Show Notes
When James pitches for a ghostwriting gig, he needs to quickly present himself as a capable professional to clients for projects often worth $80k or more. Pat faces much the same situation when she meets with prospective clients: they have to believe that she offers professional services that will get them closer to their writing and publishing goals. While they represent two different roles in the publishing world, each shares the same challenge: relate to a potential client in a way that authentically represents them as the experienced professionals they are. This is not easy. But for both, it comes down to one simple rule: be generous. Be generous in your time, knowledge, experience, and with the truth. It isn’t a hard pitch, it’s a soft pitch. Questions for Listeners: * What three pitching strategies do you use? * What is the basis of how you communicate with potential clients? Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide! For Further Exploration: Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.
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More from Gifted Underachievers
Originally aired in August 2024 and back by popular demand… Pat and James begin using low-cost merch to drive high-value social media marketing (Hint: “Can you find our coaster or sticker in your city?” as an Instagram meme), but things go a little awry on Pat’s first couple of merch drops. Questions for You: * How do you market yourself as a creative? * Have your promotional efforts every backfired? * What’s the best marketing you have ever done? Segment Links: The amazing Theremin Man: More Fun Links: Worst Guerrilla Marketing Fails What is Guerilla Marketing? Examples? Guerrilla Marketing for Music Jaw Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Ideas (check out #4!) Proof of Concept: GU drink coasters on the Drive! Support the Underachievers AND get a free book! Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide! Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.
Many creatives engage in creative-adjacent work—editing, teaching, commissions, etc.—to make a living utilizing their respective creative skillset. Often, too, we do this work to gain entrance into not just the creative economy but also the creative world we want to be part of. However, these creative-adjacent careers can take on a life of their own as the paid work crowds out the capacity to do the work we really want to do. In this segment, we float out the premise that to succeed at any of these supposed “side hustles” requires an incredible amount of dedication, skills-building, and time. Is this true? Or is finding time, bandwidth, and capacity simply what creatives must navigate no matter how we earn a living? What other options exist for us to earn a living from our skills in the absence of wild creative success that brings money and time? Perhaps the bottom line is we are fortunate to be able to do what we do and make a living at it. Nevertheless, we consider what we can do differently to create more creative capacity without giving up income. Questions for Listeners * Does your creative adjacent work get in the way of your creative goals? * How do you feel about that? * What are your goals? For Further Exploration: Show your support and get a free book! Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide! Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.
This wee segment shares our consternation about election marketing by text and the need for fundraising in our so-called modern democracies. Questions for Listeners: * Do you vote? * Where you live, do politicians ask for money to get themselves elected? * If not, why not? We don’t need donations! But if you buy us a coffee, you could win a book Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’ll be on the list! Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.
The concept of discipline is a frequent topic of conversation among creatives. And as often, people bring a lot of baggage and prescriptions around how disciplined creatives should be. But what if we had a more generous and open concept of discipline? Maybe we all enter and exist within our creative lives with a range of practices that equate to our idiosyncratic view of being a disciplined creative? Waiting for the goddess to speak to us could be one end while the person grinding it out every single day could be the other. All are good. . .if they work. Right? And maybe it’s even simpler: discipline will look different every time you do it. Questions for Listeners: * Do you ever feel like you are undisciplined, and yet the work gets done? * Have others made you feel that you lack discipline? For Further Exploration: Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide! If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
In creative and creative-adjacent work, we always seem to have more projects and deadlines than we have time for. The Gifted Underachievers talk about how this situation develops and name a few scenarios: * Deadlines take priority, which means that other work gets pushed aside til the deadline’s met * That work then becomes the new priority—the need to catch up makes for more long hours * Life can also intervene with last-minute changes or challenges. It’s a reality for many creative workers that client projects and personal projects compete for our time and energy. Can we ever really catch up? If not, how can we reduce overwhelm, celebrate our accomplishments, and enjoy our brief lives? We have answers. Questions for Listeners: * When’s the last time you were caught up? * What did you do to make that happen? * How long did you stay caught up? For Further Exploration: Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson on working on multiple projects at the same time: Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide! If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.