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.
Spend time with customers
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Hi Reader, If you want to have a great product, you need to do two things:
When’s the last time you signed up for your own software? Or purchased your own product? What is the onboarding process like? What is the purchase experience like? What does it feel like to actually use the product? If you don’t ever use your own product, you will quickly become removed from the actual experience people have. Part of the reason I write a newsletter is because I have ideas I want to share. But another reason is so I can regularly use ConvertKit myself. I know what it feels like to use the software, and I can personally experience points of friction. But using the product myself isn’t enough. I also make a point to regularly speak with customers. This is something a lot of people shy away from, because it’s uncomfortable. It feels nice when you go to an event and you hear someone say they use your product. But instead of saying, “That’s amazing! I’m so glad you like it.” Ask them how you can improve. This is something I remember learning from Ryan Delk years ago. He’d meet people who said they used his product, and he’d say, “That’s amazing,” but then immediately follow with: “What could we do better?” It’s such a simple question, but a scary one. Most people would rather ask what someone loves about their product because it feels good, and it’s less painful. “What can we do better?” virtually guarantees you’re going to get an answer that points out a weakness. It can be a blow to your ego to hear someone describe what they see as shortcomings. But that’s what makes this feedback so valuable. You’re never going to improve if you don’t get feedback from customers—and most of the time, they won’t give you pointed feedback until you give them permission to share. Instead of basking in people being a fan, ask them what you can do better.
PODCASTBuilding a Creator Business That Lasts (with Jackie Aina)At ROI: The Millionaire Summit, Rachel and I were joined by Jackie Aina, co-founder of FORVR MOOD. Jackie is one of the most influential voices in beauty today, and in this episode of Billion Dollar Creator, she shares real, raw, and unfiltered truth about rising from the ground up. You’ll get invaluable insights on creating longevity in your creator business, recognizing red flags in partnerships, and the importance of having a clear mission. Watch or listen to episode » CONVERTKIT FEATUREEmail editor: New sectionsWe've got some exciting updates to the ConvertKit email editor. For all Starting Point templates, we’ve rolled out the ability to add new sections to your Broadcasts and Sequences in your email editor. This will make it even easier and smoother for you to build out your email as you’re writing it. For any sections, you’ll be able to:
You can even use Command/CTRL+Z to undo. This allows you to bring back deleted sections if you need to. BOOKMeans of AscentThis book goes beyond simply covering the early political career of Lyndon B. Johnson and takes you behind the scenes of the dark sides of politics and the inner workings of campaigns. But it’s not just about Johnson’s personal journey. It also offers insights into American politics during the mid-20th century. If you’re into biographies, or just compelling stories, this one has no shortage of interesting power struggles, backroom deals, and moral dilemmas. 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, 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...