“YOU BUILD A FOLLOWING, THEN MONETIZE IT.”

This is a quote from the “New York Times,” from a sidebar to the article “The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t” Be sure to read the stories of the six creative people featured – “The New Making It”

YOU START OFF NOWHERE AND YOU’RE LUCKY IF YOU GET SOMEWHERE.

Too many want to start at the top. They don’t want to do the hard work. But it always is hard work. What looks like an overnight success is not. People would rather believe the myth.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU WALK OUT THE FRONT DOOR.

This is my personal mantra. We’re creatures of habit. And now that usually means staying at home in front of the screen. But if you leave the house, you bump into people, you have experiences, you’re in the flow and inspired. Try it.

NOBODY TELLS THE TRUTH.

They lie about how many albums they’ve sold, about how many fans they have and how much money they make. You especially see this in Los Angeles, where people who are broke drive $100,000 cars. Take everything people say with a grain of salt, EVERYTHING! And know that inadequacy is a state of mind. As that old Jamaican seer once sang, you can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try…

SUCCESS IS USUALLY FLEETING.

Did you see that Yvonne Craig, television’s Batgirl, sold real estate when acting gigs dried up? Respect those who’ve persevered and are still making a living at art, it’s extremely difficult.

PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR THE HITS.

If you’re doing a live gig, and people are paying for access, you’ve got to give them what they want, or something equally as good. I know, it sucks, but that’s the pressure of building upon prior success.

GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

When music, TV and movies were limited in quantity, desire frequently outstripped production, people listened to and watched that which they might not have if they had more choice. Now, they’ve got choice. And there’s a rush to quality. Which is why summer TV is fading in America, on cable channels, the WSJ wrote about a fall in the double digits:

“Summer-TV Watchers Abandon Cable Shows”

Used to be we watched network reruns in the summer. Now we don’t even want to watch originals, unless they’re as good as what we can stream on Netflix.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AT THE TOP TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

But you do have to be happy with this success. And not be sour grapes that you did not make it to the show. And there’s nothing wrong with being a hobbyist, as long as you realize that’s what you are and give up the dream.

HATING FADES AWAY, THOSE HATED UPON LAST.

This is something that almost no one in the creative class can get over, the hate. People have always hated those with success, but it’s worse now that people have a voice online and economic times are so challenging. If you get caught up in the hating you’ll be dragged down. Ask yourself, would you send an equal amount of hate with the same vitriol? It’s a reflection upon the hater, not you. Follow Obama, who refused to respond to the Birthers, because he knew it wasn’t about his birth certificate, but the sheer fact he was in the White House. Obama won the election. So did you. Bask in it and try to look forward, don’t let the naysayers drag you down.

WORD OF MOUTH IS EVERYTHING.

If no one is talking about you, nothing is happening, you’re dead in the water.

“Y’ALL TALK ABOUT UX LIKE IT’S JUST ANOTHER FEATURE. FOR A USER, IT LITERALLY IS THE PRODUCT. FULL STOP. EVERYTHING ELSE IS INSIDE BASEBALL.”

This is a quote, from the Twitter account of Startup L. Jackson (@StartupLJackson). Or, as that old tire commercial once said, user experience is where the rubber meets the road. Features are secondary to usability. Just ask Microsoft, it had all the market share but its lunch was eaten by Apple, a supposed also-ran. This is how the new Apple screwed up Apple Music. Sure, we might clamor for more features, but that’s secondary to bitching that the product is hard to use/unfathomable… We expect every product to be intuitive and work from the first iteration. This is not the electric windows of cars in the sixties. If you want to improve something on the fly, label it BETA!

YOUR BEST IDEAS WILL BE STIMULATED BY SOMEONE OR SOMETHING ELSE.

If you live in a vacuum the light bulb will never go off. You need to read, you need to talk to people, you need to synthesize information into something new. He not busy being born is busy dying (thanks Bob!)

HE WHO BITCHES LOUDEST IS THE LEAST IMPORTANT.

Funny how this works. Those who’ve made it rarely complain, they know what it took to get there and they know change is a campaign, not just mindless yelling, often executed behind the scenes.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE SMART.

They may not be book smart, they may be street smart, but when you think you can do the job of the CEO, you’re usually wrong. First and foremost, you could never get the gig.

YOU MAKE YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES.

There is no insurance anymore. Plenty of people go to Ivy League schools and don’t set the world on fire. Sure, it helps to be born on third base, but that’s not the only way to make it.

PEOPLE WANT TO BUY.

They want new and different, they want to tell everybody about it and spend money on it, it’s a badge of honor. So when you’re broke…either you don’t have an audience or you haven’t figured out how to monetize it.

DON’T BE A PRISONER OF THE PAST.

If you’re not constantly reevaluating, if you’re not constantly thinking about change, if you believe you’re secure…as Rob Halford once sang, you’ve got another thing comin’. And it ain’t gonna be good.

NOBODY HAS ALL THE ANSWERS.

Your opinion is just as good anybody else’s. Don’t let others be an impediment, assuming you believe in your idea and have traction.

IT ALL DOESN’T MATTER.

Not the money, nor the status…it’s a game people play while they’re alive and then they die and they’re forgotten. Bob Dylan had it right:

Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me ‘Pa’
That must be what it’s all about
That must be what it’s all about

“Sign On The Window”