I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Creator gift guide
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Hey Reader, With Black Friday coming up this week, I thought I'd share a few tools we use at Kit or that I personally rely on. So if you're looking for some good gifts for the creator in your life, these are ones they'll actually use. 1. Elgato PrompterBefore this prompters were clunky and required a separate iPad. Now for $299 you can get the ease of a teleprompter for all your content. I use it extensively for podcast intros and we have a ton of them in Kit Studios. My only complaint is that it's pretty small (9 inches). But they just announced a larger XL version that is 15.6 inches. I'll be upgrading our solo Kit Studios to the larger size once it is released. 2. Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Mini MicrophoneThese are the best wireless mics I've found. It’s hard to believe they're so inexpensive. Lightning or USB-C connections, great battery life, excellent quality. They're tiny, use a magnet to go on your shirt, and transmit to your phone or camera. The one thing they don't do is record directly to the device (no internal storage), but if you just need a reliable wireless mic, these are it. View Hollyland microphones » 3. DJI Osmo Pocket 3We use these at Kit and they're incredibly versatile. Cinematic quality, auto-follow subject, gimbal stabilization, shoots in landscape or portrait, 4K, flips to selfie mode. Probably the best, most compact device for high-quality video available to creators right now. 4. Dot Grid Moleskine NotebookEverything is so digital now, but there's something about putting pen to paper. I still love a good dot grid notebook for sketching out flywheel ideas or brainstorming. You really can't go wrong getting one of these as an inexpensive gift for the creator in your life. 4. Wispr FlowI'm a big fan of this dictation app. I rarely type anymore. I mostly just speak, and Wispr Flow cleans up my speech into proper grammar with punctuation almost instantly. I'm training myself out of the typing habit entirely. Here's the rule I follow: if you already know what you want to say, speaking is faster than typing. I don't know if you can purchase a subscription as a gift, but if you can find a way to pay for a year subscription for someone, you should. Once you start using it, you can’t go back. Kit - Email marketing that automates your growthKit's running the biggest deal of the year through December 2nd. “If you're trying to tie audience growth, revenue growth, and email together, Kit is the best way for you to build that flywheel for your creator business.” – Jay Clouse New to Kit or on a free plan? Get 50% off the Creator Plan for three months. Unlock unlimited automations and sequences that turn your audience into reliable revenue. Get 50% off Creator Plan » Get 25% off Creator Pro » PODCASTHow To Live a Meaningful Life Using Design ThinkingBill Burnett and Dave Evans are Stanford professors who helped millions rethink how they approach work, joy, and meaning. Their framework for Designing Your Life grew far beyond the classroom, impacting people across generations and industries. Before teaching, they worked on products like the Apple Lisa and the original Mouse—products that defined this entire age of design. Getting to talk with them was really special for me. My first career was as a designer, so sitting down with the people who worked on the products that shaped generations of design felt significant. Their next book, How to Live a Meaningful Life, comes out February 3rd. I help them come up with a plan to reach 10M readers. Watch or listen to episode » Have a great week! —Nathan |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Hey Reader, There's a pattern with creators who struggle to break through the million-dollar barrier. You often have a lot of things working, but you still feel stuck. Sometimes it’s your tactics, but more often than not, it has to do with your mindset. Recently, I recorded a podcast episode with Barrett Brooks where we talked about the 5 traps keeping you stuck below $1M. Barrett helped us build Kit in previous years as COO, and he now coaches some of the biggest names in the creator world....
Hey Reader, If you're raising kids right now, you know the world they're growing up in looks nothing like the one we did. The traditional school system was built to prepare kids to be good employees. Show up on time, follow instructions, do the work assigned to you. That made sense when companies needed people to execute tasks. But now, access to AI is like having access to employees. Your kids can prompt an AI to write code, design graphics, analyze data, or solve problems. They don't need...
Hey Reader, Last week I talked about my wastebasket for ideas. The idea bin helps you manage the constant flow of new ideas without letting them derail your focus. But eventually, an idea sticks around long enough that you decide it's worth exploring. So what do you do next? Here's the framework I like to use: test, bet, systematize. 1. Test When you pull an idea out of the bin, you're not committing to it long term. You're designing an experiment to see if it's worth pursuing. A good test...