Mike Murphy Unplugged

Mike Murphy Unplugged

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Mike Murphy Unplugged episodes

  • The Pixels 101 Show

    Episode Summary: A fundamentals episode on pixels, resolution, and aspect ratio — the building blocks for correctly sizing and preparing photos and videos for the web.

    What You'll Learn

    • What pixels actually are, and why smaller/tighter pixels mean higher quality
    • The difference between resolution/PPI for photos and resolution terms for video
    • What 720p, 1080p, and 4K actually mean in pixel dimensions
    • What aspect ratio is and the most common ratios used in online video

    Understanding how photos and videos get prepared for online content makes it a lot easier to focus on the actual creating.

    Pixels

    Digital photos and videos are made up of individual pixel units. When an image looks clean and sharp, the pixels are invisible; when it looks blurry or blocky, it's "pixelated" — the pixels themselves are visible. The "p" in 1080p and the "px" in 1920px × 1080px both refer to pixels. Smaller, more tightly packed pixels mean higher quality — and a larger file size. Tip: it's always better to size an image down than to try enlarging a small one.

    Resolution and PPI

    "High-res" and "low-res" describe resolution — the density of pixels packed into an image. Those terms don't apply to video; video uses standard-def, high-def, or 4K instead.

    • High res usually means print-ready, sized at real print dimensions — e.g., 5×7 inches at 300 PPI (pixels per inch).
    • Low res is best for web and screens, typically 72–96 PPI. With Retina and 4K+ displays, some now recommend going as high as 150 PPI.
    • PPI = pixels per inch. DPI = dots per inch (a printing term).

    Pro tip: export at the lowest file size that still looks good, and nudge quality up only when it visibly degrades. Big, high-res images may look great, but they slow page load and frustrate visitors — trial and error settles the right balance over time. For web images in Adobe Lightroom, setting the "Long Edge" to 2048px at quality 80 is a solid starting point.

    Relation to podcasting: episodes don't get exported at maximum quality either — the file size would balloon and take longer to download and more space on a phone, so the same balance applies to audio.

    Video: Aspect Ratio

    Aspect ratio is simply the relationship between a video or photo's width and height — proportions, not size. The most common online video ratio is 16:9 (width:height) — the standard for horizontal YouTube video and most iPhone recordings, often called 1080p or HD.

    The one number worth memorizing: 1920×1080 pixels at a 16:9 aspect ratio covers roughly 90% of video production needs. Video thumbnails follow the same 1920×1080 template at 72 DPI.

    • HD video (most common): 1080p — 1920×1080px, 16:9
    • Standard HD (older): 720p — 1280×720px, 16:9
    • Vertical video: 1080×1920px, 9:16
    • Square video: 1920×1920px, 1:1

    Aspect ratio calculators are genuin…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    18 min
  • The Simplify Show

    Episode Summary: 12 concrete steps to simplify personal, digital, and business life — reducing stress, sharpening focus, and clearing the clutter that gets in the way of actually creating.

    What You'll Learn

    • 12 concrete steps to simplify digital, business, and personal life
    • Why buying gear before building momentum is a common early-business trap
    • A practical Inbox Zero and email-unsubscribe workflow
    • How reducing spending and cleaning physical space feed back into clearer thinking

    Tip #1, before the list even starts: when launching an online business, buy only what's genuinely needed — don't over-invest in gear, branding, or logos before there's real momentum, because direction almost always shifts early on. Too much video production gear got purchased before any videos were even being made, and the direction changed anyway. Less is more.

    12 Steps to Simplifying Business & Life

    Digital

    1. Clean up the email inbox and aim for Inbox Zero, even briefly. Start by deleting obvious junk, then create one catch-all folder — "To Do," "To Sort," or "To Follow Up" — and move everything else there to reset the inbox. The messages aren't gone, but starting clean often kickstarts real follow-through.
    2. Unsubscribe from email newsletters, stores, and brand lists. Less incoming noise means less reacting to things that don't actually matter. Unroll.me is a solid tool for batch-unsubscribing.
    3. Unsubscribe from podcasts no longer being listened to (present company excepted, of course). The mindset: remove anything not actively used or needed.
    4. Leave Facebook groups and YouTube subscriptions, and run a full social media audit. Over 1,500 Instagram and Twitter accounts with no clear reason for following got cut in one pass — a genuinely great, clarifying feeling.
    5. Delete unused apps and software on phone and computer. Going from 9 home screens down to 4 proved the point: anything actually needed can always be redownloaded. Ten to-do apps and three movie-review apps were never necessary, and the phone runs faster besides.
    6. Organize and back up photos. Losing every photo is a real fear worth acting on. Start by gathering everything — every device, every hard drive, iCloud, Google Drive, iPhoto — into one master "Photo Library" folder, the single thing that always gets backed up going forward. Lightroom or iPhoto can then organize it, starting simply by year.
    7. Clean up the computer, starting with the desktop. A cluttered desktop is a quiet but real source of stress — it should hold only active projects. Then tackle the Downloads folder and delete every forgotten .zip and .dmg file sitting there.

    Business & Financials

    Consolidate productivity and to-do tools. Bouncing between Notes, Todoist, Asana, and Evernote often creates more friction than it solves — the fix was settling on the iPhone's default Notes and Reminders apps plus G…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    16 min
  • The Freelance Rate Show

    Episode Summary: A full walkthrough of how to calculate a real freelance hourly rate — the tools used, the exact 6-step formula, a worked example landing on $93/hour, and a quick primer on P&L statements.

    What You'll Learn

    • A 6-step process for calculating your true freelance hourly rate
    • How to account for cost of doing business (CODB) and personal expenses separately
    • A full worked example landing on a real $93/hour rate
    • What a P&L statement is and why it matters for freelancers

    Today's goal: take the first real steps toward figuring out a bottom-line freelance rate — the number that covers expenses and hits an annual income target.

    Personal note: pricing and charging clients is genuinely hard, especially in creative freelancing where no two jobs are alike and time estimation is inherently fuzzy. Rates, like everything else, take time, practice, and trial and error to dial in. The most critical first step is simply knowing your numbers — what you spend, and what you need to make to survive and eventually thrive.

    Tools Used

    FreshBooks for invoicing and expenses, G Suite & Google Sheets for tracking, the Mint app for personal finance, and the CreativeLive freelance rate calculator as a reference.

    How to Calculate Your Freelance Rate

    1. Set your income goal. How much do you want to make per year?
    2. Calculate your CODB (Cost of Doing Business). Office rent, web hosting, internet, invoicing/accounting, office supplies, project management tools, phone, computer replacement fund, ads/marketing, software subscriptions, bad debt (unpaid invoices), accounting and legal, travel and education.
    3. Calculate personal expenses. Cost of living (rent + utilities), healthcare, taxes.
    4. Adjusted annual income = income goal + CODB + personal expenses.
    5. Figure out billable hours — how many hours a day can actually be charged to clients, after subtracting vacation, sick days, holidays, and non-billable admin/marketing time.
    6. Freelance rate = adjusted income ÷ billable hours.

    Worked Example

    • Income goal: $100,000/year
    • CODB: $1,000/month → $12,000/year
    • Personal expenses: $1,500/month → $18,000/year
    • Adjusted target income: $100,000 + $12,000 + $18,000 = $130,000

    Billable hours:

    Total working hours: 40 hrs/week × 52 weeks = 2,080 hours Minus 3 weeks vacation (15 weekdays × 8 hrs) = −120 hours Minus 5 sick days × 8 hrs = −40 hours Minus 7 holidays × 8 hrs = −56 hours Subtotal: 1,864 working hours Minus 25% for non-billable time (admin, marketing, n…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    16 min
  • The Proposal Show

    Episode Summary: How freelance proposals and estimates actually get written — the tools, the discovery questions, the template structure, and the red flags worth walking away from.

    What You'll Learn

    • The key term differences: estimates, quotes, bids, and proposals
    • 3 Gary Vee-inspired questions that shape every discovery call
    • A 3-phase proposal process: discovery, template, and estimate
    • A red-flag warning for prospects who only care about price

    Covered in this episode: the proposal-writing process, tools used, key terms, the questions asked of every client, the proposal template structure, and a few tips and warning signs. Future topics: pricing, contracts, and invoices.

    Key Terms

    • Estimate — a ballpark figure for what a job will cost.
    • Quote — the bottom-line, final price for the job.
    • Bid — competing directly against other businesses for the same job, common in construction and trades.
    • Proposal — the full package: a detailed document laying out the project, proposed solutions, why you're the right fit, and the quote, estimate, and timeline. In short: what does the client need, how will it get done and for how much, and why are you the best person for the job?

    The Freelancer Proposal

    Writing a strong proposal is a skill built over time and repetition, like everything else in freelancing.

    3 questions, modified from Gary Vaynerchuk:

    1. "How are you judging me?" — clarifies what success looks like from the client's point of view, and signals genuine care about the role.
    2. "What results are you looking for from this project?" — never assume the obvious answer is the real one.
    3. "What are your struggles or obstacles?" — surfaces the real underlying issue (sales down? no website traffic? something else entirely), which leads to a much stronger proposed solution.

    Keys to a good proposal: ask good questions, listen for both the obvious and underlying signals, then offer a solution grounded in being the right person for the job — one that's clear about what hiring you actually costs.

    Phase 1: Discovery Process / Q&A

    Step 1 — gather contact info and create a master folder. Tools: Google Forms, Google Drive.

    Step 2 — set up a 30-60 minute call or in-person meeting. The goal is connection: understanding the what and why of the project, listening carefully, and asking plenty of questions. Tools: Skype, Calendly, Google Calendar. Take good notes.

    Red flag warning: trust your gut. If a prospective client only wants a price and won't provide the information needed to prepare a real proposal, it's okay to say thank you and walk away — scary when mon…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    14 min
  • The Podcast Checkup Show

    Episode Summary: The 2017 Podcast Health Report — a brief history of podcasting, findings from the year's major industry research, and 5 real reasons a small business or brand should consider starting one.

    What You'll Learn

    • Where the word "podcast" actually came from, and when the medium caught on
    • The 3 problem areas Bridge Ratings identified as blockers to podcasting's growth in 2017
    • Real 2016-2017 listener stats: interest and adoption both climbing fast
    • 5 concrete reasons a business should consider starting a podcast

    The Origin of Podcasting

    A portmanteau blends multiple words (or their sounds) into a new one — motel (motorists + hotel), smog (smoke + fog), emoticon (emotion + icon), spork (spoon + fork), turducken (turkey + duck + chicken). "Podcast" itself blends Apple's iPod with "broadcast," coined by BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004.

    Definition: a digital audio file made available online for download to a computer or mobile device, with new episodes delivered automatically to subscribers via RSS. Podcasts started in the early 2000s and really caught on in 2005 once Apple added podcasting support to iTunes.

    Podcasting vs. terrestrial radio: two key differences. First, podcasting is on-demand — listeners choose when and what to listen to, and RSS lets them subscribe for automatic new-episode notifications. Second, podcasts can serve narrow niches in a way broad-audience terrestrial radio never could.

    2017 industry reports: two major market research reports were published in spring 2017 — Edison Research and Bridge Ratings.

    Bridge Ratings Report: 3 Problems to Solve

    1. Ease of use — podcasts need to be genuinely easy to pull up on any device.
    2. Search — content discovery needs to actually work.
    3. Better revenue metrics — creators and sponsors both need a viable way to make money, or the medium can't sustain itself.

    Technology already helping: CES showcased tech addressing all three — voice-activated devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, plus Bluetooth, were expected to give podcasting a real boost.

    The Numbers

    • August 2016: 64% of people surveyed had no interest in podcasts; only 25% had ever listened to one.
    • February 2017: no-interest dropped to 48%; ever-listened jumped to 45%.

    Why people don't like podcasts (per Bridge Ratings): they don't know how to find or use them, they lack the time or patience, or the content felt too boring, long, or rambling.

    Why people do like them: a podcast exists for nearly any niche, they're listenable while multitasking (exercising, commuting), they're free, they're educational, and they connect listeners with people who share their interests.

    Edison Research Findings

    Monthly listenership grew from 21% to 24%. The core audience skews 18–54, slightly more male, more educated, and more affluent than average. Most listeni…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    15 min
  • The Client Workflow Show

    Episode Summary: A complete 10-step client workflow — how client information gets organized, meetings get scheduled, projects get tracked, and invoices get paid, start to finish.

    What You'll Learn

    • A full 10-step client workflow, from first contact to final payment
    • The exact tools used for CRM, scheduling, invoicing, and password management
    • Why searchable notes in every contact record matter more than memory
    • How Calendly syncs with Google Calendar to prevent double-booking

    The business: Mike Murphy LLC is a creative freelance and consulting business for local and online businesses — video, podcast, and written content, plus teaching others how to create their own. In short: helping people figure things out. Workflow goal: simplicity and access from any device.

    Resources Mentioned

    • G Suite (formerly Google Apps): mikemurphy.co/gsuite
    • CRMs: Capsule CRM, FullContact
    • Forms: Google Forms, Wufoo, Typeform
    • Scheduling: Calendly
    • Invoicing & accounting: FreshBooks
    • Collaboration: Google Docs, Dropbox Paper
    • Password management: 1Password

    The 10-Step Client Workflow

    Step 1 — gather contact information. Everything goes into Gmail contacts, with as many notes as possible since notes are searchable and help recall client details later. Tips: pull contact info from email signatures, check a client's website contact page for social channels and business address, keep a complete signature on outgoing email, and use intake forms (Google Forms or Wufoo) to gather everything needed to start a project, logos and assets included.

    Step 2 — Gmail labels. Every new client email gets a label nested under "Clients."

    Step 3 — Google Drive. Similar to Dropbox — each client gets their own folder.

    Step 4 — Google Calendar. Every appointment, meeting, deadline, commitment, trip, and important date goes on the calendar, with reminders set for 1 day and 30 minutes before.

    Step 5 — Apple Reminders. The instant something goes on the calendar or comes to mind, Siri gets asked to set a reminder.

    Step 6 — Calendly. Sent to clients as a scheduling link — they pick from open time slots, and Calendly syncs with Google Calendar to avoid double-booking automatically.

    Step 7 — FreshBooks. Time tracking, est…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    15 min
  • The Vlog Show

    Episode Summary: Vlogging 101 — what a vlog actually is, the vloggers worth watching for inspiration, the real business benefits, and exactly what gear and software it takes to start one.

    What You'll Learn

    • What separates a vlog from a blog, and why video content was projected to explode
    • The vloggers Mike actually watches, and why
    • The real business benefits of vlogging: exposure, community, sales, and authority
    • The gear and editing software needed to start a vlog from scratch

    What Is a Vlog?

    A blog is a regularly updated site or page, often informal and written by an individual or small group. A vlog is the video equivalent — regularly posted, conversational stories told through video instead of text.

    Mark Zuckerberg predicted Facebook would be over 90% video content within 5 years — a strong signal for where content was heading. Vlogs are a genuine marketing tool in the broader content toolkit, alongside the other two pillars covered in Episode 81: The Content Whiteboard Show — audio (podcasting) and writing (blog, Medium, LinkedIn Pulse).

    Vlogs, Defined

    A vlogger creates vlogs; vlogging is the act of making one. General characteristics: personal and documentary in nature, current and dynamic, built around a behind-the-scenes/day-in-the-life storytelling style, uploaded on a frequent and consistent schedule, and built around a community that follows the journey. It's genuinely hard work and requires real skill — not for everyone.

    Why watch vlogs at all? Entertainment, creative inspiration, and learning — and only from vloggers whose skill and style earn real interest.

    Vloggers Worth Watching

    Casey Neistat, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mr. Ben Brown, Fun For Louis, and Sara Dietschy — not a personal style match, but a genuine respect for her Adobe and video skills and hustle.

    Benefits of Vlogging

    Brand exposure, repurposable content, community and audience building, stronger relationships and networks, client attraction, sales and lead generation. People are often more curious about how something works than the finished product itself — vlogging leans directly into that. It can also open up brand sponsorships, and it builds self-awareness, confidence, creativity, and authority over time — all essential ingredients for a strong personal brand.

    How to Start a Vlog

    Start with a rough plan and a clear sense of what the content actually is — behind-the-scenes of a business or operation is a solid starting point. 5–10 minutes is a reasonable episode length.

    Ask first: why do you want a vlog? More clients, more brand exposure, more podcast listeners, more newsletter signups? Does it sound genuinely fun and creati…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    16 min
  • The Music Show

    Episode Summary: Music Licensing 101 — the legal terms every podcaster and video creator needs to know, plus a curated list of paid and free resources for finding usable music.

    What You'll Learn

    • The key legal music terms every creator needs: copyright, public domain, royalty free, Creative Commons, fair use
    • A curated list of paid royalty-free music sources, with real per-song and subscription pricing
    • Free music and sound effect sources worth bookmarking
    • A practical organization system for keeping licensed tracks and their attribution together

    Common Legal Music Terms

    • Copyright — a legal right protecting the original creator of music, photos, art, and books, ensuring they're compensated for their work. Writing the song or clicking the shutter makes you the copyright owner automatically, protected by law.
    • Public domain — copyright has expired, or the work is old enough to no longer be protected. Plenty of old books and songs fall here, free for anyone to use. Trivia: music produced after 1978 is currently protected for the creator's life plus 70 years before entering public domain.
    • Royalty free — permission to use copyrighted material with unlimited usage rights and no future royalty payments. Pay once, use on as many projects as needed.
    • Creative Commons — free to use, but the copyright holder can set terms, most commonly requiring attribution (credit, often a link back to the artist's site).
    • Fair use — a narrow exception to copyright law, granting temporary permission to use material in specific circumstances like news coverage or journalism.

    Organizational tip: when a track requires attribution, save a text file with the credit link right alongside the audio file in the same folder.

    Download tip: choose .wav (uncompressed) over .mp3 (compressed) whenever the option exists — noticeably higher quality.

    Paid Music Resources

    • AudioJungle (Envato) — royalty free, ~$20/song
    • PremiumBeat — royalty free, ~$50/song, with excellent After Effects and video editing tutorials
    • AudioBlocks — subscription, unlimited downloads, royalty free, $99/year
    • VideoBlocks — for video assets
    • Pond5 — royalty free, ~$40/song, plus photos, motion graphics, and video
    • Epidemic Sound — subscription, $15/month for YouTube use, great for vlog-style videos
    • Artlist.io — subscription, $199/year, excellent selection, unlimited royalty-free downloads

    Bonus resources:

    Marmoset Music — $99/song, one of the best curation tools around TuneFruit — $30–65/song Triple Scoop Music — $60/song, great for photographers Jamendo — $5–50 Filmstro — Premiere plugin, $25/month, DIY mixing

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    16 min
  • The Quick Tip Workflow Show

    Episode Summary: A behind-the-scenes look at how Mike's daily Quick Tip tutorial videos come together — topic sourcing, screencasting software, export sizing for every platform, and the full sharing workflow.

    What You'll Learn

    • Where daily quick-tip topic ideas actually come from, whiteboard included
    • The exact screencasting tools used to record and edit each video
    • Every export size needed across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
    • The full folder structure and sharing workflow, from AirDrop to Medium

    What are Quick Tip videos? Daily tip videos about podcasting and content creation, posted to Instagram and YouTube.

    Step 1: Pick a Topic

    A running list of tutorial ideas lives on a whiteboard, plus in Trello and Workflowy. Need more? Check email and DMs for real questions people are already asking, browse social media discussions, or dig into Twitter Advanced Search, Reddit, and Quora.

    Step 2: Recording & Editing

    Screencasting software records the computer screen, iOS devices, or webcam. Recording tip: shoot at full resolution — a 2880×1800 Retina display gives plenty of room to scale down to 1920×1080 without any quality loss.

    Tools used to record: Camtasia 3/9, ScreenFlow, and QuickTime (free on Mac). Tools used to edit: Camtasia.

    Step 3: Exporting & Formatting

    Terminology worth knowing: P = pixels, HD = High Definition, frame rate (30fps or 24fps), 16:9 = wide aspect ratio, 1:1 = square aspect ratio, MP4 = video file extension, H.264 = the standard web video codec.

    Recommended export sizes:

    • YouTube: 1920×1080p
    • Website: 1920×1080p
    • Medium: 1920×1080p
    • Facebook: 1920×1080 and 1080×1080p
    • Twitter: 1920×1080 and 1080×1080p
    • Instagram posts: 1080×1080 (square), 864×1080 (vertical), 1800×945 (horizontal), 1920×1080 (wide)
    • Instagram Stories: 1080×1920 (vertical)

    Step 4: Sharing Online

    Folder structure: Assets (graphics/photos), Thumbnails (YouTube covers), Audio (music), Project Files (Camtasia/ScreenFlow), Renders (final videos).

    The routine: AirDrop the square video to iPhone, write the outline in the Notes app (synced via text), upload the square (1080×1080) version to Instagram with a description and the hashtag shortcut, then share to Twitter and Facebook directly from Instagram. Upload the wide (1920×1080) version to YouTube with a description, and copy the embed link into a Medium post.

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    17 min
  • The Personal Brand Show (Pt. 2)

    Episode Summary: Part 2 of the personal brand series — the 5 concrete strategies and tactics behind building the Mike Murphy brand, from self-awareness work to visual identity to monetization.

    What You'll Learn

    • A recap of the 5 core principles from Part 1, and 2 pre-show mindset tips
    • The 5 concrete strategies used to build the Mike Murphy personal brand
    • Why self-awareness assessments like StrengthsFinder and Fascinate matter for branding decisions
    • How visual branding, content creation, business, and teaching all work together as one system

    A behind-the-scenes look at the exact approach and strategy behind building the Mike Murphy personal brand — the goal being a business built around learning technology, creating content, and teaching and inspiring others to move forward in business and life.

    Recap: Part 1's 5 Core Principles

    Episode 82 covered: start ASAP, practice and develop your skills, create content and build a body of work, be productive and hone business skills, and teach or share what you know.

    Pre-Show Tips

    Do you. Learn from and be inspired by others whose message resonates, but comparison and envy over someone else's success are traps to avoid entirely.

    Create your content. Everything's been done before in some form — that's fine. Someone else's successful class or business doesn't diminish the value of making your own version, made your own way.

    Strategy 1: Self-Awareness

    Understanding strengths and weaknesses well enough to do more of what works and less of what doesn't. Knowing what makes you unique, and how others actually perceive you, shapes the content itself — the words used, the tone set.

    3 ways to build self-awareness:

    • Ask at least 5 friends and family members what they think you're good at.
    • Take the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment.
    • Take Sally Hogshead's "How to Fascinate" assessment, which reveals how others perceive you — a genuine eye-opener, referenced regularly since taking it. (Result: "The Anchor," with trust as the primary advantage and mystique as the secondary one.)

    Strategy 2: Branding & Artwork

    Visual branding — colors, fonts, artwork — should be a genuine reflection of personality and style, not a polished, generic look. The brand leans into orange and yellow retro colors, a face, a podcast school bus, and the tagline "Learn. Create. Move Forward." — scrappy and a little different on purpose, not refined.

    Tip: pick a font and color palette and commit to it. A Fiverr designer can build a solid palette for around $5 — worth trying a few different designers to find the right fit.

    Resources: Adobe Color, Coolors.

    Strategy 3: Content Creation & Marketing

    The brand centers on being a content creator across video, audio, and writing, and an expert in the…

    Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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    16 min

About Mike Murphy Unplugged

From the publisher's feed

Mike Murphy Unplugged is a podcast for one-man bands and content creators who want to move forward in business and in life. Learn how to use AI, how to create online content for a living, and how…