1. Pitches have a much higher chance of success when you have a previous relationship with the person you’re pitching to.
2. The person you’re pitching to knows their business front and back, which means they also know when you’re simply pretending to understand theirs.

In his book Hero On A Mission, self-development author Donald Miller says that deadlines force action, in stories and in marketing. He says, “Storytellers use the tool of expiring time to ramp up the drama. Without a ticking clock, a story gets boring.”

One thing we kept hearing from our guests was that the thousands of dollars they spent on the trip was well worth it. And judging by the fact that our first one sold out in a matter of days, I’d say we could have charged 50-100% more for it, and still sold out.

It’s easier to transfer success from one area to another than it is to build success in multiple areas at the same time.

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.”

The cheapest way to learn any new art form is to study what has already been created. Too often, we wait for permission to learn something new. We dream about finding a great teacher. We fret about the money and time needed to complete school. But we forget that the very best examples of the art we want to create are openly available to us.

I’m on vacation this week, working on my book and soaking up the Costa Rican sun. Please enjoy this curation of past podcast content. I’ll see you next week!

Three reasons why you should start freelancing tonight, even if it’s only part-time, or one single project.

How to learn from smart people, how to get your ideas heard, and much more.

As creators, we’re often tepted to push ourselves as fast and far as we can go. We want to create and deliver as much as we can. We want to say “yes.” Because we love the work! But maybe it pays to leave a little bit of hustle on the table. Maybe it pays to build in some margin.

If there’s skin in the game, people are involved. They’re engaged. They’re interested.

There are a lot of things you can consider when deciding whether or not to switch careers: money, stress, time, opportunity, passion. I can’t tell you what your life and family requires from you. But I can tell you that the career you’re most likely to be successful in is the one you get lost in.

If you’re producing a creative project, there are a thousand ways to get it done. For a while, these decisions paralyzed me. That was until I saw a funny meme.

As creators, the temptation of complexity is great. We think that if we can play something, or shoot something, or write something that most others simply couldn’t, our work will be meaningful to people. To some degree, this is true. But if we take a long, hard, honest look at the art that has really shaped our culture…we discover how simple it is.

If you’re a young videographer, you might be wondering if it’s worth it to go to college. With all the information available through YouTube videos and online courses, college might seem like a debt you don’t need to incur. But don’t make a “dropping out of college” vlog just yet. Let me break down some of the peripheral benefits.

If you can swap out only a small portion of your entertainment time for education time, you’ll exponentially increase your value as an employee, or as a freelancer in the open market. Think of it this way: our skills and our knowledge are subject to inflation of information. Every year, technology makes our jobs easier, thousands of people gain the skills we already have, and the value of our knowledge diminishes.

“Your entire life happens inside your body. It's the one home you will always occupy and can never sell.”

“We can’t have anyone sign a contract, and there can’t be any required posts. But trust me. If we get all these guys together with no pressure, they’ll post dozens of times.” This is what I told a brand manager, pitching her on an influencer trip for my client.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or if you’re up against a creative block, it might be because of the invisible audience. You have an imaginary audience, with imaginary critics in the front row, in a grand stadium called “Microsoft Word Stadium.” None of that exists.

In his study, participants had to work through a difficult puzzle. Some were told they could eat freshly baked cookies before working on the puzzle, and others were told they had to refrain. Those who refrained worked on the puzzle for less time than those who didn’t have to spend their willpower and decision-making power on not eating cookies.