Paul Jarvis on Making Your Business Better, Not Bigger
For the last two decades, Paul Jarvis has been building his business differently than what most would attempt: heās focused on small, not big; better, not bigger; and every detail within his courses, books, essays, and newsletter reflects his thoughtfulness and personality. In short, he lives the ethos of owning your content.
Heās not afraid to lose subscribers because they donāt agree with his worldview. He doesnāt self-ascribe himself as an expert or thought leader. His humility and down-to-earth approach to building a thriving creative career is one worth studying and possibly emulating. His latest book, Company of One, hones in on why bigger isnāt always better in business.
Paul shares his generous wisdom in building a beloved newsletter, where his business ideas come from, and how this mindset of keeping things small and intentional enabled him to continuously empower creatives around the world.
Paul, your newsletter, Sunday Dispatches, are personal stories that share your point of view and connect with your readers. How do you overcome the feeling of being too vulnerable or too open in your messages?
For me it comes down to this: Iād rather someone not like who I really am, instead of not like me for someone Iām pretending to be.
I donāt mind sharing my point of view because without it, thereās nothing of substance. I could share mundane ideas with no perspective, but I canāt see how thatād build an audience or draw people to my work. By having a point of view, Iām not sharing not only what I know about a topic, but also my take on itāthat just makes for more interesting writing (and reading).
Show me a piece of content that doesnāt bleed a little but keeps you engaged? Being vulnerable is what makes content great instead of boring. A point to note though, is that while Iām completely open about the topics I write about, Iād never overshare or get too personal with my writing on certain subjects. Thatās why I only write about topics I know I can fully share and be completely transparent. That way, Iām honouring my writing authentically, leaving no stone unturned for my readers, but also keeping a huge swath of who I am private. I only write about things Iām happy to open up about.
As far as overcoming feelings, I donāt think I have. In some ways, I find it easier to express myself writing in public, but in other ways, Iāve still got the same level of anxiety every time I hit āSendā in my newsletter software.
One thing many people struggle with is how they talk about themselves, i.e., their About page copy. What are some tips on ways to write about yourself thoughtfully and honestly?
I struggle with mine each time I read or rewrite it.
Thereās common advice that our about pages arenāt about us, theyāre about our audience/customers. Which I think is both wrong and right at the same time. It obviously has to cover who we are and to some extent prove what we know. But it also canāt leave out an aspect of āwhy would someone else care?ā
Iām Canadian, so I (politely) battle talking about myself constantly. But I also know that most about pages are the most visited on any given site, so I try to keep mine full of proof that certain people might want to pay attention, a little sarcastic/silly since thatās who I am, and including links to what other people have said about me (since thatās easier than bragging).
About pages can also vary widely depending on who itās about and the type of work they do. My business is heavily leaning towards me as the brand or in other words, personality-as-a-brand, so thatās got to shine through on mine. But if was a corporate type or in a different industry or ran a business that was not personality driven, mine would be quite different (and probably not have a silly note about Greyās Anatomy). Even my bio on my books website is different than the bio on my personal site, because context is important.
I think we just have to be honest and get over our penchant towards not wanting to brag a little. We should be proud to showcase our accomplishments, our features, our clients, etc. We should also make sure that every bit of whatās mentioned bears some relevance to who we want to be reading it. So I donāt need to mention my love of gardening or pet rats on mine, but I will mention who Iāve worked with, my most recent product and some social proof. I may even apologize a little bit (Iām Canadian after all).
I think we just have to be honest and get over our penchant towards not wanting to brag a little. We should be proud to showcase our accomplishments, our features, our clients, etc.
Your latest book, Company of One, makes a strong assertion that thinking smaller is better for your business. Thatās something many people would disagree with. How did you arrive at this belief? What inspired it? And how is it influencing your work nowadays?
The inception of my latest business book started the way I assume most business books start: I was out for a dawn session surf with my buddy.
We were talking about life and work and everything else you do while youāre sitting in the line-up waiting for the next rideable wave, and he mentioned something in passing that stuck with me. It was around September, but he said heād made āenoughā for the year and was going to travel for the rest of it. Then he took off on a wave and left me sitting there with my mind blown.
For him, he knew how much money he needed to make to be comfortable and stress-free about finances (he knows a lot on this subject, heās an accountant), how much needed to make to cover his life costs, and how much he wanted to put into savings. Beyond that, his life wouldnāt be better should he make more, so he didnāt bother. Instead, he opted to enjoy his life outside of work.
The more I thought about this, the more it made sense. Every business was a lifestyle business. Every single career or path we take with our work gives us a specific lifestyle associated with it. If you work at a high-growth startup, you probably have to work a lot of hectic hours. If you work at a corporation, your butt is probably going to have be in a chair at a desk from 9-5, five days a week. If you work for yourself, though, you should get to choose the life your work gives you outside of work. For myself, Iāve always wanted a business that supports my life not a life that supported my business.
This idea of āenoughā spoke to that. It spoke to working hard, but also knowing at what point you reached diminishing returns on time spent working and making money. Enough is also a hard line in the sand, whereas āmoreā is like the horizon. Sure you can run towards it, but youāre never going to reach it. Itās just there, slightly out of reach, but youāll get sweaty and tired trying to reach it.
The book came from this belief. That we could work towards enough instead of more.
If you work for yourself, though, you should get to choose the life your work gives you outside of work. For myself, Iāve always wanted a business that supports my life not a life that supported my business.
Determining enough is different for everyone tooāand I feel like enough is the counterbalance or anti-thesis of unchecked growth which is basically capitalism how traditional capitalism works. Enough is the true north of building a company of one, and the opposite of the current paradigm promoting growth-hacking and quick scaling in startup culture.
Ever since that day surfing with my buddy, Iāve been thinking about this, researching this and talking to others about it. Since Iām a writer, it was fairly straightforward to turn this idea into a book.
My work now is still the same as itās been for ages: Iām always thinking about how I can do better, instead of how I can achieve more.
Iām always thinking about how I can do better, instead of how I can achieve more.
Your business seems to follow a natural growthāyou write stories that you want to tell, readers connect to it, you listen to the pain points, and then develop a solution around it. At what point do you realize that there is a seed for a potential business avenue, and what steps do you take to bring it to life?
I donāt know how to do business any other way.
I donāt know how to come up with a solution without knowing thereās a problem. I donāt know how to build something without first knowing who wants it.
To me, this feels like how business is supposed to work. You start listening to a group of people, see where you can help, then start helping them. That said, not all helpful things can be turned into profitable businesses or services, and thereās where a bit of guessing is required. But still, at the very start, it has to start with knowing a specific group of folks needs something, and knowing that you have the skills to fill that need.
Business is about serving others, for money. The only way the money bit happens is if one side feels like they can both afford the solution and if they can, that the solution is worth buying at the price itās at. If youāre thirsty, I can solve that problem with a tasty drink, but if that drink costs one million dollars, I doubt thereād be any takers.
To me, this feels like how business is supposed to work. You start listening to a group of people, see where you can help, then start helping them.
To see if thereās a seed for that help, which others will be willing to pay, I typically start with figuring out if that group of people are used to paying for something similar. For example, if thirsty people are used to paying a buck or two for a can of something to drink, then I know a buck or two is what the market will bear, and if I have a tasty beverage I think can solve that thirst, I better price it similarly. Sure, I could be a little over (premium tasty beverages!) or a little under (no name brand tasty beverages!), but I at least have to be close.
We also have to know the group a little bit to know their price tolerance for a solution. This is why I write a newsletter, so I can be in constant communication with a group of people I like to help and know what theyāre buying, thinking, needing help with. If I didnāt do that, Iād be guessing at almost everything. By paying attention to them, I see they spend money on online courses, books and software, so thatās what I make. Since I have experience with those three things, I know that I can make each profitable. Being profitable (or profitable enough) is great because businesses that make money seldom go out of business. And itās easier to help customers long term if you can keep your lights on. Profitable businesses donāt tend to go out of business.
I firmly believe that business can be summed up as: create something that some other people want to buy from us. To know what āsome other peopleā want, we just have to get to know them, listen for what we can provide solutions for, and then provide those solutions. To make sure they āwant to buy from usā we have to price at a point the market will bear and that will provide profit on our end.
It seems more and more people are realizing that housing oneās content or building oneās business on a platform they donāt own isnāt smart. What are some first principles or practical tips you would give to someone whoās committed to building their own little home on the corner of the internet?
We may not directly pay for social media, but we definitely pay for it with the trade-offs we make to use it. As Benjamin Franklin once said (probably), software users who trade privacy for functionality deserve neither.
This is where your own blog and your own newsletter differ entirely and why I think theyāre better than social media or any other platform you rent or use which isnāt your own. Companies who provide us with blog software and email marketing software charge us for it or make it open-source for everyone.
As Craig Mod wrote in WIRED in his epic The āFuture Bookā Is Here, but Itās Not What We Expected:
“We simply cannot trust the social networks, or any centralized commercial platform. Email is definitely not ideal, but it is: decentralized, reliable, and not going anywhereāand more and more, those feel like quasi-magical properties.”
Mailing list data is owned by the sender and not governed by changing algorithms. No one company controls email. No single company can get between a sender and their recipient (even though Google tries with those damn tabs and their spam policies).
If I didnāt want to use my newsletter software, Mailchimp, anymore (though I doubt thatād ever happen, since Freddie and me are BFFs), I could export my list and import it into any newsletter software provider that exists easily and quicklyāI wouldnāt have to start again and I wouldnāt be worried that Mailchimp would start emailing my subscribers without their consent.
Try exporting your āpage likersā from Facebook or even your followers on Twitterā¦ oh wait, you canāt do that?! Thatās because those platforms own your data and own your social connections, not you. They own the connection you have with the people who connect with you there. Thereās no portability and they can absolutely take and use those connections to further their own bottom line. They can also change the way you use their platforms, based on their whims. You want to reach your likers? Itās now $5 or more.
Same goes for blogs that live on servers you pay for. You own that content, itās yours. No single company controls hosting and servers, and if you want to leave and move hosts at any time, you can pack your data up and leave. Your ownership stays in tact. Same goes for content management systems that power blogsāif you want to switch from one to another, you can typically grab an export of the data (since itās yours), and migrate to something else.
As someone whoās been freelancing for 20 years, how has your definition of success changed? And how have you personally adapted to it?
Iāve always defined my own success as freedom, plain and simple.
Iām doing well if I have the freedom to make more choices. About who I work with, what I get to build, and the audiences I get to serve. And most importantly, about the lifestyle I get to have outside of work.
Iād never want to make choices that took away that freedom. In 20 years, this has been a constant. It makes decision making easier, even if itās āa great opportunityā, because Iāll always end up choosing the path that leads to continued freedom.
This is why Iāve never grown my business, because for me personally, being responsible for employees would reduce my freedom. Itās why I havenāt taken any funding for any product in the past, because then Iād be beholden to investors (limiting my freedom). Itās why I believe in the mindset of being a āCompany of Oneā because the books core thesis is that the byproduct of business success shouldnāt be unchecked growth, it should be freedom.
These platforms that we donāt own try to tell us we need them to operate. That the internet needs them to stay afloat. That society itself would crumble without them. But this simply isnāt true.
Whatās your definition of owning your content?
To make a silly analogy, I focus on platforms I own, because then itās my bouncy ball on the playground. If I donāt like the playground, I can take my bouncy ball and go somewhere else (or go home). If I donāt like the people playing on it, I can take my bouncy ball and go home. Whereas if I use and focus my efforts on a platform I donāt own, like social media, well, itās not my bouncy ball anymore. Those platforms can take their bouncy ball and go home, leaving me (and everyone else on the playground) without a ball to play with.
These platforms that we donāt own try to tell us we need them to operate. That the internet needs them to stay afloat. That society itself would crumble without them. But this simply isnāt true.
Human interaction and connection, and even the internet as a whole, has existed for longer than these owned platforms, and I hope itāll continue on, unscathed, once theyāre gone.
This interview was produced in partnership withĀ WordPress.comĀ &Ā CreativeMornings.
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Interview byĀ Paul Jun. Illustrations byĀ Jeffrey Phillips. āOwn Your Contentā illustration byĀ Annica Lydenberg.
Own Your Content is a campaign fromĀ WordPress.comĀ &Ā CreativeMornings, encouraging creatives to own their content, platform, and the future of their work.Ā Read more.