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Writing Your Obituary – #112

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Another Marathon Complete

On Monday, May 15th, I and 27 other golfers dared to do the near impossible…golf 100 holes in a single day. This was the 4th Annual OEF 100 Holes of Golf Marathon and it was an amazing success. As I write this, 383 incredible people donated to the cause, supporting our 28 golfer fundraisers.

In the process, over $46,000 was raised (we almost reached our goal of $50,000…although there is still time).

You may ask, what does that mean?

In two words, a lot.

The money raised goes directly to kids (and families) who need speech therapy and cannot afford it. The event will provide nearly 1,000 hours of speech therapy services to kids from all over the United States.

Orange Effect Foundation (OEF) works directly with speech therapists in 35 states to deliver these funds to families in need. So far, OEF has over 350 grants out to children in those 35 states.

In short, we are making a difference. But we need to do even more. You have no idea how great the need is…lack of family funds, no insurance, etc. When parents must choose between feeding the family or speech therapy, you can guess which one wins. That’s why OEF was created.

I personally want to thank the almost 50 people who donated to me at an incredible $4,907 total. A thank you note will be forthcoming.

Oh, and we (Jim Kozak and I) completed the 100 holes in 12 hours and 15 minutes, making a birdie or two along the way.

Writing Your Obituary

Many people talk about designing your life for success.

Warren Buffett recently talked about how to do this.

1. Write your obituary.
2. Set goals to make it come true.

Perhaps a bit morbid … so my friend and colleague Robert Rose says to do this instead.

1. Write your bio of your future self. Preferably five years out.
2. Design your life to make it happen.

Getting there requires chunk goals, meaning this:

1. Every year write down all the things you need to accomplish to make the biography happen.
2. Cross out everything except for five goals.
3. Accomplish those five goals in 365 days. Then repeat for the next year.
4. In five years, you’ll have the bio (or obituary) you want.

Reader (and friend) Matt White recommends Donald Miller’s book (and process) Hero on a Mission, which guides you through this process. I haven’t checked it out yet but will. There is also a course available.

On Turning 50

As most of you know, I turned 50 on May 10th. Thanks to so many of you for the birthday wishes.

In the run up to the big day, I talked to quite a few “more seasoned” individuals about what I should expect from turning the big 5-0.

Here are some of the notes I took from those conversations (in no particular order).

More Time with the Family or Friends You Have. This one, in various forms, was the most repetitive. People discussed missing parents and kids and I sensed a bit of regret about not taking advantage of those relationships while they had the time.

Go Deep Not Wide. There was a desire to focus on getting super close to a small group of friends over seeking more friends.

Use Money for Time. Money becomes important only to create more time and experiences. There was a lot of “I wish I would have traveled more while I was healthy” or “I always wanted to go to Italy.” Basically, the mantra was “just do it now while you can.” Don’t wait.

Get Healthy Now. I heard a lot that at ages 50 to 60 most people were still quite healthy…that the pains and health problems didn’t appear until after 60. So there was quite a bit of talk about focusing on health at 50 to push off aging as much as possible.

The “I Wish I” Syndrome. Wow this was a recurring theme. Almost everyone wished they had done something. Learned to play guitar. Write a novel. Run a marathon. It was strange how many people who were in their mid-60’s believed it was now too late to do these things (which isn’t true, but they were statements made as facts).

There were more, but these seemed to be the majority.

One person said this: “It’s just a number Joe. Get over yourself.” Also good advice. 🙂

For me, I’m planning to write my next novel before I’m 51. As for the other goals, I’m working on those now and will share them with you when they are complete.

On Writing Novels

My friend Jeff Korhan recommended I read Haruki Murakami’s book “Novelist as a Vocation” while we were chatting at Creator Economy Expo.

I’m about halfway through and loving it.

One of my biggest takeaways is what Murakami recommends to aspiring novelists – read as much as you can. Read from great authors, mediocre authors and bad authors.

This makes sense to me. I feel I have become a better writer, not necessarily through more writing, but through more reading.

I make a similar recommendation to content entrepreneurs. When someone tells me they want to start a podcast and then asks for advice, I generally tell them to listen to as many podcasts as possible. The same thing goes for becoming a YouTuber or a newsletter writer.

NOTE: You would be astonished the number of people who want to write books and don’t read, or create a podcast and don’t listen to any.

So whatever you want to create, make sure you become a connoisseur of that particular medium. You’ll begin to notice what works, what doesn’t, and you’ll more naturally find your differentiation area in between.

As a final note, so much of this newsletter was aided by friends and colleagues. I realized that almost all these people are readers of this newsletter.

So, if someone asks me how they can find more friends, I’m going to tell them to start a newsletter.

The Anatomy of a Creator – #111

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Me (in orange), Jim & JK

The Marathon

I’m writing this three days after my first (running) marathon. My legs are sore, but I honestly feel pretty good. The result? I surprised myself. I finished the marathon with a chip time of 4 hours 15 minutes and 40 seconds.

I also hit my goal of not walking once. I took water every mile and a gel at every four miles.

One of the biggest tips I received was to smile a lot. I was smiling all the time, all the way to the finish line. And wow does that make things better. Thank you, Ruth Carter, for that piece of advice.

When I came through the finish line the actual time was 4 hours 20 minutes…both my kids had a chuckle about the whole 4:20 thing. I stepped on the finish line and looked down so I could see my foot cross the line…thus completing the journey.

I can close my eyes and see my foot over the line…the culmination of months of work (and 400 miles to be precise).

So…that’s that, but what I want to tell you about is a conversation I had the day before with my wife. I must tread lightly here because she already thinks I talk about her too much in my content, but I think she’s been with me long enough. She’s pretty much stuck with me.

Here goes…

We are in Toledo sitting inside a Whole Foods. She was having a beer and I was drinking an Arnold Palmer with some Popcorn. Good combination by the way.

I was just talking to her about my marathon thoughts. I was a bit jumpy. Anxious about the next day. She asked me if I had a time goal. I told her that all the advice I received was not to have a time goal. Just finish. Finishing is enough.

I sensed she wanted to say something. Her complexion changed a bit, then she laid it on me.

In so many words, she said that wasn’t good enough. That I’d done the work, to a tee I’d done the work. I skipped two runs because of injury over the past four months, but other than that I hit every run. I ran in the Bahamas. I got up early to run on our family vacation. I ran 60 laps around a cruise ship…two times mind you. I ran 22 miles around the west side of London, England.

Then she asks, “don’t you have a time goal? Are you a Pulizzi?”

Now, when she brings out the “Are you a Pulizzi?” that always gets my attention. We are ‘go big or go home’ people. She was challenging me. I decided to do this thing…and made the decision to do one, just one marathon. And since I was making this decision, how was I not going to go all out?

I was mad. More than mad, I was pissed. Then I started to rationalize. I showed her my splits for my other training runs. My fastest mile splits, for any my runs, were around nine minutes 30 seconds. My runs over 15 miles were around 10:30 to 11’s or higher. I said, how could I run much faster than a 4:30 when nothing I’ve done showed me I could do that?

4:15 was the number she thought I could do. I ran my last half marathon in 2:07, so she said just double that. “You should just do that,” she said. I told her it wasn’t that easy.

Then we went to dinner, got to sleep early and then I stayed awake for awhile thinking (stewing might be the better word). I was obsessed over what she said. Was I settling? Was I just taking the advice of others because that’s the way most people did it.

The race the next day was to start at 6:30 AM. Around 5:30 AM I had some alone time, to drink my coffee and stretch, and I made the decision to go all out. I would start the first mile at a nice pace, around 10…then work to get a little faster for each mile until about halfway, and then hold on for dear life.

Mile one I did in 9:58. Perfect start.

At mile eight I hit a 9:04 split.

I hit my lowest split at mile nine with an 8:55.

I kept on with all my miles under 10 minutes until mile 22 and hit the proverbial wall. The next five miles were 10:21, 10:12, 10:31, 10:26 and 10:19 and then I came around the corner, the last .2 miles, with a big smile on my face.

I’m not sure what the learning is here…but I think it’s a mixture of:

It’s okay to take advice, but turn all that advice into your own decision AND actually make it your own, and

We only live once, so whatever you decide to do, give it everything you’ve got.
I’m sure if I came in at 4:29 I would be happy that I finished my first marathon, but I couldn’t honestly say that I gave everything physically and mentally to a task.

For the marathon on April 23rd in Toledo, I gave absolutely everything I had.

After the race, I was walking back, hand in hand with my wife. She was smiling because she knew. And I thanked her. I told her I was mad at her, and I thanked her for what she said because it was right. She said that’s why we are perfect for each other. “You challenge me as well. We are supposed to make each other better.”

As a final note, I want to thank Jim McPhillips for riding his bike along with me at the race. He was there whenever I needed anything…especially water, and a joke or two. Also a big thanks to JK Kalinowski, who shared this goal with me. I can’t tell you how many texts we sent back and forth supporting each other.

And to the hundreds of others (many of you) who sent me emails, messages and voicemails. It all meant so much. Thank you!

The Anatomy of a Creator

This week The Tilt released their 3rd annual study of the creator economy. You can check out the full research here.

My opening keynote at CEX unpacked some of this research. Here are the findings I found the most interesting.

Independence+
Most content entrepreneurs don’t aim to build big, flashy media businesses with an audience of millions. They seek independence, fewer work hours, and the freedom to pursue projects that inspire them.

Sure, money is important, but quality of life trumps all. The average creator works about 36 hours a week, with a preference to work less than 30.

Quality over Quantity
The research shows that most content entrepreneurs have relatively small audiences. People who run their content businesses as a full-time endeavor have an average of 4,000 followers across all channels. For most, it’s not the size of the audience, but how deeply engaged they are with the content.

In addition, content entrepreneurs use just four channels to create and distribute content (on average), with just two bringing in the majority of the revenue.

How Long to Make It?
From launch of the business to first dollar takes approximately five months. In just over a year, revenue exceeds expenses. That’s about the time when a part-time hobbyist decides to switch to full time. At around a year-and-a-half, the content entrepreneur should be close to supporting themselves fully.

By any comparison, this is extremely quick to build a viable business. Why? Building a content-first business can be done with minimal costs. The average content business needs around $10,000 to launch and generally has a few thousand in tech and software costs per month. It is, perhaps, the easiest business on the planet to start (needing just a simple smartphone to begin creating and distributing content).

What Should You Expect?
In an average of all responses, content entrepreneurs expect gross revenues of $108,000 in 2023 with $62,000 in profit. That’s a 59 percent margin.

While this doesn’t happen in year one, or even year two, many content entrepreneurs are seeing these kinds of numbers and better after three-plus years.

How Do They Make Money?
Content entrepreneurs make money in dozens of ways. Almost half leverage consulting and coaching services, followed by book sales, online courses and workshops, affiliate marketing deals and advertising.

And Finally, It’s Not All Content
Many entrepreneurs get into the content business thinking it’s all about creating content, building an audience and then monetizing that audience. Not true.

While 46 percent of the time is spent on content creation, 17 percent is content distribution and another 29 percent is marketing, sales, promotion, business and operational time.

This is where so many content entrepreneurs fail. Yes, this is a content business, but it’s a business first.

Get the full report for free here.

To Diversify or Not Diversify – #110

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Less than Two Weeks

In less than two weeks I’ll be kicking off the 2nd annual Creator Economy Expo at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. If you haven’t registered by now, I’m sure you can’t make it…but…by far, this is the best speaking lineup we’ve put together in my 20+ years of doing events.

Over 40 creators. More than 30 hours of teaching content creators how to build audiences and drive revenue. If you create and distribute content as part of your business, this is the best I can do.

If you want access to all the videos from the event, you can get them for $295 by using coupon code JPVIP using this link. The videos will be available two weeks after the event ends.

If you’d still like a chance to come but need some financial help, email me and make your case. I’ll do the best I can. Thanks!

Air

I watched the movie Air this week starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

It’s the story of how Nike (who at that time was last in market share for basketball shoes) signed Michael Jordan.

Good movie (not great) … but an amazing story.

This part interested me.

In 1984, Nike set aside $250,000 to sign three or four players from the NBA draft. Instead, Sonny Vaccaro from Nike convinced CEO and Founder Phil Knight to put it all on one amazing player (Jordan).

The sensible decision would be to diversify the investment.

The decision with huge upside would be to bet it all on the best player.

Nike was hoping for $3 million dollars in sales that first year with Jordan. They did $162 million.

In 1984 Nike had 17 percent of the shoe market. Today it’s 90 percent.

In just the last five years the Jordan brand has brought in $20 billion dollars in sales for Nike.

I believe the same concept goes for content creation. So many content creators and marketers diversify and spend minimal time on five, six, seven platforms and make no impact. The better decision is to go “all in” on one or two (like Nike did).

Focus almost always wins. NOTE: I say “almost” because I’m sure someone has been successful creating and distributing content everywhere at once…but I just don’t have an example of that.

Bringing Into Existence

Lin-Manuel Miranda and John Kander were on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week. There’s a three minute clip that I think every content creator should watch.

Miranda and Kander are working with each other on a new musical called New York, New York and they’re talking about how they would be chatting and then an hour would go by and they just created something.

Miranda says they are working, and then something begins to happen, and then says “This Exists Now.” Really powerful scene on how two creators develop art. Then Kander goes on and says that one of the great things about making stuff is that something is now there that wasn’t there before.

I watched it a couple times and felt blessed about the opportunity to create things that were not there before…maybe with the ability to at least positively affect one person with what I do.

Thanks to subscriber Ruth Carter for sending me this clip.

The Perfect Investment Strategy?

Last year I was asked to write an article about how to invest your proceeds after selling your company. Here is the full article, but I thought I’d share a portion of how I think about investing for the long term. Because it has to be stated, this is NOT investment advice of any kind.

A quick note: In the previous section on Air I recommend NOT diversifying. This is business advice and I believe it’s correct. Below is investment information on how not to LOSE what you already have. In this case, I believe in diversification. A person “could” go all in on one thing (say crypto) and be successful (or lose it all), but with that strategy I cannot sleep at night. And my number one goal for investing is to be able to sleep at night. You’ll see.

Let’s start with 100 percent. That’s all the money you have in the world.

The first 25 percent could look like this:

– 10 percent in cash
– 10 percent in real estate
– five percent for charity

Before we get to the remaining 75 percent (this is the amount of money we are looking to grow over time), there are a few things to consider.

First, you should allocate this money so that you can sleep at night. If you are constantly worried about this pot or checking stock prices all the time, there is a problem.

Second, I have a good handle on investments, but I know enough to know that I don’t know everything.

So, I decided to take half of this pot and manage it myself (through a self-service broker like Fidelity or TD Ameritrade) and take the other half and have it professionally managed.

For the professionally managed part, I decided on a firm that charged an annual management fee on the total amount managed (say 1 percent), rather than choosing an advisor that gets paid from what they invest in for you (loaded mutual funds or other investments).

This way, I know exactly what I’m paying, and, if at any time I want to remove the investment advisor, it’s already in an account that I can see and manage.

If you go with a traditional investment advisor, often they hold the money/assets in their own accounts and make all the trades.

I like it better when the advisor does not own or control the trading platform.

My Investing Formula

Now, of the 75 percent cash you have remaining, I like this formula:

45 percent US stocks with an equal distribution of small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap stocks, as well as a division by sector (technology, healthcare, etc.). If you are more aggressive, you can lean toward the tech and healthcare sectors rather than energy or consumer staples. If you feel comfortable owning particular stocks that you understand, that’s great, but ETFs make it simple and can get you the diversification you need.

The remaining 30 percent looks like this:

– 10 percent international stock holdings
– 15 percent bonds; a mixture of US, international, and corporate bonds
– Five percent alternative assets

For the five percent alternative, I like to see a mixture of hedge funds and cryptocurrencies. For crypto, I like Bitcoin, followed by ETH, as well as several NFT holdings (I would put this into the art/collectibles category).

Most people don’t realize that the best-performing sector over the last 50 years is high-end art. I believe the future of this is digital, thus non-fungible tokens.

This is a bit more advanced than most, so if you are a little skittish stick with Bitcoin and ETH and you can skip the NFTs. Even though crypto has been HIGHLY volatile, I am still a fan of this strategy.

In This Case, Diversity Wins

If you execute this correctly, you should have created a remarkably diverse portfolio.

And that’s what we want…diversification.

Diversification might not necessarily give you huge returns, but it does ensure that you can sleep at night and it will grow your hard-earned dollars over time.

In closing, let’s review:

– US Stock Holdings. Cap and sector diversified – 45 percent
– Bonds, diversified by location and structure – 15 percent
– International Stock Holdings, diversified by country/region – 10 percent
– Cash/cash equivalents – 10 percent
– Real estate – 10 percent
– Charity – 5 percent
– Hedge Funds – 2.5 percent
– Crypto/NFTs – 2.5 percent

Again, as a final note; I am not a qualified investment advisor. I am speaking only from my personal experience. Please seek out qualified help when you are ready.

The Power of Storytelling – #109

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26.2 to Life – The Documentary

In almost two weeks from now, I’ll be running my first marathon. I’ve run 300+ miles along with four sessions per week since the start of the year as part of my training. This Sunday was my longest run to date (22 miles). From here on out I’ll be tapering (aka resting the legs a bit) until race day.

I believe I’m ready, and excited, for April 23rd in Toledo, Ohio (the Glass City Marathon).

So last week, as part of the Cleveland International Film Festival, my wife took me to see the documentary 26.2 to Life, a story about the incarcerated men of San Quentin Prison who train all year for a marathon inside the prison.

The documentary, developed by director and producer Christine Yoo (the one in red), took over five years to film and edit, including nine months just to get permission from the California prison system.

I was simply blown away by the movie. I give it six out of five stars.

The sold out Allen Theatre in Cleveland erupted in applause at the end of the movie, sending Ms. Yoo to tears.

One of the stars in the film, Markelle Taylor (pictured on the right), who finished with the fastest time of the San Quentin runners, was released from prison four years ago and has since run the Boston, New York and Chicago marathons. He now travels the country visiting prisons and juvenile populations sharing his experiences.

A couple of things I learned from the movie:

  • The United States has five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated. It doesn’t take a genius to see that we have a problem here.
  • Most prisons are highly segregated by race. According to Ms. Yoo, San Quentin’s 1000 mile club is the most racially integrated of pretty much any prison-type program. The movie actually talks about how re-entry is often difficult for former prisoners because they are used to prison segregation.
  • Prisoners who are released often times find their way back to prison. Of the 45 San Quentin 1000 milers (those prisoners who run at least one thousand miles while incarcerated) who have been paroled, none have re-offended. An amazing statistic.

I could go on in so many directions, from the Pulitzer-prize nominee Ear Hustle podcast, recorded inside San Quentin (take a listen), to the Society of Professional Journalists’ San Quentin chapter, to the amazing San Quentin News, which is available to anyone outside the prison. The paper promotes social justice issues.

But the aspect of this documentary that hit me the hardest was being a witness to the power of one story.

In February of 2016, journalist Jesse Katz wrote a story called “Inside the San Quentin Marathon” in GQ magazine. That story was read by Christine Yoo and inspired her to develop the documentary. That documentary is now being seen by millions across the world, and is inspiring other prisons to launch their own 1000-mile clubs (two so far and more on the way).

Personally I witnessed over 500 people moved to tears from this documentary that would have never happened if someone didn’t first write the story.

It’s important for us to remember that if what we write, what we create, positively affects just one person, we are indeed changing the world for the better. Sometimes we can’t see it or know it, but it’s happening.

Keep creating!

Deep Thoughts

If you go back to issue #95, you’ll remember the obituary I wrote for my friend and mentor James McDermott. There’s not a day that goes by that something doesn’t remind me of him, or the influence he had on me. One thing is for sure, I would be doing something completely different with my life if it wasn’t for Jim.

A few months ago I was cleaning out some of Jim’s work papers. Jim’s notes always fascinated me. He would read an article and, many times, the notes would be longer than the article.

Here’s eight short notes that stood out for me. I’m hopeful they’ll help you as well.

1. Only a focused and common mission will hold the organization together and enable it to produce. Without such a mission, the organization will soon lose credibility and, with it, its ability to attract the very people it needs to perform. (Drucker)

2. Training has no value unless the person makes a behavior change.

3. Goals must be 1) written, 2) understandable, 3) achievable/realistic, 4) challenging and 5) measurable.

4. Without goals, it doesn’t matter how you use your time.

5. 80 percent of all problems can be traced to communication issues.

6. Change happens through listening, not talking.

7. A wrong decision is better an indecision (Ford).

8. The primary purpose of your business is to serve your life (Gerber).

Jim has sheets and sheets with these quotes on them. I refer back to them often. Thanks Jim!

Your legacy lives on.

Where I’ll Be…

It will be a very busy few weeks and would love your support.

The Marathon. On April 23rd I’ll be running in my first marathon in Toledo, Ohio at the Glass City Marathon.

Creator Economy Expo on May 1-3rd in Cleveland. THE event for content creators! If you’d like to go and can’t afford it, email me. We have a few scholarships available for creators who need some financial assistance.

100 Holes of Golf (May 15th in Elyria, Ohio). I’m raising money for the 4th year in a row by golfing 100 holes in a day. I’m working to raise $2,000 for kids who need speech therapy. Donate here!

The Power of Editing

John Wick was one of the best action movies I have ever experienced. One of the keys? Dialogue editing.

Per the Wall Street Journal, 27% of the 103 lines spoken by Keanu Reeves (Wick) are a single word.

Morning Brew says that, in total, Keanu Reeves was paid $39,473 per word (for the reported $15 million dollar payday for the superstar).

Reeve’s character only says 380 words in the entire movie. Brilliant!

Could less be more? Reeves sure thinks so.

A New Look on Creator Failure – #108

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Dealing with Creator Failure

I’m almost finished with the audiobook Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. The main characters are video game designers, so this book is more than appropriate for any content creator. The ups and downs of creating something are palpable.

Without giving anything away, the creators developed a game that turned out to be a flop. Sadie, one of the creators, has a difficult time dealing with the failure, especially a public failure. She is, frankly, beside herself and doesn’t know how to move on.

The advice she receives is priceless. There are two takeaways I remember.

The first is there is a blessing in a public failure. It means, in the aftermath, there are no expectations on what you create. This bittersweet silence gives you, the creator, the time and the “moment” to begin creating something again, without any pressure. The creator must embrace this.

While listening, the book took me back to the year 2009. It was turning from summer to fall when I had to face the fact that Junta42, my first startup, was not going to survive. I was keeping it on life support, hoping. Hopeful that some miracle would happen.

We were so small at the time. No one was paying attention. But I felt as though I would never be able to work again. I was ashamed. I moved from room-to-room and the failure seemed to follow me wherever I would go.

I pushed through and made the decision to kill the business. The feeling was not what I expected. Relief? Freedom? Something like that.

The months after I was free to think and create something different. Six months later Content Marketing Institute was born.

In the book, Sadie asks “what do I do?”

The response: “You go back to work. You take advantage of the quiet time that a failure allows you. You remind yourself that no one is paying any attention to you and it’s a perfect time for you to sit down, in front of your computer, and make another game. You try again. You fail better.”

The second piece of advice from the book is around the idea of switching to a new project. Sadie had the idea that moving from one project to another is a sadness. Something not to revel in. Something to mourn.

The advice she receives is the exact opposite. Moving from one space to another is not something to mourn. It is, rather, a joyous occasion. We should honor what we have produced and created before, but exalt in the idea that we are to embark in a new journey. This is also a blessing.

Failure creates a gate…a gate to walk through and, on the other side, do something truly better than before.

I’ve heard all the failure quotes. I’m sure you have as well. Fail fast. Failure is necessary. Failure makes you stronger. All these are true. But I’m not sure I’ve ever looked at failure as an opportunity. A space “in between other spaces” that is a blessing…if you see it as such.

Anyway, the thought makes me smile. It also reminds me of why I love this content entrepreneurial business model so much. We get to work on different projects. An end to one is a new beginning for another.

My father always worked jobs where he got up and pretty much did the same thing each and every day. The only “new” thing each day was what he was having for lunch.

While there is nothing wrong with this type of work (which in many cases is needed in our society), I like the thought of passing through one gate, being thankful, and moving on to the next.

Nine Reasons to Meet Me at CEX in May

Here’s 9 reasons why you need to be in Cleveland May 1-3 for the 2nd Annual Creator Economy Expo (CEX).

1. The presentations are from real content creators doing the work. You’ll learn EXACTLY what you need to be doing to grow audience and revenue.

2. We’re still a small conference. You’ll get to actually talk to the speakers. Ask questions. Network without bumping into people. Make real relationships.

3. Current pricing ends March 31. You can save $200 off regular pricing by registering before then.

4. Don’t you hate events where food is extra? At CEX, you’ll get watered and fed with some amazing options (and not pay anything more).

5. My favorite two months in Cleveland are May and September. Spring in Cleveland is (generally) amazing. You’ll love it. Stay for a while and catch a ball game or go to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

6. Jay Baer, keynote speaker and tequila expert, will be doing multiple tequila tastings during the opening reception. Don’t miss this!

7. The Savannah Bananas are a worldwide sensation. Founder Jesse Cole will teach you his “fans first” philosophy, and how you can implement it as well.

8. Eight tracks this year including subscription generation, podcasting, web3, courses/membership, revenue growth, content operations and video/social media. PLUS four sessions on how creators need to deal with AI and Content!

9. Flights to Cleveland are reasonable. Hotels are cheap (by comparison to other venues).

Register today and save. And use coupon code JPVIP to save an additional $200 off! Hope to see you there.

Friendly AI Reminder

The last two months the creator world has gone ChatGPT crazy. With the release of ChatGPT-4 last week, we are back at it again.

Let’s face it, ChatGPT and other AI tools are incredible…tools. If it helps your process, by all means experiment and use them. I know many creators who are using it for headline suggestions and simple editing. Bravo!

But know that the tool is often wrong. According to Newsguard, the new ChatGPT version provides more misinformation that the previous version. Quite a bit more actually.

Also, here’s a great reminder from Rand Fishkin, who pulled information directly from OpenAI’s FAQ (OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT).

1) “ChatGPT’s training data cuts off in 2021. This means it is completely unaware of current events, trends, or anything that happened after its training.  It will not be able to respond appropriately to questions or topics that require up-to-date knowledge or information. It does not know who is president of the United States, the latest viral meme, or what day it is.”

2) “ChatGPT has no external capabilities and cannot complete lookups. This means that it cannot access the internet, search engines, databases, or any other sources of information outside of its own model.”

3) “It cannot verify facts, provide references, or perform calculations or translations. It can only generate responses based on its own internal knowledge and logic”

So absolutely be excited … but also know what you are receiving is not necessarily true.