Hey friend! I come bearing fresh news from the Ungated universe.
The short version is I'm running my first ever paid workshop next week. It's about building lil internet businesses that are incredibly joyful to run. Basically, it's for creative people who look at all the traditional advice in this world and think "ew, there's gotta be a better way."
The long version is that, after spending the last two years unlearning most the nonsense I picked up from the online marketing space, and wandering through the wilderness to find better ways, I'm ready to distill my core business philosophy into something short and practical.
My goal for the workshop is to give you new ways to orient towards yourself, and towards the process of creating and marketing work that matters to you. My hope is that the workshop provides an operating system upgrade, so that you're constantly iterating your way towards joy and meaning and connection, and moving away from suffering and rigidity and disconnection.
I've learned and implemented a ton of marketing tactics and strategy over the years. But the stuff in this workshop is what I wish "five years ago Rob" would have taken to heart. I've suffered more than I care to admit as a result of how I used to approach online business, and I see the same patterns playing out everywhere across the "creator economy." So this workshop is my attempt to help my homies avoid the traps I fell into.
As for what I'll cover, I'll be going deep on the four principles/pillars of the Ungated Philosophy that I've started to share on the website this year. Those principles are:
- Work from the inside-out: the more you understand your inner world—your desires, values, fears, worldview, etc—the easier it is to find your people, and build something that makes you feel fully alive.
- Build from the bottom-up: you can't think your way into the perfect business. The real world will always stifle your best laid plans. Instead, turn uncertainty into your playground. Experiment frequently and iterate your way into a business you genuinely enjoy.
- Cheerfully subvert the status quo: there's a voice in your head that knows things are fucked up, and could be so much better. Heed that call and be courageous enough to subvert the status quo in your corner of the internet. It feels good, it attracts like-minded friends, and it's great for business.
- Market yourself non-coercively: throw manipulative marketing out the window. Be prolific, truthful, friendly, and trusting. Be unafraid to invite people into the meaningful experiences and worlds you're creating. The right people will be thrilled you did.
There's quite a bit of nuance to each of these, but that's the gist. Truly these four principles have opened up a new world for me. A world in which I'm having copious amounts of fun online, making a bunch of new friends who share the same values, doing creative work that feels alive, and making money far more easily and fluidly than when I was doing things the traditional way.
So yeah, that's my invitation. I'm really proud of this workshop, and am excited to see more creatives running this operating system. I believe once it catches on, the internet is going to become a hell of a lot more fun and diverse and nourishing than it is today.
Rock on homie, and hope to see you in the workshop.
-Rob
