Busy week? Here's what you missed...
Hi there!
Looks like you might have missed last week's Listen Up Newsletter so I wanted to send it to you again in case it got lost in your inbox.
Have a great weekend!
Jeremy
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Happy Sunday friends!
You might notice a new look around here. I'll explain a bit more below, but the TL;DR version is that after over a year of publishing the Listen Up newsletter without a lot of clarity about what it was really about, that clarity is starting to arrive, and with it, a name change better communicating the through line that ties each issue together.
So with that said, welcome to the first issue of the newly rebranded Creative Wayfinding Newsletter.
Thanks to the many of you who filled out my recent subscriber survey. Your answers were instrumental in helping me get some much-needed perspective on the themes of the newsletter.
Aside from the new name, there's a more cohesive design, and some new elements scattered throughout the newsletter. I've also set up a shiny new sign up page for you to send your friends if you're so inclined.
Alright, let's get onto this week's idea!
To Find Clarity, Start Walking Before You Know Your Destination
It would be something of an understatement to say I’m a fan of walking.
Aside from taking at least one long walk every day, I take many of my calls while walking, read books about walking, generate all my best ideas while walking, and–as you may have noticed–like to write about walking as well.
No, I’m not a fan. I’m obsessed.
Kelly, on the other hand, isn’t quite as keen. Despite this, every so often I manage to convince her to go for a long walk together, such as the one we took last weekend.
The destination was a section of the coast just outside of town. I’d walked the rocky stretch and explored the abandoned decades-old bunkers carved into the hillside a handful of times before, but wanted to share the area with her as well. As we crossed the bridge over the river that marked the edge of town, we turned off the main road and headed up a small dirt trail that snaked its way through the tall grass in the direction of the sea.
“How did you find this path the first time you walked here?” Kelly asked.
I thought for a moment, but found that I didn’t actually have a good answer.
When I don’t know the terrain, I tend to simply start walking, following what’s often little more than a vague curiosity. At times that curiosity might be centered on a prominent landmark or geological feature. At other times, however, I choose my direction simply by chasing a patch of sunlight, a particularly alluring looking street, or an enthralling scent on the breeze. My typical mode of travel might be best described as “whimsical.” If anyone was ever going to accidentally stumble into Narnia, it surely would be me.
The first time I walked this route, my goal had been the sea. From our apartment, I could see white-capped waves crashing against the ragged shoreline further up the coast, and so, on my initial exploration had set out to find my way there.
I took the main road, crossed the bridge over the river that marked the edge of town, and then stopped, spotting a small, dirt trail snaking its way through the tall grass in the direction of the sea. I didn’t know where this path led, but I had nothing but time, and the road I was on was certainly not going to lead me to the coast. So I took the trail.
Fifteen minutes later, after a few wrong turns through an abandoned property development project and a bit of light bushwhacking, I had reached the shoreline.
This approach, of starting with little more than a vague destination, sometimes only a hunch, and then following my curiosity has served me well. It leads to unexpected discoveries, helps you understand the local geography, improves your sense of direction, and to top it off, is good for your health. This mode of travel doesn’t just apply to walking, however.
Create For The Sake Of It
This act of starting before we know where we’re going and picking up the thread on the fly mirrors the creative process exactly.
We start out with a bit of curiosity and a vague destination in mind, and, if we choose to follow that curiosity, have little choice but to do so blindly. While our end destination might not be specific when we set out, at some point, we hope, by walking long enough, we’ll pick up the thread and find it.
Which is precisely what’s happened to me in the past few weeks with this newsletter.
When I started this newsletter a little over a year ago, I had no idea where it was leading. I saw an opportunity to contribute in a format that excited me, and a curiosity and willingness to see where the path would lead.
Rather than writing to help a specific audience achieve a specific goal, I wrote what I wanted to write. More than that, each week, I wrote what I needed to hear.
This approach has kept the newsletter fun, fresh, and even a vital part of my life, and it’s been immensely gratifying to hear that it’s resonated so deeply with so many readers. At the same time, I’ve known that without being clear on who the newsletter is for and what the through-line is that ties it all together it would be hard to grow consistently. It’s hard to market something when you don’t really know what it is after all.
The word “wayfinding” first popped into my head in January and immediately resonated with me as the embodiment of what I was doing with this newsletter. That initial breakthrough then kicked off a long, slow process of gaining clarity, with more and more pieces of the puzzle coming into view over the past five months.
While I’m far from absolute clarity (can we ever actually achieve it?) on the future of this newsletter, I feel as though I can see juuuust far enough through the fog ahead to kick off this new chapter with at least some certainty about where the road leads.
To be clear, nothing about the content has changed, other than it’s going to be more focused, intentional, and sure of itself. I’d like to think it’s going to have a bit more swagger.
Whether you consider yourself a creator, marketer, entrepreneur, or mix of all the above (like me), I’m guessing you spend a good chunk of your days feeling lost (also like me). Maybe you feel a vague lack of direction. Maybe you feel completely unmoored, floating out at sea.
You may have wandered off the beaten path by accident or you may have left it intentionally in search of a better way forward. Regardless, my goal with this newsletter going forward is to help you navigate that sense of not knowing where you’re going or how to get there that comes with doing creative work. Because I’m right there with you, and we’re all in this together.
While I’m excited about this newly clarified direction, it’s clear that this is just the jumping off point. I sense a manifesto in the works along with a number of new offerings and one day, hopefully, a book.
After a year of walking blindly with only a vague sense of direction, I’ve picked up the thread. The through line, I’ve realized, that runs through this newsletter and everything that will follow is this: Practical wisdom for navigating the creative wilds.
Here’s to searching, seeking, hoping and dreaming–to me the essence of wayfinding.
Thanks for walking with me this far, it means the world.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this next leg of the journey takes us as we map it together.
1 // Marketing: The Racecar Growth Formula
“If you ask ten people around your company “How does our product grow?” you’ll often get ten different answers. You might hear “by building an amazing product” or “PR” or “SEO.” This misalignment is a big problem, because it’ll lead to your teams spinning their wheels on misguided projects, ill-timed bets, and low-impact work.”
This article was written with startups in mind, but it applies equally to solo creators. How many of us actually know what will lead to the growth of our products and services after all? If you’re anything like me, you’d like to think that you know, but if pressed for details… well, let’s just say those details may hazy.
The Racecar Growth Formula outlines the 4 components any business needs to achieve sustainable growth, The (Growth) Engine, Turbo Boosts, Lubricants, and Fuel and the common mistakes businesses make when putting them into practice.
My big takeaway was that I’ve been focusing on the Growth Engine component when I should be focusing on Turbo Boosts instead, given the stage my business is at.
👉 Read the article(14 min)
2 // Inspiration: Start Your Next Creation Off Right
The opening line of any blog, newsletter, podcast or video is the most important sentence in the piece. A good first line hooks your audience and pulls them into the rest of the content. A mediocre first line loses a significant percentage of your audience even if the rest of the content is phenomenal.
Best First Lines is a living database of sentences that grab your attention, pulling from books, speeches, screenplays and more. This has already been added to the top of my writing toolkit.
3 // Reflect: When The 80/20 Rule Fails
“The 80/20 Rule will help you find the useful things in your past and get more of them in the future. But if you don’t want your future to be more of your past, then you need a different approach.”
The 80/20 Rule is a staple of productivity hackers, and there’s a lot to be gained by applying it to your own life. But As James Clear shares in this eye-opening article, the Rule has it’s shortcomings, namely when it comes to embarking on a new endeavour.
Along with an understanding of the 80/20 Rule in the first place, this article is required knowledge for anyone doing creative work.
👉 Read the article(6 min)
4 // Tool: Super Portfolio
LinkTree is a fantastic tool for social platforms Instagram or Twitter that only allow you to share one link in your profile. But sometimes you want a bit more flexibility than LinkTree’s restrictive design allows for. Super Portfolio allows you to go beyond links and add your bio, videos, public content calendar, Q&As, and more to your portfolio page.
5 // Feature Creator: Female Startup Club
This week, Podcast Marketing Academy member Doone Roisin launched the psychedelically rebranded website for Female Startup Club. The FSC podcast and community is the go-to resource for female DTC startup founders and it’s been an honour to work with Doone to hone the messaging and concept of the show further over the past couple of months.
Give your friends a creative boost (and win prizes!)
Got a friend who could use a shot of creative clarity? Refer 2 new subscribers: Get a shoutout in a future newsletter (& a Google-boosting backlink) on the Creative Wayfinding Supporters page. Refer 10 new subscribers: Get a feature write-up on your work in a future issue's 5 Things You Might Dig section. PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far
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This week I’m grateful for: To be feeling more clarity around the direction of this newsletter and everything that will spin off of it than I have in the year+ since starting it. Let’s gooooo.
Win(s) of the week: I set up my first evergreen funnel, consisting of paid ads → free offer → paid offer upsell. In true creator fashion, I’ve spent the past year and a half creating a ton of products but do an absolutely terrible job of promoting them. This funnel is the first step of doing a better job capitalizing on the assets I’ve already created.
I’m currently excited about: It’s been a great couple of months in Albania, but I’m excited to be back in Belgrade as of yesterday. No view of the sea, but a lot more variety in the way of conveniences, coffee shops and restaurants than Sarandë. Also there’s a bakery across the street that has AMAZING cinnamon buns…
Full weekly update: Check out the full breakdown of what I learned and accomplished this past week as well as my newsletter website, and Twitter stats on my public weekly update page.
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A question for you: What do you think of the new name, design & vision for the newsletter? Hit reply to this email and let me know your experience of feeling lost and finding your way.