Put Yourself in Rooms of People Smarter Than You

One thing I don’t understand about creative people trying to run a business is that they don’t read or pay attention to business news or information. They may consume tons of content around art and creativity, which is necessary, but they have no patience to listen to a successful entrepreneur explain their approach to business.

I think this is one of the biggest mistakes people make—not studying the subjects they are weak at to become more knowledgeable and self-reliant in their business.

I don’t listen to creative podcasts or watch creative videos on YouTube, not because they aren’t valuable, but because I have all the creative inspiration I need right now. Writing and sharing have been tremendous creative outlets; I don’t need to spend time on that content.

Instead, I spend my consumption on learning from people who know more than me about business and marketing because these fields are constantly changing, while creative inspiration is a constant and rarely evolves.

I’ve always been interested in marketing and growth, yet even more so recently. To stay in front of what is happening in the world so I can share timely information with The Hungry readers, doing this over the last few years, my understanding of these topics has become more significant.

When I receive new information, I’m quicker to pick it up and see the possibilities as it applies to creative business. Learning becomes more accessible, like muscle memory for my brain, and the more I do it, the easier it is to share with others in a relatable way.

If creative people are to grow and succeed in their creative businesses, they must spend less time looking for inspiration from their peers and more time listening to business experts and learning how to apply new standards to their businesses.

These are just a few of the people I pay attention to regularly.

Nathan Barry

The CEO of ConvertKit* has a kindness to him and would be a great virtual mentor to creative people who are intimidated by most business personalities. Before ConvertKit, Nathan was a web designer and developer who shared his knowledge in ebooks that he sold on Gumroad. Now, he’s the leader of, arguably, one of the best email service providers. Nathan’s newsletter and podcast have been tremendous resources for me, and I think many others would find him relatable.

Matt McGarry

Matt has been behind some of the most prominent newsletter success stories in recent years, and he shares many actionable and relatable information about growing email lists. He’s a very nuts-and-bolts guy who doesn’t share fluff, and between his newsletter and podcast, you can learn way more about newsletter publishing than 99% of people in a very short period.

Shaan Puri and Sam Parr

Shaan and Sam’s podcast, My First Million, might be the most fun you can have listening to topics that fly right over your head, but they always deliver solid information. These are not small business stories, though, so it’s not about actionable information as much as it is about learning the business from two seasoned professionals and their even more successful friends.

Steph Smith

Without a doubt, Steph Smith is the most brilliant and relatable woman I’ve encountered in the business category. A genius researcher who specializes in spotting trends, Steph has worked for some powerful entities, including her current employment at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the largest venture capital firms and one that puts its altruistic mission statement on the front page of its website. One of my favorite recent interviews with Steph happened recently with Nathan Barry on the Billion Dollar Creator podcast.

David Perell

Full disclosure: I don’t know much about David, but this is less about him and more about the people he puts in his chair. His podcast, How I Write, invites the best and brights in the writing world, from fiction to non-fiction, business to self-improvement, and they all have stories to tell. To learn how to tell better stories, subscribe to David’s show.

Pick one of those above and dive in. Do not try and absorb all of them at once because it will definitely overwhelm you. Find an area of concentration and dig in. Once you start to grasp the concepts better, it becomes much easier to learn from others because many of these people run in similar circles and speak the same language.

Ultimately, that’s what these individuals are teaching: a second language in the art of business.

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