Creativity + Strategy = A Muse'ing Genius

Newsletter + On This Day

Sep 17, 2024

EMBROIDERED HATS = AVAILABLE @ COLLIDE PRESS SHOP

As a creative "solopreneur," I wear a lot of figurative hats. And as a self-proclaimed smartass, I also love throwing around business jargon I picked up from a podcast. Who comes up with this stuff?!

The truth is, I actually love hats—so much so that I design and sell them. But the one hat I don’t wear often enough is the “Taking Care Of Business” hat. Sometimes, the creative flow has to pause in order for me to zoom out and see the bigger picture.

Yesterday, I took a break from making montages to analyze my YouTube revenue and AdSense data. It felt a bit like cheating on my muse, but we’re not exactly exclusive. Besides, keeping the dream alive—and financially sustainable—is important, right?

I envy and tip my hat to creators who can afford to ignore their analytics. Must be nice to have so many dollars (and/or AdSense) you don’t need to worry. As a Personally, I run lean and mean YouTube throws so many metrics at you that I had to build my own spreadsheet just to make sense of it all.

To the creative purists: paying attention to metrics isn’t selling out. It’s about learning how to work smarter, not harder—a skill in its own right. Whether we like it or not, platforms like YouTube come with an algorithmic dance. Knowing how to optimize that dance can be the difference between passion-fueled poverty and sustainable creativity.

By reviewing ad revenue, engagement, and audience insights, I can see what resonates with people—and what doesn’t. Less of this, more of that. It helps me keep creating what I love while making a living at the same time. That’s the aim and goal.

Wearing the “Taking Care Of Business” hat for too long isn’t my cup of tea. Creating and curating is. To help ensure my tea caddy stays stocked, I’ve decided to start a weekly check-in as part of my creative process. Yes, there will be spreadsheets. After all, many of history’s greatest artists were also savvy businesspeople.

One of my favorite artists, Andy Warhol, famously renamed his studio The Factory, making it a hub for creation, production, and promotion.

While hats are optional, being both creative and strategic is helpful.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

WORDS OF WISDOM

“WHY DO PEOPLE THINK ARTISTS ARE SPECIAL?
IT'S JUST ANOTHER JOB.”
ANDY WARHOL

“MEN OF LOFTY GENIUS SOMETIMES ACCOMPLISH THE MOST WHEN THEY WORK LEAST, FOR THEIR MINDS ARE OCCUPIED WITH THEIR IDEAS AND THE PERFECTION OF THEIR CONCEPTIONS, TO WHICH THEY AFTERWARDS GIVE FORM.”
LEONARDO DA VINCI

FOUND EPHEMERA OF THE DAY

ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 17

BIRTHDAYS

FRIEDRICH WILHELM VON STEUBEN (1730)
Military Officier
ANNE BANCROFT (1931)
Actor
JOHN RITTER (1948)
Actor
KYLE CHANDLER (1965)
Actor
SCOTT HOYING (1991)
Singer-Songwriter

EVENTS

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrives in Valley Forge to offer his expertise to the Continental Army. Von Steuben had been forced out of the Prussian military due to homosexual scandals. He is considered the father of the United States military. He was a gay man who wrote the Revolutionary War Drill Manual and introduced drills, tactics and discipline to the rag-tag militia which resulted in victory over the British. He has a statue at Valley Forge and another in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. Towns, buildings and a college football field have been named after him; there is even an annual Steuben Day Parade held in his honor every September in cities such as New York and Chicago (in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris lip syncs Wayne Newton’s Danke Schoen during Chicago’s Steuben Day Parade). No foreigner besides Marquis de Lafayette has been so adored in America as von Steuben. The one fact that seems to be left out is that von Steuben was known to “have affections to members of his own sex” and was even identified as a “sodomite,” which is rumored to be the reason he left Prussia for France where he ultimately met Benjamin Franklin. Upon arriving at Valley Forge, von Steuben was immediately accepted by Washington who recognized his military genius. Steuben single-handedly turned a militia, consisting mostly of farmers, into a well-trained, disciplined, professional army that was able to stand musket-to-musket combat with the British. Washington and the Continental Army officially adopted von Steuben’s methods and renamed them Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, the official U.S. military guide until 1812. (1778)
Anthropologist and folklorist Ruth Fulton Benedict dies in New York, New York. Benedict held the post of President of the American Anthropological Association and was also a prominent member of the American Folklore Society. Benedict taught her first anthropology course at Barnard college in 1922 and among her students was Margaret Mead. Benedict was a significant influence on Mead. She was her sometimes lover and lifelong friend. Benedict and Mead are considered to be the two most influential and famous anthropologists of their time. (1948)
The Constitution of the United States is signed by delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. (1787)
M*A*S*H premieres on CBS. (1972)
Home Improvement premieres on ABC. (1991)
8 Simple Rules premieres on ABC. (2002)
Archer premieres on FX. (2009)
The documentary Catfish premieres in theaters. (2010)
Community premieres on NBC. (2009)