WHAT I’M READING: MUSE MAKER

Muse Maker is a weekly newsletter from Matt Mic, a young creator sharing lessons learned from being a digital nomad and internet entrepreneur.

I really admire Matt’s work ethic, thoughtfulness, and newsletter aesthetic. You can tell he’s thinking in decades, not days. Follow along here:

Content is Eating the World

In 2011, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen published a blog titled Why Software is Eating the World. In it, he explains how all businesses are becoming software businesses.

• The movie biz became a software biz (Netflix)

• The book biz became a software biz (Amazon)

• The game biz became a software biz (Zynga)

“Software is eating the world” has since become the motto of his firm Andreessen Horowitz. It’s the rallying cry of tech nerds everywhere.

Now content is eating the world.

The ice cream shops are posting Instagrams, the finance bros are posting memes on Twitter, and the startups are posting blogs, it’s all the same. Everyone and every company is becoming a content creator.

Since Andreessen wrote that post in 2011, daily time spent on social media has risen from 90 minutes to 150 minutes. Kids made the decision they’d rather be YouTubers than astronauts — and never looked back.

From the working professional who only uses LinkedIn to the Zoomer hooked on TikTok, everyone is on social media. No matter who you are, making content on the internet is now a totally normal thing to do.

What dish will you bring?

Have you ever been to a potluck dinner where everyone cooks something different? Social media is a like a potluck dinner with all the world.

When my fiancée and I host potluck dinners, we send around a spreadsheet for our friends to fill out. Who is making the main course? Who is bringing dessert? Who is bring the cups and popcorn and napkins?

However much time and effort you want to commit usually determines what food you will choose. Are you busy and just want to bring some red solo cups from CVS? Or do you want to go hard and make some brisket? Either are fine.

All levels of cooking and effort are appreciated. The same goes with making content. Whatever you want to talk or write about, do it. Fishing. Books. Anime. Whatever. There are people out there who will listen and will appreciate your content. With enough practice, you can find a fanbase. I promise.

The only thing that is not appreciated at this great online potluck dinner we call social media are people who don’t make content criticizing the people who spend the time and effort making the content. Idk about you, but that’s not the way my Mom raised me. If she’s making dinner, I shut up and eat the food no matter how nasty the brusselsprouts taste.

These critical trolls are like people who come to a potluck dinner bringing no food, eat more than their fair share, and then have the balls to criticize the chefs. Like maybe it’d be fine if they ate quietly and tried to blend in, no one would care that much — but no they say the meatballs are cold and not the right texture for their tongues.

If you want to be a full-time creator like me, I encourage you to do this. Go hard, make the delicious lasagna, provide as much valuable content as possible. Like making a good dinner for friends, making good content with your internet friends is a fun rewarding experience that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. But if you’re too busy and just want to bring popcorn, that’s cool too. All I ask is that you bring something or shut up and enjoy the party.

Personally, I’m extremely grateful I get to eat a metaphorical dinner with so many cool people around the world. So I’m gonna be a good friend and make the best lasagna/content I can. Bon appétit.

Creators Corner

3 things that helped me be a better creator this week:

✏️ If you want it done, do it yourself. Jerry Seinfeld says Seinfeld was a success because he micro-managed it. Something I’m thinking a lot about rn.

💪🏻 Celia Butcher, wife of artist Jack Butcher, wrote a beautiful thread about Jack’s journey from making like $60 at an art show to now being featured in a Christie’s auction. Inspiring as fuck.

🎨 I’ve been using AI image creation app Midjourney a lot to make goofy images. My Mom was like “Why are you wasting time making funny images?” I told her “It’s never a waste of time to experiment with new technology.” It’s well worth spending some time to play around with the new tech. So much fun.

Thanks for reading nerds.

Create some cool shit this week.

Jason Levin

P.S. Want to really upgrade your content strategy?

😂 For my book about meme marketing, head over to Memes Make Millions.

🥳 Looking for content strategy guides? Check out my shop.

📞 If you want 1:1 advice on your content strategy, book a call with me.

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Until next edition, see you on Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn.