It’s kind of like the interview question, “What are your weaknesses?”

“Some people say I work too hard.”

Absolutely true.

The mantra, “Tell Your Story,” has been coming up often in both our client work and in my own personal relationships. These are two totally different scenarios, but the effect of keeping quiet about triumphs and failures is the same none-the-less.

Within organizations, an initiative is only as successful as the stories that are told about it. If the initiative is blindly rolled out without any kind of recap of past successes or acknowledgement of failures, someone, probably a hairball, will fill in the blanks.

Think about that. Someone who doesn’t want your initiative to succeed in the first place, filling in the blanks. Not where you want to be at all.

With personal relationships, the longer an amount of time goes by without talking (in real-time), the more awkward it is. This is why status updates and picture sharing on social networks are a good thing, we are each telling our own story one share at a time. Now when we do have those real-time encounters, we have context.

Without the social network we’re back to filling in the blanks about the people in our lives.

The only thing worse than not telling your story, is to stop telling your story once you’ve started. Since most things fail (citation?), most people expect failure. When a story stops, it means the thing must have failed. Which means people are already assuming the worse about you or your initiative. In fact it’s probably better to acknowledge failure, and be open about it, than to act like nothing has happened. At least your story will continue.

This is one of those easy-to-say, hard-to-do, things. At We the Media, it’s definitely not part of our culture to publicly share our story – we’re a bunch of introverted creative types. But in heeding this advice, it’s possible some of the people following us might assume we’re right on the brink of failure.

I’m here to tell you we are not.

We’re just not good at talking about ourselves.

Working on it.

I bring this up because of a necessity for the entrepreneur to hold both of these potential scenarios up and look at them honestly. What does failure look like? If it looks like giving up, then the term, “failure is not an option,” deductively means that giving up is not an option. I can live with that. What does success look like? I have no clue, one building block goes on the next and I don’t have any idea how many building blocks there are. So if I never quit, does that mean success is not an option either?

One might say we’ve had a fair bit of success with We the Media (WTM). It’s made of several building blocks, collectively making a house. But looking around, all I see are large buildings. If we ever become a large building, then all I will probably see are skyscrapers. Thinking this is like looking into the unending mirror vortex.

As I see it today, failure means quitting and success means never quitting, or maybe success is something I will recognize if it happens. Until then, it’s all building blocks over here at WTM.

Before the internet we had TV or magazines to get information about bands. Back then, MTV played music, on television. Hard to imagine such a radical concept now. Anyways, this brings me to the topic of the post – Rolling Stone Magazine. One of the first Rolling Stones I ever picked up was the one showed below. Walking by it in the store, I had to have it. As with most kids, this involved begging and pleading with Mom. Eventually I convinced her of all the reasons it was necessary for me to obtain this magazine and she caved.

This was my first interaction with the magazine which I soon had a yearly subscription to.  I brought it home, read it cover to cover, and trusted its insight on movies, music, and television – culture basically. Part of what made it stand apart from the other was its larger than life format – the magazine was big. I knew when it came in the mail because it stuffed the mailbox.

When I stumbled across this article, courtesy of Mr. Gruber, it made a part of me die inside. They are killing the larger format in favor of streamlining operations. Reading in between the lines, it’s about profit. Which is understandable, but shitty from a brand/aesthetic/nostalgia perspective. And the money quote from, Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone.

“All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia.”

Yea, that’s probably right. But for this one-time avid reader, it’s the last of a great standard – the big magazine format.  The background of this website is composed of advertisements from a stack of big magazines. And believe me – the experience of flipping through them is so much better than the throw away small format of today. The big magazine format is the equivalent of vinyl in music.

If I could wish a different fate on the magazine, it would be this: build a better website that has more tie-ins with the magazine. Offset costs of doing the bigger magazine (paper, printing, shipping, etc…) with a better digital presence. And for goodness sakes, put Silver Jackson on the cover.

“Blog on a consistent basis, if it’s one time a week, then make sure you do it…”

In reading that, it seemed easy enough – but nope! Anyhow, it’s retarded for me to even blog about blogging (no offense to the retards who read my blog). I’ve been so busy doing that I haven’t had time to really tell about any of it – so here goes.

Wait! I have to share this video from Home Skillet Fest - I think it’s rad.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok, here goes…

Nike

I do a lot of work for Nike, a lot… So much that I have had to build a team of very talented individuals to compensate for my lack of bandwidth. I can’t really say what we are working on currently but I can say what we have worked on in the past.

We launched nikecorre.com about a month ago and sportchangemakers.net a few months before that. Now we are working on managing both of these sites and doing consulting for a few bigger projects (I can’t name them and I won’t!). It’s been an amazing ride working with one of the most globally recognized brands in the world – I truly love it.

The stuff we are working on currently gets me all hyped up – I can’t wait to launch! Of course some of it will be over the course of a month, some of it all the way into January. Seems like awhile, but some of the stuff is really ambitious – we are learning how to, “Just Do It.”

Rahzel Live!

This is a project that came out of left field, but also one I couldn’t refuse. Working with Rahzel to help build him a site where he could manage all his merchandise and digital downloads has been a fun experience – the guy is the KING of beatboxing and I have been a fan since, “If Your Mother Only Knew.” This should drop soon as well.

Home Skillet Fest ’08

In another life I used to be a commercial fisherman in Alaska and it was around this same time that I co-founded a record label called Home Skillet Records. About three years ago we started throwing an annual music festival in Sitka, Alaska called……Home Skillet Fest (we’re kind of a one-trick pony). We just wrapped up this year’s show and this had to of been my favorite year. We were well organized, we had tons of merchandise, and we put a little money back into the label – that was our goal. If you follow this sob-story of a blog, you may remember my last post that was questioning the whole project. I am over that now – the festival is a great thing and my hometown is truly a special place. 

For the first time I walked away from Home Skillet Fest stoked and ready to build the momentum for next year. It’s turned into a family project for me, with both my parents and older sister helping with the organizing – it made it so much better. In having such a solid team in PDX I was able to call on people to help with design work – which is good because I’m really only decent at web design, the print world is perplexing.

Wrap Up

All in all business is good and growing. Our team is rad. I am getting married in September. My set didn’t suck at Home Skillet Fest. I am running for my health, so I feel better, AND…

…I am more happy now than I have ever been in my life. I think I am ok with that too – it’s ok to be happy for once.

Occasionally, I hit a speed bump. Something that doesn’t feel quite right in my gut, something that brings me to the uncomfortable conclusion, yes, I still have much to learn. Don’t over-extend-promise-deliver, all of these things get you in trouble in one way or another.

“Why Do It?”

Currently I feel over-extended in the planning of Home Skillet Festival. When it was the only thing in my life that I really did for myself (as I was working for someone else), I didn’t question the why do it? But now, with We the Media moving ahead at full steam, I am questioning the why. A music festival in my hometown of Sitka, Alaska where there are multiple bottlenecks – why?

Growing up there, I remember other people tried to do things like Home Skillet Fest and it would only last a couple of years. There was something so sad in the informative moment, “they’re not doing it this year.” All I could think of was, “why?” Now with the third festival right around the corner, all deadlines inching painstakingly closer, I know why.  Because it is fucking hard. It’s not hard in the doing or the known – it’s hard in the unknown.  Will our catalogs be printed in time? Will these tickets sell? Will these artists get on the fucking plane?

Somewhere, instilled deep inside, there is a fire that pushes me through moments like these. Everyone must find their internal burn. You have a choice.

(Holy shit I published this)

(Happy Independence Day)

Speed is a trait of the entrepreneur, we make things happen quickly, we all think “I can do this or that.” It’s what makes us quit our jobs, it’s what makes us just start things for no reason other than our own thoughts, it’s also, as time goes by, a huge weakness. It’s super tough to rely on anyone else, but it is also absolutely necessary. Often times we think up a strategy and execute without consulting those who have proven valuable. Often times a knee-jerk reaction comes across as a painful execution and an even more painful blunder.

With the WTM website – I could have just designed and built the whole thing. But I know someone who can do it better – and without his help, WTM wouldn’t be where it’s at. It’s been a very slow rewarding process building out wtmworldwide.com piece by piece. We have more that we would like to do – but we are not rushing it. Well, maybe I am pushing it, but have realized a slow marinade is just what the site needs.

Why the entry then? We have carefully launched the We The Blog. WTB, I guess, is an aggregate of all We The Media member blogs. I’m already feeling the pressure because Nick Onken blogs way more than me – I need to keep up! It is just one more channel for us to spread our message of love for the creative souls out there.

Check it out.

networking gives me tears

Moving from college where one has a pseudo-something to offer to a professional setting where one gains their real value – I have experienced some profound insight. No, nothing new or original – but my tendency to learn by doing and emulating has given me the real reward of what networking truly is – connecting others.

First off – let me say something about the idea of what I call, “power-networking.” While in the short run – power networking is great, you meet all kinds of people, their baggage, and they are as interested in leeching off of you as you are of them. Be it the 3-minute elevator speech or the small talk. I hate small talk. I’ve been to a few “power-networking” events – they left me feeling small and angry. Just like I have never been good at pursuing women at a bar, I am not good at pursuing potential clients in short 3-minute bursts. It takes time to get to know me – and I am proud of that. It’s called being genuine.

I hate small talk

Here’s what I have found – generally speaking, just about every creative I have ever met has been genuine – even to a fault. And no fault of their own – it’s the fault of those who exploit them, the many who are good at brokering the 3-minute deals. I walk in both worlds – I have a business education and I am a descent designer. Seeing creative talent being exploited pissed me off the first time I saw it – it pisses me off now.

There are those of us creatives who are lucky – we meet one or two people who see value in what we do and want to help us out. Many are not so lucky. It’s easy to be cynical and say, “well, I’m not good at networking, so I will never be free from those exploiters.” This was my own stumbling block until I was introduced to a way of networking which had never occurred to me before; connecting people.

Exploiting Creative Talent is Wrong

To re-iterate – my understanding of what networking was came from a few trips to “power-networking” groups – to which I immediately reacted a resounding, “Nope, not for me.” And then through all of my hours spent developing my creative skills, I was connected into a world which I had never seen or imagined. A world that rewarded me for doing good work creatively and also boosted my network – all without sacrificing the one thing which feels right – being myself.

Through being myself and connecting, I have gotten the majority of my client work. What is this sub-sect of networking I am calling “connecting?” It’s the idea of putting people together that you have come to know through real relationships. That’s it.

To power-networkers who do nothing but networking, this is an obvious point. Know as many people as you can so that you can connect them in ways that you see fit. But here’s the one caveat – how well does one really know another when they have only spoken in 3-minute bursts. How does one know if two people would really benefit each other? The truth is, there is no way to tell – you’re just playing a numbers game and your network, while big and strong – may be a house of cards. The real relationships come from being genuine and good to others. One must give selflessly for the relationships gained through networking.

Duh George!

Networking through connecting and being genuine has an insularly benefit as well – I know, because of the people I network with. They connect me with genuine, good people. Whereas with power-networking you get all types, the pleasant and not so pleasant. I like to think, in building my network slowly with solid genuine people, I’ve been able to shield myself from what bugs me most; bad people. Bad people make shitty clients – and if I get a vibe from a client of disrespect or an air of authority, I won’t take the work.

As a creative, one has to expect the road to be bumpy. Networking and relationship building fall a distant second to the craft you love. However, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. If your idea of networking is similar to what mine was, think about the people you know and how they may help each other. It’s a pro-active thought process – once you begin, it becomes difficult to stop. By helping people get what they need, giving selflessly, I guarantee you will be better off for it. The reward rarely comes directly, but the feeling of giving is a reward in itself.

Remember, be yourself, stay genuine, and give – the success will come.

Think Bro-conomy, Think Big

So how does one crack the bro-conomy nut? When I was at an agency I noticed the guys who were making the deals getting all sorts of cool shit. Occasionally it would trickle down and I would get something like the aforementioned hoody or a circle-hoe. But for the most part it stopped right before the schwag hit the creatives. I think the most important part is exposure to clients. Before the end of this long winded, much adu about nothing post, I’ll talk about web design, a few tips to help one thrive in the bro-conomy, and a few of my own personal bro-conomy stories.

Web Design and the Bro-conomy

I can’t think of a better profession to be in that web design for gaining access to the bro-conomy. Think about it – every single business in the world needs a website. It’s the new yellow pages minus the monopoly of the yellow pages (don’t worry, I will keep bagging on this waste of paper company later). There are usually two types of deals which arise, the pure-tradeout deal and the perks plus deal.

Pure Tradeout

Obviously this is the type of deal where no money exchanges hands – it is “I will do X for you, you do Y for me.” The cool thing about these types of projects is they are usually amongst friends and they’re usually low stress. Cause really, is he/she really your “bro” if they’re stressing you out?

The Perks Plus Deal

These a bit more straight-laced than the pure tradeout deal, a hybrid of the paying client and the bro. These deals usually come into play when a client doesn’t have a lot of money, but you appreciate what they’re trying to do and more importantly they’re just cool about it. A total cost of doing the work is estimated and then the price is knocked down for free schwag or other forms of services rendered (The IRS is going to come pounding on my door down for this.). These are usually low stress as well and help line the pockets with a little cash.

F the Man!! (-;

Sometimes a client will just throw free schwag on top to sweeten the deal – and those types of things go a long way in getting that extra effort out of a creative *hint hint*. Again, it’s a beautiful time to be a web designer, embrace your inner bro-ness.

How to Thrive

Like anything in life, this is all you. Well, occasionally a client will make the offer – but for the most part you have to hunt down your own “bro” deals and let people know you are open to them.

Hunting Down a Bro Deal

This is really a simple process that comes down to wants and needs. Do you want a discount on all of your outdoor gear? Then go to your local shop and offer to help out with their website.

A skill fit for a Mongoose

If the people working there can’t make the call – put yourself in front of the owner. For so many people, getting something they want in this way is begging – for the web designer, it’s offering up a highly sought after skill.

Sniffing Out the Bro Deal

This is sort of a Carpe Diem skillset – if a client hasn’t gone there, but can’t come up with necessary funds to start the project, this is where one would interject that trade out is an option. But don’t do it if the client doesn’t have something you want. A lifetime’s supply of gravel is hardly useful if you live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment. However, in thinking beyond yourself, you may be able to help out others (that need gravel).

Story Time with George Huff

Watch Company X

Watch Company X is a small high-end watch company based here in PDX – our deal consists of money and watches. I knew with them being a startup, they probably couldn’t afford to pay what I normally charge. Me, fancying shiny objects, was more than open to broker a deal involving trade. In our initial meetings I let them know I was open to cutting some of the costs down with trade – we reached an agreement and all is good.

Hecklewood + HomeSkillet = Love

Hecklewood Clothing is a peddler of the dopest streetwear. HomeSkillet Records (my labor of love) is a record label from the cold lands of the north who also put on a music festival every year called HomeSkillet Fest. The story goes like this, I sought after acquaintance Sam Huff (Hecklewood Founder) to design a tshirt for HomeSkillet Fest 2007. HomeSkillet Records, being as low budget as they are, could only offer up my web design services. Pure trade-out ensued and with the shirts being finished, I am indebted to Sam Huff to help him redesign and build Hecklewood Clothing’s website. So far the projects have been laid back and now Hecklewood Clothing store is one of my favorite places to just “pop-in,” and say hello. And I am quite convinced that I’m Sam’s favorite guest, and if not Sam’s, definitely Motley and Iggy’s – his two pitbulls.

Quality Trees Unlimited

Quality Trees Unlimited was probably one of my first non-bro tradeout deals. In the end the project didn’t work out – I helped the guy out the best I could, but he just didn’t deliver on any of the stuff I needed to complete the project. In hindsight, I feel bad – but I am getting over it.

The grey area of a sour deal

Danielle, my fiancee, decided we needed some trees in the backyard removed. Now before anyone screams bloody murder, these were ratty trees that were hazardous to our home. Anyhow, the guy she called shows up and first thing I do is notice the side of his truck doesn’t have a website, then I notice the business card doesn’t have a website, so I proposition him to get rid of my trees if I build him a website.

We reached an agreement and he handled his side of the deal. I ended up designing and building his website, but he couldn’t ever decide on a new domain name. He had previously tried to set a website up through the Yellow Pages “we’ll build your site and the screw you over” service, and they had the old domain he wanted. In the end he was unresponsive and just didn’t know how to get his stuff done. I tried to help, but couldn’t do anything because Yellow Pages would only talk to him. The last thing I could do was zip up the files and send them to him. I don’t think the site was ever launched. Not exactly an ideal bro deal.

Conclusion

I ended with the last story cause I wanted to illustrate not all bro-deals end up in an ideal place, especially if a person isn’t really your, “bro.” The best bro-deals are the ones where people actually know each other and strive to live up to their reputations. If the guy from Quality Trees Unlimited or myself decided to screw over one another – there would be no repercussions other than guilt.

The bro-conomy relies on people doing business with their friends and acquaintences, not some random Joe from company X. So really, the Quality Trees project was just a trade-out, not a bro-deal.

So as webdesigners (or whatever you may be), embrace the bro-conomy and thrive, and please share some stories, I always find them interesting. And remember, while the bro-conomy is something special, it’s not everything – ultimately money talks.

Cheers.

“You have good, cheap, or fast, you get to pick two.”

I have been on my own freelancing (or running my own business) for nearly six months, a few things have occurred to me. Cheap is a relative term – relative to the client paying the money as well as relevant to what you’re making across the board for all projects. Good, when doing business for yourself, isn’t so much an option as it is a requirement. And lastly, fast is the speed at which we do business period – people want everything yesterday. So do clients really ever pick two out of three? Or do they just automatically assume to run the table. After all, the customer is always right.

First off, if you aren’t looking at the project as your project, then you will never be able to manage expectations correctly. We aren’t building and selling widgets here – we have a process, it takes time, and we know how long it will be. People come to us for this expertise, and us getting walked on isn’t part of the deal. Good, cheap, or fast is as much your choice as it is your clients.

If you don’t care so much about the work as you do about getting the business, then cheap, fast, and shoddy may be your ideal option. But always keep in mind, shoddy work doesn’t ever get you more clients. Not everything need be brilliant, but maintaining your own standards, regardless of the client is important to sustainability and longevity. Most importantly, it cements a reputation.

The problem with doing work fast is the risk involved. How often do we take on work where there may be a few “hairy” areas that we haven’t quite done it before. It may be browsers issues, it may be programming functionality, or it just may be a whole lot of work we don’t see. If you agree to do work fast, make sure you are getting paid enough to bring in more people if need be.

Again, cheap is a relative term – almost one that can be thrown out the window. I think the most important thing is to be able to walk away from a project if you don’t feel happy about price tag. Remember, the promise of exposure only applies to 5% of the times it is promised. Don’t work for free. Don’t overcharge.

Avoiding the Big Carrot, or Not

As with any “advice,” all of this stuff is easier said than done. In fact, as I began writing this post – I had a project that had to be good and fast – go awry.

The bigger the carrot the bigger the bite – I committed to something because in theory it could be done (assuming nothing went wrong) and it was a client/project that when added into a portfolio made it considerably beefier and more legitimate. Thankfully when this project did go awry, there was budget to pull in extra people with fresh eyes. You stare at anything long enough and you’re just going to make your problems worse.

“Grandma always said, haste makes waste”

So the lesson learned, for me, is to set realistic goals with fall back plans – a goal isn’t realistic if it involves my team working 16-18 hour days trying to build something complex. When you’re tired, work gets sloppy. The culprit in this case can easily be guessed, IE6, and troubleshooting bugs at the eleventh hour when you should be arriving at a solution is painful. We ended up having to put up a placeholder page to encourage users to download IE7 or Firefox 2 – something I have never had to do. We had a fix within a couple of days, but missed our deadline – the one we agreed to.

Shackleton would shake his head, “Leadership on the Edge,” is stressful – not your little web project.

Hopefully, the character of our little conglomerate was defined in crisis and we can move forward with a fresh set of lessons learn – or maybe we cave and lick our wounds behind desks at an agency, but for some reason I don’t think that will happen. The big eye opener for me with this particular project was the stress – working for yourself is just bigger. Bigger projects, bigger dollars, and bigger stress – handling that is a skill set in its own. My goal is to practice what I preach. Best of luck to me, and to anyone who reads this.