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CJ Chilvers

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A Punch in the Gut

Life has a funny way of reinforcing lessons you’ve already learned with a punch in the gut. This may be a function of middle age. I spent the last few weeks comforting my mom as she slowly passed away from cancer. We had a few long talks towards the

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Put relationships first.

This has been the conclusion I’ve reached at middle age as well — about marketing, publishing, business, parenting, everything. We’re hardwired for this. That’s why it’s so prominent in my personal publishing principles [https://www.cjchilvers.com/personal-publishing-principles/]. From Cal Newport via Lex Fridman [https://youtu.be/

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Ghost Resurrects, Haunts Substack

Ghost has doubled its revenue this year, by focusing on reader/creator experience. From founder John O'Nolan [https://www.indiehackers.com/post/whats-new-nonprofit-blogging-platform-ghost-hits-3-3m-arr-48787565ad] : > “Nobody needs to know what Ghost is. I want people to know the creators that we power, instead.” This is what platforms like Substack

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For the Best Ideas, Go Without

I just returned from a walk on the beach, jumping in the water, searching for shells with my son. I had nothing on me that couldn’t be underwater in the ocean — pretty much just the clothes on my back. That’s when all the ideas hit me. * The best

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How does it make you feel?

Carlo from The DO Lecture series [https://thedolectures.com]: > “It’s not how it looks, it’s how it makes you feel.” Even though he’s talking about work spaces here, I think this is a sentence we could use to describe anything we create and market — or just

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Trust Without Metrics

From Maneetpaul Singh [https://world.hey.com/maneetpaul/why-metrics-are-hurting-creators-6a209d83]: > “Our inboxes are a sacred place. As someone who’s purchased several digital products before, I buy from people I trust. Being thrown into an automated sales sequence is the last thing that builds trust.“ The problem is that it

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MIQ vs MIT

We often hear about how we should write down our Most Important Task (MIT) for the coming day — usually the night before. Setting aside agency, which may have a lot to say about your MIT, I’ve found it way more powerful to have a Most Important Question (MIQ) for

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Public Speaking Tip: Get Angry

I know many of you are aware of these videos, but I need to post them for my own archives. They are NSFW at all. One of the most brilliant ways to win over a crowd, and your own fears of public speaking, is to get angry. Anger can often

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Do subject lines matter anymore?

Yes, but as not much as you’d think from all the advice out there. I see way too many marketers fretting over subject lines that make a 1-2% difference in open rates, when they miss the bigger, more obvious part of an email that can make a 50%+ (these

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My ADHD Wearable

That’s how I refer to my Apple Watch. I only take it off once a day to charge for about 30 minutes. The rest of the time it keeps me on track with my schedule, reminders, and messages (from VIPs only — minimal interruptions). It alerts me if my security