Two traits of successful creators

The more I embrace my mission of helping people become professional creators, the more I find myself being much more honest – even if it's brutal.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Creative Companion]( Presented by [Magic Mind]() Hello my friend! The more I embrace my mission of helping people become professional creators, the more I find myself being much more honest – even if it's brutal. Because here's the thing – it's really hard to be a professional creator. Not only to get to the point where you're earning good money, but to sustain that momentum too! The journey doesn't end once you've started earning a living. There is no moment of, "I did it! Now I can just sit back and collect!" You're still at the starting line, my friend – you need to continue to build your business into a resilient creative and financial machine. And I want people to enter into this journey with their eyes wide open. There are a lot of people out there who will try to convince you that this is easy and all you need is their blueprint for making it happen. But it's just not true. It's easier to sell people on the dream when you don't share the full truth. But the full truth is that this business model takes a LOT of work – and there's no One True Path! There are certainly frameworks to help guide you along the way, but you'll have to do a lot of innovating to create your own path. You'll need to take best practices and put your unique spin on them. After all, the creator business model is predicated on doing things differently than other creators! It's a noisy, competitive world out there. And more than ever, I believe the creators who succeed do two things well: - They are meaningfully specific - They obsess over design Let's talk about both. ​ Being meaningfully specific I almost called this "uncomfortably specific" because in order to be as specific as you probably should be, odds are, it'll feel uncomfortable. I talked about this with Dickie Bush in a [recent episode of Creative Elements](=). It feels uncomfortable to put yourself in a tiny box because of course you have insight and experience outside of that box. But it comes down to referability (apparently not a real word, but it should be). How referable are you? What are you referable for? I used to [teach this to freelancers]( all the time – specializing is the best way to generate more word-of-mouth and referrals. We all have very specific problems (even if they're not technically specific, we think they are!). And we want specific solutions for our specific problems. So we aren't looking for just any copywriter...we're looking for a B2B copywriter who specializes in the education industry. Or go even deeper – I don't want to know how to change any air filter, I want to know how to change the air filter in a 2010 Ford Fusion. The more specifically your solution aligns with my specific problem, the more referable you become. You become a magnet for people just like me. If someone asks me to recommend a copywriter to them...I'm going to think through the lens of THAT person and their business. The copywriter who has gone out of their way to say, "I specialize in X for Y!" is more likely to get the referral because they're a more exact fit. I know it feels like being meaningfully specific limits your overall market...but I promise you, it'll be much easier to REACH and even saturate that market than to try and take a big chunk from the more generalized market. And once you've saturated even a small market, you have a meaningful audience who REALLY like you and your work. It's an incredible jumping off point into a related market. ​ Obsessing over design I've said it before and I'll say it again – our design expectations get higher every single day. And for better or worse, we associate trust with design. When we see something beautifully-designed, we are automatically more inclined to trust it. When we see something poorly-designed, we are inclined to NOT trust it. The benefit of being meaningfully specific is that odds are you'll have the appearance of being the ONE person talking about this specific thing...so design matters less. When you position yourself to be a category leader, you buy yourself a lot of time to figure design out. But if you're trying to compete with other creators...you need to care about design. And not just once – all the time! You need to be obsessed with continuous improvement. I can't tell you how often I find myself tweaking formatting or moving pixels around. It sounds like nothing, but a little bit of that every day is what has helped the visual design of my digital properties get a lot better over time. But design doesn't just mean visual design...design also means experiential design. The full experience someone has interacting with your creative platform is just as much of a design exercise as anything visual. ​ Conclusion You can succeed with poor design by being meaningfully specific. You can overcome some lack of specificity with great design (and a lot of brute force). But if you're neither meaningfully specific or well-designed, you're going to have a very tough time finding traction. Dig in. At least push the boundaries of your comfort zone when it comes to specificity to see what it would be like to really, truly niche down. Maybe you don't go all the way to that end of the spectrum...but you'll certainly improve your odds the closer you get. And if you don't feel equipped to design your creative platform, either visually or experientially, please hire someone to help. It's an investment, but would you rather invest cash in order to see a return, or invest all of your time in an effort that won't see a return at all? I'm just being honest. ​ Share This Essay: [Share via facebook](=) [Share via twitter]( [Share via whatsapp](=) Your personal share link: [ ​ ​ ​ [Sponsor Image]() PRESENTED BY MAGIC MIND My secret weapon for getting into flow I’ve been getting into incredible flow lately because I discovered Magic Mind. It helps me focus better on my work, be more creative, and drink LESS coffee. I drink one shot of Magic Mind alongside my morning coffee and within the hour I find myself totally dialed in and entering a flow state. I’ve tried a lot of different types of coffee and focus drinks in the past, and nothing has helped me get into the groove like Magic Mind. For creatives like us, I can’t recommend it enough. And you’ve got nothing to lose – Magic Mind offers a money-back guarantee that any purchase will be refunded no questions asked if it doesn’t meet your expectations. [Save 20% on your order]() ​ ​ CLICK WORTHY 🔥 On My Radar 🎥 [Tella](=)* – Tella has quickly become one of my favorite tools. It's more powerful and versatile than Loom (and I love Loom)! I recorded [this review of Tella](=) for folks inside the Creative Companion Club. [Try it for free](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 [Yallternative Radio](=) – I'm a big fan of Alex Melton's YouTube channel. He creates [Pop Punk] songs in the style of [Country]. I put those in brackets because he does all kinds of genre crossovers like that. But this playlist is specifically Pop Punk songs covered as Country songs. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🎯 [Sniper Links]( – I just rediscovered this technique for increasing email opt-in/conversions called Sniper Links. I'm starting to implement it myself! *Affiliate link ​ THIS WEEK ON CREATIVE ELEMENTS #99: Amanda Natividad [Inclusiveness] Growing on Twitter and using her platform to lift up others [Creative Elements Cover Art](=) Amanda Natividad is VP of Marketing for audience research startup, [SparkToro](=). She’s also a contributor for Adweek, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a former journalist. Amanda previously led marketing for Growth Machine, led marketing for Liftopia, built Fitbit’s B2B content program, and led content and communications for NatureBox. In this episode, we talk about Amanda’s path into marketing, her advice for growing your Twitter following, her new live talk show on YouTube called The Menu, and what she’s doing to encourage more inclusiveness online. CREATIVE ELEMENTS • EPISODE 99 Amanda Natividad [Inclusiveness] Growing on Twitter and using her platform to lift up others =[Play episode](=) Apple Podcasts]( Spotify]( ​ ​ LAST WORD 👋 Thanks for reading! I had a really great week of working on the business more so than in the business this week. It really felt like I took strides forward in a bunch of different directions – including hiring people to help me do things! Right now in the Creative Companion Club, we're in the middle of a Shared Focus Sprint focused on building a Signature Lead Magnet. I'm so impressed by the progress people are making – this sprint will be responsible for SO MANY new email subscribers over the coming months. It's not too late to join in on that sprint and catch up on the videos – I recorded a full presentation to get folks started, and the feedback has been incredible. In fact, Justin [gifted me a testimonial]() and says I need to raise the price. 😅 Don't worry – no price raising yet. But the community will eventually have a cap on the total number of members, so at around 100 members I'll likely raise the price a bit. We're ~80 now, so if you're on the fence, jump in! [The water is fine](=). [Join the Club]() ​ Talk to you next week! Cheers, Jay --------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo of Jay Clouse]( Jay Clouse [Say hi 👋 on Twitter]() or [Instagram]( Thanks for subscribing! You can reply to this email or [contact me]( anytime. Too many emails? [Change your preferences]( or [unsubscribe here](. Want to say thank you? [Buy Me A Coffee]() or send a note to P.O. BOX 797, Worthington, OH 43085 This email was sent with [ConvertKit]() and designed using [Palladio]().