When artists create art, they hope to sell that art. In order to sell the art, they need to find a market. How does one make a market?Too often I see artists say “hey, I made this thing, buy it.” But if consumers of art don’t know that you exist or that they have a problem that the artist’s art solves, why would they buy?Instead, I think artists should start by asking: who would want to buy art I make?I suggest they create a blog and advertise it. Get people to subscribe for free. Then, share your vision to those subscribers. When the art is ready to ship, you now have an engaged audience you can sell to.This idea doesn’t have to be only for artists. Anybody who has an idea they need to ship, can do it. All that is required is the effort and grit to find people who will care, and serve them.

I made a chicken soup.Whole chickenChayotePotatoCarrotCulantroSweet red pepperOnionThat’s it. I barely added salt.I don’t know what it is… but that combination of flavors melts away stress, coughs, and drains my sinuses well. Is it the soup? Or is it the nostalgia of chicken soup when you’re sick? Sometimes art has that effect. It’s not the form or the piece, but it’s the nostalgia that makes all the difference.

Closing the computer, turning off the noise, and going to sleep. It’s a ritual I look forward to every day. It’s sometimes a ritual I wish I could repeat multiple times a day. Who’s to say I can’t? There’s always something refreshing about waking up.

We made it. You made it.Rest. Everything will be there in the morning.

I blogged about Bob Knight yesterday. I wrote about seeing life as it is; and not seeing it through the lens of hope and idealism. Is that negative? No. My simple way of thinking about being a realist (as opposed to a cynic or an optimist): I give myself space and time to interpret what I see by staying behind life’s pace. I argue I get the best of both worlds ;-)

Late (im)famous Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight passed away. I’m not much of a basketball fan; therefore, I can’t fully appreciate his legacy on the court. I do read, and I appreciate his thoughts on leadership. Have you read, The Power of Negative Thinking yet? “Being alert to the possible negatives in any situation is the very best way to bring about positive results. And the reverse is true, too – ignoring or failing to spot potential hazards in advance makes failure all the more likely.” — Bob Knight, The Power of Negative Thinking.I also love this quote from Bob’s “10 Commandments of Leadership.”“Never stop looking for new ideas. Be self-critical of your beliefs when others offer possible alternatives. Remember, you’re not the inventor of the wheel or the Internet. Learn from the wisdom of others - listen to people who came before, like the playwright George Bernard Shaw: ‘Some see things as they are and ask, ‘Why?’ I see things as they could be and ask, ‘Why not?’‘“ - Bob Knight, The Power of Negative ThinkingAs much as I appreciate optimism; life is simply not that way. Life is life — a balance between hot and cold, order and chaos, and life and death. People who see through the rose colored glasses at the effectual truth of life are often considered cynical or negative. I see us as being realistic. I think Bob was like that too.

I work in a firm that runs advertising campaigns for clients — paid search. A way to paid search is to launch Google Ads. Google charges you, the advertiser, a fee every time someone clicks on your ad. This is called “Cost per Click” or CPC. Every word you type into Google has a value. That value is based on how much intent Google thinks you have to buy a service or a product. “Where can I find cheap legal service” is high intent versus “legal services.”If I want to buy clicks from high-intent buyers, I must spend lots of money. The next best type of click you can get is an organic click. That’s a click that doesn’t come from any form of paid-search. It’s an 18+ month slog of creating content, optimization, testing, re-testing… you don’t know want to know. If you want to high intent organic buyers, you must invest time.You now have two things. A basic understanding of digital advertising; andA deep principle of what it means to attract the people who care — you have to invest in them, you have to show up for them. There are no shortcuts.

I’ve been using this nifty device to advocate for myself. Try it.Situation: Moment when I interpret the events of something in a negative way. Perhaps someone said something to me that I didn’t like. Maybe I didn’t like the result of something I tried.ActionsReflect: Determine the story that I’m telling myself about what just happened.Declare: “Hey, the story that I’m telling myself now is that ____”Ask: “Is this story accurate? What am I missing? How do I make this a more complete story?”Listen. Incorporate what you learned back into your story. Ask yourself: What would it mean for me to believe this new story? Start telling yourself that new story. EnjoyTry it out!

Because vomiting requires the use of your core muscles.And if your core muscles aren’t strong enough, vomits will be painful. There’s always a silver lining… (I’m sick… that’s why I’m vomiting…)

I am contemplating rethinking the idea of failure. I want to have a less toxic relationship with the term; but, I don’t want to celebrate the term and make it more than it is. I think of a failure as a “swing and a miss” — to use a baseball concept. After you swing and miss, you re-orientate yourself, learn, and swing again. I think of failure like I think of baseball… and there’s no crying in baseball.