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Principles for Creating with AI

As usual, when I find myself writing too much about a topic, I have to distill it all into a set of principles — easily digested by a (very) mere human. These principles are backed by real data, case studies, and personal interviews. They are subject to change, ridicule, and memes…

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Choose your stressor.

Here’s just a quick lesson I learned from a road trip to the Smoky Mountains this past week. Even with the views, the southern cooking, and time with family, I put in plenty of work — both for myself and others (related: see my new post at StudioNorth on B2B

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They tricked us.

All of the following rock guitar gods sold tens of millions of albums. Guitar players, like myself, believed for years that these artists had access to futuristic tools and production tactics that were out of reach for the ordinary musician. The opposite was true. * Eddie Van Halen’s iconic striped

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Consistency is simpler than you think.

Why does mediocre writing and photography often get more attention than best of the best? Why do mediocre “coaches” get more attention than industry veterans with decades of advice summed up in a single book, video, or blog post? What are we missing here? The hardest problem to solve in

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Are you useful?

I preach about the miracle of constraints and their ability to boost creativity in anyone. But I see un-useful constraints being used all the time by creators, so I wanted to make a small list of examples to clarify what a useful constraint looks like. There’s only two real

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The C Word

“Curation” shouldn’t be a dirty word, but it is. In the last decade, it has come to mean slapped-together-links, or outright-stolen content, used to fill space and capture just enough attention to convert free onlookers into consumers. There’s a lot of truth behind that association. In fact, I’

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Where were we 10 years ago?

It’s been a decade since I gave this short talk at Ignite Minneapolis, titled “How to Take Perfect Photos Every Time.” I’m sure title was inspired by the sarcasm of the infamous 2009 Merlin Mann and John Gruber talk about blogging ,“149 Surprising Ways to Turbocharge Your Blog

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What do you have to offer?

I want you to write a list of what you have to offer the world — professionally and personally. I think it will be a longer list than what you’re imagining right now. This list is among the most useful you will ever create. This list is how you beat

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Brainless Tasks

When you’re burned out, in the 2pm slump, or not in the mood to “produce,” keep this in mind: 1. It’s OK to not be productive all the time. Humans were likely designed for a 15-hour work week. Go a little easier on yourself. 2. Know that you

Brainless Tasks
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Your Smartest Dumb Tech

If the resurgence of blogging and newsletters wants to remain sane, it should really be a resurgence of RSS. Email has new problem. For the longest time, I’ve advocated for publishing by email as the most independent, universal, and effective form of getting the word out about anything. That’