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Articles on finishing self-generated work and building expertise-based creative businesses, with the Creative Engine, Ground Truth, and Capacity frameworks.
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Raise your bar for risk: do something scary and don’t die
I’ve got a vulnerability hangover. I recently finished a launch campaign for my new course on building an audience and marketing specifically tailored for creatives who (think they) loathe marketing. You might not know what I mean by a “launch campaign” (I sure didn’t, the first time I found myself running one, back in early 2016), but you’ve definitely seen them in action. From the outside, a launch campaign looks like this Someone you follow or subscribe to starts ramping up their email schedule, getting super excited, sharing constantly on social media, and you go, oh man, here it comes. Maybe there’s a webinar: a training followed by selling what they’re gearing up for. I’ve signed up for a lot…
Authentic Visibility: Growing your audience without selling your soul
The secret to becoming known for the work that you care about most without selling your soul or wasting all your time on humiliating “self-promotion”? Authentic Visibility. Let’s do a little thought experiment. Let’s say you’re working on something big. (Yes: all real projects that are currently emerging from Authentic Visibility students. You know you want to see them!) Your work could be utterly transformational for so many people…if only they knew about it. And that’s where things fall apart. As you near the finish line on your amazing project, instead of getting more and more excited, a feeling of dread starts to settle in your guts. It simply cannot be that this work that you’ve poured your heart and…
How to accidentally build an “Authentic Personal Brand” when the whole idea makes you gag
Heeeeyyyyy! Check it out! I’ve got a brand-new website! I’m proud, I’m happy… I’m definitely completely sure it’s not finished…but I’m going live anyway! Ever heard the phrase, Imperfect Action? It means take action before you have every detail nailed down. It means take the jump. It means Dare to be Bad. Imperfect action is perfectly aligned with my DIY comics, punk-rock history. Let me explain… Artbabe.com I built my first website back in 1998, when I was about to decamp from my natal Chicago to go live in Mexico City. I worked with Matt Spiegler (lately of CheeseNotes…how lives do evolve! ) to create this first site. It’s so far in the past that I have a hard time…
Making better comics: 12 years and 12 hard-won lessons learned
The point of being human is to try things that are incredibly difficult, to reach for heaven, even if it exceeds your grasp. That’s who we are. That’s what makes it all worth it.
Want attention for your work? You need a hook. (Video lesson!)
Ou may also like the Story Building series, based on Out on the Wire. Part 1: Story ideas Part 2: The Focus Sentence Part 3: The XY Story Formula Part 4: Chronology and suspense Part 5: Framing and the Story Matrix I admit it; like just about everyone, part of me still clings to the fantasy that if I just make awesome stuff, and keep on making more of it, somehow I’ll get discovered (how? by whom?), and my work will sell gangbusters (where? how?) without me having to lift a finger. The audience’s attention will naturally gravitate towards the work. I’ll make so much money that I can just sit back and plan my next amazing work…on my own…
You may ask yourself: Well, how did I get here?
First of all, I realized I had a business model. Who knew?
Are you waiting for proof that you’re really an artist?
If what you’re doing is deep, if it’s worth doing, it’s going to be hard.