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Show Your Work

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Written in the same style as “Steal Like an Artist,” Austin Kleon‘s follow-on work  addresses many of the issues faced by new entrepreneurs wishing to establish a presence in today’s marketplace. Although the pictures and illustrations are not as captivating as those in the earlier work, specific references to several useful resources are included.
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(PDF) ONEpage™ Book Summary, by Therese Ducharme

Amazon Books Buy the book.
                                                           

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❶ You don’t have to be a genius.
Good work isn’t created in a vacuum.
Creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration.

Be an amateur – pursue your work in the spirit of love.
Embrace uncertainty and the unknown.

Think about what you want to learn, learn it in front of others.
Pay attention to what others are not sharing.
Look for voids that you can fill with your own efforts.

You can’t find your voice if you don’t use it.
Talk about the things you love.

Read obituaries. Thinking about death makes me want to live.

❷ Think process; not product.

Audiences long to be creative and part of the creative process.

Document what you do. Share your process.
Turn the invisible into something other people can see.

Start a work journal. Keep a scrapbook. Shoot video of you working.
Take photographs of your work at different stages.

❸ Share something small every day.

Focus on years months days. Blog, email, tweet, YouTube…
Don’t show your lunch or your latte; show your work.
Find the time in the cracks between the big stuff.

Anything you post to the internet becomes public.
Share work that you want feedback on, but not everything.

Ask yourself “So what?” Is it helpful/interesting?
Unsure? Save it for later.

Flow = daily updates that remind people you exist
Stock = the lasting content you produce
Find patterns in your flow, turn flow into stock.
Small things over time, can get big.

Register a domain name. Build a website.

❹ Open up your cabinet of curiosities.

Your influences are worth sharing.
Be open and honest about what you like,
to connect with people who like those things too.

Have the courage to celebrate the things you enjoy.
Give proper credit. Provide context, link back to the source.

❺ Tell good stories.

What you say about the work you do effects how people value it.

Structure is everything. Keep your audience in mind.
Speak directly, in plain language. Be brief. Use spell-check.

Story structure: past (where you’ve been, what you want),
present (where you are now), future (where you are going).

Tell the truth with dignity and self-respect.
Keep bios short and sweet. (2 sentences) Just state the facts.

❻ Teach what you know.

Share your trade secrets. Out teach the competition.

Share your reading list, helpful reference materials.
Create tutorials. Use pictures, words, videos.
Take people step-by- step through part of your process.

❼ Don’t turn into human spam.

Be thoughtful. Be considerate. Be a connector.
Be someone worth following. Do good work.

To be noticed, notice. To be interesting, be interested.
Use the Vampire Test: avoid anything that drains your energy.

Identify your real peers (similar mission, mutual respect).
Nurture your relationships with these people.

Turn your online friends into “real life” friends. Meet up.

❽ Learn to take a punch.

Be ready for the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Relax and breathe. (Practice meditation.)

Put out a lot of work, keep putting it out there.
Roll with the punches. Keep moving.
Every criticism is an opportunity for new work.

Protect your vulnerable areas. If it’s too sensitive, keep it hidden.

Keep your balance. Work is something you do, not who you are.
Stay close to family, friends, people who love you.

Don’t feed the trolls (people who just want to provoke you).
Delete nasty comments. (or turn comments off completely)

❾ Sell out. (It’s ok to make money.)

Don’t be jealous when the people you like do well.
Celebrate their victory as if it’s your own.

Be open about your process. Connect with your audience.
Ask your audience to support you by buying what you sell.

Keep a mailing list. Collect email addresses.
Never add an email address without permission.

Be ambitious. Keep busy. Try new things. Take opportunities
that allow you to do more of what you want to do.

When you have success, help the people who have helped you.
Be as generous as you can, selfish enough to get your work done.

❿ Stick around.

Persevere, regardless of success or failure. Just keep going.

Avoid stalling out by never losing momentum.
Use the end of one project to light up the next one.

Go away so you can come back.
Separate your work from the rest of your life.

Don’t be content with mastery. Have the courage to rethink.
Begin again! Become an amateur (return to step 1)