Finding what’s priceless about your offering is essential to good copywriting–in marketing campaigns and one-off emails. It can be the backbone of the marketing that takes your business to the next level.

“I was nervous that I would get it ‘right’ as a facilitator, but all the feedback I received indicated that being honest with them is what made them comfortable.” And this is the same feedback we received on our workshops. The biggest takeaway many guests had was that the hosts weren’t that different than them.

You don't necessarily need to know more than someone, or be more experienced, or be more successful than them to be a good consultant. You just need to see the world differently. And you need to be honest. 

The shower is a sensory deprivation chamber that forces your mind to look internally when it can’t be stimulated externally. The senses are unable to be distracted by outside factors.

Nobody needs you to be here. All of this will happen with or without you. As irreplaceable and indispensable as you’ve designed yourself to be, there are still thousands upon thousands of people who could do your job.

The most productive people in the world think less about productivity than you do.

Want to win a pitch? You’ll need to respond quick. In a world of endless options, we often think that our clients will be combing the market for the very best deal, and the highest quality option. But we fail to consider one thing: people are busy.

One of my lights burnt a hole through a silk. Not the best look. But, I had fun and the other people on set seemed to enjoy working with me. Over the next few months, I received 2 or 3 messages trying to hire me as a gaffer on other sets.

The key becomes following up with your network to remind them that you exist. If you’re top of mind for 50-100 people in hiring positions, then you’re bound to get work. Today, I’m going to show you the exact system I use to keep track of, and follow up with my network on a monthly basis.

I sat with my head in my hands. Tears welled up in my eyes. My laptop was on the coffee table in front of me. I grabbed a couch pillow, buried my face in it, and screamed. 

In order to be more productive, I think of myself as two bees: a queen bee and a worker bee. Queen bee thinks. Worker bee does. Finding the right balance between being a queen bee and a worker bee is at the core of efficiently creating meaningful work.

Anyone can be a commercial producer if they can communicate clearly and make decisions efficiently.  Time is only on your side if you use it, so get to work on finding a crew and a location as soon as you can. 

3. Jump straight into the action. In pitch decks and creative treatments, people feel like they need to ramp up into the action.

Other freelancers who do exactly what you do will likely be your most profitable connections–they’re not competition!
Find freelance friends and ask them what they charge.
Investments that increase your productivity and teach you new skills are the best investments you can make early on.

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.