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.
Do what you say you're going to do
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Hey Reader, "People in my generation just don't work anymore." I laughed. The guy who said it was 20 years old. I met Liam Miller while I was in Dubai for the 1 Billion Followers Summit. I was recording an episode of my podcast, and Liam stopped by the studio to hang out and record some content of his own. He runs a short-form content agency called Shot Social, and the results speak for themselves: He helped scale Diary of a CEO from 150,000 to 1.5M followers in 12 months. His own videos documenting his road to pro football journey regularly pulled 30–50M views each. So when he casually dropped that line about his generation not working, it sounded like something a 40-year-old would say. But then I watched him operate. It wasn’t just talk. Liam does what he says he's going to do. And while this might seem like a small thing, it’s actually rare. We talked about ways we could work together, and he mentioned making some introductions. Most people say that and you never hear from them again. But he immediately set up a meeting with Emma Grede, co-founder of Good American and Skims with the Kardashians. Someone we'd been trying to connect with for a while. He's made four introductions to potential partnerships since we met. It's no surprise where the discipline came from. Liam was a semi-pro football player and the UK's youngest to run a 103km ultra marathon in under 11 hours at age 18. He was regularly up at 4am training. But even though his achievements are impressive for his age, I realized what’s behind it is not anything groundbreaking: He works hard, builds relationships, does what he says he'll do, and follows up consistently. You're probably not following through as much as you think you are. Most people overcomplicate what it takes to succeed. They sit around thinking and say things like, "Let's collaborate." But what are you actually doing? The gap between saying and doing is where most people fail. They know what to do, they’re just not doing it. You can work hard and build great relationships, but it all falls apart without follow-through. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you commit to reaching out, reach out. That's how you become someone people want to work with. PODCASTHow I Actually Grew To 1M+ Subscribers On YouTubeNoah Kagan, founder of AppSumo, grew his YouTube channel to over 1M subscribers and then deliberately stepped away. We talk candidly about what it took to get there and why hitting the goal changed how he thought about success. Noah breaks down the strategies behind his viral growth and talks about the pressure that came with it. It's a rare look at how he reset his approach to content, business, and life. We cover:
Watch or listen to episode » KIT FEATURE10 new automation templates to grow more on auto-pilotWe just added a bunch of new templates to the Automation Library inside your Kit account. They're designed to handle the repetitive tasks that eat up your time. Pick a template, customize it with your content, and let Kit handle the rest. Whether you're launching a webinar, a self-paced email course, or automatically managing upsell sales pitches, these templates will give you a head start. Browse all 10 new templates » Don't have an account yet? CONFERENCECome to Craft + Commerce this JuneWhen you hang out with creators in person, you build the kind of relationships that can change your business forever. You end up having a conversation in the hallway that turns into a collaboration. Someone you meet at breakfast helps you solve a problem you've been stuck on for months. Craft + Commerce is Kit's conference we host for several days every summer in Boise where you're surrounded by people who get it. The sessions are valuable, but the real magic happens in between—the conversations that only happen when you're in the same room. Last year, we sold out. This year, we're tracking to sell out even sooner. Don't wait. Right now, you can save $150 on your ticket, but that price goes up February 20th. If you've been thinking about coming, register now. Seats are limited. 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, I started my career as a designer, so when I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Bill Burnett and Dave Evans for my podcast, it felt like meeting legends. Dave was the product manager for the original Apple mouse and was a cofounder of Electronic Arts. Bill worked at Apple for seven years on the team that pioneered the modern laptop. Getting to talk with them was really special for me. They took everything they learned designing products and applied it to designing your...
Hey Reader, Years ago, I was walking along the Seattle waterfront feeling confused and sad. I'd just attended a design conference. The content was great, but I hadn't met anyone. I was too shy to introduce myself beyond small talk with whoever sat next to me. Ahead, I noticed some of the speakers walking together. People I looked up to. They looked like a group of close friends, laughing and joking. That was the circle I wanted to be part of. I picked up my pace so I could catch up. I got...
Hey Reader, Tell me if this resonates: You're working harder than ever, and your team is busy, but growth has slowed. The reason for this tends to come down to focus. As companies grow, they tend to start focusing too much internally instead of externally. Jason Lemkin, one of the top SaaS growth experts, noticed this pattern with founders. Whenever they don't know what to do next, he tells them to start with the basics: First: talk to your customers. Not surveys or data dashboards. Actual...