Daily Content Machine

When you have a supportive family, it’s hard to imagine things any other way. If your family supports you in what you do, consider yourself blessed. I know I do.

I get a lot of emails from people asking how to pursue their passion or do the things they love to do when their family or parents don’t believe in them. They say they’re not “rational” or they’re being unwise simply because they’re not choosing the common path of the 9-to-5.

On the surface, it’s heartbreaking. You’d think your family would be the most supportive of everyone! While initially it seems disconcerting, we dig into the deeper meanings of why they might be offering contrary advice (hint: it often stems out of caring).

Regardless, sometimes you need to just say, “You know what? Screw being rational!” Rational is what is proven. Rational is mediocrity. If you want to be average, be rational. I’m not satisfied with rational and I don’t think you are either.

In this episode, we talk about taking risks. We talk about the facade of safety and how tenacity is the only kind of job security you’ll ever have. If you’re struggling with people believing in you and you’re feeling the pull to follow the status quo and you’re wanting to break free: this is for you.

The dying never wish they lived for more tomorrows. They never wish they obsessed more over unimportant things or cared more about what other people thought of them.

Eventually you run out of tomorrows to live for and that’s when you realize all you had was now.

Eventually you spend all of your time catering to other people’s fleeting thoughts about you, only to realize you never actually thought about what you wanted to be.

Are you living for the next thing?

Is debt ever a good idea? What about credit cards if you pay them off quickly? Should you save for retirement? What's the difference between saving for retirement and investing? How do you differentiate between personal spending and business spending?

Ben and I share our thoughts on these and other questions and I talk about whether $4 coffees or a Netflix subscriptions are a bad thing when it comes to keeping expenses down.

Tenacity. Are you born with it? If you don’t have it, is it a learnable skill?

Could you handle 800 rejections in a row? What if they all took place in the same year?

I think a lot of people are living vicariously. They consume so much of what others in the entrepreneurial space are producing that they trick themselves into thinking they’ve done anything at all—that they’ve actually tried and failed.

I think a lot of people fail once and they call it quits. Forget 800 times, they throw in the towel at the first resistance. They take it as a “sign” that it “wasn’t meant to be.”

We talk about whether passion only comes from things that work, the hand-written letter that changed the life of one artist who makes a comic strip you know and love, and why you should keep showing up even if no one is listening.

I was sitting at the bar right behind the espresso machines while they were making the coffee. They were announcing the other drinks and I wasn't really paying too much attention…

How can you amplify your message in a way that sounds enthusiastic rather than angry?

Most people think of speaking as talking. But according to vocal master Roger Love who has coached stars from John Mayor to Kiera Knightly and the entire cast of Glee, we should really think of it more as singing.

Your speaking has an inherent melody to it. If you’re not conscious of this when you’re speaking, you will have a very flat melody. Just like in music, you need an audibly intriguing melody to not only bring people in, but also to keep their interest.

In this mini sabbatical episode, I share notes I took from Roger’s advice broken down into 3 sections for improvement: Melody, Volume, and Continuity.

You’ll learn to be aware of the “squeaky hinge” you didn’t know you had, the power of intentional silence, and where to begin improving your voice if you’re just getting started with speaking or podcasting.

Kevin writes in to inquire about the deeper motivations for doing what you do beyond just monetary. He asked me to share stories and anecdotes from people who have been impacted by my work and efforts.

This led to a discussion on intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. If we're only motivated by external validation, what happens when there are no accolades for fuel?

On a whim, Ben conjures a beautiful analogy featuring an iceberg and a buoy that really ties everything together. This is definitely an inspirational episodes that will not only motivate you but get you thinking on deeper issues of purpose.

As a content creator, you simultaneously face two challenges: providing relevant content for your existing audience and coming up with something intriguing enough to also attract new people.

There's a tricky balance between delivering the depth your long-time followers crave while creating entrance points and handles for first-timers to grab onto.

As if this wasn't challenging enough, you then end up dealing with yet another party: the hecklers (aka the "Trolls"). These people aren't within your existing audience, but can be easily mistaken for people in your potential audience.

How do you recognize the person who is never going to be in your audience? How do you avoid catering to their criticisms out of hope that they turn into a loyal fan when really they were never interested in anything other than heckling?

We talk about finding your message, going deep with the audience you have, growing your audience, and navigating the confusing nuances between legitimate criticism and full-on trolling.

Look, I get it. You’ve worked hard to build up your expertise. You’ve put a lot of effort into making your product. You know it’s good! You know you can help people! Can’t they just pay and see for themselves? Must you really go through the awkwardness of selling? It seems so... dirty.

The trouble is, you do have to sell. It’s a noisy world and selling is the cost of entry if you want to do business. You have to promote. You have to market. But you can do it in a way that doesn’t make you feel gross.

In this episode, I tell you how to market your products and services without feeling like a slimy salesman. You’ll hear a trick for how to market every day without feeling like you’re selling every day.

I give you a way to keep from feeling spammy when you promote, two ways to prevent over-spamming (and how I plan to do the second one), as well as the reason I only ever make a single promotional post on social media for any one given thing.

Lastly, we talk about why you feel bad selling, I share my “don’t be afraid to sell” email, and explain why it’s not self-promotion unless you’re selfish.

What’s in a name? Well when it comes to your business, a whole lot!

It may seem inconsequential, but your name bears with it a lot of implications. A personal name implies personal involvement. The nice thing is you have a great deal of flexibility, but it requires long-term participation. A business name may have less flexibility, but it can get you traction sooner and is much easier to sell later on if that’s what you’re planning.

Which is better? Which should you start with for your first business? What about your second business? Third?

I break this into two parts:

Part 1: Should I brand myself with my name or as a business?

Part 2: Should new projects be under a separate brand name?

I talk about transparency, your brand umbrella, and why you need to know your long term plan to make effective brand decisions right now.