“The darkest hour in any man’s life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it.” – Horace Greeley, Born Feb. 3, 1811. Darkest hour, Horace? Money is an unnatural man-made invention. What about it should make one need to EARN it? As though it must be deserved before being …
You Don’t Need to “Earn” Money. It’s Just Paper and Imagination. Read More »
“Superhuman effort isn’t worth a damn unless it achieves results.” – Ernest Shackleton, Born Feb. 2, 1874. Hustle. Grind. Wake up early. Stay up late. Eat your dreams and shit success. Lots of overachievers say fuckery like that. The thing is, the best you’ve got to give won’t get you jack if you’re not doing …
“Any serious attempt to try to do something worthwhile is ritualistic.” – Derek Walcott, Born Jan. 23, 1930. Are you serious about what you’re doing or what you want to do? I once heard a talk by late copywriter Eugene Schwartz where he talked about how he keeps his desk and surroundings when he writes. …
Coffee? Whiskey? Weed? Noise? Tea? Silence? What Do You Need to Sit Down and Write? Read More »
“A new gadget that lasts only five minutes is worth more than an immortal work that bores everyone.” – Francis Picabia, Born Jan. 22, 1878. Quit being so artsy fartsy and publish. Publish now. And later. Again. Constantly. Continuously. Not necessarily regularly. Nor predictably. Not completely, anyway. Especially here, online. Specifically here, on social media. …
The Bar is Set at Only Slightly Better than Boring. Read More »
“When a thing’s done, it’s done, and if it’s not done right, do it differently next time.” – Arthur Ransome, Born, Jan. 18, 1884. Stop trying to make shit perfect. You won’t. You can’t. Don’t even worry about it being great. Focus on “good enough”. Publish your alpha, beta, 1.0 stuff. Let the audience react …
Do the Thing Now. Improve the Thing Later. Perfect the Thing Never. Read More »
“The first time you make something, follow the recipe, then figure out how to tailor it to your own tastes.” – Ruth Reichl, Born Jan. 16, 1948. Are you too creative and clever for your own good? I used to be like that. I went to art school. I used to want to do something …
How to Learn to Cook and Copywrite (At the Same Time!) Read More »
“Life is very interesting if you make mistakes.” – Georges Carpentier, Born Jan. 12, 1894. The secret to success is building an audience. The secret to building an audience is to be interesting. The secret to being interesting is having something valuable to talk about. This last one intimidates many, who mistakenly think that only …
Content Hack: Go Screw Something Up Really Bad. (Then Fix It.) Read More »
“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” – George Washington Carver, Born Jan. 10, 1864. One of the simplest secrets of success at I know is to do just do the simple things well. Unfortunately, that is uncommon. Show up every …
Consistency is Uncommon, But It’s a Shortcut to Success Read More »
“It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.” – Baltasar Gracian, Born Jan. 8, 1601 As Harvey Danger once put it, “if you’re bored, then you’re boring.” And you DO want to frustrate the plans of people who stumble across you, so they stop what …
Inscrutability is Fascinating Even to People Who Don’t Know What It Means Read More »
“People often ask me about what constitutes a nerd-friendly show – like, does it have to have sci-fi elements? But I think it’s just a show that satisfies the secret craving we all have to be obsessed with something and not feel at all stupid about it.” – Dan Harmon, Born Jan. 3, 1973. It’s …
Inside: Indulge in Your Weird Obsessions Without Shame Read More »
