What Works | Tara McMullin | Substack

'The Creator Economy Is Eating Creative Acts'

This moment on the internet is weird—and more than a little frustrating. I sat down with Charlie Gilkey and Kate Tyson to hash it out.

Apr 11 •

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"Wait, I think you're platform-pilled"

Peer into the matrix and discover how everything we think we know about creating content and online marketing is an illusion.

Mar 12 •

Sorry (Not Sorry), Self-Promotion Doesn't Work

If you hate promoting yourself on social media, I've got good news! It wasn't working anyhow.

Feb 6 •

Rethinking Creativity

Creativity seems to be the cure for whatever ails you. But there is reason to be cautious when invoking its name.

Apr 25 •

Why Nachos Aren't on the Menu

Or, how do you decide to expand your business to include a new product or service offering?

Apr 23 •

14:43

Most Popular

Sorry (Not Sorry), Self-Promotion Doesn't Work

Feb 6 • Tara McMullin

How A Syllabus Could Change The Way You Plan

Dec 12, 2023 • Tara McMullin and Sean McMullin

Quid Pro No Thank You

Sep 26, 2023 • Tara McMullin

Rock, Creator, Hard Place

Jan 2 • Tara McMullin

Rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy

Decoding Empathy

How to Make Room for Others

How can we reimagine our practices, systems, and norms to invite everyone to participate and contribute?

Mar 21 •

Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers

Copywriting gave me a toolkit for cognitive empathy. So I asked a copywriter to tell me how she does what she does.

Mar 14 •

Decoding Accessibility and Sparking Wonder

Questions about accessibility are really questions that wonder about who gets to be together and how they gather.

Mar 7 •

A Brand is a Constellation

The mythical norm, visibility bias, emerging from the margins, and expanding our circle of recognition

Feb 29 •

Decoding the Language of Empathy

Ask 100 people what empathy is, and you'll get 100 different answers. Yet, empathy is billed as an essential "soft skill" for today's world of work. So…

Feb 22 •

Work

Rethinking Creativity

Creativity seems to be the cure for whatever ails you. But there is reason to be cautious when invoking its name.

Apr 25 •

How to Take Back the Vision of the Creator Economy

"How do you want to live?" that question—and a few more—are at the heart of my conversation with Charlie Gilkey and Kate Tyson.

Apr 18 •

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, and

How Creative Work Becomes Deskilled (And What To Do About It)

Deskilling takes once fulfilling and meaningful work and turns it into routinized, repetitive tasks to disempower workers and normalize precarity.

Apr 16 •

Organizing Indie Labor

Feeling powerless in the face of platform companies with billion-dollar valuations? This is the story of one organization doing something about it.

Apr 4 •

How to Make Room for Others

How can we reimagine our practices, systems, and norms to invite everyone to participate and contribute?

Mar 21 •

"All Parasites Have Value"

Even when we condemn "makers and takers" rhetoric, we often still judge ourselves and our productivity using its terms.

Feb 1 •

What Works

What Works

What Works is a newsletter and podcast about work, the many ways it shapes us, and how we can better shape it.

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14:43

Why Nachos Aren't on the Menu

Or, how do you decide to expand your business to include a new product or service offering?

Apr 23 •

How Structure Transforms Our Ideas

The way we structure our work can turn mere information into stories and wisdom.

Apr 9 •

19:01

Process Entropy and Process Evolution

If you're waiting for the day your business, system, or process runs itself, you'll be waiting forever. Change happens—what we do with it is what…

Feb 20 •

17:47

Making What Can't Be Sold

How do you turn a jumble of thoughts into a cohesive project?

Dec 26, 2023 •

14:03

How A Syllabus Could Change The Way You Plan

Planners and project management apps reinforce linear, chronological thinking. What if we used a completely different medium to plan for growth?

Dec 12, 2023 •

and

24:19

Productivity

A brief reflection on effectiveness

Apr 2 •

How to Rethink Work Stress

The stress of work can be especially tricky to describe for creative and knowledge workers who love what they do. That doesn't make it less real.

Jan 18 •

How to Feel Good About Going Slow

I love going fast. But here's how I also learned to love being patient and enjoying the process.

Jan 11 •

Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff

This might be the one time of year when we experience time as it is—rather than how we measure it.

Dec 21, 2023 •

How A Syllabus Could Change The Way You Plan

Planners and project management apps reinforce linear, chronological thinking. What if we used a completely different medium to plan for growth?

Dec 12, 2023 •

and

24:19

Rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy

Recent posts

How to Take Back the Vision of the Creator Economy

"How do you want to live?" that question—and a few more—are at the heart of my conversation with Charlie Gilkey and Kate Tyson.

Apr 18 •

,

, and

How Creative Work Becomes Deskilled (And What To Do About It)

Deskilling takes once fulfilling and meaningful work and turns it into routinized, repetitive tasks to disempower workers and normalize precarity.

Apr 16 •

19:01

How Structure Transforms Our Ideas

The way we structure our work can turn mere information into stories and wisdom.

Apr 9 •

Organizing Indie Labor

Feeling powerless in the face of platform companies with billion-dollar valuations? This is the story of one organization doing something about it.

Apr 4 •

A brief reflection on effectiveness

Apr 2 •

When Every Action Is A Transaction

What happens when every good deed goes unsold... (plus, you're invited to a workshop on remarkable marketing)

Mar 26 •

How to Make Room for Others

How can we reimagine our practices, systems, and norms to invite everyone to participate and contribute?

Mar 21 •

We Are Media Makers

If you're reading this, odds are you're a media maker.

Mar 19 •

Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers

Copywriting gave me a toolkit for cognitive empathy. So I asked a copywriter to tell me how she does what she does.

Mar 14 •

Decoding Accessibility and Sparking Wonder

Questions about accessibility are really questions that wonder about who gets to be together and how they gather.

Mar 7 •

Marketing With Digital Ecology In Mind

A sneak peek of a project I've been working on behind the scenes—Remarkable: Marketing That Means Something.

Mar 5 •

Marketing That Means Something

I'd like to tell you about a project I'm working on.

Mar 4 •

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