meta is adding exclusive content options for paying subscribers to help creators build their audience. [06:32] - A newsletter from Justin Welsh reminds us that doing what we're passionate about makes goal-setting and discipline far easier. [08:47] - Shopify has launched a Sell On YouTube feature and is moving toward live shopping experiences. [10:37] - Today's main topic: Establishing your brand identity through design. [11:14] - Design begins with an idea. Ask yourself, what is the thing you're designing about? What is the goal of it? [12:35] - Sometimes design is approached through a problem-solving lens, other times it's purely creative. Regardless, each project lends itself to creative constraints that designers have to consider before diving in. [14:08] - Creating a brand and brand identity is daunting because there's no single output, you're creating several assets that complement a larger theme. Start by brainstorming a few words that you feel describe your brand and go from there. [15:07] - Don't let design perfectionism stop you from releasing a brand and creating content. [19:55] - In a practical sense, you don't have to pick an entire color rainbow all at once. Focus on just one primary color and one accent color to start. [21:41] - Unless you're a design content creator, you can get away with having imperfect branding on day one. [23:25] - In the early days of design, be on the lookout for things you like that you see out in the world. A folder of design inspiration goes a long way. [25:22] - If something isn't working, don't be afraid to rebrand. Just be mindful of timing. Rebranding during your busiest sales month isn't great. [26:52] - On the flip side, a fresh rebrand can win back former and new followers, subscribers, and clientele. [28:55] - If you are making big brand changes, have a clear path forward in mind and communicate that brand change to your audience ahead of time. [29:16] - Avoid multiple back-to-back rebrands. [29:27] - Repeating brand ideas, whether that be visual or otherwise, is a great way to help users remember you. [32:30] - Today's listener shoutout: Morgan's side hustle, root and rise, helps women stop binging and restricting and start building strength and confidence through health and fitness. [37:41] - A sneak peek at next week's episode. Quotes[12:14] - “Really getting clear on what is the goal of the thing you're creating first can help inform some of the other decisions that you make like the design itself, what is on that page or image, what does the writing look like, what do the colors look like.” ~ @morgankitzmiller[17:14] - “When you get so focused on the big picture of a website, a logo, colors, images, everything and you're so focused on perfecting it, it can be a really good excuse to not actually do the work itself which is where you'll actually learn the most about yourself, your brand, and what you want that brand to be to people that are finding it and consuming it, and interacting with you.” ~ @morgankitzmiller[35:29] - “I am a designer for a living and even I will advocate for, choose the thing that is as simple as possible that can get the job done.” ~ David Preston Links Watch The Future Belongs to Creators on YouTube David Preston Morgan Kitzmiller Craft + Commerce Nathan's Craft + Commerce 2022 Keynote Meta Instagram Patreon The Future Belongs to Creators 163: How To Make a Living From Sponsorships with Armando Roggio and Jay Clouse Justin Welsh's The Saturday Solopreneur Newsletter Daniel Vasallo Justin Welsh's Twitter thread Shopify YouTube QVC Pinterest Coolors Dribbble Coca-Cola The #AskGaryVee Show root and rise root and rise on Instagram root and rise Strong Girl Summer Squarespace Collin Tate Connect with our hosts Charli Prangley Miguel Pou Haley Janicek Stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Facebook Instagram Every week we celebrate a win from a listener.Tell us about a recent launch, milestone or success (big or small!) right here and we might just shout you out in the next episode: https://convertk.it/listenershoutout. Start building your audience for freeWith ConvertKit landing pages, you can build a beautiful page for your project in just a few minutes. Choose colors, add photos, build a custom opt-in form, and add your copy. All without writing any code! Check out landingpages.new to get started.
Live events are slowly making their return and business owners are also slowly integrating back in— but if you're like me, you're craving to be back in person to feel the electrifying energy and connection of a conference.So the question is— are they still that? What's changed with live events since the pandemic, what should you keep in mind when choosing events moving forward?This week, I'm joined by my friend Emily Hall of E+M Creative (who attended the event with me) to answer these questions and share our biggest takeaways and insights from our first in person conference in TWO years– ConvertKit's Craft+Commerce.If you want to attend live events in the next year (or host your own!) this episode is for you :)Grab the show notes and full episode transcript here. ➡️ http://heathersager.com/blog/158Elevate your speaking skills → www.heathersager.comMake your onstage moments grow your business
I had way too much fun talkin' shop with @themovementmaestro LIVE at the Craft & Commerce conference!! Dr. Shante Cofield was a speaker at the event and I couldn't wait to sit down with her to talk about the future of instagram, how to be authentic online and why the greatest success is HAPPINESS. You're going to love this convo. Enjoy!! And be sure to follow Shante on the gram @themovementmaestro
Wanted to recap CovertKit's Craft + Commerce conference from last week. This event was a big deal for me (I made a goal several years ago to speak here—and I did it!) but it didn't change my life. It's all about what happens after the event. Plus y'all know I'm a big fan of the […] The post MOTM #385: ConvertKit Craft + Commerce Conference Recap first appeared on The Movement Maestro. The post MOTM #385: ConvertKit Craft + Commerce Conference Recap appeared first on The Movement Maestro.
This episode marks the start of an important shift in the content here at WP Review — something I’ll dive more into after ConvertKit’s Craft + Commerce conference at the end of June. But suffice to say, creators, are growing wary of WordPress. I personally think that WordPress is the perfect tool for the growing creator economy, so here at WP Review, we’re going to spend many of the next episodes talking to creators about how WordPress can help them more than any other platform. And we’re going to start with a type of creator near and dear to my heart: the podcaster. Brought to you by GoDaddy Pro. Get all of the show notes, and a written to be read article over at https://wpreview.io/50 Show Notes Hosting: Nexcess Audio Host / Plugin: Castos | Seriously Simple Podcasting Plugin Theme: Kadence Pro or Second Line Themes Builder: Kadence Blocks Pro Forms: Gravity Forms Subscribe Buttons: Podcast Subscribe Buttons Redirects: Redirection ESP: ConvertKit Social Sharing: Scriptless Social Sharing
Charli talks to Mike about her initial fear of public speaking and how becoming a YouTube star helped her overcome that fear. She shares tips about how to script a speech, how to design better slides for a speech and a story about how attending a conference changed her life.Charli Marie Prangley is a YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers, the design lead for ConvertKit, and a public speaker. You can find her great content at CharliMarie.com.Mike Pacchione is a public speaking coach found at BestSpeech.co, where he can be hired for corporate workshops, personal coaching or speaking at events. Mike will be speaking at Craft + Commerce 22 in Boise, ID June 23-25, 2022.
Life moves quickly. Sometimes it's necessary to take a breath and reflect. After more than two years of unprecedented times and a creator economy that feels stronger than ever, ConvertKit has decided it's time for a temperature check on the creator economy. The State of the Creator Economy Report for 2022 has officially been released and what better time than now to break down the most interesting, discouraging, and surprising takeaways from this year's report. In this episode, Charli, Haley, and Miguel dive into their favorite aspects of the report, theorizing on data points that shocked them, drawing conclusions from results that encouraged them, and offering advice for creators struggling with growth, monetization, and morale. From the ways creators are earning, the content creators are producing, and the mediums creators are consistently using, here's everything you need to know about the State of the Creator Economy in 2022. Key Takeaways [01:00] - Have you heard? [01:05] - Instagram is working on a video reaction option for reels, drawing inspiration from TikTok's current video reaction feature. [02:56] - Halsey claims her record company won't release her album unless she comes up with a way to create a viral moment on TikTok. [04:15] - ConvertKit is hosting Craft + Commerce next month – the first conference in two years! [07:46] - Today's main topic: The State of the Creator Economy Report [10:14] - Data suggests a gender pay gap within the creator economy. [14:00] - Why traditional gender roles may play a part in the gender pay gap. [15:31] - Creators tend to sell services and digital products more than subscriptions and memberships. In other words, creators are focusing on creating one-off products rather than recurring sources of income. [17:16] - The place where creators are launching their businesses has shifted from blogs to Instagram. [19:31] - Instagram can be a portfolio for creators, more so than traditional blogs and websites. However, Instagram is one of the hardest places to build an audience. [20:32] - Surprisingly, TikTok was underutilized among creators in comparison to email and Instagram. However, it's possible the ConvertKit sphere of influence skewed that data. [22:49] - Creators in higher income brackets are sending emails more consistently. They're also likely to value email above paid ads and social. [25:15] - In 2021, creators' main goal was to grow their audience. In 2022, creators' main goal is income growth. [26:59] - You don't need a huge email list to earn a living. True fans matter. [28:25] - Creators in the highest income bracket did report a higher level of happiness than creators in lower-income brackets. [31:09] - This report proved that there's a market for every specialty. [33:31] - Full-time creators tend to focus more on business strategy. [38:30] - Today's listener shoutout! There were no listener shoutouts so let's talk about Haley. Haley has been feeling very creative and recently did a branding photoshoot for a friend. She's also diving into a brand new creative project – details to come. [40:07] - A sneak peek at next week's episode. Quotes[28:13] - “It's really about true fans. And if you can get those true fans on your email list, that's what you need. So start sooner, start now. There's no better time than now.” ~ @haleyjani[34:30] - “It's just interesting that most people were full-on entrepreneurs but there were very few full-on DIYers or full-on artists.” ~ @miguelp.img [37:20] - “I think it's honestly about showing the creative artist types the monetization options available to them. You don't have to teach people marketing to be able to earn a living as a creator and be a full-time creator. There are options out there and I think that we just need to do a better job of educating creators on what they could be and opening their eyes to it.” ~ @charliprangleyLinks Watch The Future Belongs to Creators on YouTube State of the Creator Economy Report Buy a ticket to Craft + Commerce Rachel Rodgers Mat Kearney Amy Porterfield Corey Haines Samar Owais Why an insurance agent became a secret bird blogger Mandi from Happy Happy Houseplant Jenny Komenda Submit a listener shoutout! Twitter Instagram TikTok Snapchat Meta Connect with our hosts Charli Prangley Miguel Pou Haley Janicek Stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Facebook Instagram Every week we celebrate a win from a listener.Tell us about a recent launch, milestone or success (big or small!) right here and we might just shout you out in the next episode: https://convertk.it/listenershoutout. Start building your audience for freeWith ConvertKit landing pages, you can build a beautiful page for your project in just a few minutes. Choose colors, add photos, build a custom opt-in form, and add your copy. All without writing any code! Check out landingpages.new to get started.
Sean McCabe is the founder and CEO of seanwes media, and Daily Content Machine. Sean is a prolific and successful creator, author, and influencer. His course, Learn Lettering, made $80,000 in the first 24 hours. For nearly a decade his podcast, blog, and courses have helped creators grow their brands, content, and skill sets.Sean's website is a treasure trove of courses and resources for anyone looking for business knowledge and creative support. Sean's book, Overlap, shows creators how to turn their passion into a successful business while working a full-time job. His podcast includes almost 500 episodes on content creation and entrepreneurship. His latest venture, Daily Content Machine, turns creators' best content into clippable moments they can share across their social media accounts.I talk with Sean about what it's like being a successful creator. We talk about growing your audience and connecting with them. We cover how to learn new skills fast, and about developing a growth mindset. We also talk about managing stress as a founder, how to handle burnout, and much more.In this episode, you'll learn: Why good writing is the foundation of great content How to connect better with your audience Leveraging short-form content to grow your brand Pricing at full value without feeling guilty How to avoid burnout, and what to do if you're already there Links & Resources Sean McCabe on The Nathan Barry Show episode 003 Craft + Commerce conference ConvertKit Enough Ryan Holiday James Clear Marie Forleo Ramit Sethi Sean McCabe's Links Follow Sean on Twitter Check out Sean on Instagram Sean's website Daily Content Machine Episode Transcript[00:00:00] Sean:If you are a founder, you should be in therapy. Full-stop. You need a therapist. I thought I didn't. I had a great upbringing. I'm all good. Everything's healthy. I don't have any problems. The problem was I didn't know the problems that I had. I didn't realize what I was stuffing down. I didn't realize what I was avoiding.There is so much to unpack that you don't know you need to unpack.[00:00:30] Nathan:In this episode I talk to my friend, Sean McCabe. We've known each other for seven years now. It's been a long time. We've been in a mastermind group together. He's actually been on the show before. Sean is a wildly talented designer. He got his start hand-lettering.I think last time he was on the show, years ago, we were talking about that aspect of his business and how he built this substantial course business. Selling courses on hand-lettering, on marketing, on writing. He's spoken at our conference Craft + Commerce, all kinds of things. Sean is one of the most prolific creators that I've ever known.It's also super fun that he's a friend and lives right here in town. We just have a great conversation. We talk about how you create content, which is one of those things that it's not even how you create content, it's why. Where that comes from. The internal drive in what you use. Where you choose to have as a source of fuel and energy to put into that creative output.How some sources are really good and productive, and others can be kind of like a house of cards, and it can be harmful. We also talk about scaling teams as a creator. How do you know when to build out a team around your business? He's done that two different ways. So I get to ask him about some of the things he's learned and applied differently.I'm going to stop there. There's a lot of good stuff. So with that, let's dive in.Sean. Welcome to the show.[00:01:59] Sean:Hey, Nathan, just saw you recently. We were playing volleyball, or something.[00:02:03] Nathan:Or something, like two days ago. You moved to my city. It's kind of…[00:02:08] Sean:Yeah. It's horrible. It's a terrible place. Boise. Don't move to Idaho.[00:02:15] Nathan:You mean Iowa? Boise, Iowa.[00:02:17] Sean:Iowa. Yeah. Don't, yeah. Did I do okay?[00:02:21] Nathan:Yeah. That's exactly what you're supposed to say. If you Google something about Boise, Google has the accordion of extra questions, or things you might want to know. One of them is, “Does Boise smell?” and it's just like auto complaints in there.And I was like, what is up with that? I clicked on it, and it's this satirical article that has 12 reasons you shouldn't move to Boise. One of them is the city dump is right in the middle of the city. Another one is like that the Ebola outbreak hasn't been fully contained yet.So it's not really safe. I think there was something about lava. Anyway, it's just an article about all the reasons to not move to Boise. So I think you're right in line.[00:03:08] Sean:Stay, away. That's what they tell me to say.[00:03:11] Nathan:Yes, but if someone were to ignore that and move to Boise, they could come to our weekly volleyball game on Wednesday nights.[00:03:19] Sean:It's casual. It's open.[00:03:21] Nathan:Let's try it. Yeah. It's been so fun having you and Laci here. It's also been fun because you started a new company. Your company is producing and editing and creating all the clips for this podcast. So, connections on so many levels.[00:03:37] Sean:Yeah. We produce this show, like the video show, the audio show, and then find clips and make those clips for social media. It's been great. We love this show. Our team's favorite content. So, I'm a little biased, but it's fun to be on. Because my team's going to work on this.[00:03:58] Nathan:Yeah, exactly. I made sure to spell your name correctly in the setup, and I know they'll get it all.I wanted to ask what sparked—like maybe first give a summary of Daily Content Machine, since that's what you're spending nearly all of your time on. More than a normal amount of time on. So, what sparked it, and what is it?[00:04:19] Sean:Fun fact. This is not the first time I've been on the show. The last time was episode three, 2,624 days ago.[00:04:30] Nathan:Give or take[00:04:32] Sean:I was doing different stuff then. It's been a crazy journey. Right now the newest iteration is an agency.We produce video clips. We turn long form video shows. If you have a video podcast or other kind of long form video content, we found that the hardest part is finding all the good moments in there, and turning those into short clips. That's what we do. I designed it for myself, really.I wanted it to be where you just show up, you record, and, everything just happens? What is your experience, Nathan, with having a video and audio podcasts made, and clips and all that published? What do you, what's your involvement.[00:05:14] Nathan:Yeah. So I think about who I want on the show, I email them and say, will you come on the show? And then I talked to them for an hour, and then I read no, either way. I don't even do that. Yep. That's my full involvement. And what happens is then really what I see is when the show comes out, which I don't touch anything from that moment on. I actually probably notice the show coming out like, oh yeah, that's the episode that we post this week. Cause we have a three week delay on our, production schedule. And so I noticed like, oh yeah, I had a David Perell on the show when I get the Twitter notification of like, David, Perell just retweeted you.And I'm like, oh, what did oh, right. Yeah. Because his episode came out and then every, I mean, David was especially generous. Right. But every clip that week seven in a row, he retweeted and posted to his, you know, hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. Right. Cause it makes him look really good. It's clips of him delivering these, you know, soundbites of genius, perfectly format.And he's like great retweet share with my audience. I think that one, I picked up like hundreds of new Twitter followers, just, you know, maybe more just from, from, that. So it's a, it's a great experience. The side that I haven't done as much with that I really want to. and you and I talked about this a lot when we. Like early days of Daily Content Machine and what could it be? And, and then, getting my show set up on it is the transcripts in the show notes that you all do. cause first you found the most interesting points of the show and then second there's text versions of all of that. And then they're all like neatly edited and, and everything.And so,[00:07:01] Sean:A lot of re-purposing options.[00:07:04] Nathan:Yeah, so like if you ask the same question or a similar question, like, Hey, how'd you grow from a thousand subscribers to 10,000. Tell me about that process. If you ask that consistently, which I'm not great about asking the same questions consistently, but then over the course of 20, 30 episodes, you have this great library of answers to that question and you could make like compile it all, write some narrative and it's like, oh, there's an ebook that would be 15 pages long and could be a free lead magnet or a giveaway or anything else. It's just a total by-product of the podcast and Daily Content Machine. So I'm a huge fan. That's my experience.[00:07:42] Sean:Well, it's great to hear. yeah, we wanted to make it, I wanted to make it, so I just show up. I record myself doing a podcast with the camera on, and then I walk away. Like I don't have to, the footage sinks. It goes to the team. They produce it. They made me look good. They make me sound good. They find all of the best things. I said, things my guests said, they think about my target audience. What are their struggles? What are their goals? What do they want, what do they need? How would they search for it? How would they say it themselves? And they work together to come up with good titles for them, then produce it, flawless captions, you know, do the research, how's the guests build their name.How does their company name capitalize? Like make sure it's, it's all polished and then publish it everywhere. So I just show up once a week for an hour and record, and then I get to be everywhere every day. That's that's at least the goal. And I'm hearing you say like one of the benefits, but one of the benefits of finding clips out of your long form shows to post on social media is you give your guests something to share.And there's kind of two, two ways of approaching podcasts. And one is kind of the old school way, you know, People used to blog and the used to subscribe to RSS feeds and like, you know, that's how they consumed their content. And definitely you still want to build your own platform, have a website, have a blog, you know, definitely have an email newsletter on ConvertKit but now we're, we're posting Twitter threads. We're posting more content natively and people are consuming more natively on the platforms. So there's the old idea of, I have a podcast, here's a link, go listen to my podcast, go watch my podcast, go watch my video shifting from that to, Hey, why don't we deliver the best moments of the show?Because people are consuming short form content, and that's how they're evaluating whether they want to subscribe, whether they want to spend an hour listening in depth to that interview. We're giving them all of these entrance points and just providing value natively on the platform. Instead of asking them to go off the platform and interrupt their experience, it's here you go.Here's some value here's where you can get more.And, and that that's such a great way to. Bring new listeners on as well as to give the guests something to share, because think about the experience between a guest, being told like, Hey, your episodes out, will you, will you share a link to it? And they're like, Hey, I was on a show, go listen to the show.It's such a great interview. You know, we, we do it. We want to help out that, that person with the podcast. But imagine if the best moments that, where you said that the smartest things with all of your filler words remove and your tangents remove was tweeted, and there's a video right there. All you have to do is hit retweet.It's free content for you. It looks good. But then also for you as the show host, it promotes your show and gives you a new awesome.[00:10:28] Nathan:The other thing in it, like the retweet is fantastic, but a lot of people want that as original content on their social channel. And so having like the, the deliverable that I get from you all is, is. Yeah, it just shows up in Dropbox of here's all the videos for all the platforms and everything, you know, from my archives and all that.And I've sent those on to the guests when they're like, Hey, can I post this? Not every tweet. Like I want to post it with my own, title or tweaks on that. And so I can just share that whole Dropbox folder and they'll, they'll go find the exact thing they want to share and, and use it in their own softens.Like, yes, absolutely. Because the pre-roll or like the, or the post roll on that video is like, go subscribe to item newsletters. It's like, yes, please.[00:11:14] Sean:And it's not like Nathan, that you would have trouble getting guests, but if one had trouble getting guests for their show, or you want to get someone that's like really big, really busy, they get all kinds of requests all the time. Well, imagine if they're evaluating between these different shows, you know what, what's the audience size?What am I going to get out of it? You know, especially if you don't have millions of downloads on your podcast. Well, if you're providing these additional assets, like, Hey, we're going to make clips of this. You're going to get content out of this. It can help people make that decision to come onto your show as opposed to maybe another.[00:11:46] Nathan:Yeah, totally. I want to go, so somebody different directions. This is, we talked about an agency and the business that you're starting. I have a question that I've kind of asked you one-on-one sometimes. And I want to know why build a business with a team and like build this X scale of business rather than go the indie creative route.Right? Because if we want to, if you wanted to say independent, no team, you could probably make a business doing $250,000 a year. Work on it, maybe 20 hours a week, something like that, you know, hanging out in the studio, you'd still have your podcast. You could sit down and like, you're one of the most prolific writers I've ever met. so you could do a bunch of those, those things. And yet you keep trying to do and succeeding in doing these much harder businesses of building a team. And I have to know why.[00:12:39] Sean:Nathan, I don't know. I don't know why. I kind of know why, uh it's it's like it's going to get deep. I mean, it, it probably really goes back to childhood and being, being the oldest of 13 kids feeling like. I don't know if my parents are watching, but like, I felt this, this pressure to be successful, to be a good example, to be, to be a leader, you know, like to be productive.And, you know, I'm working through a lot of that stuff in therapy, like learning, like where did my motivations come from? And like, you know, it is this healthy because, you know, you know, my, my background of extreme workaholism for like 10 years, like, Nope, no joke. It was really bad. Like 16 hour days, seven days a week for 10 years, like all I did was work and like that's, that's my tendency.And I think something beautiful came out of that, which is this sabbaticals idea where since 2014 now I've taken off every seventh week as a sabbatical. So I work six weeks and I, I take off a week and we do that with our team and all of our team members. I paid them to take off sabbaticals and it's just been beautiful.The heartbeat of the company. And like, it's been really good for me as well in terms of, you know, burnout prevention and just unlocking my best ideas, but that's, that's my tendency. And, you know, th there's, there's all kinds of reasons. And, you know, there there's messages that we hear that maybe were said or implicit, you know, growing up that we internalize.And so I think, honestly, Nathan it's, it's probably just like chasing, like, I'm going to be dead honest, like, like it's, it's just like, I think of your post that post that you titled about enough, you know, and, you know, thinking through it, like, like if I were to just think of a number, you know, it's like, no, that's not enough, you know, and I know that's not healthy.So like, yeah, I could totally, I could totally do the solo thing. I could totally make 600. Work part-time, have less stress and maybe I should, you know, maybe I will eventually, but there's something in me that wants to build something bigger, but at the same time, it's just so much fun. Get it, like, I just love processes and systems and like, you know, building things that can scale.And so, yeah, it's.[00:15:08] Nathan:Well, let's lean into it more because I have the same thing on two different sides. Like I made the same leap from a solar creator to having a team. and there's sometimes I miss aspects of the solo creator thing. Like there's a level of simplicity and like, I look at somebody's product launch or something, and it does $25,000 or $50,000.And I'm like, oh, I remember when that amount of money was substantial in that it moved the needle for the business and like, and drove real profits. Now, like 25 or $50,000 gets eaten up by that much of expenses, like immediately, you know, cause the, the machine is just so much, so much bigger. And so I have the same thing of, of pushing for more and trying to figure out what. Like, what is that balance? And, and, yeah, I guess, how do you think about the balance between gratitude and enough and drive and ambition?[00:16:08] Sean:Yeah, that is a great question. It is. It is a balance. And as someone who has a tendency towards all or nothing thinking like, I'm, I just get obsessed. Like if I'm, if I'm about something like, I'm just all in, or I don't care at all. Like I'm really not in between. And that I think is a double-edged sword.Like it's a reason for my success, but it's also a reason for all of my downfalls and like, you know, going years without exercising and losing relationships and friendships, because I was so consumed by what I was building, you know, it is very much a double-edged sword. And so I think the answer is balance, you know, in what you're saying, w what do you, what do I think about the balance?I think it is a balance. It has to be, you have to be operating from a place of enough and then have things that are pulling you forward. You know, something that you're working towards having goals I think is healthy. You know, it's. Something that gets you out of bed in the morning. You're excited about what you're doing.You have this vision for where you're going, but it's operating from a healthy place of, I'm not doing this to fill a void in my soul. Right? Like I'm not doing this because I believe I'm not enough because I believe I'm not worthy of something. But, but because I know, yes, I matter I'm worthy. I'm important.And I'm excited. Like, I think that's the, I'm not saying I'm even there. I just think that's the balance to strike[00:17:34] Nathan:Yeah. I think you're right in this. It's interesting of the things that you can do in your, I guess, life, maybe the creative Dr.. I think there's a tendency of using that insecurity to drive creative success that can work really, really well for an amount of time. Like if you need to finish a book, grow your audience to a thousand subscribers, you know, like accomplish some specific goal.And he used the chip on your shoulder and the feeling of like, this person doesn't believe in me and that like triggers those deep insecurities on one hand, it's wildly effective and on the other, it can be super destructive and it's such a weird balance and place to sit in.[00:18:21] Sean:Yeah, a double-edged sword, for sure. Like it can, it can be what helps you succeed? And it can be your downfall. So you have to wield it wisely. unintentional illiteration you ha you have to be careful with that because it's so easy to just get consumed by it, to drown in it, to let this, you know, whatever it is, this, this, this drive, this motivation, the chip on the shoulder, whatever it is to let it take you to a place where you're just like, along for the ride, you know, on a wave, going somewhere on a, on a, you know, a tube floating down the river, right.You're just being taken somewhere, but are you being taken where you wanna go?[00:19:05] Nathan:Well, yeah. And then realizing, like, it might feel like you are up into a point, but then I guess if you're not aware of it and you're not in control of it, then you'll get to the point where the thing that you were trying to succeed, that the book launch, you know, hitting $10,000 in sales or whatever else, like that's not going to have any of the satisfaction and.[00:19:25] Sean:If I can take an opportunity here just to speak very directly to a point. If you are a founder, you should be in therapy. Full-stop like you, you need a therapist. I thought I didn't. I was like, I had a great upbringing. I'm all good. You know, everything's healthy. I don't have any problems. The problem was, I didn't know the problems that I had.I didn't realize what I was stuffing down. I didn't realize what I was avoiding. There's so much stress, you know, being a founder or even any, any C level executive in a company, like there's just so much going on, and you're responsible for so many things it affects your personal life. It affects your relationships.It affects how you see yourself. There is so much to unpack that you don't know, you need to unpack. And there's probably also stuff that, you know, you need to unpack. and Maybe you don't want to, but I went my entire life until the past year. Never going into therapy, never went to therapy. I'm like, yeah, that's great.You know, if you have some serious problems or a really bad childhood or whatever, like yeah. That's, you know, I support, it like positive, you know, like golf clap and I'm like, oh my gosh since I've been going on. I'm like I didn't know why I was doing the things I was doing, what my reasons were, what my motivations were, the ways that it was unhealthy to me, the way that it was affecting my relationships.So I just want to encourage everyone to go to therapy. I promise it's going to be beneficial[00:20:53] Nathan:Yeah.I cannot echo that enough. I've had the same experience and just having someone to talk through whatever's going on in your life, whatever, like even just interesting observations. When someone said this, I reacted like that. And that doesn't quite add up. Like, can we spend some time digging into that kind of, you know, and you realize that like, oh, that wasn't, that wasn't a normal, like healthy reaction.And it had nothing to do with what the person said or who they are or anything like that. I had to do it. This other thing, the other thing that I think is interesting about therapy is when you're following people online, you're partially following them for the advice and what they can do for you and all of that.But I think the most interesting creators to follow are the ones who are on a journey and they bring their audience, their fans, along that journey with them. And a lot of people are on a really shallow journey or at least what they put out online is a really shallow journey of like a, I'm trying to grow a business from X to Y I'm trying to accomplish this thing.And it's like, Like, I'm happy for you. There's like tips and tactics that you use along the way. And that's moderately interesting, but I think if you're willing to dive in on therapy and why you do, or you make the decisions that you do and what really drives things, it makes for as much deeper journey, that's a lot more interesting to follow. And all of a sudden the person that you followed for like learning how to do Facebook ads is talking about not only that, but the sense of gratitude that they were able to find in the accomplishments that they made or how they help people in this way or other things that's like a really authentic connection.And I think that, even though like growing a more successful business is not the goal of therapy and, and all of that. Like, it has that as a by-product.[00:22:42] Sean:It does. It definitely does. Although I'm, I definitely look at things the way that you're saying, which is like, what is. Productive output of doing this thing. And it's like, yeah, that's why I need to be in therapy to understand why I apply that lens to absolutely everything. but I I've found it immensely helpful.I would say I would echo what you're saying. in terms of sharing your journey, both the ups and the downs. I think that the highs of your journey are only as high as the lowest that you share, because otherwise it's just kind of it's, it's flat, you know, there's nothing to compare to like th th in the hero's-journey-sense you know, we we're rooting for the underdog who is going through challenges, and then we're celebrating with them when they have the wins.If you know, if you're not sharing the, the, the low points, it's not as relatable. Now that doesn't mean you have to share everything you're going through. You don't, you know, you can keep some things, you can keep everything personal. I'm just saying, if you have the courage to share what you're going to find is that you're not alone.You're not the only person going through these things. You're not the only person feeling these things. And sometimes the biggest failures or, or the things that, that hurt the most or the most difficult to go through when you share those, those can actually resonate the most. That can be where your, your community really steps up.And you, you feel that, more than any other time.[00:24:07] Nathan:Yeah. I think that, like I wrote this article a few years ago, titled endure long enough to get noticed, and it was just actually wrote it, it was off the cuff. I was on a plane just like needed to get something out that week. And it was an idea about serum on my head and I wrote, wrote it out, send it off.And, just the replies from it, because it took a more personal angle and it was talking about some of the struggles and a bunch of the replies were like, oh, that's exactly what I needed in this moment. Like, I was about ready to give up on this thing, you know? And, and that was that bit of encouragement. It ends up being this thing that feeds both ways. If you're able to take care of your audience and then if you let them, your audience can take care of you of saying like, oh, that that was really, really, meaningful.[00:24:49] Sean:Can I turn it around on you for just a second and, and ask, I, I know Nathan, you've been writing recently, you're on a bit of a streak and for those. Following your journey for a long time. They know you've, you've gone on streaks for periods of time. You made an app to log those things. We're talking about this recently.And I was just curious, what, what made you start writing again? And it may be, if you can touch on like the identity piece that you were sharing with me.[00:25:17] Nathan:Yeah.So most good things that have come in my business. Many of them, at least for a whole period of time, he came from writing. I wrote a thousand words a day for over 600 days in a row. And like, that was. Multiple books, a 20,000 subscriber audience, like just a whole bunch of things so I can work it from and everything else. And I've, I've tried to restart that habit a handful of times since then. And yeah, you were asking the other day, I'm trying to think, where are we out of the brewery? Maybe? I don't know.[00:25:51] Sean:Yeah. Something like.[00:25:51] Nathan:Well, I've all something. And you're just asking like, Hey, you're restarting that what what's driving that. And the thing that came to, I actually came to it in a coaching therapy conversation was like, I'm a writer. That's who I am. You know, it's part of my identity and yes, I'm also a, a creator and a startup founder and CEO and whatever else, but like, realizing that. I'm most at home when I'm writing, that's not what I'm doing. Writing is my full-time thing. And like, here's the cadence that I put out books, you know, obvious thing of like Ryan holiday, he's super prolific, like a book or two a year, you know?I'm not a writer in that way, but I, I have things to say and, words have an impact on people in the act of writing has such an impact on me that I realized that I feel somewhat of this void if I don't exercise that muscle and stay consistent of not just like teaching and sharing, but also taking these unformed thoughts that bounce around in my head and it, and like being forced to put them out in an essay that is actually coherent and backs up its points and like, Yeah, it makes it clear.So anyway, that's the, that's why I'm writing again. And so far it's been quite enjoyable. I'm only on, I think, 20 days in a row of writing, writing every day, but it's coming along now. I have to look. 21 today will be 22.[00:27:19] Sean:Nice. Yeah. Right. Writing is so great for clarifying thinking. And I love the, the identity piece. It's like, I'm a writer, you know, that's what I do. And I think it's interesting to think about whether it's kind of chicken and the egg, right. Maybe, maybe James clear would, would disagree, but like, does it start with a belief that you're a writer and therefore you write, or is it the act of writing that makes you a writer?And if you, if you aren't writing, then you're not.[00:27:50] Nathan:Yeah. I wrote something recently and maybe it's a quote from somebody of, if you want to be the noun and you have to do the verb, you know, and so we're looking for, how do I become a writer? How do I become a painter? How do I become a musician An artist, any of these things? And it's like, if you want to be a writer?Yyou have to write, you know, like, and I think we, we get so caught up in the end state that we start to lose track of the, the verb, the thing of like writers, write painters, paint, photographers, take photos, you know? And so if you're not seeing progress in that area, then it's like, well, are you actually doing the verb?And yeah, that plays a lot into identity and, and everything else.[00:28:37] Sean:I like what James, James clear says about like casting a vote for the person you want to[00:28:43] Nathan:Yeah, I think I referenced James on. So it's the, I reference you probably every fourth episode. And then James, maybe at like, just on alternating ones.So the thing that I quote you on all the time is the show up every day for two years, like I always had create every day as a poster on my wall, and I really liked the for two years, angle. And so I I'd love for you to share where does the for two years part come from and why, why that long? Why not for two months or two decades or something else?[00:29:16] Sean:Right. It really, the whole show up every day for two years, idea came from me, drawing letters, hand lettering. You know, you think of the Coca-Cola logo. That's not a font. That's, you know, customer. That's what I would do is draw letters. Like, like what you have behind your head, that type of style of lettering.And I just enjoyed doing that and I, it wasn't a job or anything, and I really didn't pursue it seriously for a long time, even though I enjoyed it as a kid, because I thought I could never make a living at this, you know? And it's that like productivity filter again, what can I be successful at? You know, as opposed to like, Hey, what do I enjoy?You know? And, it took an artist telling me, Hey, if you enjoy it, just create. because cause you enjoy doing it. Just create. I was like, yeah, I don't know why I needed that permission, but I did. And I just started creating and I was creating for me, like, because I loved it. And I was sharing on Instagram and Twitter and places like that, the drawings I was making, but nobody really cared or noticed for the first two years.And it, it, it, that was okay with me because I was doing it for myself. I loved the process. I love the act of. But somewhere right around two years, it was just this inflection point. It's kinda like you say, you know, like do it until you're noticed, right. And people started asking for custom commissions, do you have posters?Do you have t-shirts? And the reason I recommend that people show up every day for two years is it's not going to happen overnight. You know, hopefully in that time you find the reason for yourself that you're showing up. and the two years part is arbitrary for some people within eight months, they're on the map and people notice their work and maybe they could quit their job or, or whatever.Right. But two years is really just to give people a mark, you know, to, to work towards. by that time they figure out like, oh, it's not actually about two years. It's about showing up every day.[00:31:16] Nathan:Yeah. And a lot of what I like about two years is it since your time horizon correctly. and it helps you measure your like past efforts. I think about, you know, if you've thought about starting a, like learning a musical instrument or starting a blog or any of those things, you're like, eh, I tried that before, you know, and you're like, yeah, I showed up most days kind of for two months, maybe, you know, like when you look back and you analyze it, you're like, oh, I didn't show up every day for two years. And there's also sort of this implicit, I guess conversation you have with yourself of like, if I do this, will I get the results that I want? And cause the, the most frustrating thing would be to put in the effort and to not get the results and how the outcome you're. Like, I tried it for so long and I didn't get there. And so I believe that if you're doing something like creating consistently showing up every day, writing every day for two years and you're publishing it and you're learning from what you, you know, the results you try and consistently to get better, you almost can't lose. Like, I don't know of examples of people.Like no one has come to me. I actually emailed this to my whole list and said, like, what is something that you've done every day for two years, that didn't work. And people came back to me with story after story of things that they thought would be that. And then it like started working a year or year and a half in, or at some point in there because it's really hard to fail when you're willing to show up consistently for a long period of time.[00:32:54] Sean:And I think there's a point of clarification there kind of a nuanced discussion where some people might say, well, you know, where where's, where's the other end of the spectrum, where you're just continually doing a thing that doesn't work, you know, doing the same thing and expecting different results.And I don't think that's what we're talking about here. Like when we say show up every day, Showing up everyday to your craft, you know, for yourself to better yourself, whether that's writing or drawing or working on your business. This doesn't mean never course-correcting, this doesn't mean adapting or adjusting to find product market fit.We're talking about showing up for yourself. This doesn't mean even posting every day. It's not, it's really not for others. Like share what you want. If you want to tweet every day, if you want to blog or post your art every day, go for it. I actually tried that and, you know, it was pretty exhausting and that's part of why I made Daily Content Machine.I was like, how about I show up one hour a week and you turn that into Daily Content for me. but still on all the other days, I want to show up for myself. And, and often for me, it starts with writing as well. I think it all starts with writing, whether it's a business idea or a course or a book or content like writing is just the seed of all of that.So I like writing, not because I. It was born a rider or anything. I just see results from it. So for me, it's showing up in writing, even if I'm not posting that, or I'm not posting it now, you know, it's just for me.[00:34:19] Nathan:Yeah. And that's an important point because a lot of the time my writing is just chipping away at some bigger thing. Like some of the long essays that I've written have been written over the course of three or four months, you know, it's not like I got it together and like published it and it was ready to go.It was like an ongoing thing.What, like, what are some of your other writing habits? Because you're someone who has written a ton, I've seen you consistently write like 4,000 words a day for an entire month and stuff like that. yeah. When someone asks you, how do I become a better writer? How do I write consistently any of that? What are some of your tips?[00:34:55] Sean:Yeah. I'll tell you how not to do it, which is how I've done it, which is back to our earlier discussion. Just kind of all or nothing. my first book I wrote in 14 days, 75, 80,000 words, and my, my second book, which I still haven't edited and published. I was like, I want to show people that things take, as long as the amount of time you give them, how long does it take to write a book a year, 10 years a month?You know, two weeks, I was like, I'm going to try and write a hundred thousand words in a single day. So I live streamed it, and my idea was to speak it and have it dictated, right. Have it transcribed. I made it to 55,000 words. And these are like, it's, it's all you, you can find it. it's, it's coherent words like this.Isn't just feel like, like the book was in my head. I made it to 55,000. My voice was going and I'm like, I think I've got most of the book. I'm not going to kill my voice. And that's, as far as I made it. So I failed on the goal, but still got 55,000 words. But then for the next, like three, three or six months or something I hardly wrote.Cause I was just like, oh yeah, you know, look what I did. You know, I wrote all those words and it's like, no, that's not the right way to do it. Like I actually, I think there was a point to what I was doing and it was, it was a fun stunt or whatever, but I kind of regret that, you know, I wish I just stuck to, you know, you had that, that idea of like write a thousand words a day and this is something I would share with people as like an idea for starting out, Hey, try and read a thousand words a day.And I found out people would get stuck on that. They'd be like, I wrote 830, 2 words. I'm a failure. I'm just gonna give up and wait until the weekend when I have more time. And it's like, no, that's not the point. The point is to just show up and, and put some words there. So maybe for you, it's a time like write for 20 minutes, write for 15 minutes, write three sentence.And maybe you keep going, you know, but like put in the reps, show up, you know, put on the running shoes and go out the front door. If you don't run the five miles, that's fine. You know, walk around the block, but show up. And so I I've done it both ways and I don't prefer the stunt way where I write 50,000 words in a day.I prefer the, the, the ones where I write 400 words every single day, that week[00:37:06] Nathan:Yeah, I think that's absolutely right. And I've, I've, had that a lot of times where I was like, oh, I can't write today because I, I wouldn't have time to hit 500 or a thousand words. And so that's something I'm doing differently this time around of like, look even a hundred or 200 is a, is a success, any amount of, of doing the reps as good.[00:37:26] Sean:I want to lean in on that idea of defining success as less. What I mean by defining success as less is, and this is especially helpful. If you're going through a hard time, if you're feeling burned out, if you're feeling depressed, w with remote work, growing and growing, you know, w we're commuting less, we have more time.We have more flexibility in our day, but we, we tend to fill that time with just more and more work. And it's really easy to get to the point where you feel overloaded. And you, you go into your day just too ambitious thinking. You can get too many things done and ending with disappointment. Like I didn't get all the things done, you know, and you're just on this perpetual cycle of disappointment every day, setting yourself up for disappointment, trying to do too much.And instead of defining success as less. And so if you're, if you're feeling depressed, I mean, this gets as small as today as a success. If you brush your teeth, like today's a success. If you shower, today's a success. If you walk around just your block, that's it not run a mile, you know, not come up with a new business plan or outline a whole course or something.Less defined success is less, when I would do podcasts, I, you know, a podcast is what an hour, maybe two hours or something like that. But it takes a lot of energy. If you've never been on a podcast, you know, it takes energy to record. And I would feel bad after I record a podcast, not getting as much done afterward, you know, like, oh, I didn't get that much done.I mean, I recorded a podcast, but then I was supposed to have this and this and this, and just beat myself up. And I realized like, Hey, that, that podcast I recorded, that's going to be heard by thousands of people. That's really high leverage work. And I brought my best self and I really showed up and I really delivered.And that was good work. And you know what, on days where I have a podcast, I'm going to define that day as a success. If I show up and record that podcast, anything else is a bonus. And, and you just make that smaller and smaller and smaller until it's accessible to you until it's attainable for you. So maybe it's like write three sentences.If you show up at all to your writing app and write three sentences, the days of success. And what you'll find is more often than. You'll keep going.[00:39:34] Nathan:I think that's so important in, and I imagine most creators have been in that position of no motivation feeling depressed. And then you beat yourself up because you didn't get anything done, like deriving yourself worth. This kind of goes back to the earlier conversation, driving your self worth from what you create can both be very powerful in that it can feed itself really well.And then it is also incredibly fragile. And I've gotten to that point where if you end up in the downward spiral version of that, then like not creating, not accomplishing something. Leads you to feel more upset and depressed and so on. And it like when it works, it works well. And when it stops working, it fails spectacularly.And I think you're right. That the only way out of it is to lower that bar of success to something crazy low that you can't consistently. And then, you know, gradually you're way out of it from there.[00:40:34] Sean:Yeah, you, you are more than what you do. You are more than what you create. You are more than what you produce. You are more than your job. You are not your company. You're not the money in the bank. You're not how much you make each month. You're not the decline in revenue from this month compared to last month.Like you're none of those things. You're a person you're a human outside of that with independent work. And that's such a hard thing to internalize, but, but if you can, I mean, you, you, you just become impervious to all the things that can come against you. You know, you just become unstoppable. Nothing's going to phase you.Like you can embrace the highs and embrace the lows and just ride the rollercoaster. And I'm just describing all the things that I don't know how to do, but I'm working.[00:41:20] Nathan:Yeah. It's all the things that we're trying to, like lean in on and remind ourselves of, in those, in those tough times, I have a friend who has his game, that he played his, a few little kids, and his sort of a little game that he plays with them over time. And he like in a playful, joking voice, he asked them like, oh, what do you need to do to be worthy of love? And it's like turned into the thing for they, like, they're like nothing, you know? And he's very purposefully trying to counteract this idea of like, oh, I need to earn worthiness. I need to earn love. If, if I like show up for my parents in this way, if I take care of my family in that way, if I'm not a burden on other people, then like, Then I'll be okay and I'll be worthy of love and all of that.And so he's just playing it, like making it a playful thing with his kids from a very young age to basically instill this idea of like, you are a complete whole person and you can't, like earn worthiness of love and you also can't lose it.[00:42:19] Sean:I'm just thinking of the titles for this episode, that my team's going to come up with, like how to be a founder worthy of love.[00:42:26] Nathan:Yes, exactly.[00:42:28] Sean:Don't use that title.[00:42:31] Nathan:Okay. But I want to go, you've built a, a team twice, for first for Sean West, as a business, you know, of the course and content, community business. And then now for Daily Content, I want to get into, like what you like, how you built the team differently between those two times and what you learned. but before we do that, let's talk about as a solo creator. When you're thinking about making that leap to something where you need a team to build it to the next level, maybe you're at a hundred thousand dollars a year in sales, and you're looking at maybe the roommate's eighties and the Marie Forleo's of the world where like a few, rungs above you on the same ladder.And you're like, okay, that would require a team. What are some of the things that you think people should consider in that leap?[00:43:22] Sean:My biggest mistake was applying the right advice at the wrong time.Like I'm not a, I'm not a reckless person. Like I'm going to do my research and learn and like get all the smart people's advice. And so every, every big mistake I've made was as a result of applying great advice from smart people at the wrong time.And so it's, and, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone really, really talk about this. There's a lot of people slinging advice who should really be asking questions, but at the same time, you can't even blame them. Cause like Twitter, there's no room for nuance. Like you tweet fortune cookie tweets, you know, with, with advice and like, hope that people apply it at the right time.Like, that's just kind of how it goes. But like, you know, to, to your point of like looking to other people and what they've built and like, oh, that's what I would need and stuff, you know, I, I heard things. Delegate, you know, you don't want superhero syndrome. Like you need to empower other people and delegate the things you're not good at delegate the things you don't like to do, delegate the things you're good at.And you like to do, but you shouldn't do because you're the founder and you need the vision, you know, like, so it's like delegate, delegate. And so, okay. All right. Hire. This is going to sound really stupid, but no one told me that you need to make sure the thing that you're doing is working before you hire, because hiring is scaling, which means to make something bigger.And if you've got a bucket at the beach and the bucket has holes in it, and you scale that bucket, you have a bigger bucket with holes. Like th th that's not better. That's like, do you, do you like the stressful problems you have now? How would you like problems with another zero on that? Like you have $30,000 problems.Do you want $300,000 a month problems? Like, you know, it's not fun. so nobody's told me that and looking back, it's like, it's so dumb. Like, do you think making this big. Automatically makes it better. It's just going to automatically make the problems go away. No, you need to, you need to scale. What's working, do more of what works and, and, and slow down and hold off and make sure the thing you have is working before you grow it.I don't know if I answered the question, but I'm just speaking to my past self.[00:45:32] Nathan:You totally did. So what are the things that, like, how does that play out as you're building Daily Content Machine, versus the previous team?[00:45:40] Sean:The difference here is my, my previous business required me to function and I hired people around me, you know, to support me. So I wasn't doing all the work, but I had to show up. I had to, you know, whatever I had to write, I, you know, come up with an email or blog or. Or live stream or podcast or whatever.It was like, it was built around me and there's nothing wrong with that. Like, that's totally fine. You can build a business where you do what you love and you're supported by your team. I just found that you can, you can do something that you love and burnout, like after you do that for years and years and years, it's not even that I don't like podcasting or I don't like writing cause I actually do what it ultimately came down to is that I don't like having to do it.And if I don't, if I don't, then everything falls apart. And so with this new business, the agency, it was like, okay, like the first thing I want to build from is this can't require me to function. It has to be built in a way that the team can run things where it's like, I don't have to be on the strategy call.I don't have to do the marketing. Like my face isn't necessarily the reason people are coming to. and that, that really shifted how we build things.[00:47:01] Nathan:Yeah. I mean, that, that's a huge thing. And like, I imagine you defining all of these roles and early on, you might be doing a bunch of them to test if it works and to build out the systems, but none of them are like defined by your own unique skillset. Like you actually I've loved watching your systems and the, as you've shown me behind the scenes, because you're breaking it down and you don't need one person who is a fantastic video editor and copywriter and project manager talking about that, actually, because I think so often we're trying to find the employee or the team member. That's like the, the unicorn perfect fit. And you've made a system that doesn't require.[00:47:42] Sean:Exactly. And we did start out that way, where, when, when I was initially hiring for, you know, this Daily Content Machine service that we have, what's involved in that process and we talked. Clients and prospects all the time that like the Mo one of the most common things they try to do is either build a team in-house that can find all the best moments scrubbed through the long form content, edit it.Well, you know, titles, research, all of that, the build that team in house, or hire a freelancer and the problems with either of those is like what I've identified as it comes down to the person doing, doing content repurposing well requires nine key skills among them like copywriting and marketing and design and animation and rendering, and like, you know, SEO and all of that stuff.And I'm not saying there's, there's no one out there with all those skills, but, but those people are doing their own thing most of the time,[00:48:38] Nathan:I think I'm a pretty good Jack of all trades. And I think if we get to five of those, probably maybe on a[00:48:45] Sean:You could probably do most, I can do most too, but I don't scale, you know, so I'm trying to, I'm trying to scale me. and the first thing I tried to do was hire someone who could do all the things like, okay, you need to be able to, and that very quickly was not the way that was not going to work.So we realized we need specialists. We need people who are really good writers. We need people who are really good animators. People who are good editors, people who are a good quality assurance, reviewers, people who are good project managers, you know, all of that. And that's, that's what probably sets us apart.You know, the most unique thing is like, we learn about your audience and we find all of the moments and like teaching people, I've talked to people who have their own teams, or they're trying to build teams for doing this. And that's the hardest part is how do you teach someone how to find those moments?Like video editing is commoditized. You can find a video editor anywhere, but what happens when you try and get a freelancer who can just chop up clips and animate it and put a slap a title on it? Yeah. Th they're not, they don't care about the quality. They're not capitalizing the book titles and the company names and spelling the guests.Right. You know, and the titles of the clips, that's like half of it, you know, like half of it is the title, because that's going to determine whether someone sticks around and clicks or watches or whatever, and they're not thinking the right way, or they're not finding the right moments. And so the person who's outsourcing, they're trying to go from, I've been doing this myself.I've been editing my own video. I've been scrubbing through my own long form content to now, okay, you have got this freelancer, but now you're a project manager and a quality assurance reviewer because their work isn't up to par. And so I have people asking me like, how do you teach people how to do this?Well, how to find those moments, what's going to provide value to the audience. How do you title it all? and that part, I'm not giving away because that's, that's our home.[00:50:33] Nathan:Yeah. And that, that makes sense. So you described Daily Content Machine as an agency and it is, but I was like, great. You're an agency. Here's my other idea for a show where. Like a dream it up and produce it. Or actually we build my website for me, like your, your designers on all that.Right. And your answer would be like a flattened and I think that's really important for the business. So can you talk about the difference between the agency that you're running in productized services and how you think about making that scale versus like a, an agency of, Hey, this is our hourly rate.These are the projects we're best at, but we'll kind of take on anything.[00:51:11] Sean:So maybe I'll I'll I'll title the clip of this moment, how here's, how you will try it like this. Here's how you create a six figure agency. And for. It is by saying no to almost everything and getting really specific about what you offer and to whom. So my previous, the previous iteration of my business, I was out of a scale of one to ten I was working at a level 11 effort, you know, to bring in six figures with this version of the business. It's like a one or two in terms of, you know, getting people to give you vast amounts of money. And the difference is in what you're providing and, and to whom. So you've kind of got this, this matrix of products or services that either make money for your clients, or they're just nice to have.And then on the people side, you have, it's a generalization, but people who have money and people who don't, and I was always playing on hard mode, you know, I was trying to sell like kind of more premium stuff to people who didn't have money. And I'm like, you know, feeling bad about not being able to give stuff to the people who don't have money.And it's like, you know, what a really great way to do this would be to provide premium services that make money for people who have. So I decided I'm going to start with six to seven figure business owners. What is it that they need? And what is it that, that I'm good at, you know, core competencies. And that's where we came up with this idea.And the hardest part has been not giving into shiny object syndrome. All of the things that we could do, all of the services that I want to build. And it's like, no, there's so much more juice in this one thing. If we just stick to this and just become the best at finding, identifying, and producing and distributing clips from long form content and just be really, really good at that.There's enough complexity in that, you know, and just see that as the game, like, how can we get really good at this? How can we sell this better? How can we deliver it better? How can we increase the quality and just getting really focused and aligning what you offer the value of that to the people you're offering it to within four weeks with just a page and a form.This was a six figure book.[00:53:16] Nathan:When I think about the price of the offering. So I think I have. for what I pay for and Daily Content Machine paying about $5,000 a month. Is that right? I think somewhere in there.[00:53:28] Sean:So, what we didn't say is you, you kind of talked me into, adding another service, which is, we also do the video and audio show notes, transcript, like podcast production piece. So like, we'll produce the full thing. You just show up and record sync the footage to us. We'll produce the show and we'll make the clips.That's actually been a really nice bundle, but I'm like, okay, that's it, that's it. You know? So you kind of have some extra services in there.[00:53:53] Nathan:Yeah.To be clear, you don't want to let your friends, even if they live in the same town, as you convince you to like change your agency,[00:54:00] Sean:Nathan's very convincing.[00:54:03] Nathan:I distinctly remember. I even invited you over for dinner and convinced you of it,[00:54:07] Sean:How am I supposed to say no,[00:54:08] Nathan:Exactly.[00:54:10] Sean:You made an offer. I couldn't refuse.[00:54:13] Nathan:But in that, so you're talking about like what you're selling to someone who might not be able to afford it, or like you might make a course that you charge $5,000 for that is absolutely worth every bit of that when in the right person's hand and apply it in the right way. But you're going to have a bunch of people trying to buy it, who like, aren't that person who's going to get the leverage to make it a clear 10 X value or something like that. And so you might have in this position where someone's like, oh, $5,000 is expensive. Should I buy it? I don't know. And you're like, honestly for you, I don't know if you should buy it.Like you're not in the target market and that's, that's $5,000 one time in the case of this. And this agency, this productized service, I guess, $5,000 a month. And so actually two of those clients, and you've got a six figure a year agency business. And it's just interesting. The thing that you said made me really drove home the point of, there's not necessarily a correlation between effort and income and, and effort and output. And so you found a model and kept, kept tweaking until you found one where it was like, look, there's a ton of work that goes into this, obviously. And there's a bunch of really smart people working on editing and transcribing and captioning and everything in the show. but like, it, it doesn't have to be crazy complicated, whereas some of the other business models that you and I have both tried have been way more effort for way less.[00:55:40] Sean:Yeah. And what can really hold you back is not realizing who you're trying to market to. And. getting Talked down in your prices by accidentally catering to the wrong people. So like people who can't afford your services, you could get on call consultation calls with them. And they're just like, I just don't have this much money and can you do discounts?And you, you almost start to feel bad. Like, you know, how can I charge this much? I must be charging way too much. And it's like, or maybe you're serving the wrong customers. Like, you know, when you talk to the right people, that may actually be really cheap. I remember when I started designing logos, this is like a decade ago.My first logo, I charged like 150 And then, once I sold that I got enough confidence to charge 300. And then I was like, I, you know what, instead of doubling again, I'm going to charge $750[00:56:30] Nathan:Ooh.[00:56:31] Sean:I did that. And you know, I'm like slowly building on my portfolio and I got up to like, $1,500 and clients were paying that and right around there, you start to get people resisting.Now you've got a price with a comma and it gives people. pause And they're like, can you come down? Can you do a little bit cheaper? And it's so tempting. You, you want to do that because you want the job. You, you want them to be happy. It could be a good portfolio item. And I remember just kind of fast forwarding through this, but like, you know, just mindset shifts and stuff.Eventually I got to the point where there was this startup out of San Francisco they wanted a logo. And I was like, this would be really valuable for this company, you know? And I somehow mustered up the courage to charge $4,000. And I found out later from a friend of a friend, you know, from someone that worked there that they thought I was like super cheap because someone else they knew or some other agency was going to charge $25,000 And I was like, wow, like I'm over here. Just like feeling bad about my prices, thinking I'm going so big. And really I'm. I was just serving the wrong code.[00:57:34] Nathan:Yeah. And it's so interesting because the person who's only able to pay $500 or only thinks the logo is worth $500. It's not that they're wrong or they're devaluing your service or something like that. It's that maybe it's for a side project or it's for a business that just got off the ground or any of that. And so it's not worth getting offended over or something like that. It's like, we just don't have product market fit, like product customer fit. It's not a thing here, you know, and my services are better for, you know, bigger, more established companies. So the saying no to, to, services, occasionally getting talked into specific services by your somewhat annoying local friends. but then where does it go from here as far as what are you looking to, to, to add more clients and, and keep scaling and growing?[00:58:30] Sean:Yeah. That's what we're trying to figure out right now is it's always tricky. It's a blessing and a curse when you have an audience, because it can kind of create false product market fit. Like you, you think you have something and then you exhaust your audience and then you're like, oh, like I kinda need to figure this out.You know, that's like, we're experiencing that right now because like, I was getting like 40% close rates on consultation calls on sales calls, and now we're not, and it's. Oh, no, like what's happening. And it's like, well, I think those people probably knew me for several years, you know? And then like, there's just all this trust and still Nathan we're a year in and we don't have, like, we don't have a proper website for, for the agency.It's like a page with a form. That's it? There's no, there's no examples. There's no case studies. There's no portfolio item and we've made it this far. but you know, when people don't know you, they need that social proof and they want the examples and they're looking for past versions of success. And like the sales cycle is a little bit longer.And so that's where we're at right now is like figuring out kind of like Mar marketing channel fit. And I know well enough to know, like it's better to, and back to right advice, wrong time. it's a good idea to be everywhere if you can, you know, cause different people consume on different platforms.Even if you don't use Instagram. Other people do, even if you don't use YouTube, other people do it's. Beyond LinkedIn, even if you don't, you know, that like there's, there's some, there's some sound reasoning to that at the same time. You don't want to try to do all of that all at once, you know, and, and spread yourself too thin, like pick one channel, do one channel.Well, and when you've got that down and it's easy and you have systems and it's not taking too much time, then expand to another channel with the goal of like, ultimately diversifying kind of like investments. You don't want to just diversify all at once. You know, like, like try some things out, you know, focus on one thing at a time, see what works for us.I, at least I know that much. And so it's like, okay, I'm not trying to do every version of marketing, you know, like, oh, do we do affiliates? Do we do ads? You know, do we do content? Do we do cold outreach? You know? I'm trying not to do everything at once. So we're kind of dabbling in one thing at a time and seeing what fits.[01:00:48] Nathan:So how many clients do you have now for the agency that are the consistent tenders?[01:00:53] Sean:Not a lot. It's still very small. And we've had like, I it's under a dozen cause like some, we had like several accounts, like not renew and stuff. So it's still very small. And for three or four months, I stopped marketing and sales completely because I did not want to break this thing with scale because I notice things in operation that were the operations that were not going well.I'm like, this is going to be really bad. Like if we just sign more clients, it's going to be really bad. So, I had clients pay upfront for like six months or 12 months of service, which kind of gave us time to focus on operations. And now everything's humming along smoothly. Like the systems we've built can support like dozens or hundreds of accounts, even like, we don't need it right now, but it'll support where we want to go.But it's still a very, it's actually very small, like again done, like almost no marketing a year end, still don't have a website. Like it's pretty much just been all internal focused.[01:01:52] N
08: Jason McLeod is a Canadian San Diego chef who has actually earned a Michelin Star or TWO in his career. I knew I wanted to interview Jason right when I had the idea to start this podcast. Some of his notable San Diego restaurants are Craft & Commerce, Born & Raised, Ironside, Morning Glory Cafe, to name a few. We dive into how someone who is so seasoned in his industry and craft, was still thrown a huge curveball with COVID and what he is doing to stay safe in his restaurants, but also afloat. In our conversation, we discuss:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Moving 500 miles from his hometown to work as a dishwasher in Banff ski resort Moving up the ranks to become a chef for major hotel chains Becoming a partner with Consortium Holdings and building over 10 restaurants Creating the first full service, seafood focused restaurant based on the history of San Diego fishing Realizing the end of a restaurant concept and transitioning it to meet the needs of customers Drink of the Week: A non-alcoholic Iced Mocha haha (listen to the intro) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Get more Cha Cha Sips @chanelsonego! Resources: consortiumholdings.com Instagram: @ironsidechef Check out Jason and his partners’ amazing projects when you’re in San Diego! Find your next experience here. Cha Cha Sips is managed and edited by Nikki Butler Media.
We believe the future belongs to creators. What started as an idea at Craft + Commerce, has since become an ever-increasing part of our mindset. Being a creator means taking ownership of your destiny. When we look at the world, it's easy to feel like we are just along for the ride. But being a creator means we take control, we create outcomes, we take full responsibility for what happens in our lives. This mindset helps you “future-proof” yourself. Now is the time to start owning your path. Main takeaways Lean into what you want to share with the world. Now is the perfect time to put your work in front of people and build a captive audience. Keep sharing and working in public. This will help you build an audience that cares about what you're doing and will be there to support you in the future. Make 2020 your year for connecting with your audience and building trust. People will still buy your stuff because people buy stuff from people they like. Creators of the day Balaji Srinivasan James Clear Resources of the day The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Thought of the day“How can we be deliberate about the constraint we're under? How can we channel this into something that's really meaningful? I want to look back on this time as a time where we created habits and special moments in our family that we're proud of.” ~ @nathanbarryLinks Craft + Commerce Antifragile by Nassim Taleb The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Baron Fig Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum Creator Fund Sean McCabe Stay in touch Start building your audience for free! Twitter Facebook Instagram
While on our first stop of the sabbatical year in San Diego, I got to visit Caleb Wojcik in his home studio. In addition to this episode, we also recorded an episode with me on the Caleb Wojcik Show which publishes today. Caleb is an incredible filmmaker who has worked with clients like Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income and ConvertKit (filming their I Am A Blogger series as well as the Craft + Commerce conference). He also filmed our own seanwes conference. Caleb regularly teaches what he's learned building a successful six-figure client-services business with his podcast, courses, and YouTube channel. In today's episode, I ask Caleb what he would do to get his first client if he was starting from scratch. If you're looking to sell your filmmaking services, this episode is for you. Aside from client services, Caleb is also the inventor of SwitchPod. SwitchPod is a minimal, versatile, handheld tripod for vloggers that raised over $400,000 on Kickstarter. We talk about going from client services to physical products and the future of SwitchPod. Caleb recently set up what many would consider to be a dream home video studio in the past couple of years. But like many of us, he still struggles with overthinking content creation and production quality. We talk about some tips for overcoming overthinking and how to make videos more easily.
This podcast episode was not planned. While staying in San Diego during my sabbatical, my friend Caleb Wojcik invited me to his house to record a podcast. Caleb lives in Encinitas (about a one-hour train ride from where we were staying in downtown San Diego). Caleb and I recorded two podcasts: one for his show, and another for mine. You'll see that interview with Caleb on the podcast feed in the next day or two. I was getting ready to take the 3:00pm train back to the city after recording with Caleb, when I received a new message on Instagram from Calvin Rosser: “Hey dude, think I saw you're in San Diego. I'm in Encinitas (north of San Diego) if you want to get together. Fairly free during the evenings this week. Just working and surfing.” I'd met Calvin once last year at Craft + Commerce conference. We got coffee together the last morning before I went to the airport. Calvin has been a nomadic traveler for many years now. Over coffee last year in Boise, Idaho, he shared stories of his travels, and emphasized the importance of going with the flow and not having an overly rigid plan. “You may find that you love a place and want to stay longer.” At the time, he spoke of settling down. Several years of traveling nomadically was an incredible experience, but he was ready to slow down and stay in one place for awhile. We both just happened to be in Encinitas at the same exact time. How perfect was it that he messaged me without knowing? This must have been where he settled down last year. Calvin laughed. “I actually just got here a day ago.” “What happened to settling down?” “I still want to. I miss having friends I see regularly and with whom I can go deep.” We met at a coffee shop in Encinitas, but Calvin hardly sat down. Right away, he asked if we'd be willing to go somewhere else. “I actually have a car, but I prefer to walk. There's a place nearby that's really nice—it's about a 14-minute walk from here. Is that okay?” Calvin has a thoughtful tone, as you'll hear in the recording. He doesn't mince words, and he doesn't waste any time getting straight to deep and meaningful matters. Before I know it, we walk through an iron gate into another world. I'd never been in a meditation garden, but visiting at golden hour is everything you'd imagine: fish, flowers, and colorful foliage abound as you walk through winding pathways and up stairs. As we go up, the trees give way to a bright sky with a sun that will set within the hour. We find a bench at the top in a little clearing that reveals a stunning panorama of the Pacific Ocean. We are high up on the cliff. “I'm trying to remove guilt when not working,” Calvin says. “Do you mind if I record our conversation?” I ask. “We don't have to do anything with the recording, but if we end up discussing something worth sharing, then at least we have the option of making it available as a podcast.” Calvin doesn't mind. He almost seems indifferent. I hand him the lavalier microphone to clip to his shirt. He doesn't seem phased. We don't begin with any formal introductions. The tone of our conversation remains the same. We just continue talking. “With my work, I feel that there's an endless list of things to do. When I'm not working, I should be focused on that list of things to do.” The guilt. As a recovering workaholic, I know it all too well. There were only ever two modes: 1. Working 2. Feeling guilty about not working I didn't like feeling guilty. Calvin's the same. He's internally driven, and unsatisfied with anything less than reaching his full potential. That was me, and why I worked 18-hour days for a decade. Then I burned out. “The times I feel the guilt the least, and the times I feel most alive, is when I'm connecting one-on-one with someone else,” Calvin says. “I'm able to engage with that in a way where the other stuff sort of melts away.” The seanwes podcast has not, historically,
The Get Paid Podcast: The Stark Reality of Entrepreneurship and Being Your Own Boss
Shanté Cofield is a former Division I athlete with a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from New York State University. She is the creator of The Movement Maestro, a social media based company devoted to all things human movement related that has amassed an astonishing social following of over 43,000 people. She is the host of an equally successful podcast, Maestro on the Mic, which helps professionals in the movement industry turn their passion into a profitable business. In addition to building her empire, Shanté is a lead instructor for RockTape where she travels the world teaching other movement professionals such as chiropractors, massage therapists, and trainers on how to assess movements and use specific tools to help their clients. “Social media can be such a great way to give people insight into who you really are.” -Shanté Cofield This Week on the Get Paid Podcast How Shanté gets paid by working for a company that sells mobility products while building The Movement Maestro. Why she was disappointed in her career as a physical therapist and how it led her to start her social media gig. How she connected with her tribe, and some of the best people in the world, on Instagram. The differences in working situations and rates between RockTape and the Cross Country Education Program. How she strategically manages her finances so she can continue to run her business. How Shanté grew her Instagram following to a whopping 40k. How she categorizes her Instagram posts on the platform by creating custom, branded hashtags. Why Shanté recommends focusing on one social media platform. The importance of identifying who your audience is and how it impacts your mindset around marketing and promoting your brand on social media. Why you should build your social media following on your own terms, the way you want, and stop comparing your success to others. How Shanté uses Instagram to promote her podcast. Mentioned in this episode: The 4-Hour Workweek Book by Tim Ferriss ConvertKit's Craft & Commerce conference Show Your Work Podcast Connect with Shanté Cofield: The Maestro Movement Website The Movement Maestro on Instagram The Movement Maestro on Facebook Step up Your Facebook Ads Game Today's episode is brought to you by our Free Facebook Ads Masterclass. Five ad formulae that sell online courses on autopilot. People tell me all the time that even thinking about getting started with Facebook and Instagram ads feels incredibly overwhelming, and I don't blame them. It isn't easy! That's why I recorded this masterclass to teach you about just 5 ads that you can use to sell more of your online course group program or mastermind. Sign up, watch it, and then I want you to just choose one of those five ads to focus on to start, get instant access to the training here. Now it's time to GET PAID Thanks for tuning into the Get Paid Podcast! If you enjoyed today's episode, head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media. Now, it's time to go get yourself paid.
A big reason why Donald Trump won in 2016 — and why he may win again in 2020 — is that Republicans now seem to get social media, email, and the rest of the online world better than Democrats do, even though Democrats like Howard Dean and Barack Obama were online pioneers. In this episode, Mark Barker and Jordan Ruden of Craft & Commerce give fascinating insights into how Democrats lost their lead, how Republicans took it over, and what it means for how we all communicate, whether we’re in politics or not.
This week I sat down with Sarah Peck to discuss the work life balance, especially as a female in the entrepreneur world. Sarah is a writer, startup advisor, and yoga teacher based in New York City. She’s the founder and executive director of Startup Pregnant, a media company documenting the stories of women’s leadership across work and family. She hosts the weekly Startup Pregnant podcast, and she and her partner in life and work are the instigators behind More Women’s Voices, a website that promotes women speakers and entrepreneurs. Previously, she worked at Y Combinator backed One Month, Inc, a company that teaches people to code in 30 days, and prior, as a writing and communications consultant. She’s a 20-time All-American swimmer who successfully swam the Escape from Alcatraz nine separate times, once wearing only a swim cap and goggles to raise $33k for charity: water. To date, she’s written for more than 75 different web publications and and has delivered speeches and workshops at Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Harvard, Year of the X, Craft & Commerce, WDS, and more. One recent viral essay, The Art of Asking, has been used across tech companies and product teams to train teams in clear communications. She’s currently writing a memoir of her experience working in the tech startup world while she was pregnant with her first kid. HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE: How Sarah got into the startup world and what drives her A big issue women run into when getting ahead in their careers The common thread Sarah sees throughout her audience If it's possible to balance all that life throws at you The connection between being a mess and a masterpiece The naked truth about how Sarah raised $30K for charity Going from scraping by to feeling financially secure The real questions to ask yourself when evaluating the type of work you are doing Where the idea for Startup Pregnant came from The financial agreement Sarah and her partner made while navigating startups How to enjoy parental leave for beyond the infant stage The importance of being intentional when crafting and building a business A big research mistake people make when starting a business How growing slow can be a really good thing for your business LINKS WE MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Y Combinator Cheryl Strayed Educated An American Marriage Laura Roeder GET SOCIAL WITH SARAH AND LET HER KNOW YOU HEARD ABOUT HER HERE Startup Pregnant Sarah’s Website Sarah’s e-mail Instagram Twitter
Last week, speaking coach Mike Pacchione walked through the speaking, or the communication styles, of the first three Enneagram types and how each type can leverage their gift and what to watch out for. Tune in today for part 2, as Mike and Ian cover how to tap into the strengths and avoid the pitfalls for types four through nine. And, don’t forget to download Mike’s tips for public speaking by Enneagram type. Just click below for your PDF of the key points for each of the nine types. DOWNLOAD THE ENNEAGRAM AND PUBLIC SPEAKING PDF About Mike Pacchione Since 2012, Mike has taught public speaking to nearly 10,000 people across the globe. (Yes, he gives presentations about presentations. It’s very meta.) His favorite thing in the world is helping someone with great ideas make those ideas come alive on stage. (Cue name-dropping) To that end, he’s helped Olympians such as Scott Hamilton, executives such as Donald Miller, Ryan Delk and Rachel Rodgers, online entrepreneurs such as Pat Flynn and Amy Porterfield, best-selling authors such as James Clear, and let’s not forget our dear friend Ian Cron. Mike also serves as the speaking coach for ConvertKit’s annual Craft + Commerce conference. While Mike is not at liberty to name the remainder of his clients, suffice it to say that if you have used a computer, credit card or search engine today, you’ve been in contact with one of his past clients. On a personal note: In 2016, he and his wife began helping a Congolese refugee family transition to life in the United States. It is some of his best and most challenging work. Ever think of how to explain voicemail to someone who’s never used a phone before? Neither had he. Drop him a line at mike@miketalks.co. If you’d like to see pictures of speakers (sometimes), him sometimes), his family (sometimes) and his dog (often), follow @mpacc on Instagram.
Have you ever thought about what makes a great speech or presentation? Whether you’re speaking to thousands this weekend, you're speaking to the Rotary Club, or you just want to be a better communicator in the workplace, your Enneagram type has a specific communication style that plays a part in your effectiveness or lack of effectiveness. So how do you tap into those strengths and avoid the pitfalls? Our guest today, speaking coach Mike Pacchione walks us through the speaking, or the communication styles, of all nine types and how each of those nine types can leverage their gift and shares some of the things to watch out for. Mike’s also put together his great tips for public speaking by Enneagram type. Just click below to review the key points for each of the nine types. THE ENNEAGRAM AND PUBLIC SPEAKING PDF DOWNLOAD NOW About Mike Pacchione Since 2012, Mike has taught public speaking to nearly 10,000 people across the globe. (Yes, he gives presentations about presentations. It’s very meta.) His favorite thing in the world is helping someone with great ideas make those ideas come alive on stage. (Cue name-dropping) To that end, he’s helped Olympians such as Scott Hamilton, executives such as Donald Miller, Ryan Delk and Rachel Rodgers, online entrepreneurs such as Pat Flynn and Amy Porterfield, best-selling authors such as James Clear, and let’s not forget our dear friend Ian Cron. Mike also serves as the speaking coach for ConvertKit’s annual Craft + Commerce conference. While Mike is not at liberty to name the remainder of his clients, suffice it to say that if you have used a computer, credit card or search engine today, you’ve been in contact with one of his past clients. On a personal note: In 2016, he and his wife began helping a Congolese refugee family transition to life in the United States. It is some of his best and most challenging work. Ever think of how to explain voicemail to someone who’s never used a phone before? Neither had he. Drop him a line at mike@miketalks.co. If you’d like to see pictures of speakers (sometimes), him sometimes), his family (sometimes) and his dog (often), follow @mpacc on Instagram.
In this final episode of his first season, instead of an interview, Stephen is reflecting on the revelations from his guests, in particular the episodes featuring Jeremy Daalder of Image Science and Lee Goldberg of Happy Cog. (If you haven’t tuned in to them already, they’re really worth a listen.) He also talks about why he continues to be such a huge fan of Craft Commerce and his thoughts on the future of Craft Commerce. On a side note—Stephen will be talking at the Dot All Conference, the official Craft CMS conference held in Montreal, September 18-20, 2019. Key takeaways: The great things about Craft Commerce for developers How Craft Commerce are improving their offerings How CraftCMS compares to Shopify Why Craft should promote its agencies beyond the Craft partners’ page The importance of email marketing for ecommerce vendors URLs/resources/social media links: devMode.fm with Andrew Welch Mailchimp Klayvio
My guest today is Brandi Mowles, and she helps service-based entrepreneurs and businesses explode their growth by using Facebook ads and sales funnels. I originally recorded a strategy session with Brandi earlier this year that hadn’t yet aired, but after talking with Brandi at ConvertKit’s Craft + Commerce conference this month, I just knew I had to bring her back on to share what’s been happening in her business. In addition to being one of my students and a coach for my Impact group coaching program, Brandi has just launched her 12-month membership program for service-based entrepreneurs who want to scale to consistent 5-figure months, without hiring a team. You’re going to love her story of how she launched this program and the results she got from the beta launch to a relatively small list of a few hundred people. Brandi is a perfect example that you don’t need everything to be perfect, because she generated $4,000 on this launch before even going public with it! In this episode you’ll hear how Brandi first found this podcast and dove into managing Facebook ads for others, originally getting clients from Facebook groups but maxing out her revenue at about $6,000 a month. She talks about her experiences with local clients from LinkedIn, and why she made the switch back to working exclusively with online service-based entrepreneurs, with great success. Brandi shares the amazing results her clients have seen, starting with an early client from James Wedmore’s Business By Design group whose launch generated about $21,000 in revenue on an ad spend of just $823. Brandi’s now helping that client launch a second time, and through word of mouth referrals, Brandi’s business has absolutely exploded. There is so much in this episode that you can learn from Brandi’s work with her clients, some of them in very niche industries, as well as how she’s successfully building her own business. In fact, Brandi is also a new member of my Accelerator mastermind starting this month, so I’ll be excited to see even more progress she makes over the second half of 2019, and I’d love to bring her back on again to share it all with you. Before we start the show, I’ve got something to ask. How do you listen to this podcast? Is it in the iTunes app, Stitcher, Spotify or maybe iHeart Radio? Do you listen to it at regular speed, or maybe like me you listen to your podcasts at 1.5X speed? I want to know! Take a screenshot of you tuning in to The Art of Paid Traffic, and include it on your Instagram Story, while tagging me, @RickMulready! Want to win a 30-minute strategy session with me? I’ll be drawing one winner at random each month, and all you have to do is give me your feedback on this podcast over at http://rickmulready.com/messenger, telling me what you’d like to hear more of - including topics you’d like to see covered, guests, style and frequency of the show! On the Show Today You’ll Learn: The simple ad campaigns Brandi is using with one client to get leads from cold traffic at just 71 cents, and how she’s getting amazing results for clients with smaller lists with a total ad spend of less than $1,000 The way Brandi uses a questionnaire to get in to the heads of her ad management clients, and how this ultimately leads to better results for their launches Her 7-day pre-launch video testing strategy that is setting up her clients for success, with a spend of only $10 to $20 a day Why Brandi doesn’t want to scale her business and how she resists the temptation to work with everyone that approaches her now The beta launch of her membership program that resulted in 23 people signing up, with a waiting list of more people eager to join The way she’s delivering the content in the membership and her strategy for delivering maximum value to her members What approach Brandi had going into the recent ConvertKit Craft + Commerce event, and what she did once she was there to directly get three new clients from it Why Brandi recently hired a Visibility Strategist, or “Hype Girl” (and what this person is doing for her) Her ideal clients that she wants to work with and the two packages that Brandi now offers to service-based entrepreneurs
Ben Toalson and Dan Jacobson take over the seanwes podcast in Sean's absence to talk about their recent experience at the Craft + Commerce conference. Sean is taking off the month of July to write his next book, Sabbatical. During his absence, Ben and Dan will record new episodes of the show. Sean will return in August. Dan was in the Community before he started working on the seanwes team. He will run seanwes in 2020 during Sean's sabbatical year. Ben and Dan had the opportunity to meet in person at Craft + Commerce in Boise, Idaho in June. Today, they share their experience at the event as well as get into a bit of Dan's backstory.
Ecommerce isn’t always glamorous. It’s hard work, and at times it can be daunting. The client relationship is something that today’s guest takes seriously, and delivering value is one of his main priorities. Mark Dunbavan is a detail-oriented developer passionate about his builds and taking care of his clients. He believes in a flexible team structure as long as it’s effective, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he’s proud of the work he does. Listen to hear about one of Mark’s clients, a furniture sourcer in the UK, and the kind of site he’s built for them using Craft Commerce. Mark also shares how having his first child has changed his approach to problem solving at work and overcoming the challenges of maintaining a unique and complex site. Key takeaways: How having a child has affected Mark’s approach to work and problem-solving As long as a team works together effectively, the other details don’t matter Mark’s client Viaduct, a UK furniture sourcer, has an interesting business model and unique set of needs Shipping, tax, and variants were the most complex problems to solve for this site The importance of keeping sites updated, despite the difficulties Resources: http://www.markdunbavan.co.uk/
Quick note: Annual Membership is increasing permanently on June 30th. Sign up to become a member at https://seanwes.com/membership now to lock in the current rate and get a bunch of months FREE. Join the Community, tune in to live shows, and get access to over $7,500 worth of our courses and training by becoming a seanwes member. I'm on a sabbatical week and wanted to catch you up on a bunch of things! • If you've been thinking about becoming a seanwes member, now is the time to do so! We are increasing the Annual Membership investment forever at the end of June. Lock in the current rate at https://seanwes.com/membership. • On July 1st, I am writing 100,000 a day and live streaming the whole thing. Visit http://Write100K.com to learn more about how I plan to write a hundred thousand words in a single day. • While I'm kicking off the month by writing 100,000 words on July 1st, I'm also taking the entire month of July to write my next book, Sabbatical. • During the month of July when i'm writing my next book, I'm considering having Ben Toalson and Dan Jacobson take over the seanwes podcast instead of just doubling up on podcast recordings for a month in advance. • Next year, 2020 will be my first sabbatical year. I'm taking off the entire year and traveling. I reveal some of the places I'm going—from Melbourne to Montreal (and much more!). • This week, I'm attending my favorite conference, Craft + Commerce (where I spoke a couple years ago: https://youtu.be/lCTC81KSReA) in Boise, Idaho. I'm also doing some hiking. As always, follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/seanwes to watch my story and see behind the scenes. • I created a brand new Sabbatical YouTube channel (https://sabbatical.blog/youtube). I will document my journey of taking a year off and share videos of my sabbatical year on this channel. Go subscribe! • Learn more about sabbaticals, and my upcoming book, at https://sabbatical.blog.
SARAH K PECK is a writer, startup advisor, and yoga teacher based in New York City. She’s the founder and executive director of Startup Pregnant, a media company documenting the stories of women’s leadership across work and family. She hosts the weekly Startup Pregnant podcast, and she and her partner in life and work are the instigators behind More Women’s Voices, a website that promotes women speakers and entrepreneurs. Previously, she worked at Y Combinator backed One Month, Inc, a company that teaches people to code in 30 days, and prior, as a writing and communications consultant. She’s a 20-time All-American swimmer who successfully swam the Escape from Alcatraz nine separate times, once wearing only a swim cap and goggles to raise $33k for charity: water. To date, she’s written for more than 75 different web publications and has delivered speeches and workshops at Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Harvard, Year of the X, Craft & Commerce, WDS, and more. One recent viral essay, The Art of Asking, has been used across tech companies and product teams to train teams in clear communications. She’s currently writing a memoir of her experience working in the tech startup world while she was pregnant with her first kid. In this episode, Karen and Sarah discuss: Success Story of Sarah Commit to Get Leads Commit to asking every single day, even if it is just one person and ask everyone. Consult to Sell Be in relationship with people for a long time to nurture and build, then ask for the sale and build something that they want.. Connect to Build and Grow If you want to see something live in the world, give it 7 years. Success Thinking, Activities and Vision Set up your habits for slow and steady long term success. #turtlemode Sweet Spot of Success "Every time you have an interaction with a human, there is a possibility for connection."- Sarah Peck *5 Minute Success - Listener Giveaway* Go here to receive a FREE copy of The Art of Asking. Connect with Sarah Peck: Twitter: @startuppregnant & @sarahkpeck Facebook: Start Up Pregnant & Sarah Kathleen Peck Website: SarahKPeck.com & StartUpPregnant.com Book: The Art of Asking & Mini Books Instagram: @startuppregnant About the Podcast Join host Karen Briscoe each week to learn how you can achieve success at a higher level by investing just 5 minutes a day! Tune in to hear powerful, inspirational success stories and expert insights from entrepreneurs, business owners, industry leaders, and real estate agents that will transform your business and life. Karen shares a-ha moments that have shaped her career and discusses key concepts from her book Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed. Here’s to your success in business and in life! Connect with Karen Briscoe: Twitter: @5MinuteSuccess Facebook: 5MinuteSuccess Website: 5MinuteSuccess.com Email: Karen@5MinuteSuccess.com 5 Minute Success Links Learn more about Karen’s book, Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day Karen also recommends Moira Lethbridge's book "Savvvy Woman in 5 Minutes a Day" Subscribe to 5 Minute Success Podcast Spread the love and share the secrets of 5 Minute Success with your friends and colleagues! Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
On today’s episode, our guest is Roger Glenn of Mach 1 Media out of Austin, Texas. He’s working on a Craft Commerce build for a furniture store, and we lay the groundwork for the most flexible, efficient, and future-proof way to set up the site. We start by looking at the big picture and walk through the process and steps all the way down to the nitty gritty details of how to plan and implement the site in a way that makes sense to the client as well as to shoppers. If you’re a developer who’s developing Craft Commerce stores, you’ll find this episode useful as we explore how to handle some of the complexities of multiple variants, SKUs, and manufacturers. Key takeaways: How to deal with multiple large catalogues from separate manufacturers in the most efficient way possible Planning: have a discussion with the client and create a spreadsheet Looking at the way competitors are structured and the way people shop How to treat SKUs, dimensions, variations, attributes, and how to use channels How to make input on the back end easiest and the most logical for the administrators Resources: Mach1Media.com
Chatbots, Bitcoin Prices, Lead Generation, and More in Process Hacker News Welcome to the Process Hacker News, your weekly roundup of useful news and updates from Process Hackers who have been guests on Hack the Process with M. David Green. This week we’ve got chatbots, bitcoin prices, lead generation, and more. For all the links, check out the show notes at https://www.hacktheprocess.com/chatbots-bitcoin-prices-lead-generation-and-more-in-process-hacker-news/. Enjoy! Events This year from June 7 to 8 in Atlanta, Summit 21 is hosting a conference for Black women centered on entrepreneurship and leadership, and their roster of speakers includes Nicaila Matthews-Okome. Build your community and learn from the world’s top content creators, including Sarah Cooper, Brennan Dunn, Pat Flynn, Nathan Barry, Jeff Goins, and more at Craft + Commerce, happening in Idaho from June 7 to 10. Pat, Nathan, and Jeff were mentioned by Hack the Process guests Nicaila Matthews-Okome, Omar Zenhom, Paula Jenkins, Justin McGill, and Curtis McHale. You can now register for the Mindfulness and Trauma Conference for presentations by Rhonda Magee and other leaders about how to heal trauma through the practice and science of mindfulness. The event will run from August 2 to 4 in Rhinebeck, New York. Media Our latest Hack the Process guest, Maneesh Sethi spent part of his entrepreneurial journey living in caves, and on the Optimal Living Daily Podcast, he shares how he did it and how he fights distractions in daily life. Chat bots can be helpful for your web visitors, and Omar Zenhom has a new podcast episode about the benefits and disadvantages as he breaks them down. Nicole Holland guests on the Marketing Speak Podcast to reveal how you can generate leads by leveraging your podcast. And on Conversations with Carrie, Nicole shares more of her entrepreneurial adventures as well as her weight loss journey. Get to know Mallory Wisong, virtual assistant to Paula Jenkins and a certified life coach. Find out why she believes in leaving room for the unexpected, and how it can lead to incredible things on the Jumpstart Your Joy Podcast. The Coin Mastery show returns after a few months with a new video from host Carter Thomas. Crypto investors can discover the latest Bitcoin price trends and hear about the path to $30K. Writing The Computer Science Teachers’ Conference, where Sasha Ariel Alston took part as a speaker, wrapped up last May 4, and they’ve published a post that covers all the lessons learned. Recommended Resources Some seats are still available for the first FlynnCon1, an in-person conference from July 26 to 28 in San Diego, California run by Pat Flynn, whose podcast has been mentioned by Nicaila Matthews-Okome, Omar Zenhom, and Paula Jenkins. Can you get rich while investing none of your own cash? Apparently, you can, according to Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, whose writings inspired JuVan Langford. Listen as Robert compares investing your own money to leveraging other people’s money on The Rich Dad Channel. Thanks for checking out this Process Hacker News update from Hack the Process. If you liked what you saw, please leave a comment to let us know what processes you’re hacking.
Stephen chats with Seb Dehesdin who came up with a clever multiple currency setup solution in Craft Commerce for his client’s designer clothing ecommerce site. While Craft Commerce is a powerful platform offering businesses the ability to write the story for their brand with content and present it in a unique way for their niche, when it comes to some of the commerce-specific features merchants are asking for, there is still some room to see improvements. Tune in to learn about the challenges of multi currency as Seb walks us through the setup, technical aspects, and customer experience flow of his solution. Key takeaways: Seb’s solution is straightforward for users The backend setup is simple with a few minor drawbacks and workarounds One plugin currently exists to provide a similar solution for multi currency Once this feature is baked into Craft Commerce, it’s going to put them ahead of the pack The success and future of Commerce will be determined by how merchants start talking about it Resources: BleepsandBlops.com @sebdehesdin Commerce Currency Prices by Kurious Agency
Dave Ritter has always been interested in the intersection between art and tech, and with over 10 years of ecommerce experience and a background in marketing and design, he has valuable insight to offer on the topic of choosing the right content management system for the job. Working closely with clients throughout the iterative process of developing a successful ecommerce site and strategy, Dave knows the importance of design and brand when it comes to selling online. Tune in to learn how Craft Commerce works for clients with an established business logic, how the intuitive backend makes it a breeze for clients to work with, and listen as Dave shares some advice for developers who may be working with Commerce for the first time. Key takeaways: Craft gives you the ability to relate content with commerce Craft Commerce is great for clients who want software and technology to follow their business logic Most clients aren’t designers, but design really matters Clients are quick to pick up and learn the backend with Craft’s intuitive UI Ecommerce essentials and best practices--Dave offers some advice Resources: RitterKnight.com
Having that great relationship between developer and business is something that is often difficult to achieve, but today’s guests are an excellent example of what that looks like. Eric Marthinsen of Built and Tracey Corbitt of Rochester Electronics discuss the unique challenges of building an ecommerce site selling over 350,000 SKUs and the company’s fascinating business model. They also each give some insightful advice at the end, so be sure to stick around for that. Tune in to learn why Craft Commerce was the right choice for Rochester’s site build, what it means to look at sales and digital marketing from a technical perspective, and what to watch out for when rebuilding, re-platforming, or building a fresh site. Key takeaways Craft Commerce saved the day for Rochester, giving them a better build but also making it affordable for them to have a custom site that fit their business needs They faced a unique challenge, with likely the highest number of SKUs in their system of any Craft site Rochester Electronics has a fascinating business model They take a technical approach to sales and digital marketing operations Eric and Tracey each give some valuable advice Resources: Bui.lt AgileCommerce.com Rochester Electronics
Pixel & Tonic’s greatly anticipated release of Craft Commerce 2 — now with Pro and Lite editions — brings several improvements and new features that make it an even more powerful tool for building a customized ecommerce site. Luke Holder is on the show to discuss some of these new features and give a few sneak peeks at what’s to come in future versions of Craft and Commerce. And if any developers are listening, Pixel & Tonic is hiring a new senior Commerce developer--accepting applications now. Listen to learn about the differences between Commerce Pro and Lite as well as some of the use cases and additional features now available in both versions. Key takeaways Craft CMS has three big announcements: Craft 3.1, Commerce 2, and the new Craft plugin store Commerce 2 has been released with a Pro and Lite version What’s on the horizon? More plugins and features in the works Craft is looking to hire another Commerce developer DotAll is in Montreal this year in September Resources: CraftCMS.com PixelandTonic.com
How does brand identity inform your ecommerce approach and growth strategy? For Jim Coudal of Field Notes, it’s about putting the brand first and then figuring out how to “make the ecommerce piece of it work to show the brand in its best light.” Noah Bernsohn of One Design Company joins the conversation as well to help shed some light on why Craft Commerce was the best fit for the Field Notes site. Listen to learn how Jim’s focus and consistency around knowing the Field Notes brand identity creates a clear sense of who they are and what they’re willing to do (and not do), and how they reconcile those boundaries and limits with growth and sales. Key takeaways The original audience for Field Notes were other design nerds Field Notes wanted something specific and unique for their site, so they chose Craft Commerce Field Notes puts brand first One Design Company also built the Craft site Resources: FieldNotesBrand.com One Design Company
What’s the deal with GDPR and what does it mean for how ecommerce sites handle abandoned cart emails? Craft Commerce developer Pete Eveleigh, technical director of Moresoda, shares some valuable insights on the topic. It’s a fun conversation, and Pete talks about some of the amazing work and Craft Commerce builds Moresoda is currently doing and a few exciting things in the works. Listen to learn how the flexibility, simplicity, and intuitiveness of Craft Commerce makes it great for both clients and developers to work with it, and why GDPR compliance isn’t quite as complicated as it sounds if you’re upfront and honest on your site and in your communication. Key takeaways Craft Commerce ticks all of the boxes for Pete and Moresoda because it’s flexible, intuitive, and simple--yet incredibly powerful Working with Craft Commerce is a great experience for both developers and clients GDPR compliance and abandoned cart emails don’t have to be super complicated--as long as you’re honest and upfront with your customers Resources: Moresoda Climate Action Hub Tileflair http://twitter.com/foamcow
Is Craft Commerce the right solution for your ecommerce platform? When a feature, integration, or required outcome doesn’t fit into an existing system, chances are, Craft Commerce is the answer. Leslie Camacho is the Chief Customer Officer at Pixel & Tonic, and he believes that customer success is a genuine opportunity to help people solve a real problems in an authentic and empathetic way. Listen to learn about Craft’s strengths and how they provide value to clients in search of unique solutions, plus get a preview of an exciting new element of partnerships and relationships within Craft. Key takeaways As Pixel & Tonic’s Chief Customer Officer, Leslie is the primary connection between all parties who use Craft How can self-awareness help you sell more genuinely? Pixel & Tonic is ensuring Verified Craft Partners bring value to their clients so the Craft ecosystem remains trustworthy Leslie offers insight on how to determine if Craft and Commerce will provide a valuable solution for your ecommerce needs URLs/resources/social media links The Feeling Good Handbook Cognitive Behavioral Therapy The Drum Recommends
When selling a product that’s a little bit outside the box, you need a flexible solution for building your ecommerce site, especially if you’re the first one on the scene and doing something totally different. Vijay Sitaram of Wipertech sits down for a chill, yet inspiring conversation on how he got his start selling wiper blades online when no one else was doing it. He also dives into why Klaviyo is essential to his customer retention strategy and what it takes to succeed in ecommerce. Listen as Vijay gives some excellent advice on taking care of customers in the digital age, and find out why he made the decision to move the Wipertech site from Magento over to Craft Commerce 2. Key takeaways Vijay saw an opportunity to sell wiper blades online to customers in an accessible way The two main challenges were the technical aspects of selling online and customer acquisition Making the switch to Craft Commerce from Magento is right for Wipertech because of the flexibility it affords Customer care in the digital age is shifting, and Wipertech has an effective customer retention strategy Resources: Wipertech
Is it possible to survive in the world of ecommerce with big box competitors like Amazon? Jeremy Daalder’s ecommerce business, Image Science, has more than survived--it’s been thriving for over 15 years. Jeremy believes the key to future success is in expertise-based commerce and businesses knowing their niche in an exceptional way. He’s built a website that really exemplifies this idea, and he’s also created a few essential Craft Commerce plugins such as Register on Checkout, Friendly Order Numbers, Multi Add. Listen to better understand just how powerful the combo of Craft CMS with Craft Commerce can help you turn content into conversions. Key takeaways Jeremy’s diverse background and experiences led him to start an “accidental business.” Image Science took on a life of its own, and over 15 years later he’s still running the company. Craft Commerce is the perfect system for taking content and commerce and intertwining them seamlessly without sacrificing quality and efficiency for either one. Jeremy has built his website as a reflection of his business, with a focus on education, quality, and knowing his niche. The world of ecommerce is moving toward big box stores like Amazon, the massive looming competitor, but all they are is a marketplace. That means the future of ecommerce for everyone else is expertise-based commerce: knowing and communicating about the domain exceptionally well. Resources: Image Science
The devMode.fm crew recaps the Dot All 2018 Conference in Berlin, Germany… joined by Ben Croker and Oliver Stark from fortrabbit. We discuss and analyze the news announced at the Dot All 2018 conference such as Craft CMS 3.1, Craft Commerce 2, Craft Commerce Lite, the new plugin store and more!
Craft Commerce expert Jonathan Melville discusses the impact his personal life has on his business goals, his work on the Barefoot Contessa site, and navigating the tricky issue of ecommerce shipping. Through experience and recent personal hardships Jonathan has developed a set of lifestyle-based goals for his solo business that include prioritizing time with family and scaling in a way that supports these goals. Listen for an insightful conversation that covers the business side of ecommerce--and why Jonathan thinks the key to successful, profitable projects is finding the right clients. Key takeaways Jonathan has overcome personal hardships that have shaped the way he structures his solo business. Choose goals based on a desired lifestyle rather than a number. Jonathan chose ShipStation for the Barefoot Contessa site’s shipping fulfillment. Dealing with the issues of ecommerce shipping can be tricky, but the key is not surprising your customers. Why choosing your clients wisely is essential. Resources: Jonathan Melville Barefoot Contessa Case Study The story of Wesley and Elizabeth Melville Pia Silva Profit First Web Developer Support & Maintenance Retainers Apartment One ShipStation
As a relative newcomer to the custom ecommerce CMS world, Craft Commerce is pushing the envelope with new, powerful authoring and developer capabilities. Brands looking at Shopify Plus, BigCommerce and Magento as options, should add Craft Commerce to their platform review conversations. With Craft CMS 3 released in April 2018, Craft Commerce 2 just weeks away from its own release, and the excitement around Dot All 2018, I chatted with Pixel & Tonic CEO Brandon Kelly and original primary Commerce developer, Luke Holder. Listen to learn the back story on Craft Commerce 2 and to see why now is the perfect time to consider Craft Commerce 2 for new store builds of any complexity. Bonus, Brandon tells about what to expect for Craft CMS 4! Key takeaways The advent of Craft CMS 3 and Craft Commerce 2 will allow the Pixel & Tonic team to focus on rapid iteration of new authoring features, so developers won’t have to worry about breaking changes in a looming Craft CMS update. Luke Holder is dedicated fully to the development of Commerce. The goal of Commerce Lite is to reach a wider audience that doesn’t require a feature-rich ecommerce store. Pixel & Tonic’s marketing efforts will expand to focus on end user businesses, not just developers and agencies, as they release new features that fulfill the needs of whole teams. Improved APIs and a plugin store will encourage contributions from the community in the realm of more integrations and data reporting tools. This year’s Dot All conference will “turn it up to eleven.” Resources: Craft CMS Craft Commerce Pixel & Tonic Craft CMS on Twitter Craft CMS on Facebook Dot All 2018 Dot All on Facebook Dot All on Twitter Dot All on Instagram Foster Commerce
Welcome to Commerce Minded. A new podcast hosted by Foster Commerce CEO Stephen Callender. Subscribe to hear bi-weekly interviews with ecommerce merchants. Learn what's working and what to avoid from online business owners that are deep in the trenches. The show premieres September 4. Be sure to subscribe and visit http://fostercommerce.com/ for more details.
Sarah Peck is a jack of all trades. She is the founder and executive director of Startup Pregnant, a writer, startup advisor, and yoga teacher. In Episode 7 of the It’s Time To Be You Podcast, Sarah details the experience of being pregnant and working at a startup and deconstructs the idea that there are certain ways work has to be done and ways families have to look like. Moreover, Sarah shares what she believes is missing from the current work paradigm. Sarah describes how she finds a balance between business, parenthood, and entrepreneurship, and reveals how she left the corporate world to start her own business… twice! How does she do it all? She believes in herself and makes sure she always has a plan in place. ---- Questions asked in this episode: 1. Brief background on how you started StartupPregnant and what you were doing before that. 2. How were you able to leave your job and start the business, did you have a plan or financial backing? 3. Do you see a trend happening right now with moms and entrepreneurship? 4. How do you balance work and mom life? 5. Regarding being a startup advisor what aspect do you see most woman needing help on? 6. If a mom CEO asked you what is one thing she can start doing daily to help with self-management and time what would that be? --- Bio: SARAH K PECK is a writer, startup advisor, and yoga teacher based in New York City. She’s the founder and executive director of Startup Pregnant, a media company documenting the stories of women’s leadership across work and family. She hosts the weekly Startup Pregnant podcast, and she and her partner in life and work are the instigators behind More Women’s Voices, a website that promotes women speakers and entrepreneurs. Previously, she worked at Y Combinator backed One Month, Inc, a company that teaches people to code in 30 days, and prior, as a writing and communications consultant. She’s a 20-time All-American swimmer who successfully swam the Escape from Alcatraz nine separate times, once wearing only a swim cap and goggles to raise $33k for charity: water. To date, she’s written for more than 75 different web publications and and has delivered speeches and workshops at Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Harvard, Year of the X, Craft & Commerce, WDS, and more. One recent viral essay, The Art of Asking, has been used across tech companies and product teams to train teams in clear communications. She’s currently writing a memoir of her experience working in the tech startup world while she was pregnant with her first kid. --- Resources: www.startuppregnant.com https://www.instagram.com/startuppregnant/ https://www.facebook.com/sarahkpeckwriter/ -- Follow me: @laura_loveandfit on Instagram!
Last year, I spoke at the first Craft + Commerce conference. My wife and I enjoyed the experience so much, we got tickets to go again this year. (Spoiler alert: we already bought our tickets for 2019!) I got to meet Casey Neistat. I'll tell you the story. We actually flew up to Boise, Idaho a few days early to do some hiking in the mountains (since we happened to be on a sabbatical week). That was wonderful. But even with the likes of Casey Neistat speaking, conferences like this, for me, are all about the people. It's the deep conversations over a meal or in the hallway that really leave an impression. I'll tell you all about that and more in today's show!
Making It With Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto
This week Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto talk about niching down versus going wide plus the importance of staying consistent in your making and videos. What We’re Working On Jimmy Diresta Made a custom bolt to fix a machine, working on giant razor blades, added a swing to the shop David Picciuto Planning a liquor cabinet/bar Bob Clagett Went to Craft + Commerce conference, added storage to Land Cruiser tailgate What we’re watching: David’s Pick of the Week: Artismia- Stone Fish Bob’s Pick of the Week: Levi Allen Jimmy’s Pick of the Week: Martin – Wintergatan Special thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode! Especially: Make Build Modify Chad from ManCrafting™ Dor Sharir Nick Ryan WorksBySolo Corey Ward Evan and Katelyn Wise Ol’ Dowel PhunKiss Artistic Creations Pat Gornet Uber Workshop Nate Wojciechowski BlackSheepFabShop William Davis Philippe Majerus Old-School Maker (@gfc62) Gary Oshust (SPark Workshop) If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon by going here.
Making It With Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto
This week Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto talk about niching down versus going wide plus the importance of staying consistent in your making and videos. What We're Working On Jimmy Diresta Made a custom bolt to fix a machine, working on giant razor blades, added a swing to the shop David Picciuto Planning a liquor cabinet/bar Bob Clagett Went to Craft + Commerce conference, added storage to Land Cruiser tailgate What we're watching: David's Pick of the Week: Artismia- Stone Fish Bob's Pick of the Week: Levi Allen Jimmy's Pick of the Week: Martin - Wintergatan Special thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode! Especially: Make Build Modify Chad from ManCrafting™ Dor Sharir Nick Ryan WorksBySolo Corey Ward Evan and Katelyn Wise Ol' Dowel PhunKiss Artistic Creations Pat Gornet Uber Workshop Nate Wojciechowski BlackSheepFabShop William Davis Philippe Majerus Old-School Maker (@gfc62) Gary Oshust (SPark Workshop) If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon by going here.
Making It With Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto
This week Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto talk about niching down versus going wide plus the importance of staying consistent in your making and videos. What We’re Working On Jimmy Diresta Made a custom bolt to fix a machine, working on giant razor blades, added a swing to the shop David Picciuto Planning a liquor cabinet/bar Bob Clagett Went to Craft + Commerce conference, added storage to Land Cruiser tailgate What we’re watching: David’s Pick of the Week: Artismia- Stone Fish Bob’s Pick of the Week: Levi Allen Jimmy’s Pick of the Week: Martin – Wintergatan Special thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode! Especially: Make Build Modify Chad from ManCrafting™ Dor Sharir Nick Ryan WorksBySolo Corey Ward Evan and Katelyn Wise Ol’ Dowel PhunKiss Artistic Creations Pat Gornet Uber Workshop Nate Wojciechowski BlackSheepFabShop William Davis Philippe Majerus Old-School Maker (@gfc62) Gary Oshust (SPark Workshop) If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon by going here.
Making It With Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto
This week Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett and David Picciuto talk about niching down versus going wide plus the importance of staying consistent in your making and videos. What We’re Working On Jimmy Diresta Made a custom bolt to fix a machine, working on giant razor blades, added a swing to the shop David Picciuto Planning a liquor cabinet/bar Bob Clagett Went to Craft + Commerce conference, added storage to Land Cruiser tailgate What we’re watching: David’s Pick of the Week: Artismia- Stone Fish Bob’s Pick of the Week: Levi Allen Jimmy’s Pick of the Week: Martin – Wintergatan Special thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode! Especially: Make Build Modify Chad from ManCrafting™ Dor Sharir Nick Ryan WorksBySolo Corey Ward Evan and Katelyn Wise Ol’ Dowel PhunKiss Artistic Creations Pat Gornet Uber Workshop Nate Wojciechowski BlackSheepFabShop William Davis Philippe Majerus Old-School Maker (@gfc62) Gary Oshust (SPark Workshop) If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon by going here.
As designers our jobs can be done from anywhere! Ironically this can often mean that we don’t need to travel for work within a company, but opportunities can still arise to work with a team in another office, visit a client, go on a user research trip or perhaps travel to a conference. In this episode we discuss our experience with travelling for work, and share advice on how to stay productive during the break in your usual routine. Join the community to get free resources Come to Craft + Commerce
Sarah K Peck is a writer, startup advisor, and yoga teacher based in New York City. She’s the founder and executive director of Startup Pregnant, a media company documenting the stories of women’s leadership across work and family. She hosts the weekly Startup Pregnant podcast, and she and her husband are the instigators behind More Women’s Voices, a website that promotes women speakers and entrepreneurs. She’s a 20-time All-American swimmer who successfully swam the Escape from Alcatraz nine separate times, once wearing only a swim cap and goggles to raise $33k for charity: water. To date, she’s written for more than 75 different web publications and has delivered speeches and workshops at Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Harvard, Year of the X, Craft & Commerce, WDS, and more. She’s currently writing a memoir of her experience working in the tech startup world while she was pregnant with her first kid. Sarah is full of energy and passion around her messaging for moms and entrepreneurs. She is also very realistic and reasonable. She has simplified her life to make her dreams and desires very clear. By living with less, she has been able to create more for herself and her family on every level. Listen in to hear Sarah share: Why she left a startup to start her own startup early in motherhood How she created time and money for herself to afford starting her own business (and some super simple budgeting tips!) How to do less in order to accomplish more Why you need to write your personal philosophy and how to make it actionable and not too “fluffy” Links Mentioned: Connect with Sarah: Sarah K Peck Startup Pregnant: Startup Pregnant Startup Pregnant on Twitter Startup Pregnant on Facebook Startup Pregnant on Instagram Thank you to our sponsors: Songfinch: Create a personalized song for a special person or occasion using the Songfinch platform of over 300 professional musicians. To get 10% off your Personalized Song From Scratch, go to Songfinch and use the code SHAMELESS at checkout. Canvas People: To get a FREE 11x14 canvas print (just pay shipping) of any of your photos, text SHAMELESS to 99000.
Joe goes to MacStock and sparks a discussion on the subject of conferences. Drew takes a deep dive into the strength of ‘Input’ and the helpful benefits of personality assessments. Also…Joe considers blacksmithing? Show notes: MacStock (https://macstockconferenceandexpo.com) World Domination Summit (https://worlddominationsummit.com) AltConf (http://altconf.com) App: The Human Story (http://appdocumentary.com) Craft + Commerce (https://convertkit.com/conference/) Seth Godin (http://amzn.to/2gVUOit) The War of Art (http://amzn.to/2uqQdaV) James Clear (https://twitter.com/james_clear?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) ‘All My Notes From the Craft + Commerce Conference’ (https://thefocuscourse.com/all-my-notes-from-the-craft-commerce-conference/) StrengthsFinder (http://amzn.to/2vPR98w) Learner (http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/694/learner.aspx) Input (http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/688/input.aspx) Enneagram (https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions/) Achiever (https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-3) On Trails (http://amzn.to/2uoeFLJ) Brain Pickings (https://www.brainpickings.org) Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds (https://tim.blog/2014/10/21/brain-pickings/)
In this one we get SUPER deep and it's not just about business and being a practitioner but it gets emotional and puts me in a place I rarely get to. My meeting here with Jordan from Craft & Commerce might just be one of the most powerful pieces of content we've ever put out. Not only do we discuss developing a business and being a leader but Jordan admits to me something incredibly personal and there's just no words to describe the way it made me feel. Intent is the game my friends and doing the right thing is just always the right thing. Drop me a line and let me know what you think about this one.
Behind agriculture, artisan activity is the second-largest employer in the developing world. According to the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise, “hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world, largely women, participate in the artisan sector. For many, their livelihood de- pends on income earned from their artisan activities.” In this episode Kate is joined by Jennifer Gootman, Vice President of Social Consciousness and Innovation at West Elm (Jennifer also serves as the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for West Elm’s parent company, Williams Sonoma, Inc.) to discuss supply chain transparency, artisan sourcing and the role of commerce in supporting craft.
Lately in the CraftCMS world... Fred Carlsen & Mats Mikkel Rummelhoff ported Lettering.js into a plugin: Craft Lettering. Sprout Email now supports several Craft Commerce events. Philip Zaengle and his team integrated Craft Commerce with a reservation booking system and wrote about it in their blog. Straight Up Hangouts are back, starting with an Introduction to Craft Commerce with Luke Holder. Ctrl+Click+Cast did an episode about "Practical Pricing" that everyone should listen to. And, John Morton released a new installment of the Craft Link List.
Show Summary In this episode we respond to feedback from our listeners. First up is a thoughtful response to “Soldiering through our emotions” from Molly. Then, we dissect and discuss an article a listener linked us to. We round out the show with discussion of our Love Languages, and our Kaizen Moment takes a slightly different twist as we tell the other what to do for us this week. We also announce this week’s giveaway: a Baron Fig notebook! Resources “She Divorced Me Because I Left Dishes by the Sink” The original article called “Where’s My Cut?: On Unpaid Emotional Labor.” Metafilter thread on Unpaid Emotional Labor, and the most excellent Unpaid Emotional Labor checklist (if you don’t read anything else, read this one and follow instructions!) This article called “35 Practical Steps Men Can Take to Support Feminism” is also excellent and goes hand in hand with the above. (Again, we are aware of the gender role generalizations going on here!) If you don’t think the above is an issue, there are plenty of works cited in this article, called “At work as at home, men reap the benefit of women’s ‘emotional labor.’” Leslie’s essay, “Do the Dishes.” Take this quiz to find your 5 Love Languages profile Glimmering – Our professional website Pixel & Tonic, makers of CraftCMS & Craft Commerce – where Leslie is the new Chief Customer Officer Baron Fig Confidant notebook – this week’s giveaway! Habitica – Gamify your life! Liam Neeson’s “Particular Set of Skills” Support Glimmering Podcast