Working with clients is a little bit like meeting your significant other’s parents. Of course you won’t lie about anything or pretend to be someone that you’re not. But you’ll probably be on your best behavior.

If you’re a freelancer, a service-based entrepreneur, or a creator, pitching is how you get work. What separates you from a hobbyist is your ability to pitch and win projects. I’ve written and designed over 50 winning pitch decks for clients like DJI, The Chainsmokers, Adidas, and Red Bull. Here are a few of my best practices for writing solid pitch decks.

He recommended trying out a One Line A Day journal. One Line A Day is a journal that has 365 pages, and 5 places to write a few lines on each page. It allows you to keep track of what you did every single day for 5 years in one little book.

We must take successes, failures, and confusions as equal opportunities to feel, understand, and learn. A failure now might lead to a success in the future. Confusion now might become clarity later. We can’t write off our experiences, or shove them down, hoping the negative ones go away.

Attracting an audience is a self-focused task, where people try to become a mini celebrity so they can live the lifestyle. Cultivating a community is a service-focused task, where people gain knowledge and skills to fill the needs of their community.

“Drop a teaspoon of [thief detector dye] in to a swimming pool, and all the water in the pool will become permanently bright purple. But if you drop it in the ocean, no one will notice.”

Moving to LA to be a creative is a good move. So is moving to New York. The demand for creative skills is much higher, and the community is in place to support you. Big cities like this carry so much potential for creative work. But what about medium-sized cities? While we’re on it, what about medium-sized colleges? Small towns?

I have so much respect for Jeremiah, because as the creative developed, we realized we’d have to spend a majority of our budget on creators, talent, music, and travel. He was fine with that, and shot virtually every single shot in the entire video himself. Seeing Jeremiah in his element has been one of the great joys of working with him the past 3.5 years. When he’s in the zone, it’s a work of art in itself.

The reason I love working in production is that there is a storyline to every shoot. There’s the initial excitement, the big dreams at the beginning, the sacrifices, the difficult moments. I always find that the stress melts away once I see the final product. It’s very rewarding work.

I’ll leave you with a piece that says more than if I wrote 5,000 words. If you’re wondering what I do, this is it. Enjoy.

For many of us, growing up in school taught us to feel guilty about not finishing books. It made us feel like we owed the author our time. We don’t owe authors our time or attention. They owe us the respect to present their ideas in the most concise, digestible way possible.

Between the hills of inspiration and meaning, there is a valley. It is the dip. Don’t fear the dip. Stay in it. It won’t last long. The view from the other side is well worth it.

Nobody yells about moderation. You’ll hear people yell to push their progressive beliefs forward. You’ll hear people yell to keep their conservative beliefs in tact. But you won’t hear people yell about their moderate beliefs.

Culture exists whether we like it or not. As soon as people gather and communicate and try to accomplish something, roles are established and culture is born. 

It can be tempting to provide caveats because it feels like it mitigates risk. “If I only had more time. I hope this is what you want. Happy to change anything you don’t like.” But when you understand that the words and tone with which you present your work greatly affects the way your client perceives your work, it’s easy to see how caveats actually increase risk.

Some weeks it feels like I’m crushing it. Other weeks it feels like I’m just getting through. On weeks when I feel like I’m crushing it, it’s really easy to write these blogs. But during weeks I feel like I’m just getting through, my confidence wanes, and it becomes hard to write these blogs.

It’s not the uncontrollable things in life that say anything profound about you.

With a single lamp on in the bedroom, a makeshift desk, and pop punk music loud in my headphones, my special workspace was born. Working so hard under stress wasn’t supposed to be easy or fun. So I made it fun.

They have a classic html style website to give their brand a timeless feel. Confused by their website? Want a discount? Want to return something? Too bad. They know their brand and they don’t compromise. Are they losing sales by not having a clear “buy now” button? Absolutely. Would John Mayer be so into them if they weren’t so exclusive? Absolutely not.

If your business is more subjective, focus on brand marketing. Highlight the priceless elements of your product. Is there a community your customers can connect with? Will it make them feel accomplished? Could it help them find love?