“Teach your children well...” l love that you have a creative offspring. And that another person besides myself counts the syllables when a particular phrase flows unexpectedly.
Ha! Yes the compulsion to count syllables is a bit neurotic. I love watching all four of my kids create in their own ways. One thing Im grateful for in my crazy life is the decision to work from home and build my own businesses in non-traditional fields because it have my kids a different way to see the world. Not everyone goes to an office all day.
In the past few weeks I listened to the 3 episodes Joanna Penn did on going direct The Creative Penn podcast. It really lit a fire under me and opened my eyes to the possibilities. I’m rooting for you too!
I figured you had listened to them. I heard your episode on the Books and Travel podcast about your memoir writing. I'll have to search out your Creative Penn episodes and give those a listen!
You wrote: "I’m also going to be transitioning from primarily using third-party sites to sell my physical and digital wares to opening my own e-commerce store. This gives me more control of the business end of Weirdo Poetry."
Thank you for this post. I'm looking forward to following your adventure, the mistakes and the successful steps. Similar to you, Toby and E. R., I need to get my gear shift out of Neutral (or Park), and move forward.
I strongly believe that the best thing creatives can do for themselves and each other is find ways to sell direct, independent of tech giants and their algorithms.
Jason, I just read an article on LinkedIn News that could affect "creators". Feel free to delete this if it's not appropriate. But, if this is a trend, then it's something I'm going to research and follow. It seems to support the transition from using third-party sites to having our own platforms, such as an e-commerce store.
"Patreon announced it is laying off 17% of its staff, or 80 employees, following the disbanding of its five-person security team last Friday. CEO Jack Conte wrote in a blog post the creator platform will close its Berlin and Dublin offices, and the teams impacted include Operations and Finance. Conte emphasized that last week's security cuts "stemmed from a different set of reasons." It's the latest in a slew of layoffs, particularly in tech, with TechCrunch warning this could be a "bad sign" for creator economy companies."
Thanks for sharing this! I think this shows how precarious relying on other platforms can be for creators (even Substack). I have a Patreon account but it's not active. However, I hope Patreon survives. I know so many talented creators who make incredible stuff that otherwise might not find a home in more mainstream marketplaces.
Rooting for you, Jason. I always enjoy when you mention your children. They’re lucky to have such a cool and creative father!
I’m trying to follow Anne Lamott’s advice and take my creative pursuits (and life in general) bird by bird. Chipping away at writing/projects has helped me immensely, and I have started to work toward waypoints like you’ve mentioned before. These approaches have eliminated a lot of stress.
“Teach your children well...” l love that you have a creative offspring. And that another person besides myself counts the syllables when a particular phrase flows unexpectedly.
Ha! Yes the compulsion to count syllables is a bit neurotic. I love watching all four of my kids create in their own ways. One thing Im grateful for in my crazy life is the decision to work from home and build my own businesses in non-traditional fields because it have my kids a different way to see the world. Not everyone goes to an office all day.
Love the haiku and illustrations, and your plan. I’ll be cheering you on. I too am working on adding direct sales to my website. Not easy!
In the past few weeks I listened to the 3 episodes Joanna Penn did on going direct The Creative Penn podcast. It really lit a fire under me and opened my eyes to the possibilities. I’m rooting for you too!
I did too. Joanna is a friend. I’ve been on her show twice. Always good stuff!
I figured you had listened to them. I heard your episode on the Books and Travel podcast about your memoir writing. I'll have to search out your Creative Penn episodes and give those a listen!
A most excellent plan, Jason. Now if only I could equally motivate myself to get back on the old creative trolley to Marketsville...
OK Ok, I've had a few weeks off. Time to put away the bermuda shorts and put the big boy pants back on.
I hope you had a great break, but I did miss your comics!
You wrote: "I’m also going to be transitioning from primarily using third-party sites to sell my physical and digital wares to opening my own e-commerce store. This gives me more control of the business end of Weirdo Poetry."
Thank you for this post. I'm looking forward to following your adventure, the mistakes and the successful steps. Similar to you, Toby and E. R., I need to get my gear shift out of Neutral (or Park), and move forward.
I strongly believe that the best thing creatives can do for themselves and each other is find ways to sell direct, independent of tech giants and their algorithms.
14 Sept. 2022
Jason, I just read an article on LinkedIn News that could affect "creators". Feel free to delete this if it's not appropriate. But, if this is a trend, then it's something I'm going to research and follow. It seems to support the transition from using third-party sites to having our own platforms, such as an e-commerce store.
"Patreon announced it is laying off 17% of its staff, or 80 employees, following the disbanding of its five-person security team last Friday. CEO Jack Conte wrote in a blog post the creator platform will close its Berlin and Dublin offices, and the teams impacted include Operations and Finance. Conte emphasized that last week's security cuts "stemmed from a different set of reasons." It's the latest in a slew of layoffs, particularly in tech, with TechCrunch warning this could be a "bad sign" for creator economy companies."
Source: Monika Fike, Editor at LinkedIn News
https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/patreon-lets-go-of-17-of-staff-5435812/
Thanks for sharing this! I think this shows how precarious relying on other platforms can be for creators (even Substack). I have a Patreon account but it's not active. However, I hope Patreon survives. I know so many talented creators who make incredible stuff that otherwise might not find a home in more mainstream marketplaces.
I look forward to watching your journey via your Substack posts, Jason. You'll encourage me to get some project tasks done.
Rooting for you, Jason. I always enjoy when you mention your children. They’re lucky to have such a cool and creative father!
I’m trying to follow Anne Lamott’s advice and take my creative pursuits (and life in general) bird by bird. Chipping away at writing/projects has helped me immensely, and I have started to work toward waypoints like you’ve mentioned before. These approaches have eliminated a lot of stress.
Thank you for those generous comments!
I really have to focus hard on the living bird by bird. I tend to think I'm an anaconda and want to swallow everything whole.