For 10 days, Creator FX sold the bundle at an unprecedented price. And made a killing. I wanted to break down this business model because it’s a model that had previously been impossible before the digital age.

My blog is for everyone. This newsletter is not for everyone. About once a week, I’ll tell you what I really think. Less buttoned up, more a few buttons down.

After chatting about one of the top podcasters in the world right now, Joe Rogan, we came to the conclusion that Rogan isn’t where he is without first being a television host and comedian. The connections he has, and the wealth of hosting experience took him to where he is today.

Take Mozart. When he lived in Vienna, he was inundated with “a frantic round of piano lessons, concert performances, and social visits with the city’s wealthy patrons.” As his success crew, and the opportunities with it, one of the greatest composers ever had a laundry list of obligations.

Imagining the worst that could happen is a great exercise that often shows us that worst is not that bad. In cases like this, act quickly. Trust your gut. If you’re right, you have a head start. If you’re wrong, correct course and keep going.

It was a huge priority for us to showcase as much diversity as we could. Ethnic diversity, scenic diversity, and diversity of activities. Finding models and talent that had unique skills helped us differentiate this ad from the usual.

To be meaningful in any industry, you need to bring immense value to specific kind of person who has a specific kind of need. So when you market yourself (which you should, often) don’t just say “I’m a graphic designer.” Say “I’m a graphic designer for startup brands in Atlanta who love sustainability.”

The subscription box business model is fascinating to me. It starts out as a simple task of finding deals and curating. But as time goes on, it becomes about connection, opportunity, and access. Let me explain.

This is business economics 101 (maybe business economics 001), but it took a while to understand when I started freelancing. There’s no right or wrong way to run your business, but there is an easy way and a hard way.

If you want to get the mental critic off your back, create often enough that his schedule doesn’t allow for him to show up every day.

We had to be up relatively early to prepare for our shoot the next day, but the hotel we stayed at was right on the strip, connected to a glamorous casino. We decided to go have a look around.

I’m amazed by the artisan mentality that so many of my barista friends have. They know so much about the coffee they serve, and they serve it with such passion for their community. It seems a bit ironic to me, because most of them don’t own the shop they work at, and many of them are striving to work in a different industry altogether.

Everyone would describe their relationship with their significant other as priceless. You can’t put a figure on the worth of love. But De Beers does. They taunt the reader here, prodding for how much they’d be willing to spend to display their love for their fiancee.

Sure, I could get a 10-person production planned in a day. If all my go-to vendors are available, if the ideal locations are available, if the rentals we need are available. The trouble arises when things aren’t available.

The happening of difficult experiences doesn’t say anything profound about you.

He worked fast, grabbing my hair and cutting it quickly, grabbing and cutting, grabbing and cutting. Each time he cut, closing the scissors on another pinch of hair, his hand flourished. It reminded of a pianist–a real pianist, you know, that strikes down on the keys and lets his hand bounce up.

Sometimes, it makes sense to charge by the hour. I find it best to charge by the hour when I’m doing work that I don’t often do, or when I’m doing work I don’t want to be doing.

There’s a confusing paradigm when it comes to gear. Is it better to get good gear and grow into it? Or is it better to upgrade only when you’ve maxed out your current setup?

When we got on set with the influencer, the brand obviously wanted their product called exactly the right thing. But when it was stuffed inside the full script, the influencer had a hard time remembering exactly what it was called. Every time he messed up, the brand producers on set spouted back the correct name, as if it wasn’t that hard.

Why is it like this? Why is it so hard to follow our own advice? Why can we give other people such great advice, but then be so bad at following it ourselves?