Category: Work

Though 2018 has been hellfire in general, it’s been pretty damn good personally for me and a handful of friends. Not perfect, sure, but damn good.

For me it came down to subtraction.

The most successful people I know have a narrow focus, protect against time-wasters, say no to almost everything, and have let go of old limiting beliefs.

Derek Sivers

After seven years I ended my beloved Skull Toaster. Over 2,000 metal trivia questions, 1,000s of emails, videos, and images. It was also never ending, a perpetual extra thing on my to-do list everyday. Sure, I ramped down from three questions per day to one, and a nightly email newsletter to weekly (and back again), but it would never stop. There was always something to do. An album anniversary to honor, the passing of a legend to acknowledge, or another time stamp worth noting. And it would never end.

I wish I knew exactly how to know when to quit, when the payoff isn’t worth the effort anymore. I recall Seth Godin’s “The Dip,” which touches on this. About the effort needed to get to where you’re going.

Investing all the hours leads to what exactly? Perhaps money, oppurtunties, new gigs? I haven’t done something in a long time that didn’t see those things as the goal. Skull Toaster’s purpose was to get me a job doing social media for some unknown media outlet, doing audience growth and community management.

And then I learned I really didn’t want to do any of that.

Was it a waste? Not one bit. But I wouldn’t have learned any of the lessons had I just sat around and waited for a sign, looking skyward for some divine guidance.

Found this bit from ‘F You Money, & Don’t Release Your First Font,’ which on a surface level doesn’t really apply to me since I’m not a designer, but holy moly, I’m glad I kept reading (and a nod to Nina Stössinger for RT’ing it in the first place here):

No matter what you’re interested in, the world will not know how to help you unless you scream from the mountaintops what it is you like to do, and how you like to do it.

James Edmondson

In recent years I got a lot of people asking me what I do, and I’d usually inhale and list a bunch of things, from email marketing to website updates, some audio and video work, writing, transcribing, content strategy… zzzz… quite a pitch, right?

Now?

I work with independent music publicists, managing their websites, social media, and back end operations. 

Like James says, “the world will not know how to help you.” The world  didn’t know how to help me out when I just did “everything.” Now that I know what I like to do, the world and I are now good friends.

The internet may lead you to believe that the only way to live is hustle. Do everything yourself, all the time.

“When folks ask me what I do, the answer is, ‘As little as possible.'”

Chris Glass

Now, Chris Glass isn’t doing nothing, of course, but not working all the time sure is pretty awesome.

Then, while listening to The Process podcast (done by Shannon Lee Byrne), she spoke with two guests in Ep #36 that about “how they’ve designed a life to work less.” They’re pretty frugal (give a listen), but they also own property and lead a creative and fulfilling life.

In my line of work, music publicists offload their busy work (or “digital dirty work” as I like to call it), so they get to work less. They can then use that time to meet a client, organize bigger projects, or just (GASP) not work. On the flip side, I’m not trying to work all the time, either, but I’m focused on just a few, well defined tasks each day, across a handful of clients.

It’s a wild time in 2018, for sure, and it’s bound to get even more bumpy. I think a lot of us are figuring it out as we go, but it’s always reassuring to hear about people who aspire to work less.

It’s been since 2011 since I’ve worked in an office, and I know cubicles are frowned upon, but I’d totally be up for building something like this (Hack) for my own home office purposes.

I’ve been interested in this “Oriented Strand Board” look since I first saw it at Urban Outfitters eons ago. I think the Abelton website (below) played a part, too.

Seriously, I need to learn how to build some of this stuff (below, from Imgur).

I have a love hate relationship with podcasts. Having worked in and around online media for 17 years, I can’t help but wonder about the work flow, the revenue, the sustainability… it’s just stuff that goes thorugh my brain all the time. I can’t help it.

It really seems like so much of podcasting is built via SqaureSpace, Blue Apron, and Freshbooks (at least the stuff I’m listening to). As SNL poked at last weekend, it’s pretty damn predictable. And once those dollars go away, then what?

I’m surprised the skit didn’t include a bit about Patreon, to “support the show” and get exclusive bonus content. Sigh. This is stuff I used to think about with Skull Toaster (RIP 2011-2018), and honestly I’m glad to be out of that game.

But this is all the million dollar question – how do you monetize? How do you support a media project without sponsors, or member support? I’m not trying to answer that here, but I think about that situation a lot.

Look, I don’t know a lot about business, but this doesn’t sound good; “Evernote lost its CTO, CFO, CPO and HR head in the last month” (via Daring Fireball).

I used Evernote for YEARS. Then one time I lost a note I had been working on. Support wasn’t much help, and I ultimatly just had to redo the note. It wasn’t tragic, but it was an experience I had.

Then the whole WORK CHAT thing. What? I just want a place to copy and paste some information. Maybe import some emails or something.

“HI, IT’S MACHINE LEARNING!”

What in the hell, Evernote? That was it for me. I just saw too much emphasis on flashy things and not enough effort on substance. Things that work. It’s okay to not be Slack, just be Evernote! But nope.

I’ve since switched to Bear and I love it. It just does notes, and is really nice for writing, too. Worthy of the yearly pro subscription price.

There is a giant space between beginner and professional, so try not to compare where you’re at with those two. It’s okay to be a beginner. And okay to be a professional and not have *EVERYTHING* figured out.

Make your bed. Have some tea. Read a book. Wash your face. This 24/7 compare-a-thon is for the birds. Rest and recharge, friends.

I love this recent bit from Seth Godin, ‘Entrepreneurship is not a job.’

The work is to solve problems in a way that you’re proud of.

When I started Skull Toaster in 2011 I saw people were bored in between sets at shows, or standing in line, and rather than start some new metal blog that’s always begging for clicks, I put the THING right there on Twitter (@skulltoaster). The “pay off” was on Twitter. Skull Toaster “posts” were on Twitter, and replying was the “comments.”

The problem I’ve always wanted to solve is helping bands sell more music. Because when bands sell music, they have money, which then allows them to do things like eat and have health care.

I’ve been covertly getting the word out about bands with Skull Toaster since 2011, not with “SONG PREMIERES” or copy and pasting tour dates, but by asking a metal trivia question about a band (like this one for Vastum), and then sending a nightly email filled with words about that band, which sometimes leads to people discovering a new band, then possibly becoming a fan, and… buying their music.

And it actually works.

It ain’t a glamorous life, but it’s work I can be proud of.