Business Book Review: Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
Show Your Work is a must-read for creatives. A call to not hoard your ‘art’, but share it generously. Becoming findable to your people.
My Rating: ★★★★★
Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Workman
Released: 2014
Key Takeaway for Personal Branding
Best-seller author, Austin Kleon, shares ten transformative rules to Show Your Work. To become ‘findable’.
Kleon describes it as the book for people who hate self-promotion - an alternative.
It’s a must-read manual for creatives. But, also shares invaluable advice for those who likely wouldn’t consider themselves one.
Kleon calls you to share generously. To let people in on your process. Among the book’s many gems, these few shine particularly bright for personal branding.
Think Process, Not Product (Rule #2)
As Kleon cleverly frames, when a painter talks about their work, it could mean two different things. There is the finished piece - the artwork. And there is the art work - all the day-to-day work that happens behind the scenes.
In the pre-digital era, creatives mostly concealed their creative processes. But, in our digital age, sharing your process becomes an opportunity. It’s a chance to further bond with your audience.
“Human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.”
Stock and Flow
‘Stock and flow’ is the economic concept adopted by Robin Sloan as a media metaphor. When it comes to your media…
‘Flow’ is the feed. It’s the posts and tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind people you exist. Stock is the durable stuff.”
‘Stock’ is what lasts months, even years into the future. It’s the long-form evergreen content. The key is to grow your stock in the background, while you maintain your flow.
Chain Smoking
Never lose momentum between projects. Stalled in waiting for feedback and worrying about what’s next. Instead, use the end of a project to light up another. Personal branding can often come down to resilience. So, this is an important reminder to never break your chain.
Favourite Quotes
Imagine if your next boss didn’t have to read your résumé because he already reads your blog. Imagine being a student and getting your first gig based on a school project you posted online. Imagine losing your job but having a social network of people familiar with your work and ready to help you find a new one.
…work isn’t created in a vacuum, and that creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.
Once a day, after you’ve done your day’s work, go back to your documentation and find one little piece of the process that you can share.
The people who get what they’re after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.
Every client presentation, every personal essay, every cover letter, every fund-raising request—they’re all pitches. They’re stories with the endings chopped off. A good pitch is set up in three acts: The first act is the past, the second act is the present, and the third act is the future.
Have you learned a craft? What are your techniques? Are you skilled at using certain tools and materials? What kind of knowledge comes along with your job?
The way to learn to take a punch is to practise getting hit a lot. Put out a lot of work. Let people take their best shot at it. Then, make even more work and keep putting it out there.
Show Your Work is brimming with personality, while sharing profound wisdom. It’s the daily reminder you’ll want on your desk. When you're tempted to hide away, you’ll remember to instead share - your process and knowledge. To learn in the open, while generously sharing with others.
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon: Available on Amazon.
