Jeff Goins's Blog, page 17

$50,000 in 5 Months: 3 Essential Steps to Turn a Passion Project into a Business

Three years ago I got serious about turning my passion project of Tudor history into a business, and now I see regular five figure monthly revenues with an average profit of 50%.

If you would have told me then that selling physical products would be the way I make a full time income, I would have laughed. I’ve only been studying eCommerce for the past six months, hardly an expert!

Still, over the past 5 months, I’ve sold nearly $50,000 in products related to my niche, and I’d like to share the three steps I took to turn my passion project into a full time business:

Build a passion project platform
Develop a proof of concept
Give your audience more

Build a passion project platform

In 1998 I started writing about history online. In 2009 I started podcasting about Tudor England. My dream when starting was to be surrounded by history, to write and be creative, and to be able to work anywhere I could find a wi-fi signal.

There’s a quote I keep on my wall that says:

Never compromise on a dream. Always compromise on how it will come true.

This is what my platform looked like when I started:

Podcast
Blog

I was on a call with a business mentor who noticed that, while I had a great site filled with lots of useful information, I wasn’t actually making it very easy for people to give me money. “Well, I have Patreon,” I responded.

She pointed out that there are only a handful of profitable organizations that rely solely on asking readers to pay directly for your content. Even National Public Radio has to sweeten your pledge by offering swag.

The lightbulb turned on. What if I tried selling things to people? Real physical, tangible things that they could own? Things that would also remind them how much they love my show, and give them an easy way to share my show with people?

I didn’t know anything about shopping cart software or sourcing products, but three years ago I got serious about making a business out of this passion project. Being an introverted writer type, the idea of customer service made me queasy.

Develop a proof of concept

After brainstorming for a month, I came up with the idea of doing a planner/diary filled with Tudor history:

Monthly calendar with a quote from a famous Tudor
Weekly pages with ‘This Week in Tudor History’
Renaissance music listening lists and Spotify playlists
Gorgeous cover inspired by an illuminated manuscript

With a company like Blurb you can print books on demand, so the only out of pocket costs are a designer for the cover, a subscription to InDesign, and the time spent learning how to create a planner. All told, it cost me less than $200. 

I spent the month of October, 2016 designing the planner, gathering the dates and information, and putting it all together. In early November I put up some Facebook ads and got my first sale!

I had no idea how many would sell. I was hoping for 50. Before Christmas I had sold over 300! It took me two months and less than $200 to develop a proof of concept.

Now that I had proof, I knew people would pay for physical products in my niche. I also noticed customers who found me through the Facebook ad had never heard of me before. They liked my Facebook page and started listening to my show.

That made my download numbers go up, which meant that more people could find me through the podcast charts. Many of those people signed up for my mailing list, because I offered a discount on the planner in exchange for the email address.

“In six weeks, I added four times as many email subscribers as I had the entire year before.Heather TeyskoTweet thisTweet

This is what I have termed the Abundance Whoosh, because it was a whoosh of new email subscribers, new listeners, and sales, in one big spiral. 

Give your audience more

I spent early 2017 trying to replicate this success. I only knew about print on demand books, so I stuck with that strategy for the first few months of the year, creating journals that were historic.

For example, I created a journal with a cover based on a 15th century French book of hours. It was shaped like a heart and filled with quotes from Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn.

I also started working with a printer to create a 2018 planner with customizations you can’t get with Print on Demand, like a pocket in the back and a ribbon marker. But I really wanted to add more products like:

clever mugs
t-shirts
creative leggings

Sites like CafePress and Zazzle had margins so small you aren’t left with any money to pay for the ads you run on Facebook. I knew ads were a big part of my success with the planner, and I wanted to duplicate the Abundant Whoosh- growing my audience and not just selling things to my existing one.

Then I found out about Shopify and print on demand services. What’s the difference between using Shopify and going the CafePress route to give your audience more ways to support you? Ownership of the sales process.

The CafePress compromise

When you use CafePress, or similar merch sites, you hand your customer over to that company. They take care of the entire transaction from start to finish, sending you a commission once a month. All you have to do is:

Upload your artwork
Share your shop address

This is easy for brands with limited time but want to offer something for their audience to buy. But handing your customer over to another company mean you are losing touch points with them.

Most of these march sites won’t give you the email address of the people who bought your products. They add your customer to their own email list, where they will then send marketing campaigns featuring other creators.

You can’t set up discount codes as an incentive to sign up for your mailing list, and when the customer receives their purchase, the branding isn’t yours. You have, in effect, created a customer for another company instead of your own.

The Shopify difference

Shopify is a web host, shopping cart, and payment processor all in one. When integrated with a print on demand company that only prints and fulfills your orders, you’ve got the perfect recipe for success.

Shopify handles the payments and Gooten or Printful handle the fulfillment automatically, from my shop, TudorFair.com, with simple integrations. No more directing customers to a different company. 

I tell my podcast listeners they can support the show and buy cool stuff. Here is the flow after that:

Customer buys from my site
I collect the money via PayPal or Shopify Payments
The fulfillment company charges me and fulfills the order
The fulfillment company ships the product, with my branding, to my customer
The next day, an automated app sends a personalized thank you note to my customer
The fulfillment company updates the tracking information

I don’t pay the fulfillment company anything until I already have a sale. There are no fees to get started, or to import your products to Shopify. The only fee is from Shopify, where the basic plan after free trial starts at $29.99/month.

The margins are larger because I’m doing more of the work. If creating a full time income from a passion project is your goal, you have to work.

“If creating a full time income from a passion project is your goal, you have to work.Heather TeyskoTweet thisTweet

The downside is when a customer hasn’t received their order, or wants to return something: you’re the one handling that. The percentage of people doing that is so small, the extra bit of work is a tiny price to pay for ownership of the process.

You have more options for products

With Shopify you can sell a huge variety of products through various fulfillment companies:

AliExpress imports goods from China
Printful offers clothes and posters
Gooten has tote bags and phone cases
ArtsAdd offers everything from clothes to home decor
Art of Where does some very cool clothing
Galloree even offers custom printed skateboards
Beeoux offers laser-cut sterling silver jewelry in designs you provide

You can put your designs on nearly anything you can think of! Many of these fulfillment companies have cross-over in their product offerings.

Some products may not be a perfect fit, but they can be on theme with your niche enough to make sense. I’ve sold Tudor-themed jewelry that was not an exact English history match.

You have more places to sell

Shopify will integrate with Facebook so you can have your store on your Facebook page, and in many countries people can check out within the Facebook environment directly, never having to leave the app.

As you get more experience, you can explore the dozens of apps in Shopify that will help grow your customer base, and provide subscription options, affiliate selling, reviews, and social proof.

Your steps to success

If this is something that appeals to you, here are the steps you can take to start off:

Sign up for a free trial of Shopify. (Use my affiliate link to get a two week trial, and I’ll get a small commission.)
Investigate the various print on demand companies you can work with to get your products into your shop.
Ask your audience what they want from you and what they’ll pay for.
Design your products, hiring freelancers from Fiverr or using PicMonkey.
Link your fulfillment provider to your Shopify store.
Make sales.
Send personalized thank you notes with links to your content.
Use the Abundance Whoosh to spiral your success.

Since October I sold nearly 1000 2018 Tudor Planners, and hundreds of items ranging from leggings that have portraits of Henry VIII’s wives, to combat boots with portraits of Elizabeth I.

I also started a subscription box service where each month I send a box of curated treats related to Tudor history. All of this has equalled nearly $50,000 since my shop launched.

“Running an eCommerce site isn’t for everyone, but I have more blog traffic, more podcast listeners, and more interest in my work overall, simply by integrating product sales into my portfolio.Heather TeyskoTweet thisTweet

Once we purchase something from someone, we become more invested in their success, so now I have a growing number of supporters who are personally interested in helping me grow my work and spread our shared love of history.

I have become a huge believer in product sales as a way to grow, serve, and deeply connect with an audience, especially for creative passion-based businesses.

I believe in it so much that I’ve started teaching other creatives how to build their own shops. You can learn more when you get my free Getting Started on Shopify Guide and join my Facebook group where we share our experiences growing stores based on creative passion businesses.

Here’s to lots of new paths for creating income and spreading our messages!

Click here to download your free copy of Heather’s Getting Started on Shopify Guide.

What products could you add to your writing portfolio to serve your audience? Share in the comments.

How to Sell 1,000 Copies of Your Self-Published Book in Two Weeks: Interview with Natalie Brenner

If the question is how to sell 1,000 copies in two weeks as a self-published author, do you know the answer?

If you don’t, have no fear because our guest will tell you! Natalie Brenner joins us on today’s The Portfolio Life.

Natalie is the author of This Undeserved Life; she’s also a professional photographer, a doula, one of my coaching clients, and someone I call a friend. But most of all, Natalie is a writer. She’s always loved writing, and even as a kid would dream of writing a book.

Recently, she made that dream a reality. In fact, Natalie sold 1,000 copies of her self-published book in the first two weeks of her launch! When I heard she accomplished such an impressive feat I had to have her on the show so you could learn what she did and how to follow in her footsteps.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Natalie and I talk about:

When did she know this story would become a book?
What was the hardest part of this process for her?
Why “crappy first drafts” are okay!
What was the most effective marketing strategy?
How did she tap into the power of community to sell so many copies?

“Everything weaves itself together to make us who we are.Natalie BrennerTweet thisTweet 

On the self-publishing process

How did she find an editor and how long did it take?
What were the first two expenses for self-publishing?
What questions did she ask of potential editors?
What was her total budget for this project?
How long did the book editing process take?

“There is no right time!Natalie BrennerTweet thisTweet
The marketing side of launching her book

When did she begin preparation?
How many email subscribers did she have to begin with?
How many pre-orders did she have for her book?
How did she sell 1,000 copies of her book?
The important role endorsements played in her launch.

Resources

Natalie Brenner’s web site
This Undeserved Life , by Natalie Brenner
Why I Stopped Waiting to Win the Lottery and Just Published My Book , Natalie’s blog post
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes
The Writer’s Roadmap

Do you want to write a book? If you do what’s your next step to take after hearing this show? Let us know in the comments.

How to Go on Vacation for 3 Months Every Year: Interview with Sean D’Souza

If someone asked what you could be the best in the world at what would you tell them? Today’s guest answered that question and it changed the course of his life!

Sean D’Souza is an author, online marketer, cartoonist and one of the smartest people I know. But not so long ago he was a cartoonist and recent transplant to New Zealand from his homeland of India.

When he moved in 2000, Sean read Good to Great by Jim Collins. In that book, Jim asks his readers to think of what they can be the best at in life. That question and its answer altered the trajectory of Sean’s life.

At that point he was making a good living as a cartoonist; he was great at retaining his clients and was doing fine financially. But he knew he wanted to do something that was different and better than anything else out there.

Sean believed he couldn’t be the best cartoonist in the world so he understood he’d have to do something else. And he was ready, despite his friends who thought he was crazy to give up his successful business.

The same year Sean moved to New Zealand, he found the Marketing Profs web site. Somehow he started chatting with Allen Weiss, the publisher. Their conversations led to him writing articles for Allen, which led to Sean stepping into public speaking.

On this episode of The Portfolio Life, Sean explains how each one of these steps led to the next step and his overall evolution. We also talk about why he values certain experiences, like cooking a new dish every day, more than he values increasing profits before we finish the show with a fun magic trick from Sean!

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Sean and I explore:

Does he ever worry about his business not making enough money?
Why did he suspend all his courses until next July?
What other things were more important to him than tripling his income?
Why does he focus on completion rates, rather than increased enrollment numbers in his class?
What does it mean to do something for the magic?

“What I believe in is not skill, I believe in confidence. Sean D'SouzaTweet thisTweet
On what work for him looks like today

Why did he start writing and talking about consumption when no one else was?
What did he initially set out to do?
His dartboard pricing method: Sean explains what it is and how to do it.
What his lab is and how it helps him write books.

“The reason why I write is because it brings clarity to my own thoughts.Sean D'SouzaTweet thisTweet
On taking three months off, one month at a time

Why taking 3 months off all at once was actually terrible!
Why do people become workaholics?
What is vacation momentum?
How do Sean and his wife balance the transition from work to vacation and back again?

Resources

Psychotactics web site
5000bc membership web site
The Three-Month Vacation podcast
Sean D’Souza on Twitter
Marketing Profs web site
The Brain Audit , by Sean D’Souza
Good to Great , by Jim Collins
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes

What is something you can and will be the best at? Let us know in the comments.

Three Steps to Start a Daily Writing Habit

It’s one thing to call yourself a writer and quite another to actually write. So what separates the pros from the amateurs? Is it God-given talent? Natural skill? Or something else?

Real writers do one simple thing: they write every single day. Forming a daily writing habit isn’t easy. It forces you to give up your misconceptions about writing and embrace the truth. It’s not a gift; it’s a discipline.

Of course, we all have things we’ve been given, skills we inherited and opportunities we didn’t deserve. But what we do with those gifts and opportunities is what separates the outliers from the rest of the pack.

The difference between a professional and an amateur is simple — it’s practice. But that sounds a lot easier than it is. So how do you get up every day and write? This is the question that plagues those of us who struggle to stay motivated in our creative lives. We know we have something to say. We’re just not sure how to say it.

Fear is what holds us back. The trick is to form a habit, to get up and do it without thinking. That’s what the pros do. And it’s what you must do, too, if you’re going to get serious about your craft.

The three steps

There are three steps, I’ve found, to starting a daily writing habit:

Pick a space. It can be your dining room table or a desk, even the couch. But the idea is that this is special, sacred even. It’s where inspiration happens. Try to set it apart.
Set a time. It can be 5am or 11:30pm. Whatever it is, just try to make it consistent. You need to show up every day at this time and put your butt in the chair. It doesn’t matter if you have any idea what you’re going to write; until you commit to a time, you never will.
Choose a goal. This can be a hundred words or a thousand words. Whatever it is, give yourself grace. Hemingway was renowned for writing 1500 words one day and 300 the next. In my experience, anything from 300-1000 is sufficient to forming a writing habit.

Do this over and over and over again, every day and every week. And within months, you’ll be surprised by how much easier writing comes to you.

Sounds too good to be true, right? I can already hear the objections…

“What if I don’t know what to write?”

That doesn’t matter. Write anyway. If you haven’t formed a habit yet, your writing may not be that good. All you’re trying to do is show up, to be consistent enough to start practicing and get good.

Still, if you need a prompt or two, here are some ideas:

Write about your surroundings.
Write about what you did today.
Write a section of a chapter to that book you’ve been working on.
Write a letter to your kids… or one to yourself.
Write anything!

I’m not kidding when I say what you write about doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. At the end of the day, there is one box you need to check, and it reads:

“Have I written?” (Check YES/NO)

If you miss your word count, blow your scheduled time, and write a bunch of malarkey — but you still get to check “yes” — then consider the day a success. Get up tomorrow and do it again.

Good luck.

It’s one thing to call yourself a writer; it’s quite another to actually write.

Ready to get started writing daily? Sign up for the My 500 Words Writing Challenge and get a prompt every day for a month to help you stay on track. Click here to get started.

Other writing resources

Why you need to write every day
How a daily writing habit makes you better

Do you write every day? Why or why not? Share in the comments.

The Progressive Journey to Launch Your Dream: Interview with Dale Partridge

It’s common for many of us to want to find our calling. Our guest today shares why there’s actually a progressive journey to finding your calling and launching your dream.

Dale Partridge is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Start-up Camp. He is also a best-selling author and a committed husband and father.

Because Dale has started so many businesses and experienced tremendous success and setbacks by his early 30s, I wanted to hear him explain what serial entrepreneurship means to him. According to him, the older he gets the more it looks like lack of contentment!

But he says it is also a gift to see the potential in things. As a kid he would get really excited about ideas. Over time he learned the discipline to take something from an idea and turn it into reality, and to stick with it over a period of time.

Many people can come up with ideas, Dale says, but too many abandon their concepts prematurely in the process of developing them into a business. He knows this firsthand: over the last 14 years he has started eight companies. He’s jumped ship too early on some and stayed too long on others.

On this episode of The Portfolio Life, we dig into those experiences more. Dale tells us the difference between God’s yes and God’s go, why generosity is so critical to a company’s success, and his own progressive journey to writing his latest book, Launch Your Dream.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Dale and I explore:

Why your life’s work doesn’t usually happen by 27.
How do you know what your gifts are?
What was his first company, and what did it teach him?
What made him think he could start a business at the age of 18?
What is entrepreneurship really about?

“Don’t compare my mile 26 to your mile 14.Dale PartridgeTweet thisTweet 

Life and business lessons learned

How many times has he been fired from his own companies?
What did he discover from being in between businesses?
How many touch points do thought leaders need with their audiences?
Where does success start?
Why does someone with time impress him more than someone with money?

“Money comes and goes, time just goes.Dale PartridgeTweet thisTweet
On repairing his personal life

Why he was the most successful person no one liked.
Why did his family move to Oregon and buy a farm?
What’s the difference between normal and common?
What’s one of the easiest ways for husbands and wives to value their marriage?
Why should you try to get rid of Friday?

Resources

Dale Partridge’s web site
Dale’s blog
People Over Profit , by Dale Partridge
Launch Your Dream , by Dale Partridge
Dale Partridge on Twitter
The Road Back to You , by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
Real Artists Don’t Starve
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes

Can you see the progressive journey of your own work? Where is it leading you next? Let us know in the comments.

7 Tips for More Effective Writing

People often ask me what it takes to be a good writer. The short answer? I don’t know. The slightly longer answer? I don’t know, and I don’t care.

 

I am much less concerned with good writing than I am with effective writing. What’s the difference? One is based on opinion, and the other actually matters.

Everyone has their own idea of what it means to be a “good” writer. Opinions on quality vary, depending on who you ask, but effective writing is hard to argue with. It gets the job done — plain and simple.

So how do you write in a way that effectively communicates your message? Here are seven tips for more effective writing, which you can apply today:

Practice your craft

You can’t do something well unless you do it badly first — and that begins with practice. Most professionals recommend setting aside time (even if it’s only 20 minutes) to write each day. You can’t get better if you don’t show up.

I do this with my blog and other pieces I’m working on by writing daily a minimum of 500 words. The more I write, the more I learn about writing — and the more I realize I need to practice.

Challenge yourself

Write about topics that interest to you, but don’t forget to dabble in new stuff, as well. The more you stretch yourself, the more you grow. You could challenge yourself and join me for a free webinar to learn my three keys for effective writing.

Never underestimate the importance of learning. I try to learn something new every day by reading books, blogs, and magazines — unable go to bed until I’ve gleaned a few bits of wisdom from different sources.

Be yourself

Don’t model your writing after another writer. And if you do, do it only as a means of learning someone else’s technique, so that you can make it your own.

Ultimately, what you want is to discover your original writing voice. And frankly, that’s what your audience wants, too. If we wanted to read Hemingway, we would read Hemingway.

I still struggle with this, but I’m getting better. One technique I use is to read aloud to myself what I’ve just written, and if it doesn’t sound like me, I rewrite it.

Don’t write like an idiot

Learn the basics of grammar. Buy an MLA, APA, or another style book (I recommend the AP Stylebook to a lot of copywriters). Honor your craft and start writing like a pro. Learning the rules makes it easier to break them.

Start small

Most would-be writers begin in the wrong place. They begin by wanting to write a book. Don’t do that.

Start small, maybe with a blog or a journal (you know, Doogie Howser style). Then write a few articles for some magazines, and after that, consider a book. As you take one incremental step after another towards getting published, you’ll find that your confidence builds.

That’s been my experience, anyway. After four years of writing for websites and magazines, I was finally ready to write a book.

Don’t give up

If writing is your dream, treat it seriously. Stick with it, even after the passion fades. Write every day. Perseverance pays off. Most days, I don’t even want to write, but I show up, anyway. And something mystical happens; the Muse meets me, and inspiration happens when I least expect it.

Learn to pitch your pieces

Many writers expect to write something phenomenal and to be published immediately — you know, by osmosis and stuff. But before you write a piece, you should learn to pitch prospective publishers (book, magazine, or we).

A good pitch is short, compelling, and promising. Without learning how to effectively market your writing, even the best of writers can be overlooked.

What are some other tips for effective writing that I missed? Share in the comments.

How to Launch a Book Without a Platform: Interview with Rachel Swanson

A question many first-time authors ask is how to launch a book without a platform? Is it possible or do you need to build your followers first?

Our guest for today proves you can successfully launch and sell a book, without a major platform. Rachel Swanson was once an aspiring author with a small blog – under 100 email subscribers – and what she did with her first book was nothing short of amazing! She launched a book and sold thousands of copies in the first few weeks, and that trend has continued ever since.

To start off, I share the email she sent to pitch herself to come on this show. I think it’s a great example of how to position yourself when asking to be a guest on any podcast or other medium, and I wanted you to hear it.

We then transition into talking about how her book has sold over 10,000 copies. This is an exceptional milestone that many books don’t reach in their first year, and yet Rachel has accomplished this in just the first six months of her book’s launch!

On today’s episode of The Portfolio Life, we discuss how Rachel’s book came to be and how it became so successful, plus candid advice for following in her footsteps.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Rachel and I discuss:

How to combine multiple trends to create something new.
Why is it all about service, rather than book sales?
Why Rachel is glad to give away her books.
Where did she get the idea for this book?
What it takes to sell 10,000 books when you don’t have a large community.

“The more you serve the more you will get back in the long run.Rachel SwansonTweet thisTweet
The story of her book

How did she know there was a need for this topic?
How did an app help her create this book?
Did she send a query to agents before she had a proposal together?
How many times did her proposal get rejected and what did each teach her?
What is the category her book created?

“I’m looking at connecting, and not just selling a book.Rachel SwansonTweet thisTweet
What she did to generate book sales

How to give your work a competitive edge.
How can you tap into an existing trend while still standing out?
What are different ways you can attract the attention of agents and publishers?
The initial big boost of sales was driven by what?
What’s the best way to approach relevant influencers when launching your book?

Resources

Rachel Swanson’s web site
Big and Little Coloring Devotion , by Rachel Swanson
Real Artists Don’t Starve
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes

What will you do differently to get your book published now that you’ve heard Rachel’s story? Let us know in the comments.

On Becoming a Perennial Seller as an Artist: Interview with Ryan Holiday

What does it take to be a perennial seller, and can any artist do it? Here to answer those questions, and more, is my friend Ryan Holiday. Ryan is a genius marketer and best-selling author of several books including The Obstacle is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy and Perennial Seller.

We jump right in by talking about how to create something that lasts – the message at the heart of his Perennial Seller book. In fact, Ryan believes in this message so much that he insisted on reading Real Artists Don’t Starve before he would help me with the launch! He needed to be sure it was a book with a message he could stand behind. It was an interesting experience for me and we dig into what that process was like for both of us.

Because he felt so strongly about this, I wanted to know if he has ever worked on something he didn’t believe in. Ryan said yes. He either believed in the project initially and then dug in only to find it wasn’t a good fit, or he’s been distracted by the price tag of the project or the name of the person involved. And in the end all of those were regrettable experiences!

On this episode of The Portfolio Life, we also how much time we should spend on creating something versus marketing it, common pitfalls we can avoid as artists, and something he is failing at right now.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Ryan and I explore:

What is one critical question to ask yourself during the creation process?
How is creating and marketing a book like a legal trial?
What does it take to create a perennial seller, and what are some examples?
What makes a creation endure?
If you are traditionally publishing your book, why is it a mistake to only sell to your email list?

“If it’s done right the work brings people to you.Ryan HolidayTweet thisTweet 

The process of creating a perennial best-seller

The creative phase. This is the phase during which you take your idea to your first draft of the manuscript.
Polishing and positioning phase. Editing, refining, picking your title, your cover, your release date. Basically ensuring you have accomplished what you set out to accomplish.
Marketing. This is the launch phase. During this phase you bring in your marketers, your influencers, you get attention for your creation and you sell it.
The platform you build around the work. During this phase you build loyalty and relationship with your reader. The person you are trying to reach with your next book. The body of work you’re making as a creator. You establish a fan base or brand around your initial idea.

“It’s going to be hard for you to continue doing what you do if you die of starvation!Ryan HolidayTweet thisTweet
Lessons from The Obstacle is The Way

What makes this a book people recommend to others, and why does that matter?
Why does giving away copies make a difference?
Why it doesn’t matter how long ago any book was published.
How not to be transactional after you give someone your book.

Resources:

Ryan Holiday’s web site
Perennial Seller , by Ryan Holiday
Conspiracy , by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday on Instagram
Ryan Holiday on Twitter
Social Triggers web site 
Real Artists Don’t Starve
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes

What have you learned about creating a Perennial Seller, and how will you apply that to your next creation? Let us know in the comments.

How to Be a Good Writer (If There Is Such a Thing)

Too many writers are caught up with insecure thoughts of whether or not they are any good. It’s crazy. We are quite the neurotic bunch, aren’t we? But what if all this self-doubt was actually self-destructive? What if there was no such thing as a “good writer”?

Most people’s definitions of “good writing” vary. What one reader loves, another one hates. For example, J.K. Rowling, one of the most popular and most successful writers alive today, is often criticized for her prose (too many adverbs, some say). Similarly, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was called a “dud” by many of his contemporaries.

And of course, this goes for just about any other so-called “great” writer. There are those that love these writers and those that don’t. And perhaps, that’s perfectly fine. Because maybe what it means to be good is really just our way of saying “I like this” or “I don’t like this.”

What if there was no such thing as “good writing”?

What might that change for your and me the next time we sit down to do our work?

I’ve been coaching and teaching writers for over a decade, and I can tell you with complete certainty that there is no universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes “good writing.” It’s a myth. There is no such thing. What we often think of as “good writing” is merely effectively communicating a clear message to a particular audience.

And the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can get on with our job, which is not to be good, but to be clear. Please, writers, let’s conclude this obsession with whether or not we are a good writer and instead start trying to be an effective writer.

Tips for being a good, I mean effective, writer

There are six things you can do to be a better (ahem, more effective) writer. The following is what I recommend (click the links to read articles on each subject):

Read. Good writers read. It’s that simple. Words are the lifeblood of great writing. There’s no way to get good without lots of valuable input.


Get an editor. A good writer recognizes he needs help. He can’t do this on his own (neither can you). You need to get someone to critique your writing, someone you trust. I suggest a peer editor for starters.


Capture ideas. A good writer is constantly gathering creative input. Ideas are the inspiration for artists and writers. You need to have a system for collecting them. A great tool to help you do this is Evernote.


Write every day. This cannot be overlooked. It’s essential. You can’t get good without practice. Even if only for a few minutes, you need to write every single day.


Rewrite. An essential part of writing is rewriting,

distilling the fluff down to some core content that will actually make a difference. This is hard, but important. Stephen King calls this “killing your darlings.” And for good reason. It ain’t pretty. But it’s necessary.


Get inspired. Hard to explain, but there’s a part of the writing process that is mysterious. You can’t take full responsibility for what you create. A good writer knows how to avail herself to the Muse. She knows inspiration is like breathing for the creative spirit.

Good writing resources

Speaking of reading, here are some books and resources that may help:

On Writing by Stephen King
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by Lynne Truss
The Writer’s Manifesto by Jeff Goins
Don’t Hit Publish (a free tool to help you decide when it’s time to publish a blog post)

The world needs better writers

But wait. Isn’t there such a thing as bad writing? Yes, we’ve all seen lazy, ineffective prose. So I’m not saying that you don’ have to try. The bottom line, though, is that if you’re constantly chasing good, you’re never going to feel good enough. What we need is for you, the writer, to be effective. To be clear. To connect. And when you do that, your writing will be just fine. I promise.

At a time when more people have something to say, and the Internet is everyone’s megaphone, sometimes the best voices don’t always get heard. There’s a lot of noise and little clarity right now. We need you to be effective more than ever, so I hope you’ll take the time to hone your voice, craft that message, and write with excellence.

Because this gift of writing we’ve received can be squandered. Your message can fall on deaf ears and be ineffective. And what a shame that would be.

What do you think it takes to be a good writer? Or is there even such a thing? Share in the comments.

 

From Hollywood to Business School to Best-Selling Author: Interview with Eric Barker

What does it take to succeed? Apparently, not what we think. Best-selling author Eric Barker had to learn this the hard way. From working as a screenwriter to creating video games to getting his MBA, Barker has an interesting career full of surprises all leading to an incredibly successful blog and accompanying book about the science of success.

 

Barker first started writing in high school, then moved on to writing, in his words, “bad poetry.” After graduating from college, he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a screenwriter for Disney and Fox for 10 years.

Feeling burned out from the experience, he took a break and got his MBA. During business school, he took a class on negotiation and was exposed to social science, which he found fascinating.

Upon graduating in 2008, during the heart of a recession, Eric couldn’t land a job so he started reading abstracts and papers. Wanting to share what he was learning, Eric started a blog a year later. He explored what social science confirmed and what it didn’t by posting his own abstracts and case studies.

Over time the blog evolved into pulling these findings together to see trends in the science, and then adding his own voice to the mix. As his audience swelled to over 300,000 subscribers, Eric soon knew it was time to publish a book. In 2015, he started working on Barking up the Wrong Tree, which uses science to dispel the myths attached to the old axioms of success.

On this episode of The Portfolio Life, Eric and I talk about how he deals with the academic community’s opinions of his work and how, as a self-proclaimed “off the charts” introvert, he handles the extroverted aspects of marketing this book. Finally, we wrap up with what he would do if he were starting out as a writer today.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below (If you’re reading this via email, please click here).

Show highlights

In this episode, Eric and I discuss:

What did he like and dislike about working in Hollywood?
How did he make the transition from fiction to non-fiction?
Why was reverse engineering a skill that helped him in his writing career?
What are the commonalities and the differences when writing for a blog, a book, and a screenplay?
Why did he stop writing for a few years?

“To give people something that can be entertaining and useful in their lives is very powerful.Eric BarkerTweet thisTweet 

Eric on the progression of his blog

How did he grow his audience to over 300k readers from 2009 to 2015?
What was the process of finding his voice?
What makes his subject matter so accessible to everyone?
How did his work at video game studios impact the blog?
Did he start his blog with any specific plans for it?

“The question is how can I be gritty at the things that matter in the long-term and quit the things that are not useful to me?Eric BarkerTweet thisTweet
On his book and the business myths it dispels

Why did he know it was the time to write Barking Up The Wrong Tree?
Are there structural similarities among the best written books?
How long did it take to write this, and how long did he procrastinate first?!
Is there one myth about success that is most critical to dispel?
Are introverts or extroverts more likely to become experts at their field?

Resources:

Eric Barker’s blog
Eric Barker on Twitter
Barking up the Wrong Tree , by Eric Barker
Eric on The Author Hour with Charlie Hoehn
Marginal Revolution web site
Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes

What have you learned from Eric that will help you grow your audience? Let us know in the comments.