Physical 4x6 index cards (organized with the zettelkasten method—https://zettelkasten.de/posts/overview/) and corresponding digital version in Notion
14,406 karma · joined November 17, 2020
In no way am I saying the only reason for learning is business—there's plenty of intrinsic value. But all that learning has to subsidized with something...
From a business perspective, there's a good chance there's more than a handful of earning opportunities right under each of our very noses every day. The key is to find the ones that align with our strengths, personalities, skillsets, etc...
Frankly I don't know if it actually makes things more "effective" per se—the editing phase is the most difficult for me. I've collected some tricks to edit my own work (e.g., read out loud, change the font, triple space and print on paper, etc...) and also enlist the help of a friend, a peer, or a freelance editor. But this is where the doubts I had let go of come boomeranging back. By then though, the idea is usually strong enough for me to make a case for it and to keep refining. (If it's not I'll just shelf it and start on a different draft.)
The problem is, more and more people are turning to this as a viable source of income. In the piece, I reference the tragic death of Mocha, who turned to Bilibili to stream when he had nowhere to work (https://www.inkstonenews.com/society/aching-hopelessness-nob...).
There's some more evidence—say, people trying to calculate how much TikTok engagement they'll need to stream to get Christmas gifts (https://twitter.com/robyncaplan/status/1328432778942312449). That, plus the survey that more children want to become a vlogger when they grow up (https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/american-kids-would-...), is why I wrote the piece.
Of course, dream jobs change as people grow up and figure out feasibility, so I'm not too concerned about that. Plus, I have no intention to squish anyone's dreams, but I was hoping for this piece to do two things:
1. Paint a clearer picture of the economics of platforms, and that—for most people—it's generally a terrible way to make money. 2. Encourage media, platforms, and other creators to share more data and facts, instead of another, "This high schooler made $1 million in 5 weeks on Snapchat." https://people.com/human-interest/snapchat-high-school-senio...
This is an old story. People will know the odds of starting a band and becoming a rock star, and still do it. So I just want to make sure people go all-in on it with deliberation, and that the most marginalized people don't turn to it when they most need it.
Williamdclt put it well: "Well, it's not that simple is it. For decades actors, musicians and artists have been complaining that they have to live in misery to pursue their art and fighting for better conditions, it's not like they've always been OK with the status quo."
If platforms do have an opportunity to better distribute the income for creative work, I think it's worth collective action from creators to put pressure on them to do it. If that means changing the algorithm to spotlight more people's videos, which means the popular videos effectively cross-subsidize them (like a record label would back in the day), I would think it's worth trying.
I did not expect so many comments on this entry, so I'll do my best to contribute—but yours was at the top so I figured I'd start here! Thanks again.
"Looking at creativity as something that’s much less precious will help you stick with it long-term. Along with that, people around you will be a lot more supportive if you’re a bit more flexible and a bit less douchey about it. Like you’re not so pretentious in terms of, 'I’m an artist, I need to blah blah blah.' If you take it down a notch and just look at it as something you have to do today, just like taking a dump or eating supper, then it will be more sustainable in the long run."
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/3/21046790/beeple-mike-winke...
It's going to be really tough for the "middle class" of independents—whether you're in content creation or apps. But if you use streaming platforms purely as a way to get discovered, and build direct relationships with your audience, you can price and sell your own stuff. No more $0.006 per stream or whatever. (https://qz.com/1507361/mariah-careys-record-breaking-day-sho...)
That requires self-reliance, which is tough, but will be worth the payoff. I write more about it here: https://herbertlui.net/own-your-marketing-own-your-income/
Ryan Leslie is a good example of this—took his music of Spotify and went direct to audience, sold fewer albums but made more money. https://shift.newco.co/2017/03/10/ryan-leslie-shifts-the-con...
Increasing more relevant: Derek Sivers writes the way to be happy while being creative is to keep a good, steady, easy, full-time job and to create just for its own sake: https://sive.rs/balance
A friend said to me, "I don't know how," is just the beginning—and the process of discovering how is where the energy from creativity comes from.
Nonetheless, it's still a great tool to help me preview or "skim" through a video.
Whether you use metaphors or first principles, to even capture the scope of the problem and the important pieces that influence it is the first task.
Secondly, what do we lose at the expense of increased productivity/work output? What were the unseen fruits of chilling and leisure?
Cool link. I need to spend more time with this, Peter Drucker is brilliant. It sounds like you and I write similarly, I am a meticulous outliner.
I really like voice dictation as a writing alternative, but I need to be really focused. e.g., I tried "freewriting" by voice when I was cleaning the bathroom once, and it turned out sloppy.
Thanks for starting this topic btw, great question and I'm really liking the discussion.