Another Week

[intro]

This week's update…

We’ve all heard the saying… There is no get-rich-quick scheme. This is a pretty concrete truth, most of us would agree. Those who don’t… haven’t gotten scammed yet.

But now, what if I change the word rich to fame, the other materialistic lust that many have. Is there such a thing as a get-fame-quick scheme? Well, TikTok and short-form media would say yes.

Now, the three of us aren’t famous, however we do have a following. A following we’ve built relatively quickly. Not even two years ago, I was sitting in my fraternity bedroom cutting hair for some cash and finishing up my junior year. Today, I sit with over half a million followers.

This wave of creators who have become ‘famous’ off TikTok is bewildering! Unprecedented. The Charli’s and Noah Beck’s of the world become mainstream famous and rich beyond belief… in under two years.

But what about us middle-class creators? The same applies for the most part! I’m making more today than I would be with a college degree. I also have some influence online so all things considered - I’m relatively successful! So, yes? There is a get-fame-quick scheme?

Like all things that seem too good to be true, they are too good to be true. This week, I was moved by this video from Tyler Fleischman, who is one of the first I’ve seen to talk about the negatives of short-form media.

In short, he explains how the increase in subscribers that YouTubers are getting through Shorts is not leading to an increase in views for that YouTuber’s long form videos. These new subscribers aren’t transferring.

There is a difference between someone who willingly clicks on a 10-minute video of yours and someone who mindlessly gets your 30-second video on their endless stream of other mindless videos.

Shorts allow you to get fame quickly, but how long does that last? How engaged are those followers?

Tyler’s video is making me rethink my long strategy. I was going to wait on long form videos until I get a sustainable short form strategy going but now, I want to expedite that.

I feel like my brand has a countdown, and if I don’t innovate on it fast enough, I’ll die out like 95% of the TikTokers who were on top of the world in 2020.

Just when I thought I could get comfy in my own shoes, the real game has just begun.

After scrapping one video after shooting and deleting another after it flopped tremendously, this week I published "Daydreaming" - a video I'm very happy with. The Wheel remains unspun for another week, although it won't be much longer if I keep this attitude up.

This "be your own boss" thing is the SHIT.

Genuinely. Today, I spent an hour downloading images of vines in an attempt to recreate the gate from Stranger Things. A project I conceptualised, planned, and commenced - all because I kinda felt like it.

Granted, my design looked like ass and I ended up deleting every image of those vines. But I stuck it through, took it in a new direction, and landed on a different look that satisfied me enough. 

It's fulfilling - making something from your own imagination. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. The reality is I've scrapped four or five projects midway through in the last few weeks.

And for that reason, being your own boss can be kinda shit.

When you're a one-man show, you get all the on-stage laudits as well as every single back-stage headache. And those headaches are far from infrequent. 

Growing up, my biggest creative flaw was my rubbish bin with incomplete creations. I just couldn't see anything through. It took years of consciously working on that before posting consistently came naturally. 

But now, the further my platform grows, the harder I find it to publish. A mindset that has held me back in recent times. It's why these objectives we set for ourselves are critical - and why if you're keen on being your own boss, you also need to be the employee. 

It's an indisputable luxury, creating for yourself. It just takes drive, direction and a lot of discipline. 

This article was written prior to me creating the two pieces in a buzzer-beater fashion. This week, I made a piece "formally" introducing myself (or re-introducing?) to my audience, and another that was a reminder that the cycle doesn't break unless YOU break it.

Headphones in. Do Not Disturb turned on. Door closed. Your eyes scanning the page at Mach speeds, your hand somehow writing even faster. You’ve been here before. It’s crunch time. You always find a way out, be it by the skin of your teeth or through blood, sweat, and tears.

You’ve been here before.

I often found myself in this situation growing up - a task or assignment is given, and then immediately stored away in the cobwebbed corners of my brain, never to see the light of day until a couple of hours before it’s due. So many interests, so few hours in a day; how am I supposed to prioritize studying for AP US History when cameras and the internet exist?

I’m not proud of it, but I always seem to land on my feet when it comes down to the last minute. I never passed a test with flying colors by any stretch of the meaning, but I did pass. It got done, and it was fine. When the pressure’s on and the urgency’s there, I make it happen.

I think most creators “make it happen” when faced with deadlines - especially ones put in place by themselves, and even more so when money’s involved. Our SMART goals for this season definitely apply pressure with the Wheel Of Death, and one of us has already felt its consequences.

All this to say - I haven’t made my two videos this week. I’ve written and recorded the voiceover for both, I’ve just yet to start cutting and exporting. Back to cram mode.

I’ve been here before.

My mom, who also happens to be my martial arts instructor of 20 years, used to say:

“How bad do you want it?” 

(Typically at a louder volume as sweat wrings itself out of my drenched uniform). I think the methodology is what’s gotten me through those cram sessions, and through situations like the one I’m in now. I can’t tell you how bad I don’t want to run a naked mile.

How bad do you want it? What will you do to make it happen this week?

This week I was inspired by this video - a short-form piece of literal cinema that knocked my socks off. Shot horizontally, it’s a prime example of the adaptability of not only short-form, but the vertical format. The way Luke composes the frame in each shot is really something to behold. Color me inspired.