“Writing” is actually editing.
And “first drafts” are actually thinking.
If you’re always worried about what might happen…
Nothing will ever happen.
“In every man, there are many men.”
Good line from the first episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Newsletter creators freak out when Apple or Google do something to make it easier for people to unsubscribe.
But here’s the thing:
Why do you want people on your list who don’t want to hear from you?
They’re doing you a favor.
Cool book concept - just bought it.
No one ever feels good looking at their to-do list, it’s an inherently negative experience.
A done list is the opposite.
This is a pretty compelling tease for an upcoming newsletter issue.
The banner on Nike’s about page:
Every masterpiece you see was created by someone who at some point wasn’t sure it was good enough to put into the world.
Imagine how many masterpieces we’ll never get to see because their creators guessed wrong.
Now THIS is how you welcome a buyer
I bought a digital product from the Do Lectures. Here’s the excellent first email they sent me after buying: SUBJECT: Thank you for the trust Hi Josh, I saw that you made your first purchase with us yesterday, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your trust. My biggest learning since starting The DO Lectures is that it’s all about the community.
Someone asked me how I “read the entire internet”
Here was my answer… I’ve been doing this a LONG time. True story: In 2000 I had a job writing a daily blog for a film industry publication (before most people knew what a blog was). My job was to find the most interesting news of the day online and compile it into one blog post published every morning. Only one problem: Most industry news sites like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter didn’t update their sites during the day because they didn’t want to hurt their print papers!
Digital vs Analog
Cal Newport on the challenge of our times: “A third of this is knowing what not to use - don’t get stuck using TikTok all the time. A third of it is knowing what to use - I need to take advantage of the opportunities that new technologies make possible. The other third is knowing the analog stuff to really embrace - to make sure the digital isn’t completely pushing you around.
Just another batch of restaurant coupons…wait…funeral catering???
The goal of your first sentence is simply to get people to read the next sentence..
And with each additional sentence you get someone to read, they become exponentially more likely to read the whole post.
David Letterman kept a stack of cups in his dressing room - each one represented a completed show.
New playlist:
(these guys get it.)
Dear email marketers and newsletter creators,
You can stop automatically inserting each subscriber’s first name into your emails.
Everyone knows it’s automated.
No one thinks you’re personally sending that email to them.
You’re not fooling anyone.
If you can’t communicate what you want to say clearly in a sentence, you won’t be able to communicate it clearly in 100 sentences.
All writing is about the reader…even when it’s about you.
New playlist:
you’ll be singing along by the end of the song
this one started with a scene in “it’s complicated”