💌 Thanks to everyone who reached out with a comment or response to last week's article including Sachin Khona, Regina Larkö, Allyson Dueck, Amisha Ghadiali, Amanda Whitworth and Jan Keck. Thanks for your support, it's always a treat to see all the amazing work our community is doing. 💌

Also, just a heads up before we dive in that this will be the final newsletter issue of 2020. I'll be taking a two week break over the holidays and will be back with a new issue on Sunday, January 10th.

As we round out the year, I wanted to share a poem I wrote a few weeks ago.

As with almost everything I write, I wrote it primarily for myself, but I think (and hope) you'll take something away from it too.

The end of one year and the beginning of a new feels like the perfect time to share and reflect on this idea and I'd love to hear if and how it lands for you. Hit reply to this email and let me know.

Alright, here goes.

The Last Gatekeeper

There’s no piece of paper that can prove, beyond doubt, the worth of your work.

Neither wax seal

Nor gold star

Nor signature of this person or that

Can validate your knowledge

And give you permission to move forward.

To create

Build

Disrupt

Serve.

Just you.

Alone.

Afraid.

A fraud

In your own mind at least.

Stopped dead at an amber light,

Waiting (hoping, praying) for it to turn green.

For some sign or another from the universe

to give you the go-ahead

To signal “NOW IS THE TIME”

In neon letters

Impossible to miss.

A pity.

Many a life was wasted in waiting.

A gift never given.

An idea never expressed,

That would benefit us all.

What would it change to know

That even once all the gates have been opened

And the road stands unimpeded

You must still face one last gatekeeper.

The one that has and will always have the power

To grant or deny you passage.

Who is unmoved

By all the certificates, seals, stars, and signatures in the world.

In the end, this is the only gatekeeper that must be won over

Whether by reason, cunning, force, or persistence.

The gate is already open

Waiting for you to take the first step through.

Latest From Me

Podcast

Creating Thoughtful, Intentional Marketing Funnels w/ Krista Chapman

5 Things You Might Dig

1 // Find of the week: Build A Great Brand With Very Little Money

I'm just finishing up this course from the DO Lectures after working through it over the past couple of months and I have to say, this is one of the very best courses I have ever taken.

I'll say off the bat that this isn't a course about giving you the answers, but about guiding you to the right questions you need to ask of yourself and your brand. I've probably spent over 100 hours on this course, probably 10-20 of those spent watching the videos and the rest journaling and putting the lessons into practice.

I have a lot of work left to do, but after taking this course I feel so much more clarity on what it takes to build a brand that will (hopefully) last for decades into the future.

2 // 4 Realistic Traffic Goals For Small Blogs

One of the hard things about niche content creation is understanding what types of benchmarks you should be shooting for in terms of traffic. This post from Animalz is a fantastic resource for small blogs that provides insight into how to set goals for your blog and content over the coming year.

3 // What To Do When You Have Too Many Ideas To Finish

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you, like me, have more ideas than you can ever hope to even start, let alone finish. More often than not, this leads to a lack of focus and an inability to commit to any idea long enough to see results.

Mayo Oshin shares some practical tips on how to sort through the challenge of idea overwhelm and actually start making progress on the ideas that matter most to you.

4 // Mailchimp's 2020 Annual Report

I've been planning on putting together an annual report for our Counterweight Creative team and clients, recapping what we've accomplished in the past year including team and client additions, product and service rollouts, the non-profit organizations we contributed to and more.

With that in mind, I was really excited to see Mailchimp's recently released annual report. The format is beautiful and they do a great job highlighting the achievements of both their customers and their team. Definitely worth browsing through.

5 // Creative Inspiration/Motivation

When it comes to creative guides and mentors, it's hard to go wrong with the blunt but encouraging style of James Victore.

I've been a big fan of James' since seeing him speak at World Domination Summit a couple of years ago, and while he comes across my field of view from time to time as a podcast guest, this week I started digging deeper into his own content after coming across his webinar on How To Find Your Voice this week and taking a lot away from it.

If you're a creative struggling to do the work you know you're capable of, you should definitely check James out.

“How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”

– Seth Godin –

Photo of the Week

Lend a Hand?

This newsletter is free to receive, but expensive to create.

Each year I spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars putting it together. I think it's worth it, and I hope you do too.

If you've taken anything away from this newsletter or anything else I've created, here are a few ways you can help keep it going:

Help other generous marketers & creators find it by Tweeting about it.
Sign up for an upcoming cohort of Podcast Marketing Academy.
Do something meaningful with your work and tell me about it. This would mean the most of all.

If someone sent you this newsletter and you want your own, you can subscribe here.

This week I'm grateful for: The holidays are here! I think I've mentioned this in every one of the past few issues, but I'm in need of a break and a chance to relax, reflect, and recharge.

Win(s) of the week: Had an idea for a small group program helping people go through the podcast launch process alongside me as I launch a new show in 2021. Right now it's just a rough idea, but if you're interested, hit reply and let me know!

I'm currently excited about: Unplugging, slowing down, eating well, and thinking deeply.

What I’m listening to: Check out my weekly Spotify playlist.

LU #35: The one thing standing in your way