Season 1 – MC02: Practice Before Promotion with Paul Jarvis

What this episode covers

Paul Jarvis is a web designer and best-selling author who’s spent the last two decades doing design work for some pretty remarkable entrepreneurs, startups and Fortune 500 companies, including Danielle Laporte, Marie Forleo, The Highline in New York City and more. In episode 2 of The Mindful Creator, Paul and I explore why creative entrepreneurs seem to be afraid of focusing creative energy on honing our craft vs. this mad dash to build bigger and louder platforms to gain attention for our work. Like Love The Metric of More – Paul Jarvis It’s okay to enjoy the work – Brett Henley Buttering to the Edges – AJ Leon In this episode * Why we are afraid to truly focus our creative energy on the craft and build something compelling vs. this mad dash to build big, polished platforms to gain attention for our work? * How much time are we spending on talking about what it takes to do great work instead of actually doing great work? * Afraid to miss the success train in the short term – if you miss one, there is another one coming, so no big deal * How do you define enough in a day and age where creating is so democratized? * Why our urgency at the hands of success leads to missed opportunities for creatives to “woodshed” their skills over time to learn and hone their craft * The double-edge sword of validation via metrics and why striving for more is dehumanizing. * People are attracted to the latest and greatest genie in the bottle or trend that promises to give much in exchange for little effort. * How difficult it is measure true connection that people have with your work on a one-to-one basis. * The danger of measuring without context and getting caught up in the numbers game. * The legend of old man Internet * Your body of work as an artist/creator is measured * Art exists in community and the importance of taking time to build * Drowning in opportunity and expectation of platforming building – we panic out of fear of missing our chance at success * How Paul built a successful web design business via word of mouth by focusing on superior customer service, improving at his craft and building genuine relationships * The appeal of scalability and why we don’t always need to scale * In this day and age is is possible/practical * Why people aren’t aware of the present moment enough (and the awesomeness of Paul saying this as his calendar notification pings in background) * The balance of doing the work and letting people share in the process, and why you don’t necessarily need to sell hard, sell fast to successfully gain attention for your creations. * The problem with a wet wool blanket approach to promotion and why it’s better to experiment and find a mode of sharing that works for you. * The power of seeking what you enjoy doing and focusing on aligning your efforts with this vs. marrying yourself to rigid structure and generic best practices for how you create and promote your work. * Why our effort to be too many things at once can create disconnection from our work. * Why Paul thinks a “platform” is just a fancier way of saying connection – and why it doesn’t really matter how or where we connect.

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