Show your work! - by Austin Kleon
Summary:
This book teaches you the importance of start sharing your work and using your voice. How you can help and influence others. It doesn't matter your level of expertise, everyone can contribute something. Kleon advises you on how to share your work, find your audience, and give back to the community.
I recommend reading this book and "Steal like an artist." They compliment each other.
This book teaches you how you can help and influence others.
Favorite quotes:
" We can stop asking what others can do for us, and start asking what we can do for others."
"Audience is a human one, and humans want to connect."
"Show your work, and when the right people show up, pay close attention to them, because they'll have a lot to show you."
Learnings:
1) Contribute to the scenius
Scenius - "Scene of people who are supporting each other, looking at each other's work, copying from each other, stealing ideas, and contributing ideas."
You don't have to be a genius to start sharing or working on your content. Find what you want to do, and learn what others are not doing.
It is okay to be an amateur.
"They take chances, experiment, and follow their whims. Sometimes, in the process of doing things in an unprofessional way, they make new discoveries."
2) Get a Domain name
"Dont think of your website as a self promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine. Online, you can become the person you really want to be."
Although social media is a great way to show your content, owning your own website gives you the control and security of knowing that it will always be there.
3) Start using your voice
You cant find your voice if you don't use it
Find the inspiration to work on what you love, and share it with the world. Don't get stuck on gaining followers and views. That will happen organically once you start actually creating content that you are passionate about.
4) Share the process
"Audiences not only want to stumble across great work, but they, too, long to be creative and part of the creative process"
Document everything that you do and share with others what might be helpful. It is not only about the final product, but the journey that leads you to it, the steps you took.
"The magic formula is to maintain your flow while working on your stock in the background."
Flow is the daily updates that you can give to your audience, while stock is the content you produce that will be always available.
5) Share your stories
"The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and what they understand about your work"
When you don't just show your work, but also the story behind it, it actually adds value to it. It is worth sharing your experiences and your sources of inspiration.
And remember to give proper credit to the influences and resources that have helped you in your journey. That way other people can also benefit from them.
6) Share your knowledge and listen for feedback
"People feel closer to your work because you are letting them in on what you know"
Share your techniques, recipes, anything that others can learn and use somehow.
The best part of teaching is that you learn in return, it can become a perfect never-ending cycle, where you and your audience can benefit from it.
When you teach or recommend something, others will comment and share their thoughts in return. People will advise you on what to learn next, new books, new ideas, and even how to look at things from new perspectives.
6) Be a fan first
If you want fans, you have to be a fan first"
Connect with your audience, share your thoughts and hear theirs in return.
7) Collaborate with others
It freaks me out a little bit how many of my very favorite people in the world came into my life as ones and zeros
Find people who share similar missions, values, beliefs. Nurture your relationship with them and invite them to collaborate. Share feedback, learn from each other, and help each other grow.
8) Learn to take critique
"You cant control what sort of criticism you receive, but you can control how to react to it."
Learn to filter the feedback that you get. Pay attention to those who care about and your work and try to avoid those who only want yo hurt you.
9) Keep a mailing list
"The people who sign up for your list will be some of your biggest supporters, just by the simple fact that they signed up for the potential to be spammed by you."
Be respectful and honest. Don't treat them just like potential customers. Send the valuable information that you believe could be beneficial for them.
10) Make work for yourself
"I have to feel that I am after something. If I make money, fine. But I'd rather be striving"
Follow your passion, not the money.
11) Give back
"You just have to be as generous as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done."
Help the people who have helped you achieve your goals.
12) Don quit but don't forget to breathe.
"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."
If you want to see results, you need to keep going. Keep adding new goals, after you finish one, let that fuel your next one. Learn from your mistakes, from feedback, and use that to create something else, something better.
And it is okay if you feel overwhelmed, or tired, or like you need a break. Take it. You don't need to do all your work at once, you can take breaks in between. Whether it is an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year, use that time to recharge yourself.
13) New chapter, new beginning.
"You never really start over. You don't lose all the work that's come before. Even if you try to toss it aside, the lessons that you've learned from it will seep into what you do next."
Try new things and explore different options. After you have learned everything that it was to learn become an amateur again and start a new journey.
