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.
Lessons on writing local newsletters
Hey Reader,
Last night a few friends came over for dinner and we spent the evening talking through business ideas and giving feedback her strategy. A few things stood out to me:
- Making money is a skill. Or more specifically, the combination of many skills applied in the right way. The more deliberately you can acquire these skills, the faster you'll make progress.
- There's so much that I take for granted having run my own business or freelanced for the last 15 years. It's hard to take a step back and start from the beginning.
- Helping my friends and community grow their income and become financially independent is my favorite thing. It's my life's work. It's fun to do at scale through software and training, but is especially rewarding 1-on-1.
Maybe someday I'll start a YouTube channel with private jets and flashy cars to gain attention, but instead of selling sleazy courses and real estate scams I'll share substantial advice to help people build a sustainable business. I'd have to charge some money to filter down to people who are really interested, but the proceeds could all get donated to charity.
Start with a hook to draw people in, but then give real value. The best kind of bait and switch!
Anyway, I'm just musing here. I wouldn't actually do that. But I like the idea of teaching business to the general public at scale. That or teaching a college class on wealth creation. Maybe someday.
Alright, enough random musings, here are my favorite links of the week:
FROM ART OF NEWSLETTERS
Ryan Sneddon - Lessons on writing local newsletters
Ryan Sneddon is a self-described CEO and emperor of local news. Ryan is building a hyperlocal newsletter empire one city at a time, starting with Annapolis, MD.
Ryan’s newsletter, Naptown Scoop, is an email to the residents of Annapolis containing all pertinent news and events. It’s an awesome community of residents and business owners coming together to be good neighbors.
This episode was so fun for me since I'm building my own local newsletter, From Boise, and I learned so much from him.
WHAT I'M READING
This interview with Apple's first CEO - Michael Scott
I'm fascinated by these stories of the early days of companies we all know now as big behemoths. There are so many good tidbits in here but I liked how he talked about growing your people as much as you grow your product. I totally agree that's such an important ingredient in success. It's also fun to get some insight into the personalities at the beginning and just how much hard work it took to get them to where they are now.
Read the whole interview here »
FROM CREATOR SESSIONS
Willie Jones
This session is so good! I especially loved the first song he shared, American Dream. I think that during times of intense societal turmoil one of the most beautiful side effects is the art that emerges. This song feels like an anthem for this moment in American history. Its thought-provoking and catchy all at the same time, which isn't easy to achieve. This is one not to miss!
Thanks for joining me this week,
P.S. If you're an experienced backpacker (or want to learn from experienced backpackers) this is a fun thread on Twitter.
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.
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