The Magic Of 'With Or Without You' Energy

We’ve all found ourselves in a moment of desperation, working ourselves into a frenzy with the willingness to do ANYTHING to achieve something for ourselves.

The problem is that it rarely works.

Our vision becomes tunnelled, and we lose self-awareness. It also assumes that the thing will only work via someone else and not you.

So, what’s the antidote to desperation?

How do you successfully land the deal, sell the product, and attract a growing audience?

At the very start of the pandemic in 2020, my contract at triple j ended, and I found myself unemployed. One month turned into six whole months. It truly was horrible.

As you can imagine, I was desperate for a job. I felt judged; I was tapping into my savings and felt like my career was over. I needed something. Anything.

After missing out on a job with Spotify (by this stage, I was unemployed for five months), I decided to change my approach and stop feeling desperate.

If no one will hire me, I need to hire myself, and I started pitching to people despite many being unable to pay me. At this point, I felt like I had hit rock bottom, so I had nothing to lose.

I sent a Twitter DM to a comedy podcast asking if they needed a producer. Three weeks later, I received a response saying they’d like to meet and discuss the idea. Everything looked promising until it didn’t. Fortunately, they introduced me to a pair of guys who would pay me to produce their idea—Housewarming.

But the story gets even better.

Because these guys couldn’t afford to pay me a livable wage, I needed something that would.

I received half a dozen offers from various outlets in a short period.

One of those offers was from a man who was the manager of someone looking for an executive producer to lead his No.1 podcast. The guy he managed was Mark Bouris.

So, after spending six months unemployed and feeling like I’d never amount to anything, I found myself in a role so many would be desperate to be in.

You could say that Twitter DM changed my life forever.

Would you believe me if I told you I wasn’t keen on the job? I mean, I had several other strong offers to choose from. I was no longer desperate.

The difference between the person I was six months ago and the person I was at this point came down to having “With-or-Without-You Energy.” 

Daniel Priestley, an award-winning serial entrepreneur, has successfully built and sold several businesses. He emphasises the "With-or-Without-You Energy" when pitching or asking for anything in business. He asks in a way that invites people to join him rather than appearing desperate or needy.

For example: “This dinner party is happening (with or without you), but I’d love it if you could be a part of it.”

It becomes more enticing for them when you don't "need" someone. People don't want to miss out on something exciting.

You can hear more about Daniel Priestley in his appearance on Diary Of A CEO here

This brings me to you.

There are 55 of you who subscribe to the Creator Toolkit newsletter.

Thank you!

You may have initially subscribed because you see value in doing so, but I also think you want to support my growth as a creator.

My priority is to consistently provide value to you rather than simply focusing on increasing my subscriber count.

I’m creating this newsletter (with or without you), but I’d like you to be part of it 🙂 

Time to get into today’s toolkit.

Creator News 🔝

Is the US about to ban TikTok?

The US government's attempt to push TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company or face a ban had faded away from public conversation for almost a year. However, within just over a week, the issue resurfaced and made significant progress towards becoming a law.

The Australian Coalition party seems to be following America’s lead by labelling TikTok as "a bad faith actor", the ABC reports. The Opposition is calling on the nation to adopt a similar approach to the US by threatening to ban ByteDance if it refuses to sell the platform.

Yahoo! is launching a creator’s program

Say what?

Yahoo is testing out a new creator program that will allow certain writers to publish and monetize stories under the Yahoo News brand. The company says it will share 50% of ad revenue with its creators.

Around 20 creators have been asked to join the platform’s beta test. They’ll be able to add licensed Getty images, text, and product links.

Creator Toolkit thoughts: Even Yahoo want to invest in the creator economy; however, it looks like another version of Medium.

Social Updates 📱

YouTube

• The YouTube app on televisions is getting a new design that will make it easier for users to access various features such as comments, video descriptions, and shopping while they watch videos. This is a useful update for creators and brands who have products in their videos or affiliate links.

Instagram 

• is giving people the ability to add up to 15 photos or videos per carousel post. 

• is testing a new collaborative option for Reels called “Spins”.

TikTok

• Announced a new feature called "Creator Search Insights", allowing creators to gain insights into the topics people search for on TikTok. This feature also shows topics that are frequently searched for but have very few videos available on TikTok. Type "Creator Search Insights" into the search bar to access this feature.

What I’m into this week

I’m eating up everything Shameless at the moment!

The media company, founded by Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, is “committed to creating content that stands out in a crowded market.”

Until now, Shameless hasn't quite been to my taste, but it seems to have entered a new phase of growth and maturity.

Check out Scandal! series by Shameless covering the rarely explored life of Priscilla Presley here