Show Your Work!

1. Share Your Work: The Power of Showing Your Process

"By letting go of our egos and sharing our process, we allow for the possibility of people having an ongoing connection with us and our work, which helps us move more of our product."

Documenting the various stages of a project is as significant as the end result. By revealing the methods and steps taken, creators establish a deeper bond with their audience, making them feel part of the development. This transparency transforms the relationship from a simple transaction to a long-term connection. Regular sharing facilitates discovery by new observers, which can eventually form a stable base of supporters, partners, or clients.

• Methods for sharing technical progress:
  • Maintaining records of the work process
  • Utilizing visual documentation of various development stages
  • Releasing preliminary drafts or conceptual models
  • Providing regular progress reports via communication platforms

Consistent output creates opportunities for a broader audience to find and track professional progress. This ongoing visibility fosters a dedicated following and opens doors for future collaborations and commercial opportunities.

2. Embrace Your Amateur Status and Cultivate Curiosity

"Amateurs are not afraid to make mistakes or look ridiculous in public. They're in love, so they don't hesitate to do work that others think of as silly or just plain stupid."

Approaching work with a beginner’s perspective provides a distinct advantage. Unlike experts who may fear error, amateurs are more likely to experiment and share their learning curve publicly, often leading to novel solutions and unconventional ideas.

Maintaining a high level of curiosity across different subjects allows for the integration of diverse concepts. This intellectual openness facilitates the discovery of unique connections between unrelated fields.

• Ways to expand professional curiosity:
  • Exploring diverse fields of study
  • Participating in educational opportunities outside one's primary specialty
  • Engaging in interdisciplinary cooperation
  • Actively seeking new information and perspectives

3. Tell Good Stories: Craft Your Narrative

"Your work doesn't exist in a vacuum. Whether you realize it or not, you're already telling a story about your work."

Work is interpreted through the context provided by its creator. Developing the skill to narrate the background of a project makes the output more significant and easier for others to remember.

Utilizing established narrative structures helps organize these explanations effectively. Whether preparing a professional statement or presenting a project, a structured story enhances the impact of the message.

• Components of an effective narrative:
  • A defined sequence including a beginning, middle, and conclusion
  • A central obstacle or problem to be addressed
  • Evidence of development or change
  • Contextual elements that allow the audience to relate
  • A focus on the significance of the experience

4. Teach What You Know: Share Your Expertise

"Teaching people doesn't subtract value from what you do, it actually adds to it. When you teach someone how to do your work, you are, in effect, generating more interest in your work."

Distributing knowledge does not diminish a creator’s value; instead, it increases interest in their expertise. Explaining techniques to others helps clarify one's own understanding of the subject while providing utility to the recipient.

Developing structured educational resources serves to demonstrate professional competency. This practice broadens the reach of the work and establishes the creator as a knowledgeable resource within their field.

• Channels for knowledge distribution:
  • Publishing written articles or professional logs
  • Producing instructional video content
  • Leading interactive digital sessions or discussions
  • Providing guidance to those entering the field
  • Presenting findings at professional gatherings

5. Don't Be a Human Spammer: Engage Authentically

"If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to first be a good citizen of that community."

Professional visibility requires active and positive participation within a community rather than repetitive self-promotion. By contributing to existing discussions and supporting the work of others, individuals build trust and mutual respect.

Authentic relationships are formed when the focus shifts from personal gain to being a constructive member of the group. Engaging with peers and offering thoughtful input creates a network based on shared professional interests.

• Practices for constructive community engagement:
  • Providing specific and useful feedback on the work of others
  • Highlighting and promoting commendable external projects
  • Engaging in joint ventures with colleagues
  • Contributing to collective industry events
  • Maintaining professional and accessible communication

6. Learn to Take Criticism: Build Resilience

"The way to be able to take a punch is to practice getting hit a lot. Put out a lot of work. Let people take their best shot at it. Then make even more work and keep putting it out there."

Exposure to public feedback necessitates the development of resilience. It is essential to distinguish between helpful critique and unproductive negativity. Regularly releasing work serves as practice for handling varied reactions.

Maintaining a high volume of output ensures that individual criticisms do not stall overall progress. Creators should use valid suggestions for technical improvement without allowing feedback to hinder their productivity.

• Approaches to managing feedback:
  • Evaluating feedback objectively before taking action
  • Extracting practical suggestions from critiques
  • Acknowledging professional input
  • Disregarding non-constructive or hostile commentary
  • Integrating valid points to enhance the quality of work

7. Sell Your Work Without Selling Out

"Don't say you don't have enough time. We're all busy, but we all get 24 hours a day. People often ask me, 'How do you find the time for all this?' And I answer, 'I look for it.'"

Sustaining a creative practice requires assigning a fair value to the output and identifying viable revenue models. Professionalism includes being transparent about pricing and ensuring it aligns with the quality of the work and the audience's expectations.

Diversifying income through various methods provides financial stability. Success in this area depends on the disciplined allocation of time to both the creation of the work and its commercial management.

• Potential revenue models:
  • Direct commercial exchange of goods or services
  • Providing structured instructional programs
  • Utilizing collective funding for specific initiatives
  • Granting rights for the use of intellectual property
  • Establishing formal partnerships or support models

8. Persist and Persevere: The Key to Long-Term Success

"The people who get what they're after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough. It's very important not to quit prematurely."

Long-term achievement is often a result of sustained effort rather than rapid success. Committing to a craft over an extended period allows for gradual improvement and the accumulation of a significant body of work.

Maintaining a consistent output requires establishing systems and routines that function even when motivation is low. Progress is managed by setting clear objectives and recognizing incremental advancements to sustain momentum.

• Tactics for sustained professional growth:
  • Defining clear objectives for both the immediate and distant future
  • Acknowledging incremental milestones
  • Implementing a structured work schedule
  • Incorporating periods of rest to sustain productivity
  • Regularly evaluating and modifying methods based on results
  • Seeking input from experienced colleagues and peers

Last updated: January 22, 2025