Busy week at VOMP Studios - building an event funnel for a client here in Austin, started jump roping and rucking as a 2nd workout each day, and surfing the web like a young Kelly Slater to curate this week’s Mood Board.

This week’s riffs for the creative vandals, outlaws, misfits, and pirates of the internet:

Create Cooler: The coolest creative resource I’ve found in 2024
Build Better: Time to build a cult… following?
Earn Easier: Talk “dumber” to sound smarter
Break The Rules: Dove turns its back on AI
The Hit List: Music to turn up and tune out

 

I’m Down A Rabbit Hole

I was scrolling TikTok on Sunday night seeking creative inspiration for a Canva project I was working on.

I was about to put my phone down when I saw a video by Jason Murray (@art_swet).

Jason’s a dope art director who has curated an epic Rolodex of creative tools.

His videos crush because they’re visually appealing, relatable, and (most of all) incredibly f*cking valuable.

The best part?

He compiled all of these creative tools into a free website.

… I’ve spent 10+ hours scrolling through it this week.

Check it out below:

thetoolbox.art  →

Let’s Build A Cult

Okay, not a cult but a cult following.

How?

Building in public.

Why Build in Public?

Naval once said, “You can escape competition through authenticity when you realize that no one can compete with you on being you.”

So why should you be vulnerable and share your struggles too?

People love people - not just brands.

And it’s a lot easier to trust a person building in public. Here’s why:

1. Narrative Gold: Everyone loves a good story. Give them a backstage pass.

2. Trust Factory: Both inside and outside your company.

3. Approachability: Authenticity makes you the friend next door, not the creepy neighbor.

4. Expert Status: Share your journey and become the go-to guru.

5. Instant Feedback: Fresh eyes see what you don’t. Build better, faster.

6. Company Culture: Show off the hustle, warts and all.

7. Talent Magnet: People want to join cool, transparent teams. Be that team.

Success Stories

Some of the all-time greats who started the movement:

• Austen Allred (Lambda School): Used Twitter to build a brand army. Public brainstorming, shared victories, and open struggles.

• Domm (Fast): Built his team and raised $20M via Twitter. Cold DMs for the win.

• Suhail (Mighty): Daily tweetstorms tracking every milestone. The man’s got a megathread that’ll blow your mind.

The Playbook

Ready to go public with your build? Here’s your playbook:

• Share real quotes and screenshots.

• Propose ideas and ask for feedback.

• Talk about roadblocks and solutions.

• Give sneak peeks of your product.

• Post internal Slack messages.

• Share emotional company stories.

• Quote Tweet problems and flex your fixes.

• Make day-in-the-life short-form content

• Do long-form monologues on YouTube reviewing each week

My Favorite Builders Right Now

• Strong Coffee Company - taking you on the journey of raising money & becoming the official coffee of the 2024 Crossfit Games

• Rose Garden Creative Studio - showing you what it’s like to build a creative studio while building other brands to fund the dream

• Aaron Nosbisch & Nick Shackelford - revealing the wins and losses of building Drink BREZ into the biggest alcohol alternative in the market

Stop Writing For You

One of the easiest ways to make your writing perform better is to dumb it down.

Here’s a story for you…

There have been multiple studies on campaign speeches of candidates running for President.

Why?

To break down the “grade-level” candidates speak at.

At first thought, it may sound like a good plan to speak at a higher grade level to seem more intelligent.

However…

Not every voter in America reads and comprehends above a 10th-grade level.

So the higher you get, the less people actually comprehend.

And confused people don’t vote for people they don’t understand.

The Same Is True For Business

Confused people don’t buy.

They don’t share your products.

And they don’t watch your content.

Before you write anything for your brand…

Stop and think about the end user for a second:

• Where are they at in their life?

• What’s their current understanding of their situation?

• What’s their knowledge of you and your expertise or solution?

You have to write for the reader, not for you.

Alex Hormozi has a quote on this that I share with anybody struggling with landing their message:

“The point of good writing is for the reader to understand. The point of good persuasion(copywriting) is for the prospect to feel understood.”

Use This

Years ago I came across this tool named after the great American author, Ernest Hemingway.

The funny thing is Hemingway was a little rough around the edges so he’d probably think a writing tool like this was lazy.

But he’s not the writer of your story - you are.

So check this out.

It breaks down your writing to show you how to drop the grade level to be better understood.

It’ll change your damn life.

The Hemingway App →

The Age Of AI Filters

I’m the youngest of 4 kids in my family.

None of them went to high school in the age of Snapchat and Instagram like I did.

The impact social media can have on a developing brain is mind-boggling.

And now it’s even crazier with the age of AI and filters.

Confidence is shot and insecurity is through the roof.

Teens are thinking they were born with the worst skin ever and are constantly buying stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have.

… Because so many brands are capitalizing on it.

But not every brand.

Dove Turns Its Back On AI

Last year Dove dropped a campaign that went the other direction - literally.

It was so against the grain of what others were doing that it won a Gold award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

I love it because it takes a stance against these AI filters and tells the story of women embracing their natural beauty.

Check it for yourself

Turn Your Back →

Different creative pursuits call for different music to jam to. Here’s what I jammed to this week on The Vomp Playlist: