Business: 9 Negotiation Tactics from a Former FBI Hostage Negotiator [Blog]
Learning how to negotiate is one of the most important skills you'll develop in your life. You may not believe you're in the business of sales but in reality, we're all salespeople - and mastering negotiation will help you be more successful in whatever you're trying to sell.
Whether it's selling a brand on the fact that they should sponsor your content or selling a high-ticket service, negotiation is essential and this blog highlights 9 key tactics you can use.
Money: 5 Money Tactics Every Freelancer or Entrepreneur Can Benefit From [Thread]
Knowing how to manage money as a creative is key to having a successful career. This quick thread from Travis Gatzmeier, CFP® highlights 5 tactics to help you manage your money more effectively so you can spend more time focused on creating:
Strategy: How Andrew Schulz Built a YouTube Comedy Empire [Video]
In an interview with Colin & Samir, Andrew shared his story about the shift in the comedy business from only making money from shows to expanding into content to further build brand and generate income.
"The beautiful thing about YouTube and social media is that the algorithm is your marketing . . . the [comedy] clips would tap into different communities and then those communities would share them like crazy"
Andrew also touches on how important having a content library is so that when one video or piece of content takes off, people can go to your channel and fall down your content rabbit hole - eventually turning them into raving fans from work that you've already done.
With Andrew being a creator and comedian, this was one of my favorite episodes of the Colin & Samir Show and if you have an hour to burn this weekend, I highly recommend checking it out.
The Jeen-yuhs docuseries released on Netflix last week has given us an inside, behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest hip-hop careers of all time.
Coodie Simmons began filming Kanye before he was known by anyone outside of Chicago and captured the most historic moments in his illustrious career.
In an interview with Sway, Coodie revealed that their team of editors worked for 2 years to put the documentary together as he'd been filming Kanye for over 10 years. (I wonder how many hard drives were used throughout the whole process)
It's reported that the 3-part series was sold for $30 million to Netflix, but many people on the team have claimed that the number is inaccurate.
Nonetheless, the documentary showed what it's like to be an unknown creator who has a belief in their own work, but hasn't yet been recognized by those who can help elevate their career (for Kanye, this was a music label).
Kanye was on a mission to prove to the industry that he was more than just a producer. He wanted to release his own music and be known as a rapper and an artist - much like many up & coming creators want to be recognized for their content and creations.
He barged into Roc-A-Fella records to play the now classic "All Falls Down" in hopes of getting signed so he could release the also now classic, "The College Dropout" album.
He had unwavering confidence in his abilities but through all of the work and passion, my biggest takeaway - and something I believe every creator can learn from - is this:
He never stopped producing beats for other artists
His early career was fueled by making beats and producing songs and albums for other artists.
However, because there were gatekeepers for him to have a shot at becoming a rapper (music labels), he had to keep producing to pay bills and live his life.
I relate this to creators who haven't reached a point in their career where they can be full time and they currently do freelance work, have a 9-5, or perform other services outside of their content creation to make money while pursuing their creative career.
I think we exist in a time where it's so easy to see other people blow up or succeed that we get down on ourselves because we haven't "made it" yet.
For Kanye, he didn't have the transparency into other rapper's lives that social media now provides. He was head down because he loved his craft and didn't care what other people were doing. He was focused on getting better and had a relentless approach to getting his music heard by the people who could put him on.
Kanye's confidence is unmatched and I think every creator can learn from this instance: if you truly want the career or life that you're working towards, it's not always going to be easy, you'll most likely have to work on the side to fund your life until you break through, and nobody else is going to believe in your work as much as you - it's your job to sell people on your story and your creative efforts. Nobody's going to do it for you.
👀 How to edit the perfect YouTube video
✅ 10 ways to build your personal brand
🕹 Twitch announces "flat-fee" ad revenue model
🏈 Halftime show receives 63 million views on YouTube in 11 days
🥊 Logan Paul plans to sue Floyd Mayweather, claiming he hasn't been paid for their fight in 2021
🍽 Denny’s is putting 24 TikTok creators’ dream dishes on its menu
🤢 Mr. Beast joins LinkedIn
👻 Snapchat aims to solve short-form monetization with new ad rollout
Freelance Finds: Best pieces of advice from freelancers who've made over $100,000 (and have good work/life balance) via @realbrooknash
Of these skills, which would you like to learn more about? As I've been building AllStreet Wealth in parallel with creating, I've learned a lot about these different topics and would love to write more around them if you'd find it valuable.
Email me at treyton@piertree.com and let me know!
