Matt's Mix Tape, Vol. 97

Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson and this is Matt’s Mix Tape, a weekly Mix of ideas on writing, content strategy, and personal tech for the Creator Age.

This week’s Mix:

• The story of this week’s logo

• Quitting is how you commit to things

• How COVID improved Seth Myers’ show

• The secret sauce of online courses

• Personal tech: the Libby app

• This week’s Florida photo

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The story behind the Mix Tape #97 logo

From 2003-2008, Apple ran its most iconic ad campaign: the iPod silhouettes.

The visuals were simple and striking. Bright colors served as a backdrop to dancing silhouettes, allowing the white EarPods and cords to pop out over the top.

Even in New York City and Las Vegas, iPod billboards seemed to reside on a layer in front of all the other visual noise. They always stood out.

Apple’s ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, created the concept. At first, Steve Jobs wasn’t convinced the strategy would work:

Jobs shook his head, not certain the silhouettes would work, according to Walter Isaacson’s account of the meeting in his book, Steve Jobs.  “It doesn’t show the product,” said Jobs, perhaps thinking that more computer-type imagery was needed.  “It doesn’t say what it is.” 

Eventually, Jobs approved the idea and the campaign took off, along with iPod sales and Apple’s resurgence.

The simplest ideas often stand out the most.

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The secret sauce of online courses

I’m starting two online courses this weekend, because my name is Matt and I am a course addict.

• Nate Kadlac’s Approachable Design is a two-day course that teaches the what and how of design and brand identity basics—but also the why. He helps people make design choices that resonate with who they are and the things they love.

• Ship 30 for 30 helps writers publish 30 short essays in 30 days. I will write about what I learned over a decade of building an affiliate marketing program from $7M to over $65M. (Affiliate link.)

I learn a lot in cohort-based courses, which is great. Taking action on what I learn is even better.

Most importantly, I’m creating an entire new personal network of creative, entrepreneurial, and positive people from around the world. That’s the secret sauce to cohort-based online courses: the connections and friendships you make.

Right now, I don’t believe there’s any better way to change and expand your network.

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Quitting is how you commit to things

Nat Eliason on the benefits of giving up:

Most projects will fail. Or be given up on. And having an unhealthy commitment to projects you started prevents you from finding the ones that really resonate. I've quit 99% of the things I've started working on, and I'm really glad I did. I'm terrible at following through on most things I start, but how many people can say they've published a newsletter every single Monday for 5 years in a row?

Nat says “quitting is how you commit to things.”

But quit only in service of committing to something else. Nat’s rule of thumb is that he quit only if he has something else hard to work on—something that resonates more deeply and will require diligence and ongoing focus.

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How COVID improved Seth Myers’ show

A funny thing happened to Seth Myers and his late night show during COVID. When the live audience disappeared, the show got better:

“You know, pre-COVID, we had a test audience,” says [producer Mike] Shoemaker. “Which is, basically, during our rehearsal, we would invite people from the building, 25 tourists. And we didn’t always rely on it, but that based a lot of the choices

[…]

And that’s all gone. It’s really like brain to mouth to television.”

Without a studio audience to please, Myers, Shoemaker and team found themselves freed up to make the show they wanted:

Both Meyers and Shoemaker know right now the show is the best its ever been. They both say it’s the most fun. And they both agree this is the version of Late Night they’ve wanted to do.

Instead of trying to please an audience, the Late Night team made content to please themselves.

I’m reminded of Maria Popova’s quote. Popova’s newsletter, Brain Pickings, reaches millions of readers each week:

“Write for yourself. If you want to create something meaningful and fulfilling, something that lasts and speaks to people, the counterintuitive but really, really necessary thing is that you must not write for people.”

When creating content, the audience matters, of course. But if you try to please the audience first, your output is often inferior to what you could create trying to please yourself.

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Personal tech: the Libby app

Libby lets you borrow audio books and Kindle books from your local library for free. Over 90% of American libraries participate and you can search for your library here.

Libby has saved me hundreds of dollars. Every time I bring up the Libby app, I get reactions like this:

Not nearly enough people know this awesome app exists. Just doing my part.

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This week’s Florida photo

This week’s Florida photo was not taken in Florida. It is also not a photo. It’s a GIF. Other than that, the headline is perfectly accurate.

This is Mullett Lake—named after the fish, not the haircut—in Northern Michigan.

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Thank you for reading. 

And if you have questions, comments, or open rebuttals, (or just want to say hi) please hit reply.