Podcast to Video
After almost 10 years of audio-only podcasts, Robert Rose and I decided to capture our podcasts with video. If you’d like to “see” our podcast each week, please subscribe to our YouTube channel here. Episodes will be delivered every Friday morning eastern time. We will also be streaming them “live” on LinkedIn as well.
It wasn’t a perfect first time, but we learned a lot and I really like the flexibility of Streamyard (how we recorded it). Streamyard has been a long-time supporter of The Tilt and Creator Economy Expo. If you’d like a lifetime discount or to just check it out, click here.
Why Commencement Is Important
Many of our friends have graduating high school seniors this year. Our June will be two to three graduation parties per week.
This morning (as I write this), my wife and I were wondering how high school graduation became such a big deal.
While I couldn’t find THE answer for this, I did find a few data points of interest.
First off, commencement refers to when the graduates receive their diplomas and flip their tassels. The baccalaureate is the formal recognition of student achievements. Most high schools do both at the same time.
Why is this such a big deal?
Graduation from high school is a rite of passage, marking the end of one stage and the beginning of another. All the pomp and circumstance around the high school graduation is a public declaration that these “former” children are now adults who will face new challenges, dangers, and opportunities.
Anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep (1909) “established the term rites de passage to define the category of rituals that mark the passage of a person through the life cycle, from one stage to another over time, from one role or social position to another, integrating the human and cultural experiences with biological destiny: birth, reproduction, and death.”
I believe we, as a community, celebrate this because our society depends on it, both for survival and growth (I know, some of you are shaking your heads on this one).
In America in 1920 just 15 percent of people walking around had a high school diploma. By 1970, that number was 80 percent, an almost herculean increase. According to a research study by Claudia Goldin (totally worth the read if you have time), this type of growth was only seen in the United States. Goldin makes the case that the growth of the US, the fastest growing economy in the world over that period of time, was directly tied to the education of the masses, especially as blue-collar work transformed more and more into white-collar knowledge workers.
So the next time you don’t want to sit through another boring commencement ceremony, remind yourself that the continued growth of our community and our society depends on them.
And…a very special thanks to all the servant teachers out there for making this happen. Your sacrifices do not go unnoticed.
And…speaking of teachers…special shout out to subscriber Sue Hoffman, who has done some amazing work with “pay it forward” postcards and book recommendations. Thanks Sue!
Smiling Keeps You Alive
Smiling more will keep you from dying.
Tom Crabbe (in his excellent book called “Busy”) wrote about the power of smiling.
A research group looked at old baseball cards and rated each one on how much they smiled in that particular picture. Those who weren’t smiling lived, on average, 72.9 years; those with a little smile lived 75 years, but those who were beaming lived 79.9 years.
Only a third of adults smile more than 20 times per day. Adults smile twenty times less than children.
Smile more…you’ll live longer.
Why John Wick Succeeded
The key to predicting success is focus+consistency over time.
Hardly anything you do will be successful the first time you do it.
Case in point: John Wick
The 2014 movie “John Wick” did $43 million dollars at the domestic box office that year. It was the 79th ranked movie that year, barely surpassing Dolphin Tale 2.
It squeaked out a small profit and it seemed to find a fan base.
Focus+Consistency over Time
John Wick (2014) – $43 million
John Wick Chapter 2 (2017) – $92 million
John Wick Chapter 3 (2019) – $171 million
John Wick Chapter 4 (2023) – $186 million (and counting)
Most content creators do one thing (a book, an event, a podcast) and expect it to be successful the first time. This rarely, if ever, happens.
Whatever you decide to do with you content, follow the John Wick model: Do one thing well to a specific audience and deliver it consistently over time.
What Is Your Vision Quest?
One of my favorite movies growing up was Vision Quest, the 1985 movie starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino. If you’re out there, hi Linda!
In the movie, Louden Swain, Modine’s character, is a high school wrestler, and sets a truly audacious goal at the beginning of the season to move from his 190-pound weight class to wrestle the undefeated state champion Shute at the 168-pound weight class.
Through this “vision quest” he finds pain, love and heartache.
Just before he’s about to wrestle Shute, Louden begins to have doubts, and goes to see one of his co-workers and friends Elmo.
Here’s how the conversation goes (you can watch it here):
Louden Swain : It’s not that big a deal, Elmo. I mean, it’s six lousy minutes on the mat if that.
Elmo : You ever hear of Pele?
Louden Swain : Yeah, he’s a, a soccer player.
Elmo : A very famous soccer player.
[pause]
Elmo : I was in the room here one day… watchin’ the Mexican channel on TV. I don’t know nothin’ about Pele. I’m watchin’ what this guy can do with a ball and his feet. Next thing I know, he jumps in the air and flips into a somersault and kicks the ball in – upside down and backwards… the goalie never knew what hit him. Pele gets excited and he rips off his jersey and starts running around the stadium waving it around his head. Everybody’s screaming in Spanish. I’m here, sitting alone in my room, and I start crying.
[pause]
Elmo : That’s right, I start crying. Because another human being, a species that I happen to belong to, could kick a ball, and lift himself, and the rest of us sad-assed human beings, up to a better place to be, if only for a minute… let me tell ya, kid – it was pretty goddamned glorious. It ain’t the six minutes… it’s what happens in that six minutes.
It’s what happens in that six minutes.
Before writing this newsletter I watched this part part of the movie, thinking about you, a wonderful subscriber to this humble newsletter. You know, we get so focused on the thing we are doing. The podcast, the blog post, the YouTube video, the TikTok. Or, I think about other things, like taking my parents to see their grandchildren’s commencement, or taking my wife out on a date.
Sure, that’s the package the message comes in. We all have our specialties. But it’s not the podcast or the blog or the YouTube or the drive or the date…it’s what happens in that wrapper.
The new version of Epic Content Marketing came out a few months ago. A few weeks ago, I talked to someone who read the original. She was talking about how, in 2015, she was lost in her career. Had no idea how to make an impact on the world from a creative standpoint. Then, she received Epic Content Marketing from a friend. She told me it changed her life.
While she’s telling me this she’s crying. The entire experience was overwhelming for both of us.
When I decided to write Epic, I believed it was needed, but it was part of my business strategy. I believed it would help my personal career and my business. And it did.
And sometimes I forget the big reason why I wrote the book, or create any content, the goal of each piece of content. To help that person do something that they were not capable of before. To help them live a better life, get a better job, be more.
It’s not the book. It’s what happens inside the book, and how you can change lives.
And you can. You are.
I’m writing this now because I want you to know that there is a greater good behind what you are doing. It’s important to think about this.
Within that package of content (or activity) you are creating every day of every week of every month of every year…you need to know that it’s not the thing. It’s what happens inside the thing.
You are Louden Swain, you are Pele…for your industry, for your family. That’s a huge responsibility. But also, an amazing privilege.