Grain & Ink Radio

AI replaced Emily at her translation job. Instead of looking for another one, she went all in on her own brand design business.In this episode, I sit down with Emily, a brand identity and web designer for personal brands, originally from Estonia and now living in Mexico. I've been following her on Threads for a few years and watched her grow from a few hundred followers to over 2,000, so I had to have her on.

We talk about:

- How she went from translator to brand designer

- Her first client and figuring out what to charge- Branding vs marketing (and why they need each other)

- Why she chose to work with personal brands

- How she built a community and got clients from Threads

- What she'd tell her past self if she were starting over- Why your taste is what separates you from AI

When I asked her how she'd start a personal brand from scratch, she didn't give the usual advice. That part alone convinced me to finally build my website.

Connect with Emily:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/em.design._/Threads: https://www.threads.com/@em.design._Website: https://emilyruven.com

Connect with me:Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikegthecreativeThreads: https://www.threads.com/@mikegthecreativeWebsite: https://www.mikegthecreative.com

Learn how to tell better stories online sign up for my free 5 day challenge. After 5 days you'll have a story you can’t wait to post.

https://5daystorychallenge.carrd.co

CHAPTERs

0:00 Intro

1:16 Meet Emily

1:56 From Estonia to Mexico (learning Spanish from telenovelas)

5:56 How she went from translator to brand designer

10:06 How AI replaced her translation job

11:11 Her first client and figuring out what to charge

14:22 Pricing in Mexico vs the US and working with clients anywhere

16:48 Branding vs marketing

19:05 Branding vs marketing as a dating analogy

21:30 Why she chose personal brands over restaurants

24:01 Personal brands vs big company budgets

28:35 What came first: identity, strategy, or web design

30:15 Accidentally doing brand strategy for free

32:37 Advice to her past self

37:20 How to build a community (Threads and coffee chats)

40:24 Why behind the scenes content works (How It's Made)

41:34 Where to start if you're building a personal brand

46:51 Trust in a world where everyone's skeptical

48:15 Creatives, AI, and remixing ideas

53:48 Taste is what separates you from AI

54:38 Where to find Emily

55:18 Outro

A few weeks ago, my guest read an entire Substack article, loved it, and found out afterward the whole thing was AI written. Her reaction is where this episode starts.Today I'm talking with Fifa Tran, founder of FeiModern, a branding and web design studio for coaches and speakers. We get into how she actually writes online, why she left Instagram for LinkedIn, the AI detector that flagged her own fully human piece as AI, and the phrase we both think has become the new em dash.We also talk about the Lindy effect, why Socrates distrusted writing, whether AI is actually good or bad for creatives, and the line between sharing a real story and oversharing.If you want to actually start writing online instead of just thinking about it, I run a free 5 day writing challenge: https://5daystorychallenge.carrd.co/Find Fifa:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fifatranSubstack: https://substack.com/@fifatranFind me:MalikTells:Website: https://www.grainandinkco.comThreads: https://www.threads.com/@maliktells IG https://instagram.com/maliktellsChapters0:00 Intro1:16 Meet Fifa Tran2:28 How she got into web design4:44 Her favorite writing platform, and why9:10 The 30 day challenge that got her posting daily10:16 Perfectionist vs free writer12:04 Editing while writing, red squiggly lines16:20 Her actual AI writing workflow18:54 How AI made Malik want to write more20:08 The em dash confession22:31 Does Word shape how we write24:39 The new "em dash," AI phrasing tells28:03 The Substack AI detector story31:10 Are we the last generation that reads32:37 The Lindy effect35:46 The Socrates story40:19 Why AI isn't the real threat to creatives42:58 The 1,600 person AI vs human writing study47:20 Performative posts vs personal stories49:07 Oversharing vs vulnerability53:37 5 day writing challenge

What's the difference between a ghostwriter, a content writer, and a copywriter? Is there one? In this episode of Grain & Ink Radio, I sit down with RJ Reyes (@reyesrjt), a premium ghostwriter for service providers in the manufacturing industry, to find out.

RJ spent 18+ years as a mechanical engineering technologist before turning his writing habit into a ghostwriting business. We get into what ghostwriting actually looks like day to day, why he thinks the lines between ghostwriting, content writing, and copywriting are blurrier than people assume, and how AI has changed (and hasn't changed) what makes writing worth paying for. RJ also shares his take on why "work smarter, not harder" gets misapplied, and the one habit he recommends to anyone who wants to get serious about writing.

If you want a more guided way to start telling your own stories, the 5 Day Story Challenge walks you through it: https://5daystorychallenge.carrd.co

Links

Maliktells:

Substack

https://maliktells.substack.com/

IGhttps://www.instagram.com/maliktells

Tumblrhttps://grainandinkco.blog

Website

https://maliktells.com

RJ Reyes:

IG

https://www.instagram.com/reyesrjt

0:00 Cold open

1:36 Meet RJ Reyes, premium ghostwriter for manufacturing

2:09 What a ghostwriter actually does

4:28 RJ's 18 years in manufacturing

5:16 Finding your niche as a creative

7:45 The real ROI of hiring a ghostwriter

10:32 Can a business have a ghostwriter

11:19 Ghostwriter vs content writer

15:38 AI as the ultimate ghostwriter

17:08 Why RJ started ghostwriting

18:43 From MS Paint art to writing

20:09 Copywriting vs content writing

23:20 Does content writing still have value

26:06 Fast, cheap, or good

29:14 AI is a mirror

30:18 El flojo trabaja doble

31:12 How AI made Mike a better writer

33:06 The coffee analogy

35:13 The human vs AI writing study

37:13 It's only bad if it's not serving you

39:51 The coworker story

42:46 Done is better than perfect

44:35 The rule of thirds trap

47:25 Tips for aspiring writers

49:00 Book recommendations

51:26 Publish and stop overthinking

52:38 Wrap up

BAB - Before, After and Bridge.

In this episode I share a copywriting technique to tell a story and lead your audience to a page, video or thread.

Click the link to get the storytelling notion template where I teach you how to use the template but I also teaching you how I tell my stories.

https://bringmemykey.gumroad.com/l/storyfactory

If you're in San Antonio and seeing this before July 7th, sign up for an in person storytelling class!

https://sacreatives.squarespace.com/workshops/p/storytelling

Can someone become a marketer starting with content creation? Do you even need a marketing degree anymore?

Tara answers these questions and advises us to start marketing our personal brand to clients and/or customers.

Tommy has been a barber for over 20 years and in that time, he's opened and run barber shops and barber schools.

Tommy shares what he has learned in his 20 years of being in business.

Also, Tommy talks about how soft skills will make you more money than hard skills.

And we talk about what happens when you put people first and not you first.

Are modeling agencies still worth it? Should you join one when you're starting? Do you need one to be successful?

Janiece and I answer these questions and she gives advice for any new and experienced models and what to look for when choosing an agency.

In this live zoom call, Alicia is back! We talked about modeling tips for both photographers and models, how she transitioned from modeling to photography and how she got her YouTube channel started.

Tips and ideas from a professional makeup artist and how to apply this for both models and photographers.

I talk about basic social media techniques and tips on turning followers into clients.