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Surviving Advice Season

The new year is almost upon us, which means we’re about to enter advice season. Yay! My only advice for surviving advice season is to add the following caveats to everything you’re told: * If it’s about AI, add: “…for now.” or “…yet.” * If it’s about productivity,

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Publish or perish? Document or die.

I don’t believe in goals. I believe in process. I believe in process because I used to believe in goals. What I’m about to reveal to you is far more boring than goal setting, but far more effective. Goals tend to get further away the closer you get

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Why would you write a book in 2023?

It doesn’t make much sense to write a book in 2023 — especially a nonfiction book. In fact, your readers would likely pay 10X as much to get the same information in a video-based course. But, for many reasons, some of us still prefer creating books over any other medium.

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Do Personal Brands Matter?

Many of you have asked me about the differences between personal and business newsletters, websites, and branding. There must be something in the air, because I’ve seen a lot of content spring up around the subject lately, including from Gary Vee, Seth Godin (in multiple new interviews), and Copyblogger.

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When Pay to Play Doesn’t Pay

Seth Godin just posted about the search tax you’re paying: “Amazon took in more than $30 billion in ad revenue last year, money spent to elevate some products over others in the hierarchy of attention.” Amazon, like Google, YouTube, and Apple’s App Store are often referred to as

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Surviving the Ad-pocalypse…Again

Experience is a brutal teacher. One lesson, that is almost never passed along, is that creators should avoid advertising as a business model for as long as possible. Sure, most of time, it seems like the easiest, fastest way to put food on the table, especially to a younger generation

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Why Nerds Win

Are you a good fit for what I write? Here’s one way to know. I’ve been getting a lot questions about my new website theme. It’s still being built out, but how I decided on the theme should tell you everything you need to know about “growth

Why Nerds Win
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Be everywhere. But be your best here.

The biggest trend in branding this year appears to be one of the oldest trends — signature models. From shoes to guitars, old-school brands are flooding the market with products stamped with a creator’s personal brand. A “brand” is just a “reputation.” The bigger you get as a company, the

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Clarity is Expensive

After many years of writing for big companies, a few universal truths have emerged from hundreds of projects, no matter the budget: * Having a clear audience is critical for creation, promotion, and sales. * Having a clear goal is existential for the project and ultimately the company. * It’s rare that

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The Importance of Giving a Shit

This is usually a lesser rule of being a creator, marketer, or human being. It’s almost implied. I’m bumping its status up a bit now. I’ve spent the past month driving through the eastern and southern US. Like many travelers, I was throwing money at businesses for