Storytime is a series of brief videos focused on a single idea relating to my work and/or personal life.
This is a brief story about discovering a business model that allowed us to remain a two-person company with a product we could make once and sell multiple times. The full version of this story is told in my book Big Enough.
Storytime is a series of videos that are usually brief and focused on a single idea relating to my work and/or personal life. This episode is about how our video “Twitter in Plain English” ended up on the front page of Twitter.com for over a year. The full version of this story in my book Big Enough.
Storytime is a series of videos that are usually brief and focused on a single idea relating to my work and/or personal life. This episode of storytime is about how we worked with our competition to grow the market for our services while remaining a two-person. I share a full version of this story in my book Big Enough.
Mike Rhode and I go way back and it was a pleasure to reconnect with him on the Sketchnote Army podcast and discuss communication, creative work, and explainer videos.
What we covered in the show:
Intro: Who is Lee?
Lee’s origin story with explainer videos
The value of partnering with others
How Common Craft operates now
Valuing clear, interesting, surprising information
Since the pandemic, a new class of apps have been introduced that are designed to make videos and presentations more interesting. One of my favorites is the mmhmm app, which is software you download to your computer.
The neat thing about mmhmm is that it allows the presenter and presentation to be on the screen at the same time. It’s in beta and a little buggy, but works.
Today I published the first video I made with the app. It’s an introduction/preview for the Common Craft video we published this morning. The video is called Clear Communication in Presentations. Here is the intro I made with mmhmm:
Building a business inevitably comes with a personal cost. For many, that cost is debt, long hours, and reduced quality of life. Years of toil are traded for a shot at striking gold and the allure is undeniable. The risk can seem worth the rewards and I applaud those who choose to take it.
But I also believe that now is the time for a new perspective that challenges traditional notions of business success and respectability. Who is to say that a small, sustainable business is less successful than a big, growing one? Is an entrepreneur who values quality of life less respectable?
I created the 47-second video below to explain this new version of success and the value of building a business that grows what matters to you.
Andrew Warner and I go way back to the early days of Mixergy and I always come away from his interviews having learned something about myself. He read BIG ENOUGH and asked questions that took the conversation in directions I didn’t expect.
We discussed Common Craft’s evolution, how we thought about competition and copycats, and a lot more.
The post below was sent as an issue of my newsletter, Ready for Rain.
Friends, it’s an exciting day. BIG ENOUGH was officially launched and I’m so excited to see it out in the world. To celebrate, I recorded a video for you.
I write books and run a company called Common Craft. I recently moved from Seattle to a rural island. Here, I write about online business, book publishing, modern home construction, and occasionally, dumb jokes.
I write books and run a company called Common Craft. I recently moved from Seattle to a rural island. Here, I write about online business, book publishing, modern home construction, and occasionally, dumb jokes. 
