Jeff Goins's Blog, page 8

Learning to Be Your Own Best Friend: Interview with Matt Kepnes

I've often wondered what would it be like to be a nomad and travel the world. I did this for a brief time in my early 20s and then stopped, and recently I've been falling back in love with travel. I’ve bumped into some really interesting people who have traveled the world. I've learned that travel is not so much about the places you go or the people you meet, but instead, it's about the person you become.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Yourself

"Just be yourself" is probably the worst advice we could ever receive or give. Few of us actually know who we really are. And yet, if we can acquire this art of self-awareness, everything changes.

How to End Things Well: A Lesson on Pruning Your Life & Work

Recently while speaking onstage, I heard myself say something I didn’t plan on saying. I didn’t rehearse it. I didn’t have it in my notes. It just came out. The line was: “Sometimes, the good has to end before the better can begin.”

Don’t Build an Empire, Find a Few Friends Who Care

The best marketing you can do for your work is not to build an empire, but to find a few friends who care. We all want to reach the masses and see our work get into the mainstream. We want to have an “impact.” But the only way to reach the many is to first reach the few.

This is all marketing is: Finding a handful of misfits who appreciate your work before anyone else does, then giving those people the tools to help spread the message. The way we get a Harry Potter, Apple Computer, or Amanda Palmer is not by trying to reach everyone all at once. Quite the opposite in fact.

Making Sense of Email Marketing (for Creative People)

Whether you want to write books, make art, or share your music with the world, having an email list of fans is a must. Email is the most effective way to communicate with your people.

5 Ways to Build an Email List

It's one thing to understand the importance of email marketing and quite another to actually build an email list that allows you to reach a large audience.

How to Write and Send Better Emails

Some fads have come and gone and come back again. And some have stayed gone. But do you know what has always remained? Email.

Why You Need an Email List Now

You need an email list. It's just that simple. If you want to write a book that sells thousands of copies or more, you need people paying attention to your work. If you want your message to spread, you need people's permission to communicate with them. And if you want your words to change something, then you need an audience.

How to Travel the World and Write About It: Lex Latkovski

Is it possible to live a life on your own terms? Can you do what you want even when it defies the expectations of others? Is the way you’re living right now a story that others would want to tell? And how do you do all this with bills to pay and responsibilities to manage?

Your Best Creative Tool (Is You) with Paul Jarvis

One question I keep hearing is: What’s your favorite writing tool? It’s always good to ask what’s working for someone, but this question represents a popular misconception about creative work.