Sarah Bray: Earning a Living as a Creative Professional with 1,000 True Fans

Sarah Bray is a living embodiment of the 1,000 true fans ethos; She has a thriving career as a creative professional, by catering to a small group of like-minds who know and appreciate her work. Just before we spoke, Sarah was thrust into a career transition when she was laid off from her job. In this discussion, we explore her process of working through risk, and how she is driven by creating a meaningful body of work. Sarah is a strategic designer, front-end developer, and nation-builder, who recently worked for &yet

Click ‘play’ above to listen to the podcast, or subscribe on iTunes, or download the MP3.

Sarah Bray This podcast is part of the research for a book I am writing called Dabblers vs. Doers, which is about working through RISK as you develop your craft and build a meaningful body of work.

Here are some key insights that Sarah shared with me…

Making Long-Term Decisions Amidst Short-Term Challenges

Sarah was just laid off two weeks before we spoke. She framed her transition like this:

“I have 50 days before I actually have to be putting more money in the bank, so I gave myself three weeks to finish a book that I have been writing for the past two years. I figured, at least I’m working on something while I try to figure out what is next, so I’m not just sitting here worrying.”

As she stands on the edge of the abyss for her career, she took these steps:

She revisited recent decisions about her creative work. She had decided to not work on her book this year, and the moment she got laid off, she immediately switched to focus intensely on the book.
She put boundaries on this, giving herself three weeks to work on the book. She described it as “hiring herself” to do the work of writing the book. This had the effect of allowing creative juices some room to breathe, without fear of other work to encroach.
She reframed this challenge as an opportunity. When she mentioned having only 50 days before she needed more income, I saw this as a terrifying challenge. She instead flipped it to become an opportunity, “I wanted to see how far I could push this time I have. For the first time in 9 years, I have time! 50 days isn’t much, but I have it. I saw that as a gift.”
Working on a passion project with a friend, and online school she is developing with her friend Brooke Snow.

MAKING COLLABORATION SAFE

Sarah was incredibly open about an area where she feels she can still develop:

“I discovered my weakness is in collaboration, and ever since then I have felt hesitation in partnering with somebody, especially when money is involved, and ownership, and all these things that are hard.”

So when she and her friend Brooke wanted to explore collaborating, then first went through a book together: The Partnership Charter, to ensure that the collaboration would be a good one. I thought this was genius, and described it as their first act in the collaboration was to go to couples therapy together.

ON BEING PUBLIC

I have always marveled at how open Sarah is online in her newsletter, blog, and social media. Yet, like many people, there is a duality to that process:

“My relationship with online is so hard. I guess it brings out your insecurities, and the worst parts of yourself. Because you are putting things out there, and you get reaction from people. If you are the kind of person who looks at that social mirror as something that is accurate, then that can be hard. I’ve been struggling with that forever. It’s weird, because it feels like the thing I’m really good at is the thing that is toxic to me in some ways.”

YOU DON’T NEED A HUGE AUDIENCE TO EARN A LIVING AS A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL

Years ago when I was in a mastermind group with her and two others, I always marveled at Sarah’s ability to release a product or service, and have it almost immediately sell out. She would regularly be booked six months in advance for consulting. She tells a bit of the behind the scenes of what that looks like:

“I don’t have a huge audience. The thing that I do is honor the relationships that I do have. So while I’m saying I can sell [300-500 books], it is based on 2,000 people. I have 5,000 Twitter followers, but that is not who I think of as the people who will buy it, it is usually the people on my email list, which isn’t a huge circle of people. What I have learned is that if you honest, it sounds trite, but if you can just find the thing that is true, and be able to say that, and be able to make something out of that, then you will be successful with whatever it is that you do. That is the way it has been for me.”

She said that this audience hasn’t just supported her making a living, but that it supported a team of three people awhile back. And even now as I talk to her, she is clearly not freaking out in terms of her next career move — she clearly knows that she has options, because she has a tight-knit audience of people who know her, like her, and value the services she provides. To me, Sarah is the living embodiment of 1,000 True Fans.

Thank you to Sarah for making the time to meet with me and share her wisdom. You can find her in the following places:

For more interviews and behind-the-scenes stuff on my book Dabblers vs. Doers, click here.

Thank you!
-Dan

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Calculating the ROI (return on investment) of Why I Am Writing a Book

This post is a part of my behind-the-scenes series on a book I am writing called Dabblers vs. Doers.

How can I justify the time, energy, and money to write a book? We all know the common reasons that people write books, from basic validation and expression, to the drive to share, entertain, and educate, as well as dozens of other reasons. At one time or another, many people dream of writing a book. I have as well, and even started writing several times in the past. So how am I justifying the expense in time, energy, and money? Let’s explore…

The process of writing, publishing and sharing the book will take a minimum of two to three years of effort. That is time and energy taken away from the work of running my business — which is the sole way my family is supported — and from other creative projects. Beyond money that I overtly spend on the book creation process, I can likely calculate potential revenue lost as I put time and energy towards the book instead of creating new courses, new partnerships, serving clients, and other business strategies.

I even recently wrote this post: It is Insane to Write and Publish a Book. There, I Said It.

When I first began writing the book, I hoped I could just power through, get it written, edited, and into the publishing process super fast. But it wasn’t long before I began to question my own intentions. What did that really serve, other than trying to reduce my own fear around the process by running over it like it was a bed of hot coals. What would suffer in the process? Perhaps the quality of the book itself, or perhaps the potential for it to connect with readers if I skimped on the time need to really develop a platform around it.

Applying a deeper level of craft to every aspect of the book process comes with added expenses. For example, I plan to do more primary research via interviews, which will double as a podcast. Because I love high-quality audio, that meant that to produce these audio interviews with a high degree of quality, I would likely buy another $600 worth of audio gear, on top of the $800 worth of podcasting equipment I purchased a few years back. Is this additional $600 of gear required? No, but when we talk about craft and quality, it becomes something that almost feels like I can’t not do.

So what is the return on investment of writing and publishing this book? Some thoughts so far:

It’s not about money I will earn directly from the book.
I haven’t done any calculations as to what I can earn from the book itself — not for an advance, number of book sales, or potential royalties from them. My gut is that these numbers alone would not be big enough to justify the investment in time and energy of writing and publishing the book.

Note to future agents, publishers or partners: This doesn’t mean I won’t negotiate for a nice advance or great cut of book sales! 🙂

But I know that — bottom-line — writing and publishing this book, in and of itself, is likely a money-losing venture. How much could I lose? It’s hard to say, and if I calculated overt costs of research, writing, publishing, marketing and beyond, I’m sure it will be tens of thousands of dollars all said and done. Does it have to be that high? NOPE! I could do most of that for under a thousand dollars. But I know myself, and just as I feel compelled to buy another $600 in audio gear for my podcast interviews, I know I will want to make each part of this process special, as high quality as I can, and with a high degree of craft.

For instance: I interviewed Tina Roth Eisenberg (Hello Tina!) as research for the book. While could have conducted that interview via Skype for free, I instead asked for an in-person interview, requiring me to travel out to Brooklyn. What additional “expense” did this cost me?

Half a day of work to get out to Brooklyn, and figure out all the travel arrangements from New Jersey. Unlike a Skype interview, I ensured I showed up early. So a 1-hour interview now included three hours of travel and 30 minutes of me just waiting around prior to the interview.
The moment Tina said “yes,” I ordered a new camcorder to record our chat via video. This is one of those moments where I felt so much gratitude at this opportunity, that I wanted to ensure I captured it.
Travel expenses: $22 train ride, $5 subway fair, and a $14 cab ride.
Let’s face it: there is some amount of emotional stress around ensuring every piece of equipment will work, that I won’t be late, that I look presentable, etc. I brought an entire podcasting studio in my backpack, with two high-quality microphones, a digital recorder, the video camera, my laptop, and lots of stands and cables for everything. I had also practiced how to set all of this up within five minutes to ensure I didn’t waste any of Tina’s time. I kept going over check-lists in my head because I have such respect for Tina, that I wanted the experience of the interview to represent that level of respect.

Does any of this sound obsessive and paranoid? Perhaps some of it is, but it just underscores the 1,000 tiny decisions around craft and quality in the process of research, writing, publishing, and sharing this book. Could I have gotten 80% of the value by interviewing her via Skype? Yes. But that final 20% is where some very good stuff is, and I didn’t want to miss that opportunity.

Why else do the interview in person instead of via Skype? Because the depth of experience of meeting her in person; of where that personal connection may take the conversation; of experiencing her life in the context of her office — this is one of those rare opportunities I wanted to experience fully.

So for this interview – and every local interview, we are talking about an overt cost, plus the time and energy.

What if I could get an interview with Hank Green (which I would LOVE)? Yes, I could do a Skype interview there as well. But, what if he would agree to do an in-person interview where he lives, in Missoula, Montana? He could give me a tour of the DFTBA warehouse, introduce me to his staff, show me where he records his videos, etc. I would not just get an interview, but spend time with him, experience his process. Would that be worth $700 (flight, car rental, hotel) and two days? Plus the energy to plan and prepare, and the emotional energy of doing something I hate: flying?

I often hear rallying cries online of QUALITY and CRAFT, and I love that. But these are not static things — they are thousands of decisions at every step of the process, and not all of them clear cut. I could obviously do a “good enough” interview with Tina or Hank via Skype.

I’m writing the book for the experience of researching and writing, and the new relationships that provides. It’s one thing to say, “I interviewed Tina and Hank,” and another to have the memory of an experience with them. To get a tour of Studiomates by Tina, to hear about her challenges as I sit across the table from her, not just via Skype. Or to meet partners in Hank’s process of building a small empire, and seeing how he interacts with his team – there is so much to be gleaned from that. And like most memories, they are so deeply rooted in in-person experiences.

The act of creating and sharing this book pushes me to new places, which is worth nearly any amount of investment. It pushes me creatively to tackle a project that is somewhat terrifying; it pushes me socially to reach out to new people and put myself out there publicly; it pushes me professionally to reach new people and expand the effect of my work.

The truth is that I do not know where any of this will lead me, and it may very well lead to some unforeseen dead ends. Perhaps the book will have a wildly difficult time finding an agent or a publisher. Perhaps I will find both, but it will be a commercial failure – it will fail to find an audience and be read.

I suppose that is why I am focusing so much on the craft of how I create the book to ensure that what is created – the value that it creates for myself and others – is an inherent part of every stage of the process, even this blog post.

That is what I am investing in.

Friend and former client Doug Sundheim wrote a book where he talked about finding that place where you feel alive. In a professional, and even personal, context, that is often experiencing the FEAR inherent when you are pushing yourself to try something scary and new. Pushing yourself to grow and experience, usually via relationships, and developing a meaningful body of work.

These decisions affect not just my ability to provide for my family, but to make me the person that they experience every day. It is part of how I develop a lifetime of experiences whereby I can potentially look back on the day I spent with Hank Green, or the afternoon I spent visiting with Tina Roth Eisenberg.

I would love for this book to lead me to experiences like those, and to become an inherent part of what the book brings to those who eventually read it.

The ultimate return on investment of this book? Potential.

As you explore your own creative projects: How do you justify the ROI?

Thank you.
-Dan

For more information on Dabblers vs. Doers, and all the behind the scenes stuff I am sharing, click here.

New Online Course: Launch Your Email Newsletter

I just opened the doors to the next session of my online course: Launch Your Email Newsletter. This is a 4-week course to help writers & creative professionals, well, launch their email newsletters. It begins February 9th, full details are below.

One super exciting part of this process has been adding a full faculty to the course, welcoming Lorraine Watson as a TA to the roster:

Launch Your Email Newsletter Faculty

How you communicate with your readers is at the core how you develop an audience over time. Email is a primary channel to not just communicate, but to develop a trusting relationship with your readership.

Time and time again, I hear from successful authors that email is not only important, but actually ESSENTIAL in establishing meaningful connections to readers, and to selling more books.

And yet, establishing an email newsletter can be a difficult and sometimes overwhelming process. Join me to launch your email newsletter:

Throughout this course, I will use my own experience and observations in the field of email marketing to help you launch an effective, personal newsletter of your own.

Together, we will face some of the most common challenges and questions authors have when it comes to email marketing:

How can I differentiate my newsletter from my blog?
How do I create a subscriber list?
How can I keep from sounding “spammy”?
How do I create meaningful, original content?
How can I make email marketing a regular part of my work process?

This is an interactive course – I invite you to work with me and other students to understand email marketing and develop your own strong content at your own pace.

Throughout the course, I offer personalized feedback, and the potential for a group dynamic with other students.

What you get:

Four weekly PDF lessons
Access to a private Facebook group where you can ask me anything, and learn from other writers in the course who are working through the exact same challenges & goals that you are

Price for everything: $149
Four-week online course begins February 9, 2015

If you’re ready to take the next step in connecting with your readers and raising your sales, sign up today:

Thanks!
-Dan

WHY WORK WITH ME?

Dan Blank Well, there are my professional credentials:

I have worked with hundreds of authors, from bestsellers to those writing their first book, to everyone in between. My days are spent in the trenches with writers – none of this is theory to me – it is always framed in the everyday reality of what truly works for connecting writers to readers.
I have worked with some of the biggest names in publishing; folks such as Random House, Hachette Book Group, Abrams Books, Workman Publishing, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, and many others.
Oh, and there’s the technical stuff: that I have helped launch hundreds of blogs, I’ve built lots of websites, and consulted on social media strategy with huge publishers & organizations that serve writers. Plus, I have run my own company for years, meaning that I have had to become the master of hundreds of tiny technical details for “getting out there.”
I have spoken at some of the biggest publishing conferences out there, including BookExpo, Digital Book World, AWP, Romance Writers of America, Thrillerfest, and many others.
The core of what I do is help creative professionals develop their skills – to help instruct and truly be there to help you work through challenges. My goal is not to “bestow information” to you – there’s plenty of that out there. My methodology is to work with you to really figure out the hard stuff.

But I think what is equally important is that my days are spent with writers and creative professionals, and my entire life has been spent surrounded by creators hoping to make their mark. As for myself, I have been an artist, a poet, a musician, a paper sculptor, a writer, a publisher, a photographer, a teacher, a radio DJ, a cartoonist, and an entrepreneur. You can read my full bio here.

Anchoring Myself to the Book Title “Dabblers vs. Doers”

This post is a part of my behind-the-scenes series on a book I am writing called Dabblers vs. Doers.

Now that I have announced that I am writing a book, I want to begin ensuring that anyone that hears the title of my book, Dabblers vs. Doers, will easily find a path back to me. When I first began this process, and typed “Dabblers vs. Doers” into Google, this is what I saw — my website came up third in Google search results:

Dabblers Vs. Doers

Of course, this is reflective of me doing zero work so far to publicly promote this project. It was nice to see that no one else had really attached themselves to this phrase in a big way, though clearly plenty of others have considered the relation of these two words.

So as I begin the project, I want to publicly anchor myself to this phrase: Dabblers vs. Doers. For now, I took some very basic steps to do so, registering the following:

http://dabblersvsdoers.com
https://wegrowmedia.com/dabblers-vs-doers/
https://www.facebook.com/dabblersvsdoers
https://twitter.com/dabblersvsdoers
http://dabblersvsdoers.tumblr.com
dabblersvsdoers@gmail.com

I know that Google tends to rank social media profiles pretty high in their results, but I’m not yet 100% sure if, or how, I will use the Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter profiles. In all likelihood, various posts on this site — WeGrowMedia.com — is where all roads will lead for a while, but it is a nice protective measure to have the option to use Facebook, Twitter, and perhaps others.

While I registered several similiar domain names, I didn’t go nuts registering alternate domain names because I don’t know if I will use any of these accounts actively. I don’t want to spend three years building outposts for the name of a single book, that I will eventually give up because a second book has a different title. BUT… I want to protect the name, and at least get into Google early.

I am taking other steps to connect to this name, such as adding Dabblers vs. Doers to my Twitter profile:

Dabblers vs. Doers
And adding a link to the navigation bar of my website, and a big banner link on the right side template of all pages.

As I share blog posts such as this one about the book, as I do interviews for research and a public podcast, I expect the Google search results for “Dabblers vs. Doers” to change pretty rapidly.

Checking in on Google after only a week or two of preparations listed above, I began to show up on the first page of Google results for the slightly more generic search query “dabblers doers” (without quotes):

Dabblers vs. Doers

After I announced the book, more than three weeks out from when I started, I have the top spot for the search “dabblers doers”:

This is likely because people have begun interacting with the pages I created, and mentioning the book title (and linking to it) via social media.

Do you ever Google your own name or the name of your book or project you are developing? How do you begin anchoring yourself to these titles?

Thanks.
-Dan

For more information on Dabblers vs. Doers, and all the behind the scenes stuff I am sharing, click here.

Tina Roth Eisenberg: Building Businesses Through Caring

How can one woman not only manage five huge projects/businesses, but do so in a way that empowers other creative professionals to grow their craft and earn more revenue? Today, I talk to Tina Roth Eisenberg, who runs temporary tattoo company Tattly (with 14 employees), a monthly meetup series (in 100+ countries) CreativeMornings, a to-do list app called TeuxDeux, a collaborative workspace called StudioMates, and the popular design blog Swiss-Miss.com.

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

In this episode, we discuss:

That trust is at the heart of battling overwhelm
Having clear goals ensures every action has meaning
The value of giving yourself permission
Enthusiasm as the foundation for collaborations
Mitigating risk in creative projects
Mixing money and creative endeavors
How to “flip” challenges into opportunities
How she developed her audience slowly, through small acts of generosity
The necessity to connect personal values to professional work

To hear the full conversation, click the ‘play’ button above, or subscribe on iTunes, or download the MP3.

This podcast is part of the research for a book I am writing called Dabblers vs. Doers, which is about working through RISK as you develop your craft and build a meaningful body of work.

Here are some key insights that Tina shared with me…

HOW TRUST IS AT THE HEART OF BATTLING OVERWHELM

“It all comes down to analyzing what overwhelms you; breaking it down into smaller chunks. That is where the list-making thing in me comes in. When I want to tackle something, and it is entirely too big and overwhelming, I literally break it down into everything that needs to be done.”

“This gives me a false feeling that I have things under control when I put them on my to-do list. When people look at my to-do lists, they kind of laugh, because there’s way too much on it. I feel like I am in control, because at least everything is listed out.”

“How do I cope with overwhelm? A lot has to do with letting go. There is a reason why you are overwhelmed, and you just have to get to the core of what it is, and find a way to calm yourself down.”

“For example, with me in the beginning, I was a complete control freak and I didn’t really want people to do the thing, because I felt I could do it better. Eventually, I thought I’m either going to break, and I’m not going to grow these things the way I should, because I can’t do everything myself, or, I start trusting people, and start delegating.”

“That’s been a long process, and it was really hard for me. What I have learned is that the minute you start trusting people, the minute you tell someone, ‘I believe you can do this,’ — trust is the biggest compliment of all — they will make this thing so much better. When things become a bigger labor of love, of not just one person, it actually turns into something bigger and better than I could have ever imagined.”

FOCUS ON CLEAR GOALS HELPS ENSURE EVERY ACTION HAS MEANING

“For whatever it is you want to accomplish, you need to break it down into [a few] main goals. Cross-check everything you do with that. Everything you do has to funnel back to [your goals.] Because we often do things that don’t actually help the end goals – being busy for busy-sake. It’s all about setting priorities. ”

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION

When Tina had each of her kids, she felt a sense of professional focus, and each birth led her to take even more creative risk in her career.

“When I became pregnant with my daughter, I went through this incredible taking-inventory stage of my life. I became very reflective. I realized that we all have these dreams we want to accomplish. I always wanted to have my own design studio. I really feel that moment in my life when I become a parent – I think it was this wake up call for me — I’m a grown up now. To some extent, I was in denial. I was waiting for someone to tell me it was the moment to start my own business.”

“I realized — I need to stop not living the life I actually want to live — I really need to address my dreams. So I started my design studio when I had my daughter.”

“The same thing happened when I got pregnant with my son — I took inventory again. I realized — so I started my design studio, I have more clients than I can handle, and they were very prestigious clients. But I wasn’t happy. I realized, I wasn’t made for the service industry. I can’t disappoint – the feeling of giving my best and having the person still being disappointed – it really crushes my soul.”

“I realized that these small side projects light me up — they make me incredibly happy. With my blog making some income through advertising, I could take the risk to not have clients and see what happens. To help grow the side projects. The luxury of giving yourself time to create something else, or to see what it is you want to be doing. I realized that the secret sauce to having a creative life is having passive income.”

THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT: ENTHUSIASM

I asked Tina how she negotiated such big moves with her spouse:

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have a husband who is as supportive as he is. We have separate bank accounts — we divide up who pays for what — that makes both of us happy. So when I said I wanted to take a one-year client sabbatical, I laid it out for him that I could still cover what I covered so far.”

“He just knew I had to do this. there is this thing with me — when I get so excited about an idea — you can’t stop me man, I’m like a machine.”

ON MITIGATING RISK IN CREATIVE PROJECTS

“It’s funny, I never think about the risk. I really don’t. For me, overarching it is the fun that can be had, the things I can learn. Maybe I should think more about the risk! When I started any of these things, I never thought about the risk. But I think it has to do with the way I started them – they never started as a business — they always started as a labor of love. If you don’t focus on the money part, you never think about risk. When you do things as a side project, there’s no pressure from the outside world, and you experiment more and learn so much faster. You are so much more willing to reshift and refocus.”

ON MIXING MONEY AND CREATIVE PROJECTS

“When you take the money out and pour the heart in, it changes everything in the perception to people around you. These projects felt very loved. People feel that and appreciate it. That makes it so much more attractive.”

TAKE YOUR CHALLENGES AND FLIP THEM

“[The expression] ‘flip it’ is one of our big terms. It is something that is really dear to my heart: take something that is a seeming bad news, and turn it on its head. When some bad news come in, my team says, “Let’s flip it – let’s make it good.” It’s become my personal sport.”

HOW SHE BUILT HER BLOG AND FOLLOWING THROUGH GENEROSITY

Her blog Swiss-Miss.com is about to be ten years old; she explains how it allowed her to build an audience and relationships:

“I built it on helping people get off the ground — that’s my currency. There is nothing that makes me happier than someone saying to me, ‘Hey, I was able to quit my job because of you featuring me [on your blog.]’ It’s been years of doing this for other people.”

“When I launched Tattly, I didn’t realize how much karma I built up over the years, because we got orders the minute I launched it.”

ON CONNECTING PERSONAL VALUES TO YOUR WORK

When I saw how Tattly described their mission on the About page, it really struck me: how values seemed to come first. Tina describes connecting her professional work to her personal values:

“It’s starting to crystalize that this is becoming my mission: bringing a bit of a human touch to how businesses can be run. I think you as an entrepreneur need to know what your values are, and be able to articulate them. You need to be the same person at home as you are at work, and be true to what you believe in.”

“Oftentimes when I talk to friends who are more classically trained business people, they oftentimes shake their head at me, and say things like, ‘Tina, come on!’ they don’t get it, how I run my companies. To them, it’s all the spreadsheet, it’s all the bottom line.”

ON THE VALUE OF COLLABORATORS

Tina lives and works in Brooklyn, which has become a hotbed for wonderfully creative people. I asked her about those who don’t live in Brooklyn, and who may feel isolated in their communities — how can they find creative collaborators? Her response:

“That is what the internet is for! It will help you find your like-minded folks. You really are who you surround yourself with. There are so many things I never would have started without StudioMates. The most important thing you can do is find people who share your values or are excited about the same things, and who you can collaborate with. There are so many ways — Meetup.com — start a meetup in your city, see if anyone comes. Even if it is just a group of two people in the beginning, then you find a third. It doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be the people who will help you make your ideas better, who support you, who are your sounding board. ”

Thank you to Tina for making the time to meet with me and share her wisdom. You can find her in the following places:

For more interviews and behind-the-scenes stuff on my book Dabblers vs. Doers, click here.

Thank you!
-Dan

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