Join Me In My Studio

Create an Online Identity and Social Media Profile That Feels Honest, Professional and Inspiring

Studio Time with Dan
Join me a for a one-day intensive workshop to create or refine your online identity so that it feels authentically you, and will resonate with those you hope to engage.

In this one-day live virtual workshop, you will work directly with me and a small group of writers and artists to craft your online identity, including:

  • Craft your mission statement: The single sentence that perfectly encapsulates what you create and why.
  • Write your bio: Compose a professional bio that talks more deeply about your work, your background and credentials, and is infused with your personality in a way that is honest and professional.
  • Create the elements of your social media profile: Pull this together to create the key elements of a social media profile that is genuinely you.

I will share the methodology I have used to do this with hundreds of writers and artists, providing an easy step-by-step process. I will share examples of what works and why, and will provide direct feedback to you so that you know you are on the right track. This video tells you what to expect:

 

How this works

This is a virtual workshop — you can do this from wherever you are. The live workshop takes place on Thursday February 22. On that day, I invite you into my studio:

  • 10am – 11am ET: You join me and a small group of other writers and artists on a live video/audio chat. I answer your questions, do live audits of existing social media profiles, and give you an assignment. We will use a tool called Zoom to chat, you can access this via your computer or phone.
  • 11am – 2pm ET: You work on an assignment and stay connected with me and the group to get questions answered and stay accountable. We will use a private Slack group for this, using text to stay connected during this time of day. You can access Slack via your computer or phone as well.
  • 2pm – 4pm ET: I will schedule a 10 minute one-on-one coaching session with you to review your work and answer your questions. During this two-hour period, you will be able to listen in to my coaching sessions with others in the group. You will learn as much from listening to other peoples’ critique as to your own.
  • Friday/Saturday/Sunday (Feb 23/24/25): You will continue to have access to the Slack room to share progress with other writers and artists in the group.

By the end of the day, you will have a completed mission statement, bio and key elements to a social media profile that feels natural and authentic to you and your creative work.

Prior to the February 22nd, you will receive:

  • A video lecture from me where I share all you need to know so that Studio Time is about engaging with me and other writers and artists in the group.
  • Pre-work to ensure you are 100% prepared to make real progress during Studio Time.
  • Access to our private Slack group so that you are ready to go the moment Studio Time begins.

Price: $99. There are 15 spots available. Register now:





Navigating Creative Burnout, My Interview With Rebecca Green

How do you navigate creative burnout? That is something that illustrator/author Rebecca Green has been working through.

Here is a snapshot of her work:

A-MAZ-ING right?!

But a couple months ago, she shared this with her 225,000 Instagram followers:

“I have to be honest, my well is empty. Bone dry. It’s been a rough last six months and recently, strange as it sounds, when I show up to my drawing table, I have an immense urge to weep, sing, or run. Anything but make art.”

“This is of course, extremely difficult when you make art for a living, so I suppress those feelings and keep pushing and showing up and am happy to do so.”

“I am though, experiencing a major burn out that’s unlike anything I’ve ever gone through. Work has always ebbed and flowed with periods of intense creativity and moments of resentment, but this time feels a little too deep. I find myself unmotivated, lost, and not sure who I am, what I make or why any of it matters.”

When someone looks at Becca’s body of work and accomplishments from the outside, it is tempting to feel that her success makes her fortunate and that it makes creating easier.

It doesn’t.

The line from above that rings in my head the most is this one:

“I find myself unmotivated, lost, and not sure who I am, what I make or why any of it matters.”

When I read this, I emailed her and asked if she would be open to coming on my podcast and talking about the topic of creative burnout, and dig into her journey as an artist.

To my great delight — she said yes!

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

Rebecca Green & Dan Blank

What Becca shares in this interview is relevant to someone working in any creative field.

You can find Becca in the following places:

Book Coach Q&A with Jennie Nash

I sat down with book coach Jennie Nash to run a Q&A session with writers. Jennie has many super powers, and on this call we discussed aspects of how to write a better book, how to manage your creative time, and the connection between audience engagement and writing.

Jennie gives brutally honest answers about what it takes to improve your craft and reach readers, and gives practical examples of what that looks like.

You can find Jennie at:

http://jennienash.com
http://www.authoraccelerator.com
https://twitter.com/jennienash

Becoming a Healthy Writer: My Interview With Joanna Penn


Often, writers and artists talk about how to get better at their craft, publish their work, and engage an audience. They look for tricks and trends and shortcuts and “best practices.” 

Yet, in working with creative professionals over the years, I have found that there is a topic which can undermine all of their other efforts: neglecting their health. Not just physical health, but mental health, including stress, anxiety, loneliness, and sleep. 

Today’s guest, author Joanna Penn, is here to talk about her new book, The Heathy Writer, which she co-wrote with Dr. Euan Lawson. In our chat, we dig deep into ways that writers can improve their health, and Joanna is incredibly honest in sharing her own story. Click ‘play’ above or below to hear the podcast.

You can find The Healthy Writer here.

And you can find Joanna here.

 

The Gift of Your Full Attention

A writer I know shared a story with me recently that I can’t stop thinking about. It encapsulated so much of how writers struggle to truly share their work with the world, and find their audience. What she told me:

“I went to a dinner this week with a group of my husband’s friends, people I’ve never met before. During introductions, one of the men mentioned that his wife (sitting across from me) was a writer. When I had a chance I went over to her, introduced myself, and asked about her writing.”

“She immediately wanted to know why I was interested. Which threw me. I told her because I write, and I believe in supporting writers. I kept thinking, “She doesn’t believe someone is interested in her writing.” So I asked her again, what she was writing.”

“She blinked, hesitated, and was uncertain in her explanation of her books. It reminded me of how isolated writers are, and how worried we can be about what we’re doing. We chatted for a few minutes, and she thanked me. She was thrilled someone had noticed her and paid attention.”

This story was fascinating to me, because it was a reminder that even once someone publishes multiple books, they may be uncertain about their identity as a writer, and how to best communicate their work to others.

When I considered how this writer can feel more comfortable, I thought of how we connect with each other on a one-to-one level.

In 2014, I wrote a post called “Truly Embracing Your Audience,” that featured this photo of musician and artist Amanda Palmer looking into the eyes of a fan:

In that post, I concluded:

Writers and other creative professionals are often overwhelmed with ideas for how to connect their work to the world. They may look for “marketing tactics that scale,” such as publicity, social media, getting reviews, blog tours, book tours, strategic partnerships, events, giveaways, bestseller lists, awards, and so much more.

Now, these things are good, and I work with authors every day on many of them. But I never lose sight of the goal: that real human connection between a writer and a reader, via their work. And that the 1:1 connection creates a powerful effect in the world.

There is so much value in simply — TRULY — seeing those around you. Whenever I look at an author or artist who seems to have an amazing connection with their audience, it is because they are good at engaging with other people on a one-to-one level. Many of these people would consider themselves introverts too, meaning they wouldn’t do well with large groups. So they default to what they know best: honoring the connection between two people.

Which brings me to my friend Carmen.

Each morning I go to Starbucks to write and attend to the work I do for my clients and members of my mastermind. Because I sit in the same spot every morning, people tend to notice me after awhile. I’ve made a lot of great friends simply by sitting at the same table every day.

One of those people I met is named Carmen. Every day, this is what happens,

  1. Carmen walks in the door, and from about 20 feet away, looks me directly in the eye and says good morning. He gets his coffee from the bar, then walks over to the milk/sugar station near me.
  2. Then he squares himself to me. Meaning, he fully faces me, and gives me 100% of his attention.
  3. He asks how I’m doing, what’s going on. Some days, the conversation lasts 5 seconds, other days he will sit down and we chat for awhile, with one of us telling a story or exploring a topic. Regardless of the day, he is always ready to settle in to chat.
  4. When he leaves, he turns around, looks me directly in the eye, and says, “Have a great day.”

It’s hard to describe, but when Carmen looks at you, you feel his complete attention. This is Carmen:

Now, there is no reason that Carmen should be taking this time to engage with me each day. This guy is BUSY. He runs three — YES THREE — businesses locally. Each of them has their own space a few miles apart. These aren’t virtual businesses, each has hundreds or thousands of square feet of space.

He has 50 people on staff that he is responsible for. Oh, and he has three young kids.

It is clear that Carmen knows A LOT of people. There is always someone who is saying hello to him when he stops into Starbucks.

Again, there isn’t any reason in the universe that this guy should have a moment of time for me. Yet, every day, he is 100% present with me.

I asked him about this — his ability to just be present with whoever he is talking to, and his immediate response was, “it was all my father.”

I asked what he meant, and he told me how he grew up in this town, and how his dad was a local coach. He learned from his father that you don’t dismiss people. He said, “That’s huge for me. If I brought my 8 year old son in here, he would look you right in the eye, shake your hand, and ask you how you are doing.”

It reminded me: people just want to be noticed.

Every day, I see writers and artists vying to get attention for their work by leveraging the “newest social media tool.” I want you to skip that. Instead, I encourage you to truly see those around you. To be present with them. And to give them the gift of your full attention.

Thank you.
-Dan