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.
How to promote your next project
|
Hi Reader, Imagine it’s 5 years in the future, and you’ve just finished a big project. Maybe it’s a book, podcast, course, or an event you’re launching. What’s the best way to promote it? You might think the best thing to do is to follow a time-tested launch process. Many people who have launched a book or podcast have written about various strategies they used for getting attention. But for Barrett Brooks, the single biggest factor contributing to the successful launch of his new podcast was having friends in the industry help promote it. You might remember I promoted Barrett’s new podcast, Good Work, in last week’s issue of the newsletter. Why? Well, because first and foremost, it’s a great podcast. But secondly, I promoted it because he's a long-time friend. Barrett and I met over a decade ago at a conference. At this event, The World Domination Summit (WDS), I would also meet so many other (now) influential people with whom I’d go on to develop close relationships. A lot of people would love to get James Clear on their podcast (like Barrett did). But as you can imagine, with Atomic Habits having sold over 20 million copies, James is in high demand and understandably very selective about the opportunities he takes. So how did Barrett get James to be his inaugural guest? Simple: he and James also met all those years ago at WDS—before James had started his newsletter. We’ve since attended many mastermind retreats together and developed a strong friendship. My life was never the same after attending that conference. One event changed the entire trajectory of my career. Not only would I probably never have met the people I did, but even if I had “met” them online, it would have taken a year or more to build the level of relationships we did over 3 days in person—if ever. Attending conferences can be a big time and money commitment. Unless you happen to already live in the city where the event takes place, beyond purchasing a ticket, you’ll need to arrange flights and a hotel. Often, you may not know anyone else attending an event, which can feel intimidating. You may need to take time off work, and you’re also spending time away from family. You could’ve spent that money on new gear or a mini vacation. It’s a big commitment. But consider the value of having a network of people with related audiences help promote the launch of your next project in a few years. What would that be worth? Even if you compare it to the amount of ad spend it would take to get an equal amount of attention, it’s hard to put a value on the weight a personal endorsement carries from someone with an engaged audience. I know Barrett isn't thinking about the amount he spent to attend WDS in 2012—even though it meant flying across the country. Conferences changed my life, so I decided to host one myself that features all of my favorite things from events I’ve attended over the years. Craft + Commerce began 7 years ago with many attendees saying it’s their favorite conference and the best event they’ve ever attended. If you’re a creator, you’re guaranteed to meet a bunch of like minded people, and there’s a good chance you’ll make connections that end up being invaluable for your career. Join us June 5–8th, 2024 in Boise, Idaho for some inspiring keynotes, intimate workshops, and creator meetups designed to help you make progress towards your goals—whatever they may be.
Hope to see you there! —Nathan P.S. There are only 48 tickets left right now (out of 300) and we expect it to sell out. |
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, If I could solve only one thing in my business, that would have the biggest impact, what would that be? This is the question every great entrepreneur obsesses over. Rather than trying to do everything at once, you look for the bottleneck and focus on solving that. There’s a book called The Goal by an Israeli physicist named Eliyahu Goldratt. It’s a 1984 business novel that business systems nerds love. However if you’re not a business systems nerd you probably… won’t love it. It’s...
Hey Reader, Have you ever spent money on something and immediately felt guilty afterward? Will Guidara spends his money foolishly on purpose. And he thinks you should too. He once bought an entire barrel of whiskey and put it in his basement. He also put a skee-ball machine in the office. Is he going to get a monetary return on either of these things? No. But that’s kind of the point. He calls it the 95/5 rule: Manage your money and time like a maniac 95% of the time (no expense is too...
Hey Reader, Have you ever spent a whole day on something almost nobody saw? It's painful when the whole reason you worked hard was because you wanted to reach people. If you teach a workshop in person, you reach the 20 people in that room. But if you record that same workshop once, you can keep teaching for years on autopilot. This is the concept of leverage, and it's something I talk about in my upcoming book, The Ladders of Wealth (you can pre-order it now). A lot of people will look back...