Building a community
🏗️Building a community
Building a community is a term that is commonly used in the social media and content creator worlds. To put it bluntly, “building a community” in content creator terms simply means finding people that will watch, listen, buy, subscribe or download your content. It has been something that I have always struggled with in the past as I am not one to spend time on the typical “socials”. I put my head down and read and learn and absorb. That is one of the reasons why I held back on stepping into this creator economy, but I read enough books and watched enough videos of those that say “if you build it, they will come”. So I built it…and they are coming….slowly.
In my latest video I did a review of a book by Austin Kleon called Show Your Work. More of that is detailed below but one of his key points is that if you want to be a part of a community, then you have to be a good steward of that community. Staying true to my mission to follow the advice of the guru’s I have been much more proactive in watching videos, commenting, and subscribing. I am happy to say that I have seen some engagement. I received my first official comment on my YouTube video and had some new subscribers and views. I am trying to not worry about the slow growth but instead enjoy the small milestones as they happen because they only come once. I will never be able to celebrate my first comment again.
🎥The Latest on my YouTube Channel
As I was preparing to launch my first book review video, I realized there is a whole community called BookTube. This is for book lovers to post videos, do book reviews and generally geek out over reading. (Right up my alley). Shout out to the BookTube community. I am looking forward to being a part of your community.
My first of many book review videos has been released. You can check it out below: Show Your Work by Austin Kleon Book Review
🏆What I am learning
🎬If you check out my video above you will notice I added some sound effects into the video. YAY!!! Adding sound effects is one of the things that I learned watching some tutorials on Camtasia. Look out Hollywood…Here I come….
🔗I’ve learned a lot about blockchain this week. I continued my certification course on Simplilearn and we covered Ethereum and smart contracts. Finally…we are getting into the good stuff!! If you are interested in learning along with me, sign up for an account using my affiliate link here https://simpli-web.app.link/e/hwcdjHJhlm. You will get FOUR FREE Courses and you can connect with me and share notes.
👨💻I supplemented my Simplilearn course with some additional articles and YouTube videos. I found some original material on things like NFT’s and Web3. Here is a delightful video from a fellow YouTuber on how she created her first NFT collection with no experience. It was surprisingly helpful and informative spoken in layman terms.
📖What I am reading
I completed Uncover Your Difference by Meera Kothand. My initial impression held true through the end. It was not what I had expected. Make sure you check on my website for the full review later this week: https://www.paulmilakeve.com/book-reviews.
I am revisiting The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly. I originally read it back in 2019 and I want to go into it with a fresh mind. It was a bit to take in on audible so I want to give it a read over so I can gather my notes for a major review. I am excited to see how my perspective on the material may have changed over the past 2 years.
I am on the prowl for the next book to tackle. I am thinking either The Millionaire Fast Lane or from Zero to One.
🛠️Project Updates
📒I am in the process of putting together my notes for my YouTube video script formula and in doing so I realized that I wanted to experiment with some different tools. After hours of researching my options, I decided that my top two choices are Notion and Evernote. I am playing around with those this week and will make a decision sometime before my next newsletter. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments on either one of these tools, reach out to me and share.
🛋️I shared my progress on my reading nook last week. I have really enjoyed using it, but I found there is someone who is enjoying it even more than me.
👍What I am loving
🎥Dawson Ash - He is a young content creator that is on a quest for financial independence. He is trying some different strategies on his channel from real estate to flipping couched and cars. I found him because he commented on my video last week. He was my first official comment. You should check him out and show some love. https://www.youtube.com/c/DashFC
📝 Cobie - He is a fellow Substack writer that I stumbled upon. He has a great article on Web3 and the metaverse. You can find him through the link below:
🎙️I stumbled upon this great podcast after burning through my regular content. It’s the Recode Media broadcast hosted by Peter Kafka. The episode is title So..what the hell is Web3? I found it very helpful in gaining more knowledge about blockchain, Web3 and the metaverse from someone who is in the field. If you are as fascinated with this field as I am then it is worth a listen. Here is the link to the Apple podcast but I am sure it is available on all other platforms.
📊Random Insights
On a recent trip to Orlando this weekend it dawned on me that my wife and I have been in Florida for over 4 years and we have not been to Disney World. It is amazing to me considering the fact that we live about 60 minutes away. When we first moved to the area it was a financial thing because we simply could not afford it, but now that things have changed, I don’t know why we haven’t even mentioned it. It got me to thinking about how we often times take things for granted when they are too accessible. When we lived in Las Vegas we did not think about going to the casinos on the Strip. When we lived in New York City we rarely went to Broadway and Times Square. We live on the Space Coast of Florida where Space X has frequent rocket launches, and we go about our business like nothing is happening. It is only when we are absent from something that we start to appreciate it. My call to action this week is to try to look at life like a tourist. Look at life like it is the first time you have ever seen it and try to see the potential and beauty in it. Let’s try to be amazed often and don’t take it for granted.