Jay Clouse (he/him)
Community Experience Director at SPI | Creator of Freelancing School
Building community and helping creatives become thriving business owners. I host the Creative Elements podcast, created Freelancing School, and founded Unreal Collective (acquired by SPI in 2020).
Share
Hey folks! REAL shameless ask here...
My fianceΓ© is creating an Instagram account for our new house (which she will be filling to the brim with plants).
She wants to make a Instagram profile image that is a simple black outline of the house on a white background.
If I were a little better at tracing lines and making a vector file out of this...I would. But, I know someone who has done this a lot before would be much better.
I'll send you the image file and we'll be ready to rock!
Anyone up to help us out? Happy to chat about what makes it most worth your while β cash or otherwise.
My fianceΓ© is creating an Instagram account for our new house (which she will be filling to the brim with plants).
She wants to make a Instagram profile image that is a simple black outline of the house on a white background.
If I were a little better at tracing lines and making a vector file out of this...I would. But, I know someone who has done this a lot before would be much better.
I'll send you the image file and we'll be ready to rock!
Anyone up to help us out? Happy to chat about what makes it most worth your while β cash or otherwise.
Jay, Even if Jen has this, and I am sure she does, I would love to use it as practice. I am more of the traditional illustrator, but am practicing and perfecting my skills in the Adobe products, because, well it is a must for all artist. You can email me at layla@laylasillustrationstudio.com or the email I used to join the community. Thanks,
Share
Hey everyone!
Today I opened up registration for our next community challenge, refreshing your About Page!
Throughout this challenge:
Today I opened up registration for our next community challenge, refreshing your About Page!
Throughout this challenge:
- I'll share notes on how to approach your About Page
- I'll document the transformation of my OWN About Page
- We'll have two live calls to share progress and get feedback
- ...and probably some other stuff too.
To join the challenge, all you need to do is register here.
That will make sure you get the email prompts as well as the link to register for our two live calls.
π Then, I'd love for you to share in the comments...πΒ
- The URL to your current About Page (if you have one)
- What you wish the page did better for you
Can't wait to get started! Our first call is on Feb. 5, so we have a little bit of time to get ducks in a row.
Glad to be a part of this Jay!Β
- ) http://jackeverly.com/about/
- I think I'd like my about page to be more concise, too, and it should live. Right now there's too (very interesting, but too) much text & no pictures, videos, memes, penguins, that Unicorn from the one film company that comes running at you when the film starts, etc...
- For the reason you mentioned above ;-)
https://nurturepm.weebly.com/about.html
I wish it made stronger argument to work with and why you would come to rather than search on pph or something.Β
I wish it made stronger argument to work with and why you would come to rather than search on pph or something.Β
For this project I am going to use this https://www.crankycynic.com/about-us
Β
I'm working on refining and defining the goals of my Cranky Cynic podcast and I threw that site up on the spur of the moment when I registered the domain.Β This will be a good exercise for me.
What you wish the page did better for you... The Cranky Cynic is the story teller segment of my life. Why would you listen to a story told by this guy?
Β
I'm working on refining and defining the goals of my Cranky Cynic podcast and I threw that site up on the spur of the moment when I registered the domain.Β This will be a good exercise for me.
What you wish the page did better for you... The Cranky Cynic is the story teller segment of my life. Why would you listen to a story told by this guy?
Share
Starting my Saturday morning by reading through your posts and comments has been such a gift.
Youβre all so kind and generous yet ambitious β what a cool crew.
Keep being you!
ο»Ώ
Youβre all so kind and generous yet ambitious β what a cool crew.
Keep being you!
ο»Ώ
Share
Goooood morning everyone!
I hope this week has treated you well! It was certainly a lot calmer for me than last week, which I really appreciated!
As always, let's spend a moment to focus on the good news! I'll start:
I hope this week has treated you well! It was certainly a lot calmer for me than last week, which I really appreciated!
As always, let's spend a moment to focus on the good news! I'll start:
- Felt like I led and delegated well this week
- I published an interview with a huge guest, Tim Urban
- The appraisal on our house went well, so we're looking like it'll close!
- Nearly three dozen people registered for my email workshop this morning
- I'm ahead on podcast production!
OK, hanging off the baton! How did your week go? π
I recorded 5 videos for my new youtube channel (on web design, productivity, & freelancing), and I published a link (only on freelancing school) as a very soft launch, and I'll be ramping up on social in the coming weeks!
I'm also working through a Sketch course to pick up all the little things I've missed over the last couple of months!
I'm also working through a Sketch course to pick up all the little things I've missed over the last couple of months!
· 1 reply
It's been an odd week. Several projects are in amorphous stages that are hard to plan around. Lots of waiting. But I had some wins:
- Identified a potential business model for my experiment. It's way too soon to set it in stone. But it has potential and it is simple.
- Had several clients reach out to me for additional work. It's nice to hear that you're trusted and that people are excited to work with you.
- Reached a handshake agreement on a decent paying project that should be a strong portfolio piece. It's powerful for the client and plays to my strengths. Once we clear 1 complication, we'll be moving forward.
· 1 reply
I made progress on my refocus effort for my business efforts.Β The brainstorming went while but also made me aware of more things to do.Β But, at least finished a third of the process this week.
My current client paid advertising project is progressing nicely.Β Next week is wrapping it up and launching the Google Search Ads and then get the reporting dashboard/report working.
On a personal level, survived another week.Β Juggling business, kids in virtual school and normal family life, it has been a long 10 months of this pandemic.Β Feeling like somewhere in the middle but resilient.Β But, no longer going to pretend life isn't hard.Β On the other hand, I feel so blessed to have options and ideas.
My current client paid advertising project is progressing nicely.Β Next week is wrapping it up and launching the Google Search Ads and then get the reporting dashboard/report working.
On a personal level, survived another week.Β Juggling business, kids in virtual school and normal family life, it has been a long 10 months of this pandemic.Β Feeling like somewhere in the middle but resilient.Β But, no longer going to pretend life isn't hard.Β On the other hand, I feel so blessed to have options and ideas.
· 1 reply
Share
Hey everyone!
An idea I had recently was to even better filter (or help people self-select in) for our community here.
We have a Code of Conduct, which is great and necessary, but not exactlyΒ funΒ or aspirational.
I'd love to create together a bit of a manifesto or set of beliefs and values that this community cares about as it relates to creative work and client services.
Up for helping me ideate? Just use one (or both) of these jumping off points...
1. We believe that...
2. This community is about...
Excited to hear what comes to mind for you!
An idea I had recently was to even better filter (or help people self-select in) for our community here.
We have a Code of Conduct, which is great and necessary, but not exactlyΒ funΒ or aspirational.
I'd love to create together a bit of a manifesto or set of beliefs and values that this community cares about as it relates to creative work and client services.
Up for helping me ideate? Just use one (or both) of these jumping off points...
1. We believe that...
2. This community is about...
Excited to hear what comes to mind for you!
We believe that together we learn more, inspire more, create more, and celebrate more.Β
This community is about being open to the diverse point of views that our different experiences have developed. We may not always agree with solicited input, but we respect those who have the guts to be vulnerable enough to provide honest feedback.
This community is about being open to the diverse point of views that our different experiences have developed. We may not always agree with solicited input, but we respect those who have the guts to be vulnerable enough to provide honest feedback.
· 1 reply
1. We believe freelancing is a bold, brave choice to put ourselves, our work and our expertise in service of helping organizations growΒ
2. This community is about exploring and discovering what it takes to find that brave, bold voice and build a business that is successful (sustainable?)
2. This community is about exploring and discovering what it takes to find that brave, bold voice and build a business that is successful (sustainable?)
· 1 reply
I LOVE this idea!Β
Here are some ideas I came up with:
Here are some ideas I came up with:
- We value learning for learningβs sake.
- We believe that we are stronger as professionals and creatives when we Do It Together.Β
- We seek to develop our skills, forge connections, and deepen our impact in the world through our work.Β
- We want to support each other to succeed so that we can lead lives of fulfillment, freedom & flexibility.Β
- We are not afraid to ask for help, and to graciously accept the help we are given.Β
Share
Hey everyone, Iβve been a little quiet this week cleaning up some relics of the old FS branding in ConvertKit and the community space here.
I just redid the Video Tour, and I think that covers everything thatβs not the slide decks in the courses themselves...
If you see any of the old green color and branding somewhere, please call my attention to it!
I just redid the Video Tour, and I think that covers everything thatβs not the slide decks in the courses themselves...
If you see any of the old green color and branding somewhere, please call my attention to it!
Hi everyone, so glad to be back. A whole lot was going on with family, work and all including the virus. But thank God I can now see above the waves and smoke and ready to plunge back. Sorry again.
· 1 reply
Share
Hello again everyone!
It's Friday, which means it's time to celebrate the wins you had this week!Β
For me:
It's Friday, which means it's time to celebrate the wins you had this week!Β
For me:
- I had a great podcasting workshop with Teachable
- I have a lot of folks signed up for my upcoming email workshop
- I recorded several interviews this week
- I'm going to be featured on an upcoming episode of the SPI podcast!
OK, enough of me! Tell me how YOUR week went! πΒ
* Launched a new website on 1 week's notice.
* Made some core decisions for the new brand and actually documented them
* Big project is in the mop-up stage. Might be ready to launch next week. And the client is very happy.
* Old client contacted me for a new project.
* Made some core decisions for the new brand and actually documented them
* Big project is in the mop-up stage. Might be ready to launch next week. And the client is very happy.
* Old client contacted me for a new project.
· 2 replies
Nice going Jay and Josh! Woohoo!
- sent a big group of files out for production - lots of moving parts going into a bank's anniversary celebration - very excited to get approvals!
- seeing some fun/good engagement on Twitter and LinkedIn - LinkedIn crowd loves an article I had published on an industry website (Twitter could care less - ha ha!). Twitter crowd loves my more personal posts. Interesting to see these differences show up more distinctly lately...
- had a great conversation with author/journalist Adam Davidson, who wrote "The Passion Economy" (highly recommend it) He set up a call after I tweeted about the book!
These small wins are huge for me this week as I'm also dealing with the loss of our sweet dog. Trying to give myself space to grieve, but also finding solace in doing meaningful tasks.
Already looking forward to and planning the "about" page challenge!
Already looking forward to and planning the "about" page challenge!
· 3 replies
Awesome wins, Everyone!Β
This week:Β
This week:Β
- Finally feeling more clear on my niche thanks toΒ ο»Ώ
Jay Clouse (he/him) ο»Ώ ! - Created a newer version of my brand that I am much more excited about and started tweaking my website to match itΒ
- Overall feeling more aligned
- Made chicken pot pie soup and it was delish
- Been reading in the tub like 3x a weekπ and just got a bath pillow #selfcare
· 1 reply
Share
Hello!
Super exciting new feature to share with y'all here tonight...something I've been waiting quite some time for!
It's the new "Home" space, which functions like a feed for the community.
It's super simple: it aggregates the most recent topics across ALL the spaces you're a part of and displays them to you. So you don't need to bounce around between spaces if you don't want to, you can just react to the most recent posts here.
ο»Ώ
I'm thrilled about this, and think it will make it much much easier for you to stay connected with the community here in less time.
Let me know what you think! This is a beta feature, and I have direct feedback to the Circle team to suggest modifications. You won't hurt my feelings!
Click here to give it a look π Β
Super exciting new feature to share with y'all here tonight...something I've been waiting quite some time for!
It's the new "Home" space, which functions like a feed for the community.
It's super simple: it aggregates the most recent topics across ALL the spaces you're a part of and displays them to you. So you don't need to bounce around between spaces if you don't want to, you can just react to the most recent posts here.
ο»Ώ
I'm thrilled about this, and think it will make it much much easier for you to stay connected with the community here in less time.
Let me know what you think! This is a beta feature, and I have direct feedback to the Circle team to suggest modifications. You won't hurt my feelings!
Click here to give it a look π Β
Interesting new interface feature.Β I mentioned in a different community that I am still getting used to the community interface structure.Β It isn't email nor social media feeds.Β Circle seems more like Slack.Β Another community I am in uses Might Networks and it has this home but so far Circle's implementation seems better because it aggregates your topics together.Β Other thoughts:
- Home seems like a better default place then Start Here.Β Start Here is great but not has an opening page to the community.
- Home seems like an endless scroll.Β Not bad but ultimately looking for something that tells me if I have read something. The message at the top said it displays what is new since I last checked in.
- Really like the option to control the appearance though "latest" seems like the best.
- It doesn't appear if I see something in Home, that it is then marked as read in the topics on the left side.Β I have the same thing with the email alerts, I click on an click from an email but it is still marked as unread in the bell indicator.
Regardless, I think the Home feature is a great addition to have new topics aggregated together.
· 7 replies
Share
Helloooo!
Last week, ο»Ώ
Nick Potts
ο»Ώ tweeted this and I decided to take him up on it. I've been writing for the last four years or so, literally hundreds of newsletters/articles...and I've learned a lot.
ο»Ώ
ο»Ώ
I have a lot more to learn, but I can certainly share a lot of lessons learned so far. So I'm hosting a workshop!
If email is part of your strategy for 2021, I'd love for you to join us.
WHEN
Friday, January 22 at 11am ET
Click here to register
Last week, ο»Ώ
ο»Ώ
I have a lot more to learn, but I can certainly share a lot of lessons learned so far. So I'm hosting a workshop!
If email is part of your strategy for 2021, I'd love for you to join us.
WHEN
Friday, January 22 at 11am ET
Click here to register
ο»Ώ
Jay Clouse (he/him)
ο»ΏΒ - Really looking forward to some newsletter insight!Β (Also, I think I signed up, but can't find a confirmation e-mail...do you know where I check for this?)
· 1 reply