Creativity Excitement Emotion

Commit, do the work, and everything will work out. We’ve all heard, and possibly even clung to, some iteration of this platitude. But is it true?

In this installment of Spark Infinity Office Hours, David reflects on the last 90 days of posting to Instagram, and the results he’s seen from his efforts. Later, David and Jody further unpack what they’ve been learning and discovering in growing a social media presence.

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Sponsors:

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The Renegade Musician: David’s magnum opus on building an independent music career is here!

Highlights:

00:17 – Introduction

00:55 – How it all began

01:32 – Content rollout

02:19 – How paid exposure was used

02:49 – Analyzing the stats

06:40 – David’s next steps

07:12 – Lessons and discoveries

10:25 – Pockets of genius

13:57 – Next steps

14:30 – Group discussion

Transcript:

David: Welcome to Spark Infinity Office Hours. It is October 17th, 2024. Today, I don't have a presentation for you so much as a 90-day review, and I am joined today by Jody.

How are you doing, bud?

Jody: Good.

David: Thanks for being here today.

Jody: 90 days. That's a lot of days. Staying consistent.

David: Staying consistent. Yeah.

That whole 90 day… like we started with Spark 90 and transitioned to Spark Infinity. So that's part of the significance there. I still came up with as catchy of a title as I could, which is can 90 posts change everything?

This is how it all began. I started posting again to Instagram daily on July 18th this year. I originally created my account on December 7th, 2012, just for reference, anyone who's wondering.

And when I started Spark Infinity a little over 90 days ago, I had fewer than 1000 followers. To be honest, it was probably something like 850. And I got a cold start, meaning I hadn't posted anything to Instagram since February.

There are different reasons for that. Clean slate happened in February. But the months following that were also, I was in a transition, figuring out what I was going to do for work and passion in life.

The content rollout looked out, looked something like this. I talked a little bit about this and I think the initial or maybe even the first ever Spark Infinity office hours. But the first push had nine posts.

Then the second had eight. The third had 10 posts. Fourth had 19 posts.

And then I finally found my rhythm with the fifth push, preparing 53 posts and then scheduling them out. So initially I really had no more than about a week's worth of posts, which meant I could spend one day creating stuff, scheduling it out, not have to do something for a week. Eventually I got to the point where I could, I was much further out, 20 days, 30 days.

And so in total, I published 99 posts, but Instagram counts your stories as well. So it turns out I published 210 posts, including stories. Paid exposure, paid promotion and shout outs were utilized during this process.

But to be specific, I'm only relying on one source of paid promo and only one shout out was purchased so far. I did purchase another one today. Paid exposure ended up generating the most followers and engagement of anything I did.

So compared to posting and sharing out my Instagram account on Spark Infinity calls or in the podcast and things like that, where I saw the most followers and engagement was with paid promotion. Probably the biggest thing you'll notice is that I'm up to 6,346 followers starting at under 850 and certainly under a thousand that may be noteworthy. The other thing that might stick out is the 4,000 accounts reached in the last 30 days.

But the really funny thing I noticed was I checked this on desktop, but on mobile, those stats look a little different. It looks more like 12,000 accounts reached in the last 30 days. So I don't know what the discrepancy is.

Okay, so you’ve decided that social media growth is for you. You’re committed to the process, and you’ve started putting effort into it.

But should you be doing social media at all?

It sounds like a dreadful existential question, but knowing why you shouldn’t be putting any time into it might just strengthen all the reasons why you decided to engage in the first place.

So, let’s delve into “7 reasons you shouldn’t ‘do’ social media.”

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

The Renegade Musician: David’s magnum opus on building an independent music career is here!

Highlights:

00:17 – Today’s topic

00:41 – Let’s avoid “purgatory infinity”

01:50 – It’s one more thing you have to get good at

05:06 – Social media is a horrible hobby

06:30 – Social media is addicting

08:57 – An open invitation to the comparison game

10:59 – Social media may not be the solution

15:13 – Social media sets false expectations

17:44 – There isn’t a guaranteed effort-to-reward ratio

19:28 – Closing thoughts

Transcript:

Welcome to Spark Infinity Office Hours. This is David Andrew Wiebe and it is October 10th, 2024. Today's presentation is seven reasons you shouldn't do social media.

Do is in quotes for a reason. I'm not going to explain that reason, but if you pay careful attention to this presentation to the very end, I think you'll figure out why I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble, the reason Spark Infinity and this team and this group exists because we have that common goal of wanting to grow on social media. So today I'm not going to be discussing reasons to quit.

That's not what this is about, but we need to remember that if you're going to say yes to something, you're saying no to other things as well. And being mindful of that choice and that trade off is really important in life. I also think it's a really good intellectual exercise to explore arguments against whatever your chosen path is, because it facilitates critical thinking and it helps you refine your beliefs.

Ultimately, I want everyone involved, including myself, the participants or the leaders in Spark Infinity, as well as the viewers to be in Spark Infinity mode, not Spark Purgatory mode or Purgatory Infinity, that sounds even worse. That's not what we want. We want to see and get results and to put effort into things that do get results.

So let's move into those reasons. Number one, it's one more thing you have to get good at. If you're already good at several things or a couple of things, or maybe just one thing, whether that's guitar or taking photos or programming, whatever it might be, if you're already good at one thing or a couple of things or three things, remember, if you want to get results with social media, that's one more thing you've got to add to the plate and actually get good at to get results.

Author and blogger Seth Godin was getting started as a blogger in the early days of the internet. If he had chosen to, he could have had first mover advantage on Twitter and he was considering it. He decided against it.

He saw it as one more thing he would have to get good at. Trying to get good at more things he felt would have diluted his focus. He opted to focus on his writing, thereby increasing his chances of becoming the best in writing, or at least in his category.

The term best might be subjective here, but I think Seth Godin's influence speaks for himself. For a long time, if you put the term Seth into Google, he was the first result that showed up. May not be anymore, but he's definitely in the top 10 results still.

And he's probably one of the people that has influenced more thought leaders on the internet than anyone else. Ironically, it's interesting. I don't know why no one seems to want to point this out, but Seth is on Twitter slash X.

Life is going to unfold exactly as it’s going to unfold, regardless of the force you attempt to exert over it. Isn’t it…?

What if reality wasn’t so “set in stone?” What if your imagined realities were actually real? What if there was a way to transition to a path other than the one you’re already on?

The Spark Infinity crew gathered again for David’s “Parallel Universes of the Artistpreneur,” a presentation dedicated to surfing between parallel universes.

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

The Renegade Musician: David’s magnum opus on building an independent music career is here!

Highlights:

00:17 – Welcome to the show

01:33 – Introduction to Parallel Universes of the Artistpreneur

02:08 – Why this topic?

02:58 – “Paying your dues”

03:37 – Life is a stream

04:52 – How to become a reality surfer

06:59 – Your imagination is your reality

08:05 – Time is just a concept

08:49 – Why you shouldn’t attempt to manifest multiple realities simultaneously

09:16 – Change your perspective/shift your attention

11:09 – What does it feel like to make an identity shift?

11:59 – Next steps

12:23 – Group discussion

Transcript:

David: All right, welcome to Spark Infinity. It is October 3rd, 2024, and we have Jody on the call. How you doing, Jody?

Jody: Good.

David: We also have Susanna on the call. She's brand new to Spark Infinity. Why don't you introduce yourself, Susanna?

Suzanna: Thanks, Dave.

So hello, everyone. I'm Suzanna, and I'm just a fellow artist as well. Yeah, art and design, in terms of graphic arts, I do acrylic. I also do digital art and also have my own business as well. And I’m also employed. So that's a little bit about me, and I love unique stuff and technology and yeah, there's so many things that I like. You can go on and on and on. So that's a little bit about me.

David: Great. What are you looking to accomplish on social media?

Suzanna: I look to accomplish actually creating, you know, like events for people and have them being connected with art and also with technology and create course content. And yeah, and to be better with regards to how I present myself.

So looking forward to creating these videos with you and the journey that we are going to go on.

David: It's going to be a lot of fun. And I would say that is a worthy and noble pursuit, Susanna. So, thank you for sharing.

Suzanna: Yeah. Thank you.

Parallel Universes of the Artistpreneur

David: Today's presentation is the Parallel Universes of the Artistpreneur. I actually had AI generate this image. I'm kind of impressed. “Artist surfing between highways awkwardly with the guitar around his shoulders.”

This presentation is loosely based on the book by Frederick Dodson, Parallel Universes of Self. It's not a complete copy. It's a very big book. I use different terms. I have different discoveries than he does.

It's not for everyone, this book. But if you want to explore this concept in greater detail, then I recommend the read. If this resonates with you, and if this is interesting to you, that is where to go.

Why Does This Topic Matter?

Okay, so why are we going to talk about Parallel Universes of the Artistpreneur? I've really noticed that a lot of artistpreneurs take dramatically different actions based on how they're feeling in the moment, based on their confidence, based on their belief level.

So, if they're not feeling great that day, they might be less inclined to post to social media, for an example, or they might be less inclined to reach out to a potential contact.

But if they’ve got confidence and belief in what they're doing, and then they're in the momentum of it, they tend to make more contacts, they tend to post more to social media, they send more email campaigns. They try more things, because they're more excited,

Why bother with social media? Is it even worth doing? And if you are going to do it anyway, wouldn’t you rather get results than not?

In this installation of Spark Infinity Office Hours, David illuminates how social media can bring real business value to an individual, creator, entrepreneur, or business.

Later, Jody and Karlo join the discussion to share what they’re getting from David’s presentation.

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

Highlights:

00:17 – Why you shouldn’t get caught up in vanity metrics

01:06 – The importance of building connections

01:50 – The cruciality of growing your subscriber list

02:53 – Sales are highly valuable and desirable

03:39 – If you do this right, opportunities will come to you

04:34 – Mindset landmines you must circumvent and avoid

08:05 – Group discussion

Transcript:

David: Alright, welcome to Spark Infinity Office Hours. It is September 26th, 2024. Today's topic is what's the point of social media? Why do we do it?

Why Vanity Metrics Don’t Matter

If you are a creative or business oriented individual, you're not doing social media for the vanity metrics. That's things like likes and shares and comments and even follows.

They might make you feel good. They might stroke your ego. They might offer validation.

No judgment here. It feels good to feel good, but those don't have any inherent business value.

There are two examples of people I know who are killing it without a major following. You can look them up yourself, James Schramko being one, Gary Spivey being another. They may not have massive followings, but in the background, they've got multimillion dollar businesses.

Okay, so what has business value on social media?

Connections – Your Net Worth is in Your Network

Number one is connections. If you really stop to think about it, most opportunities you've gotten to this point, including jobs, gigs, partnerships, any other opportunity you can think of, it's not because of your talent, skills, or experience, which can be helpful, but it's because of who you know. Your talents, skills, experience are valuable, but they're secondary to relationship.

I can think back on gigs that I got paid $800 for as a guest guitarist. It's not because of my skills. There were other people that could have filled those shoes, it's because of who I knew.

And social media is a great way to build new connections. We're not covering how to do that here. That could be a whole can of worms unto itself, but it is valuable.

And out of everything we'll be talking about today, connections is probably the easiest thing to build. That's of value.

Subscribers – an Asset You Own

Number two is subscribers.

And in this case, we're not talking about YouTube subscribers, although that can be valuable because if you reach certain metrics, you can monetize your channel. I'm pretty sure TikTok works the same way.

But we're talking about building your list, your email subscribers, preferably, but it could also be a text or SMS text message list that you're building.

Unfortunately, you can lose followers for a variety of reasons. It could be because people don't like you, which has happened. It could be because you're shadow banned or demonetized or your account's been deleted. You don't get to keep the followers you have on social media unless you turn them into subscribers.

Your number one goal on social media, hopefully, is to turn people into subscribers. And then you can grow the relationship with those subscribers to the point where customers are sharing their mailing addresses with you.

This is kind of advanced, but if you can send them stuff, direct mail, thank you notes, birthday cards, maybe even the occasional book, you're going to build a better relationship with that customer.

With massively exaggerated rumors of Elon Musk running Twitter (X) into the ground, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t resist the allure of launching a new platform to rival and quickly eclipse the “waning” X.

So far, things haven’t exactly gone that way, but because Threads was integrated with Instagram, it initially got more traction than even ChatGPT.

A little over a year has passed, and the dust has settled. Threads is alive and well (and so is X, which still boasts more features than Threads). So, should you consider adding Threads to your marketing mix if you haven't already?

Join David and Karlo as they explore Meta’s daring venture into microblogging.

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

Highlights:

00:17 – Introduction

01:58 – What is Threads?

02:51 – Why was Threads created?

05:53 – Should you be excited about Threads?

06:47 – Key stats and fun facts

07:57 – Is it worth adding Threads to your marketing mix?

09:08 – Group discussion

Transcript:

David: Welcome to Spark Infinity Office Hours. Today's date is September 19th, 2024. I'm David Andrew Wiebe, and I am joined today by one of our members, Karlo. How are you doing, Karlo?

Karlo: I'm doing well, thank you. How are you doing?

David: I'm always good, man.

Karlo: Great.

David: What have you been up to lately? Anything cool with social media?

Karlo: Promoting my Tarot Power Reading Bundle on my Reiki and Tarot page on Facebook and also on my website and Instagram afterward.

David: Oh, awesome. Why don't you do a quick briefing for us so our audience can learn more about what it is that you're offering in that bundle?

Karlo: Well, let's see. It is an hour-and-a-half session consisting of a Tarot session at the beginning, and then the other half of the session is a Reiki session to clear any blockages and rebalance the aura. And right now it's at a 30% discount from $170 to $119. Book before the end of September 22nd and get a free half-hour meditation/relaxation music track.

David: That sounds incredible. Wow.

Karlo: Yeah.

David: Okay. If you've got a custom link or anything you want to share, maybe bring that next time and we can plug that too.

Karlo: They can go to KarloKeet.com and there's a really big green button that says book now.

David: KarloKeet.com. Awesome.

Karlo: Yep.

David: Okay. Everyone go and check that out for sure.

I'm working on the Digital NO-Mad plus six bonuses bundle. That's almost ready to go, but I can't announce that just yet. I can talk about it, but that'll be available real soon. And just to give a sneak preview, you're getting seven resources for 10 bucks, which could potentially save you thousands of dollars in all kinds of travel catastrophes. So, grab it if you're creating your freedom lifestyle, that would be my advice.

What is Threads?

Today's topic is an introduction to Threads. And the first thing we need to look at is “What is this thing?” I always find it valuable to understand a social network before diving in and trying to do something with it, knowing where it's been, but perhaps most importantly, knowing where it's now going can help you align with that stream and get better results with that social network.

Threads is an Instagram social media app where you can participate in public conversations. You can post threads, reply to others, repost threads, and follow other personalities. This is how Instagram or Wikipedia likes to term it, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a Twitter copy or it's a direct competitor to X, but we'll get to that.

Threads was launched on July 5th, 2023, so it's been out a little over a year.

Why was Threads Created?

Why was Threads created? Instagram created Threads to bring the same social media experience – in other words,

Summary: Dr. Joseph Murphy is an expert on the topic of the subconscious mind. In this podcast episode, I explore what several valuable ideas I took away from reading his book, Believe in Yourself.

Believe in Yourself is a shorter volume containing great wisdom. Dr. Joseph Murphy, one of the foremost experts on the New Thought movement and accessing your subconscious mind succinctly explains how to achieve spiritual health and external success.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I look at one of Murphy's great works.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Believe in Yourself vs. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

00:40 – Feeling is the fountainhead of power

01:31 – Imagination controls the conceptive realm

02:37 – Your concept of God determines your attitude towards life

03:47 – If you are in rapport with your subconscious mind, you unlock your genius zone

04:22 – What your subconscious mind accepts is reality in the outer world

05:24 – You are the master of the circumstances you find yourself in

06:26 – Concluding thoughts

Transcription:

Compared to The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Believe in Yourself by Joseph Murphy is one of his shorter works.

But every sentence in Joseph Murphy's book contains valuable insights into spirituality and personal success. I have read this book from start to finish twice, and each time I've gotten something new from it. Readers should come away with fresh insights on every read as well.

There is no way for me to summarize the entirety of the wisdom contained within, but I did want to share with you what I learned from this book.

1. Feeling Is The Fountainhead Of Power (or Universal Power), According to Joseph Murphy

When personal development authors talk about goal-setting and visualization, they often add the phrase, “Add emotion to it!”

I think Murphy is essentially saying the same thing here. He's pointing out that feelings and emotions have power, and that we can learn to channel them into achieving and obtaining our desires. Mastering this ability is an important thing!

If you're setting goals that don't motivate you, you'll find it challenging to add feeling to them. But if you become obsessed with bringing about a result, you'll naturally take actions and move in the direction of your wishes and longings. Fear will reduce with each action you take, taking you closer to your dream.

You must become aware of what your true desires are. The only way to make that happen is to build rapport with your subconscious mind (also see point #4 on this list).

2. Imagination Controls The Whole Conceptive Realm

Life in the digital age is frantic. Few people take time to think, reflect, and ask questions.

“Visualization? I have no time for that!”

But you must make time for it, because most people don't. They aren't thinking about the desired result, the end goal, what their hearts yearn for. Many have forgotten the power of imagining. This is one of the reasons they struggle to create the desired conditions of life, whether money, body, love, or otherwise.

Disney came to be because it was first conceived in the mind of Walt Disney. There are endless examples of technological breakthroughs, attractions, movies, books, and other works that would not exist if they weren't first conceived in someone's mind.

If you want to control the conceptive realm, start imagining once again. If you don't know where to start, daydream. Remember what it was like to be a child sitting in a classroom thinking about what else you wanted to be doing, or what you were going to do when you got home.

3. Your Concept Of God Determines Your Attitude Towards Life

Maveen Kaura and I spent an entire episode of Using Your Power discussing this concept. As of this writing, the episode has yet to be released, but it will be out soon.

“But I don't believe in God,” you might say.

Most of us have been brought up to be modest, but… Does that help us in our careers, enterprises, and relationships?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares an important truth he’s realized about self-promotion and self-aggrandizement.

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

Highlights:

00:17 – What’s new in David’s world?

01:51 – Save yourself from years and even decades of heartache, frustration, and disappointment

Transcript:

Hey, it's David. I hope you've been enjoying these little catch-ups at the beginning of each episode. I don't have to do this. If it's unnecessary padding and you don't want to listen, then I'm happy to cut them out. You're welcome to let me know at any point. I just thought it might be a fun way to catch up on what's going on.

And honestly, there is quite a bit going on in my world. I put together a new track that I submitted to a YouTube channel, and I'm pretty sure you're going to be hearing more about this, even in the Spark Infinity stuff that I've been up to lately.

And if you aren't subscribed to my YouTube channel, why is that? It's called David Andrew Wiebe: Creative Expansion, and each week we cover social media growth.

I've been growing by leaps and bounds since the beginning. So, I don't know. I guess maybe you just don't care about your growth if you're not subscribed. But if I were you, I would head on over there and subscribe right away.

Anyway, I've submitted this track to a YouTube channel, and they've said they're going to play it on a live stream, which is very exciting. It's not a huge channel, but it's a step or two ahead of where I am right now. And honestly, they have good engagement. So, this is something that could turn into a heck of a lot more. And I'm really excited for it.

Today's episode is a real quick, real short one, but I hope you enjoy it. It is a valuable insight. This is something, weirdly enough, that came to me while I was doing my laundry.

But either way, some valuable life experience coming through here.

You Must Become a Ruthless Self-Promoter

For those of you with ears to hear, I'm going to share something that's going to save you years, decades, and possibly even a lifetime of heartache and frustration. And that is this:

As you're growing up, you're probably going to be told to hold back, be modest. Don't talk about yourself. Let others do the talking for you. Let others brag for you.

A version of that, which existed in my youthhood was people saw the potential I had as a guitar player. My style, my approach, it was kind of different than what was out there in church, especially in conservative church contexts.

The whole thing about guitar playing in church is you aren’t supposed be flashy, you shouldn't be soloing, you shouldn't be showing off. You should just play little plinky chords in the background that barely anyone can hear or notice. You're somehow taking away from the “spirit of worship” if you're not holding back and playing simply.

And it's all wrong. It's all complete B.S. If you want people to notice you, if you want that promotion, if you want to get that date, if you want to grow your business and build the right connections to make that happen, you must talk about yourself. Share what you've accomplished and the value you bring to the table.

You don't have to brag, although it will probably come across as bragging much of the time because that simply cannot be helped.

Be a self-promoter, be a self-aggrandizer. You must be.

It may be uncomfortable for you, just like it was for me. You may not like talking about yourself and you may have trouble breaking free from all this programming that has come from society and culture and media and religion and parents and coaching and pastors and on and on and so on and so forth.

Do you ever feel stuck with social media growth? Do you feel like you’re running behind the times? Or do you struggle to get it all done?

In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David reveals a new approach to social media growth that can be readily applied to any independent career or entrepreneurial endeavor. Let’s dive in!

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

Highlights:

00:17 – Opening thoughts

04:55 – Today’s presentation

05:05 – Why fine-tuning and micro-adjustments?

09:33 – Benefits of this approach

27:29 – Potential pitfalls to this approach

31:38 – Adjusting to data

33:46 – Conversation with an aspiring entrepreneur

37:24 – Attending the sold-out Living Colour and Extreme concert

39:30 – Adjusting your attitude

40:17 – The results so far

42:11 – Closing thoughts

Summary:

New times call for new approaches! In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares what he has termed a “fine-tuning and micro-adjustments” approach. His methodology will help boost your productivity while improving outcomes.

Introduction

David briefly discusses AI and how many people fear the rapid changes and their potential consequences. David intends to create the Contrarian’s Guide to AI to help people understand why it may not be all it’s been cracked up to be.

Why Fine-tuning and Micro-adjustments?

David shares the story of how his invoicing system wasn’t working for him anymore, mainly because it wasn’t letting him accept payments in USD.

(Free solutions can have their limitations…)

Since there was a client who wanted to pay him pronto, David quickly replaced his invoicing system one night and got paid for the outstanding balance almost immediately.

David began to see how a simple adjustment reduced friction and improved efficiency. He started to see how this approach could apply to social media, entrepreneurship, and beyond.

Benefits of Fine-tuning and Micro-adjusting

Reduces the stress of having to make huge changes now. Adapting to present realities is a never-ending battle for independents and entrepreneurs. But if you make it a point to fine-tune as you go instead of waiting for the inevitable, it reduces the overwhelm of being forced to make major changes later.

Makes a big difference long term. Constant course correction ensures that you’re moving smoothly toward your goals instead of veering off track and taking long detours you may not recover from.

Creates greater awareness of opportunity. An important aspect of fine-tuning and micro-adjusting is input. To be able to make the changes you need to make today, you must be informed about the changes that are coming. When you stay abreast of changes in the world, you also become aware of more opportunities.

Helps you avoid the “insanity cycle.” If you are constantly fine-tuning and micro-adjusting, then naturally you aren’t stuck doing things the same way expecting different results.

You can adjust to real-time information and circumstances. Big companies can’t be as agile as the independent or entrepreneur because there’s often an approval process for everything, and the simple act of swapping out one tool for another can result in pushback from employees, the need for additional training, the creation of new procedures, and more. Fine-tuning and micro-adjusting is an agile approach, allowing for gradual change that reduces overwhelm.

Implementation of better solutions leads to better results. Is that social media scheduler slowing you down? Is it lacking the features you need to be fully unleashed in your creativity? Then swap it out for another tool that gives you what you need. This will lead to better results!

Gain knowledge and skills. If you’re stuck, take a course! Not all input will prove useful, but the more aware you are of your surroundings,

It’s time to get caught up! After a prolonged absence, David finally returns to share some important news about the podcast… along with some juicy details about what he’s been up to on social media.

Creativity Excitement Emotion is back! Celebrate good times, come on! 🎉

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Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

Highlights:

00:17 – Getting caught up with David

05:50 – How we got here

11:17 – What Spark Infinity is about

14:42 – What David has done so far

21:43 – Mistakes and lessons

22:49 – What David has accomplished so far

25:21 – Closing thoughts

Summary:

We hope you’re ready for some amazing content on social media growth, because that’s what we have to look forward to in future episodes of Creativity Excitement Emotion!

Getting Caught Up

David acknowledges that listeners may have been expecting a new Creativity Excitement Emotion episode as early as September, right around the time the website (you’re looking at it!) got a bit of an overhaul. The stars didn’t quite align for there to be a new episode on September 1, but a new episode for the first week of October isn’t so bad, right? Right?!

David got a bit of feedback on the show so far, which seemed to indicate that it's been a bit whiney…? 😅 David’s intention was to practice sharing his stories, but admittedly he was kind of going through a rough time when many of the ideas were originally captured.

What do you think? Send us a note of feedback.

Before diving into the meat of the episode, David shares that while there will still be an array of content, including solo episodes and interviews, he intends to share the Spark Infinity Office Hours on the show as well (including this episode). Hopefully that’s cool with you, but you’ve got our contact information… feel free to chime in with your two cents.

Background and Inspiration

First, a note about how we got here!

The Spark Infinity team evolved from the Clean Slate event, which was created and hosted by David, Jody, and Karlo in February

Inspired by a Peng Joon presentation on creating 120 pieces of content (three month’s worth) in a few days, the team decided to create the Spark 120 challenge

The team transitioned from Spark 120 to Spark 90, making the goal of the challenge to create 90 videos in four weeks

David was successful in capturing over 90 videos, though he couldn’t edit them in time for the deadline

The team took a break during the summer, when the project was renamed Spark Infinity to reflect the notion that the content monster is insatiable and will always want more to content to consume!

Core Values and Principles

Growth: Focused on increasing engagement, following, subscribers, and ultimately sales

Doing what works: Emphasizing strategies and tactics that yield results

Moving fast: Speed of action over perfection, embracing some messiness (especially since social media tends to be a very messy place!)

The Spark Infinity Journey

Creating a dedicated folder for Spark Infinity: With a focus on sustainability and consistency, David began creating, and loading up the folder, with simple content.

Content creation and publishing:

First Push: Set the foundation with simple posts and captions

Second, Third, and Fourth Push: Gradually iterating and refining content, incorporating videos as well as call to actions

Fifth Push: Incorporating AI in caption assistance, experimentation with promotion services

Results and Reflection

Engagement and growth: Notable increase in followers and engagement

Learning from mistakes: Accepting imperfections and adjusting

Future directions: Focus on engagement growth and ultimately, sales

Conclusion

Share your feedback and suggestions for future content! What would you like to see? Group discussions, status updates, interviews,

Who is David Andrew Wiebe? Where did he grow up? What pivotal life events shaped his views on life? What does he believe about the Universe?

This episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion features a conversation between WeMaple’s Matt Keay and David.

Download the PDF Transcript

Sponsors:

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Highlights:

00:17 – David Andrew Wiebe on WeMaple

00:56 – What is The Indie YYC?

02:03 – Clean Slate

06:30 – What David’s guitar teacher told him

08:59 – How David bet on himself

12:55 – What role does formal education play in a creative’s life?

16:38 – How does more views or more subscribers affect our perceptions of a creator?

19:30 – Growing up in Japan and the moment that changed everything

23:23 – How David has applied personal development to his career

26:44 – David’s (controversial) thoughts on masculinity and men in culture

34:36 – Life expectancy – are we really living longer?

38:35 – Is David a flat earther?

41:05 – Reality is malleable

43:54 – How can you be positive while encountering negative circumstances?

46:56 – The hotbox incident

47:33 – When David got the cops called on him

48:18 – Three roommates and the sale of David’s home

49:08 – Three months of WTF

50:48 – David’s advice on writing and publishing books

52:18 – Closing thoughts

Summary:

Award-winning composer, best-selling author, and professional podcaster David Andrew Wiebe was recently a guest on WeMaple, hosted by Business On Camera’s Matt Keay. The conversation touches on everything from events and music to conspiracy theories and bizarre life events.

What is The Indie YYC?

Noticing David’s T-shirt, Matt asks what The Indie YYC is. David shares that The Indie YYC community was created by him and Frederick Tamagi.

Pre-pandemic, the community focused on three unique live events, including The New Beat (a fusion of poetry and live music), Storytellers (bringing together songwriters, poets, and authors), and Avant Guardians (featuring avant-garde and alternative musicians).

During the pandemic, as well as after, the community focused on growing mostly through user submitted content on Facebook.

Clean Slate

On February 16, 2024, David hosted a live music and multimedia event in Victoria, BC called Clean Slate. Matt asks how the event came about, and David shares that the idea came to him while reading Frederick Dodson’s Parallel Universes of Self.

David initially envisioned an event where he could bring people together to celebrate the launch of new music, a new book, new comedic video content, and more.

The initial phases of planning went swimmingly. Then, things started going awry in September 2023. David could not secure the featured artist he’d hoped to, and despite booking local artists for the event, it failed to gain local support. Most people in attendance were there because David had invited them.

Matt asks David whether he sees the experience as a stepping stone or opportunity to try his hand at another event.

David shares that while he sees the possibility of hosting low-cost, low-key events in the immediate future, he can’t see himself attempting something like Clean Slate again unless there’s a rabid demand for it.

What David’s Guitar Teacher Told Him

There is something David’s guitar teacher told him that has stuck with him until present day. Matt asks David what that was.

David shares that his guitar teacher told him that he’d surpassed him within one lesson.

I’ve been playing guitar for 13 years. Imagine what you’ll be able to accomplish in 13 years.

Matt asks David what kind of impact that statement had on him. David shares that it gave him the motivation he needed to keep practicing. From his teacher, he also learned not to dismiss people who offer him praise.

If people say good things about you,