Why messages sink or spread — Every message is shaped by the mechanics of media. Whether it’s a tweet, a TikTok video, a news article, or a movie, the characteristics of the medium determine how it’s made, how it’s consumed, and whether it spreads. If you understand the mechanics of media, you can more effectively communicate…

Five years ago, I wrote about how — after ten years as a self-employed independent creator — I hoped to “make it.” I now realize, I never will. Five years ago, I sat at my keyboard to have a serious conversation with myself. It had been ten years since I…

In fifteen years as a self-employed creator, I’ve learned how to finish what matters. I follow a nine-step process that makes an easy-to-remember acronym, that also describes what this process does: E.R.A.S.E. F.E.A.R. Fear is Resistance Fear is at the root of most struggles to finish creative projects. Even when you think you’re…

When Facebook was first expanding, they used a timeless military strategy to win their most-crucial first users. You can use this strategy to attack your toughest projects, by leveraging hidden complexity to lend devastating power to simple actions. Facebook faced tough competitors When Facebook was starting, in the mid-aughts, it was only available at…

Today in Colombia I heard a mourning dove. It was the same call I heard thirty years ago in Nebraska, so I asked myself, How many generations of mourning doves have been born in thirty years? How far back in the family tree before the one I heard in 1992…

How I bought the most sought-after ad space on Earth for $20 — Recently, my book was advertised on a Times Square billboard, right between Forever 21 and McDonald’s. Pretty cool, right? Here’s how I did it. Blip Billboards lets you advertise all over the U.S. I used a site called Blip Billboards ($25 free credit). It allows you to advertise on billboards all over the U.S., paying per “blip,” or 15-second…

Many years ago, I was filling out a profile on eharmony, and their questionnaire asked what kind of music I liked. I chuckled as I read the ridiculously-restrictive options: “Rock,” “R&B,” “Country,” and that was about it. But I laughed hysterically when I read the final option: “I don’t like…

There’s something you want to learn, or a project you want to take on. But it’s too big or too hard. The walls of that city are too high to scale, too thick to bust through. Some challenges are too great to face head-on. Instead of doing the one big…

The main difference between pro and amateur creators: Amateurs expect everything to work. So, the amateur leaves in their wake a trail of half-finished and failed projects. The pro also leaves a trail of half-finished and failed projects, but by a different name. They’re called prototypes. The amateur tries to…