Welcome to the Maker’s Supply Crate, a twice-monthly curated collection of the coolest and most interesting things I’ve found across the Internet. These posts going forward will be a perk for members, but I’m making this one public to give everyone a taste and encourage you to join the Makers.
1. The Sneaky Method for Success
Nissant Jain is an illustration artist from Vancouver (British Columbia or Washington, I’m not certain) and he runs a successful Substack called The SneakyArt Post where he shares posts and podcast episodes, talking about his art as well as conversation with other creative individuals. I came across Nissant because Substack featured him in the Grow series, talking about how creators on the platform came to their success. Although I had already been on Substack before I read that article, it’s safe to say that the interview was the genesis moment for me deciding to really focus my energy here, and how visual artists can use this as part of their marketing and promotional process.
2. Losing the Battle Against Sameness
One of the reasons I struggle with social media is the systematic rush to the middle. Someone posts a unique image with a particular style on Instagram, it goes viral, and then hundreds of people try to replicate that style. Suddenly it’s a trend, and now thousands more are replicating it, but with much less finesse. All the bravery has been stripped out of the idea, and now it’s just a muddy bog of mediocrity. This is nothing new, and not unique to Instagram though; it’s been happening with movie posters for decades now.
3. Challenge Accepted
Something I will be incorporating a lot into future content is challenging readers to do some ridiculous, creative challenges that take them outside of their comfort zone. One tool that’s going to help with that is called Sharpen, a free online tool for generating design prompts. You can choose between branding, UI/UX, and marketing, or go nuts and test out their STEM challenges, with or without your kids.
4. Just Like 80s Style, Email Is Back!
Ok, email newsletters never went away, but they definitely took a back seat to most social media. I’m definitely back on the newsletter train myself, and I’ve been investigating deeply into how some organizations are growing their newsletters as a way to generate significant revenue for their businesses. One of my favorite podcasts on the topic is the Nathan Barry Show, hosted by the founder of a popular email newsletter service called Convert Kit. My favorite interviews so far are with Steph Smith, Samir Chaudry, and Justin Moore.
5. Summer Reading
Something else I’ve gotten back into is reading actual books with real pages made from paper. Here's what I’ve been reading:
You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero (Money Mindset)
Everybody Writes by Ann Handley (copywriting/storytelling)
Digital Millionaire Secrets by Dan Henry (online courses)
Feck Perfuction by James Victore* (Creativity)
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon* (Creativity/Art)
* These ones I’m re-reading for research purposes
That will do it for this first edition of the Maker’s Supply Crate. If you’re not a Maker yet, and you don’t want to miss out on future editions, consider upgrading today.
Until next time, make something that scares you a little.
Dave