March 2, 2021
Funding the mission and why marketing can drive us mad
PRE-S: Are you stuck in the hourly trap? The seventh session of The Pricing Seminar starts this coming Monday, so enroll now before it’s too late (Pssst... find the little blue bird for pleasant surprise)
Howard Gray had me on his long-form interview podcast Under the Current recently and the episode went live today.
Unlike most shows I go on, Howard invites an eclectic mix of guests and likes to go really deep into their story.
From his site:
Under the Current seeks to tell the stories behind the life and work of creative people who come at things in unconventional ways. They’re globetrotting DJs and design studio owners; restauranteurs and writers; magazine publishers and makeup artists.
I really enjoyed the interview and talked about a few things that I don’t think I’ve ever shared publicly before.
Here’s the show summary that Howard put together:
Jonathan Stark on funding the mission, and why marketing can drive us mad
When you’re taking the road less traveled in an independent career there’s all kinds of tension along the way: building an audience, figuring out how to market yourself, choosing what to work on, and knowing how and what to charge for what you do.
The default setting for this last point is typically to set an hourly rate. Makes sense, right?
Jonathan Stark thinks otherwise. He’s on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing and helps freelancers, consultants and creatives of all flavours find better ways to do the work they want to do in the world.
Jonathan’s own journey has gone from live musician to digital agencies, independent software developer to teacher. While his books, talks, and daily newsletter are now hugely successful - there have inevitably been some bumps along the way.
In this conversation we get into why artists and designers can be very opposite, the real value of music, unexpected occurrences of the employee mentality, and why marketing can make us mad.
Show notes
- 04:00 Getting it wrong on-stage
- 11:00 Why creatives get pulled in two directions
- 17:00 Funding the mission
- 22:00 The value of music
- 35:00 What it means to have an employee mentality - even when you don’t think you do…
- 43:00 A big lesson from Disneyland
- 50:00 Wrangling with marketing
- 58:00 Getting comfortable with speaking and writing in public
- 67:00 The value of podcasting and newsletters
- 74:00 Daily publishing
Sound interesting? You can listen here:
If you like the interview, I’m sure Howard would greatly appreciate that you rate and review the show in iTunes (or even just say Hi! to him on Twitter)
Yours,
—J
P.S. Are you stuck in the hourly trap? The seventh session of The Pricing Seminar starts this coming Monday.
(Pssst... find the little blue bird for pleasant surprise)