Yeah, but shouldn’t I be out there generating business?

That’s the artist’s dilemma. That it order to monetize our creativity, sustain
our career and support our lifestyle, we have to put down the pen, put on the
commerce hat and start pounding the pavement, spending most of our days trying
to get noticed, get liked, get retweeted, get interviewed, get booked, get
hired, get reviewed, get paid and get rich.

Which wouldn’t be such a problem, except for the fact that
most artists don’t care about the business of art. We just want to
express ourselves and share our work with the world.

Charles Schultz, the greatest cartoonist who ever lived, has
been my hero since I was a kid. In a number of different interviews over the
years, his self-proclaimed secret to business success – not cartooning success,
but business success – was simply drawing one good comic strip, everyday.

Everything else flowed from there. The movies, the
merchandising and the money were all direct dividends from that baseline
commitment to showing up at the desk and doing real work, every single day.
Getting his units up, executing more actual product and shipping more lasting
value, in the unique way that only Schultz could deliver.

We can’t ignore our enterprise, hiding behind a desk,
hoping our art will magically monetize. We still have to get paid. Artists who
don’t sell, suffer.

But if we’re concerned that we should be out there
generating business, always remember that doing the work is generating
business.

When in doubt, create.

That way, every cent starts as a sentence.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What have you created today?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “157 Pieces of Contrarian Wisdom,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Do you need an expert who tells you what to do, or a mentor who lets you tell yourself what to do?

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

Entrepreneurs relish the romantic notion of having no boundaries,
no obligations, no expectations, no responsibilities, no schedule to keep, no
time constraints, no place to be, no one to answer to and no one breathing down
their neck.

That’s why we hired ourselves in the first place. So we could
do whatever we want.

The flip side is, too much freedom is a dangerous thing.

First, it means too many choices, so indecision paralyzes us. And we end up producing less because we’re pulled in too many directions.

Second, it means too much flexibility, so it’s easier to
procrastinate and harder to motivate. And we get bored because work expands to
fill the time given to complete it.

Third, it means too much time, so we feel unfulfilled. And depression
kicks in because having nothing to constantly work on destroys our mood.

Fourth, it means too much reflection, so we default to
negative thinking. And the tendency to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves
is hard to ignore.

Fifth,
it means too much space, so we lack direction and purpose in our work. And we
end upsitting in a coffee shop in the middle of the day
wondering what we should do next.

Sixth, it means too much complacency, so we don’t stay
hungry. And our work ethic declines because there’s nobody to notice if we
don’t execute.

Seventh, it means too much time in our own heads, so we lose
perspective. And we end up standing on a whale, fishing for minnows, because
we’re too close to ourselves.

Alan Fletcher once said the first move in any creative
process is to introduce constraints.

Maybe we don’t need as much freedom as we thought.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How can you get more done in more time?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “27 Ways to Overcommunicate Anything,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Scott has written and published over 1,000,000 words.

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