Every year, I choose a single word that I will focus on exploring. This word is works as a theme throughout both my personal and business lives, something I feel is foundational to our experience creating.
In 2013, the term I chose was “NARRATIVES.” This is a word that seemed to come up again and again, and I became intrigued with it. Specifically:
HOW DO NARRATIVES WE CRAFT SHAPE OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD.
I wrote about the term recently in this post: Hoping to Grow Your Audience? Focus on Narratives. And whenever I look around at something that works, be it a book that finds a reader or a consumer product that really takes off, I consider how narratives factored in. (I also consider narratives whenever I see someone yelling at an employee at Starbucks…)
Right now, I am selecting a term explore more in 2014. These two have risen to the top of that list:
Vulnerability
Enthusiasm
Let’s explore each…
VULNERABILITY
In the past couple of years, Brené Brown has done an amazing job of explaining the term vulnerability to us. I haven’t done too much to explore her work yet, beyond seeing her speak once in person, and seeing another video or two online. But beyond what I have heard from her, it is a term that seems to come up again and again in my life, and the lives of writers and creative professionals that I know.
When you create something, whether it is art or a business, that means you are constantly putting yourself out there – trying out new ideas, and setting expectations with others that you HOPE you can meet. It is inherently of making yourself vulnerable simply because the process of creating something sets expectations in others, and makes small (sometimes unspoken) promises that you must now meet.
This year was a wonderful year for me, but also an intense one. I kept trying to do more, to serve more, and at each step, whenever I felt close to “an edge,” I realized it was because I felt vulnerable. EG: in the act of creating, I now had something to lose if it didn’t work; that I could make a poor decision, and in doing so, let someone down. And not all of these things are big decisions either. Many are small everyday things that one does to try to ensure they are ADDING to people’s lives, not taking away.
Something we each know, but rarely talk about, is that it only takes a SINGLE person or a SINGLE interaction to overshadow your entire life with a profound sense of vulnerability. For a writer, maybe it is the one overly harsh book review that you obsess about, and taps into your deepest fears as a writer. You begin ignoring the hundred other lovely reviews, losing sleep over the one negative review that tapped into areas that you feel vulnerable.
So in 2014, I am considering the term “vulnerability” in two ways: to better understand my own work, and to better understand how I can serve writers and creative professionals. That being vulnerable is inherent in this process, and becoming comfortable with it is a skill we can likely all be better at. Key to this is to be more empathetic as to how others feel vulnerable, and using that to better serve their needs.
If you are a writer or a creative professional, my gut is that a sense of vulnerability drives a lot of your experience or decisions in creating and sharing your work.
ENTHUSIASM
This is a term that I have been thinking a lot about after becoming obsessed with the work of John and Hank Green. I remember growing up, the term “nerd” was something you wanted to avoid being defined as. It meant that you were interested in things that weren’t popular, and therefore: worthy of mockery.
A lot has changed in the past 20 years or so, and now the term “nerd” is pretty much a badge of honor, meaning that you are very enthusiastic about something particular. Traditional nerdy past-times are now cool (computer programming, role playing games, alternative types of music), and there are so many more niches and subniches that have become popular, where saying “I’m a sneaker nerd” or “I’m an audio nerd” or “I’m a vintage toy nerd” is an identity people seek out.
For my work and how I connect with writers and creative professionals, it is about how we connect ourselves to the joy of why we do things. There has been so much talk of “community marketing,” and “influencers” in the past few years in the idea of connecting your work to an audience, I want to explore the idea of simply connecting based on shared enthusiasm.
Another way I have been viewing the term “enthusiasm” is as the antithesis of what I have become bored of: snarky, jaded comments that are meant to be ironic and pithy. Too often, someone tries to sound smart by putting down others or putting down an idea. I remember learning this years ago in the corporate environment: it is easy to sound “smart” in a conference room by being critical of an idea. I saw that play out again and again: someone who listened at length to another person’s idea, then dashed it with a simple and cutting statement.
The problem with many of those scenarios is that the snarky comments meant to point out negative things in an idea or project rarely did the thing the world needed most: a helping hand to help BUILD something, not merely a flash of glory in tearing it down in a particularly clever or funny way.
Enthusiasm is about that desire to connect, to be a part of something, and to build.
I’m curious: how do the terms “vulnerability” or “enthusiasm” touch your life?
Thanks.
-Dan
Everyone seems to be looking for attention. Today as I write this, it’s “Black Friday,” where retailers are offering all kinds of strange offers hoping that it garners attention of shoppers. For writers and creative professionals, many have focused on getting attention for their writing via social media, accumulating “likes” and “friends” and “pins.” This emotions that many writers feel about this is pretty adequately expressed in this post by Sean Beaudoin: “The Horrors of Self Promotion.” (thanks to David Farkas for the link) While I don’t agree with a couple of Sean’s key premises, I definitely feel that the depth and complexity of emotion around this topic is pervasive and very real for so many creative professionals.
A friend recently mentioned that “attention is the only finite resource.”
I’m not sure if that is true or not, but it certainly makes for a good quote. And it explains how we seem to have a greater capacity nowadays for more stuff in shorter timeframes. EG: We don’t wait for a monthly magazine to learn about movie stars, we need a new scandal every 20 minutes on TMZ, from people created as “celebrities,” specifically for this purpose.
But this is only part of the equation. Someone I was working with in a course I teach for Mediabistro recently said this to me after a lesson: “This was an interesting exercise in that it opened my eyes to the discrepancy between my expectations and those of my client. I have been helping the client get attention, but I have no plan in place on how to convert attention into action.”
I am writing this at Starbucks, and in the 1/2 mile drive it took to get here, I was behind a truck for my local lumberyard, who I couldn’t help but notice had a big Facebook “F” logo painted on the back of their truck. This was a signal that they felt it was so important for local customers to check them out on Facebook, that it was a key connection point. Yet, when I go to their site now, I see pretty much what you would expect: haphazard updates without any real frequency. There is nothing “wrong” with their page, most of their updates are actually expressions saying “it’s hot out there, be careful,” which is nice.
But it’s indicative of what many writers feel: this pressure to be present on a social media channel and develop an audience for some mysterious point in the future when they know what to do with all that attention?
The result is often this:
They never really accumulate that big of an audience.
They never really do anything special with the channel they are focused on. (e.g.: Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
They never learn how to turn a vague sense of awareness that someone has for you or your work, into any meaningful connection, whether it is a relationship or the sale of a book.
If I look back at what I am thankful for this year, it is never the base metrics of things like “Followers.” It is always a reflection on a meaningful conversation I had – be it via social media, email, Skype, phone, text message, letter, or in-person. And perhaps the biggest takeaway here for me is that meaningful communication truly happened via EACH of those channels for me this year. And the skill that I need to develop is not to grab MORE attention from MORE people, but rather, to create more meaningful moments regardless of the channel I am using; that these moments are never about “going viral,” and always shared between just two people.
That seeking attention is a hollow action unless you have a clear understanding of how it can lead to a meaningful experience.
I shared a guest post over at WriterUnboxed.com today that shared a couple things that author Bella Andre shared with me recently. There is often so much hidden behind one’s success, and from a distance, it is easy to craft a simplistic narrative of why something worked. We whittle down years worth of work to a simple tip such as “keep writing!” or “be authentic,” but when you speak to someone such as Bella, you realize the underlying complexity. Anyhow, here is the post at WriterUnboxed.com. Thanks!
-Dan
Three years ago, my company WeGrowMedia took its first client. Today, I want to talk about my journey in running a company so far.
Before doing this, I had worked for a decade at a single company, they were disbanding and the last day of my job was right around July 4, 2010. I had setup WeGrowMedia the December before, the official “anniversary,” but I waited until I had stopped working one job to take a client for WeGrowMedia.
When I first announced this on my blog, one commenter scolded me for endangering the financial well-being of my family. You see, in quick succession, I launched my company, had my first child, and soon after, my wife quit her job as a teacher to be home with our son full time. These are three pretty big risks, which is why the commenter feared for my well-being.
I’m happy to report, the rewards have far outweighed any potential downsides.
It always struck me as a nice coincidence that I ventured out on my own during the week of Independence Day. I’ve been reflecting on that, the meaning of “independence,” and where it does – and DOESN’T – apply to my work.
Oftentimes, there is this vision of “being your own boss” when you start a company, and while I do enjoy the freedom to choose to do work I am proud of, I rarely sentimentalize “being my own boss.” I have many bosses, many obligations, not the least of which is to my clients, my family, and myself.
Let’s give this some context though. I typically work with 30-50 writers per month (these are writers who I have not worked within the past), as well as other clients. Here are all of the projects I am working on right now, quite a few of them I have not mentioned publicly before:
ONLINE COURSES
I love how online education has connected us and helps us each develop. Unlike many “online courses” I see, which just shove PDF files at you each week, what I enjoy most and find most useful is truly interacting with those who take my classes, brainstorming with them, working past obstacles, and getting to know them as a person. Here are the courses I am currently teaching:
PRIVATE WRITING CLIENTS
I work one-on-one with authors as well, really getting into the trenches with them to grow their platforms, find readers, and develop specific marketing plans for their work. Right now I have four private clients, and since my work is not publicity oriented, I rarely say who these clients are publicly.
But, there is one exception to that rule, a writer I am working with and doing something very special for. We are embarking on a year-long book launch process, and will be live-blogging the entire thing! The writer is Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, whose next novel Bittersweet is to be published by Crown in May 2014. I am helping her on the overall strategy as well as many specific tactics to best reach readers. We thought it would be fun to share the process, and you can follow along here: https://wegrowmedia.com/bittersweet.
WRITING A BOOK
This is another thing I haven’t really announced publicly yet, but yes, I am writing a book. BUT! I’m not doing it a lone. My friend Christina Rosalie, an artist & writer, and I kept having these long Skype chats about what it means to really live a creative life. We talked about the amazing things we see online, and also considered what does and doesn’t add up to a body of work over time.
We finally realized that our ideas complemented each other really well, and that the best format to explore this would be a book. So, we are doing just that. We are also beginning to blog about these ideas over at MakingACreativeLife.com. That site is a sketchbook for us.
CORPORATE CONSULTING
I usually have a couple of corporate consulting gigs as well, working with publishers or media companies to help them better connect with readers and develop compelling content and marketing strategies. I also do a lot of training programs for their employees, partners or audiences to help them grow their skills.
Right now, I am consulting with JWT, a digital agency, helping one of their clients with their content strategy & better understanding their audience and how to reach them. It’s fun to work inside a company like this and consider the strategies & tactics that large organizations use, and how it applies back down to the goals of authors who are hoping to connect with readers.
RUNNING AN ONLINE CONFERENCE
I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I am about to announce an online conference for writers that I am running. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this, and how amazing it is going to be. Right now, I have recruited my advisory board, am crafting the agenda, conference details, and lining up speakers. More info very soon…
A MEETUP FOR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS
My friend Scott McDowell and I are holding our first local meetup in Morristown, New Jersey on July 11th. The goal is to meet other creative professionals working in this area, folks who are writers, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs who are crafting meaningful work. He and I will each make a short presentation, but the real goal is conversation and forging helpful connections. Hopefully, we can make this a monthly endeavor.
SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS
I regularly speak at publishing and writing conferences, and run in-person workshops. Next week I will be speaking at Thrillerfest in New York City, and I recently spoke at Backspace Conference, Writer’s Digest Conference, Tools of Change for Publishing, and several others.
WRITING
Beyond that, every week I blog, send out a newsletter, update social media, and am a contributor to WriterUnboxed.com and Huffington Post Books. This is an area where I feel I could do so much more, but simply feel that I don’t have the time. I am a slow writer.
End of list.
Sure, there are other ideas and projects I am exploring, such as an event at the new Word Bookstore opening in Jersey City soon. But the list above is all of the things I am working on RIGHT NOW.
I LOVE the work that I do, the people I get to work with, the range of different projects keeps me fueled creatively, plus: I am ALWAYS learning. This is by far the most creative period in my life, and the most fulfilling as well.
Because of all of this responsibility, that is why I shy away from the term “independence,” or boasting about “being your own boss.” That isn’t a goal for me. I LIKE serving these people, and having these responsibilities.
Beyond the opportunity to create meaningful work and have meaningful relationships/experiences, there is another benefit, one that I don’t often write about…
I work from home, from cafes, from libraries. What this means is that I get to choose when and where I work. The biggest benefit of this is that I get to be very present in the lives of my wife and 3 year old son. Every single day. I am often there when they wake and up; I eat lunch with them every day; I take my son out right at 5pm each day, spending a couple of hour together at the park, library or elsewhere; and I pop in for short conversations or play sessions throughout the day.
The qualitative difference this makes in the life of my family is even beyond my own comprehension. But I know that:
My wife and I are likely less stressed trying to coordinate schedules, or in me being away all day because of a commute. Before I started WeGrowMedia, I was gone from 7am – 7pm at my job, and that included at least 2 hours of commuting time.
My son gets to grow up with me there throughout the day, every day. And while I clearly work a lot, he gets to actually see me working, and ENJOYING that work.
There are lots of ways to measure success. And yes, I do focus on revenue and supporting my family as the sole financial provider. I would never EVER diminish the importance of that.
But I also measure success in how I live every day. The experiences I have in the small moments of the day. And of course, in who I experience those moments with.
So that is WeGrowMedia a bit more than 3 years in. That is what I do everyday, and why I do it. I hope none of this came off as gloating or self-serving, that is not my intention.
I just returned from the 99u Conference in New York City, whose goal is to share “pragmatic insights on how to push great ideas forward, create incredible art, build businesses, and change the world.” Today I want to analyze what I thought of the event, and in general, what I look for in a great conference.
Return on Investment
I work with writers, and go to a lot of publishing, writing, and media conference. I am in the fortunate position to speak at many of those conferences, so I always get a free ticket into the event. What this means is that for 99u, I paid the $1,000 ticket price. This was not an easy decision, and even in the months after I purchased it, I wrestled with guilt that perhaps the money could more directly help my business if put elsewhere.
In general, I tend to feel that many conferences play to the attendees who will expense the ticket, they don’t pay it themselves, their employers do. This goes for big corporations as much as small design firm of 10 or 30 people. I run my own company which is three years old, and I am the sole supporter of my family. So $1,000 really means something in that regard.
The other investment is time. It meant that I was taking off two days of work, and shoving everything important into the earlier part of the week. This adds stress, to a certain degree.
So when I consider return on investment, I was looking for practical takeaways that would truly help me grow my company and ensure I was providing deeply meaningful value to those I serve.
Let’s Talk About Clichés
Clichés suck the soul out of conferences. Yes, I realize clichés exist for a reason, and I will explain more on that below. But clichés have to be the jumping off point to a conversation, not the goal. So if someone says “The more you give, the more you get back,” then I want to hear specific examples of how that happened in their career. And I want to hear about the scary parts of that process.
Likewise, I think vague models often act as clichés. So when someone shows you their “perfect process” in some kind of diagram. This can go two ways:
They can explain it in vague ways that sounds good, but really offers you no first step.
They explain it in ways that are ultra practical. It gives you first, second, and third steps.
So an example of vague models would be this advice from Yoda:
“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Why does this model not work? Because each word is interchangeable and works however you order it:
“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”
“Anger leads to fear, fear leads to suffering, suffering leads to hate.”
“Hate leads to anger, anger leads to fear, fear leads to suffering.”
They all sound fine and smart, but the ordering doesn’t really give you a practical first step forward.
So if you are going to present a model about creating an amazing product/service or how to best help your clients/audience, then I want it to make sense in a way that measurably changes my work week. That you don’t just say: “Listen. Build. Do.” but that you REALLY dig into how to do each step, what the risks are, and how you hacked through system and after system before you landed on this one.
Likewise, there can be words that pop up such as “greatness” or “extraordinary.” It is so easy to say these words, and expect applause. But these words are meaningful because they are difficult to really execute on. And for this audience – an audience of doers and makers – it is not enough to have bold ideas, but to understand how to realize them. In practical, everyday ways.
How I Measured Value
The one thing I was NOT measuring value on was how inspired I felt. 99u differentiates itself by this quote from Thomas Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” They are about “Making Ideas Happen.” So, while funny or inspiring talks make me feel good, so do the archive of TED Talks online.
Instead, these are the things I wanted to walk away with:
Understanding – specifically – how a successful creative person went from being an individual with a good idea and motivation, to actually building their product/service/company/idea in practical steps. As I mentioned, my company is three years old, and I have been unbelievably lucky in that time. My company is doing well. But I also work very hard, and am wondering, how can I build up momentum? How can I evolve? How can the company be more than just me?
Processes. This is where we go beyond the clichés. The conference – like all conferences – was filled with them. I am TOTALLY okay with that. It is what comes after the cliché that matters. So when someone says “Hire Only A-Players,” that is a cliché that oftentimes ignores that challenges of such a vague missive: how do you do that on a budget; what about hiring for roles that require strict rule following; how to do that in a competitive job skill and/or region; how to find these people and negotiate with them; how do you integrate a team of A-Players so they work together? etc.
The best sessions of the conference were the people who shared their specific processes for doing these things. If they said “Create a Minimum Viable Product” (which many attendees said), the best speakers took you through examples of their specific process to do so. They didn’t tell me stories of how others did it, pulling from easy-to-Google Apple examples, but the sloppy, confusing, scary stories of what they did, and what they do every day.
Clear ideas about where to focus, but also what to ignore. How often have you walked away from a great conference with stacks of Powerpoint decks, but fall right back into your same routine. What I wanted from this was polarization. Whether they were new ideas or not, I wanted to have a clear sense of what to focus MORE energy on, and what to cut away entirely.
Connections to other attendees. This is obvious for any conference – the reason to show up is the people, not just the information. This is especially so in an age where many of these talks will likely show up online for free eventually. One of the reasons I spent $1,000 for this conference is that I felt the mission of 99u would ensure that it was an audience of people truly in-the-trenches trying to build something as I was. Not just passionate, but people with digital dirt under their fingernails.
This did prove to be the case, although I found there is never enough time to socialize and meet as many people as I would like. But those I did talk to were wonderful, and it was not uncommon for each of us to say “we should talk more about this…”
At the beginning of the conference, 99u posited a very similar set of goals:
What Made a Great Session:
Some sessions at 99u were amazing. They delivered on everything I hoped for. Others were not. I want to avoid naming names because I ABSOLUTELY RESPECT EVERY SPEAKER FROM THIS EVENT. If I didn’t feel I got value from their talk, that does not indicate I don’t appreciate them. Every speaker is accomplished in ways I can only dream about.
Okay, these are the two parameters that defined great sessions for me:
Sharing their actual process that they use every day to create value and solve problems. I wanted to know things such as: how do they onboard clients; how do they create a minimum viable product; how do they figure out their pricing; how do they measure value of not just people will pay for, but what the world needs; how they deal with the emotions on the long road of trying to succeed; how do they hire, and when do they NOT hire; what documentation do they provide to clients; how long are their engagements; how do they differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace; how do they organize teams; how do they choose when to partner and when to build in-house; etc.
Original research and original experience. I didn’t want to hear stories of others, I wanted to know specifics about what they learned, how they learned it, and how that helped them evolve. If they said a cliché, I wanted them to back it up with research data or with a very specific story about how it played out in multiple scenarios for them. Inherent in this, for me, is often identifying the pain points: the stress/anxiety/risk of such scenarios. In other words, saying “Hire Only A-Players,” and then saying “And we have an amazing team of developers,” doesn’t cut it for me. Because I can’t do anything with that.
Sessions I Loved And Why
These three were my favorite sessions:
This is Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, inventor and CEO of sugru. Her talk was the only one to get a standing ovation, and to me, this is the reason why:
Jane’s talk celebrated what her users were able to create, not what she herself or what her product created.
Her story was incredibly powerful and one that tends to resonate with me: YEARS of struggle to try to not just understand and frame her idea, but actually bring it to fruition. She talked about the dead ends of trying to partner with large companies, last ditch efforts to make things happen, the credit card debt, failed experiments, and the value of friends and family. It was an emotional talk, but one filled with practical lessons.
Aaron Dignan, CEO of Undercurrent did a longer “masterclass” on the topic of digital strategy. He provided example after example from his own experience, provided a model for how he works and kept taking us through it from different angles, and had incredible enthusiasm for creating. Super smart guy, but also very down to earth and giving. I took 1,500 words of notes from his session alone.
Michael Wolff, founder of Wolff Olins. Even though his experience is almost legendary in the branding world, he went places no other speaker did. First off: he was unbelievably humble. Second, he illustrated the value of questioning in such deep ways. When listening to him, I really got the sense that he, as a designer, sees the world differently. And in doing so is where you find the opportunity for amazing work. Wholly inspiring, but also very very practical.
Besides those three, there were other wonderful speakers and takeaways. Some highlights:
It wasn’t a surprise that Brené Brown gave a moving talk. There is so much to appreciate about what she shares, but this slide speaks to the place that I resonate with as you try to create something: fear, self-doubt, comparison, anxiety, uncertainty. Many speakers skip over these things as they share their stories of success. Brené doesn’t only share her research, she makes it deeply personal. And to have her open the event was a brilliant move.
Here Cal Newport shows you his notebook for managing time via time blocking. Another person who had a great mix of research and practical advice on how to apply it.
I love this chart from Joe Gebbia from Airbnb – which illustrates the long slog to success. He talked about the specific things they did to try to get the needle to move.
Here Joe shows us how Airbnb uses storyboarding. This was the kind of practical look behind the curtains I was hoping for.
And here Joe gives us a brief exercise to fill out that he does with his own employees.
Other Tips
These were other things I did to try to make the conference a valuable experience:
Be able to clearly answer this question before you walk into the conference: “What do you want out of this conference?” I thought long and hard about this, as I try to illustrate in this very post!
Take copious notes. I ended up with more than 5,000 words to dig back into.
Walk up to strangers and talk to them. Again. And again. That’s not easy for most people, including me.
Other Experiences
The conference offered a variety of experiences other than just the main stage, including master classes, off-site visits, mentoring sessions, as well as parties and breaks. It was held at Alice Tully Hall, with the after-party at MoMa. Really, you couldn’t ask for greater venues.
My Real Conclusion on Value
Was the conference worth it? I took more than 5,000 words of notes that I have to parse through still. Overall, I think these are the two ways I will know:
Only months later, to see what I IMPLEMENTED based on ideas from the conference, not how inspired I felt the day after.
If I would spend another $1,000 (or more likely $1,200 ticket if they raise the price) for the 2014 99u conference. I know a couple of people who went to the 2012 conference and raved about it. But they didn’t attend this year. That says something to me. Likewise, I have had friends rave about other specific conferences, that they were wonderful experiences; BUT that their company and processes were no different 2 months after the conference than 2 months before it.
Thank you to the team at 99u and Behance for the event, especially Jocelyn K. Glei, Sean Blanda, Scott Belsky, and Matias Corea. I know so many others helped create this event, somewhere around 100 people, but these are the names I know.
