Morning, veteran Inbox Hackers and new readers. Glad to have ya.

We’re loping into the Feature Story (21 Ways to Kill Your Creativity). This will help you keep your content fresh and entertaining, and not burn yourself out. After I hand you those 21 tips, check out the following sections: 

• Knowledge Base  

• Self Help (last place)  

• Facts & Stats  

• Get Hacking (easily increase your content output)

Let’s wade into the Feature Story like an angler in a Colorado river.

21 Ways You Can Kill Creativity

I’ll run through these like a bat outta Chicago and then add extra thoughts on ones that hit home the most with me.

1. Don’t bother watching TV shows or movies

2. Don’t make time for reading books

3. Read the same blogs week after week

4. Create content only for pay, never for fun

5. Get as deep into debt as banks will let you

6. Only listen to the genre of music you’ve always listened to

7. Close your mind

8. Fear boredom

9. Allow notifications on your smartphone

10. Avoid talking to humans in person

11. Only take on easy challenges

12. Avoid sweating or being dewy

13. Cling to rigid ideas

14. Let useless info rain down on you 24/7 (a little is relaxing)

15. Make comfort your number-one priority

16. Compare yourself to the most popular creators online

17. Take the work too seriously (notes below)

18. Get locked into one client or employer with zero options to leave

19. Believe every thought in your head

20. Take your senses for granted

21. Have a low opinion of nature 

Ways to Kill Creativity: Going Deeper

Key points that stick out for me personally.

🗝️TV and movies. Yeah, they can make us lazy and keep us from reading amazing books. However, it’s hard to imagine a creative person not benefiting from watching Game of Thrones, Seinfeld, or even Horizon. Horizon was decent, not great. But a creator can learn about having guts like the producer (Kev Costner), going against the grain because he believes in a project.

🗝️Books? Good luck out-creating a reader.

🗝️All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. I’d encourage you to create stuff that you can’t fathom anyone wanting to read, watch, or listen to. Sometimes, the only reason to create is because… you feel like it.

🗝️Closing our minds has never been easier. Thanks to Al Gore’s internet. Get out in the real world, your mind will have no choice but open in ways no TedTalk can do for you.

🗝️Do I like the weird music my brother listens to? Nope, but studies show getting outside your listening comfort zone sparks new ideas.

🗝️Most Americans could 5x their time management skills with one step—shutting down all phone notifications except texts. 

🗝️Inefficient use of LIMITED time kills creativity. At best, it slashes creative production in half.

🗝️Debt. I’ve been there. Sucks. It limits everything you do. Avoid it and you can work for who you want, when you want, and create the things you find cool and worthy of your efforts. (this, I know, is hella-hard)

🗝️Don’t take the work too seriously but ALWAYS be a professional.

🗝️Something Already Killed Creativity? Seek Nature 

I could smack you in the frontal lobe with studies and facts about how nature reduces stress, enhances productivity, and boosts imagination. All true, but that won’t do.

No pictures, descriptions, or videos on tv, the web, or penned by the baddest author alive compare to what you see and feel when you step inside nature. Even a green space in the middle of an urban area.

My eyes, ears, nose, and brain get the full in-person benefits of being alongside nature when I’m there. 

I’m not that bright, but even I have enough sense to regularly soak up nature—and it’s usually free.

Extra Takes on How To Kill Creativity 

Do Schools Kill Creativity (TedTalk)

HBR on Companies Killing Creativity 

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Self-Help

Saw this video earlier this morning. 

The last place finisher of the 2024 Olympics Marathon. Pretty inspiring as she goes Forrest Gump with fans following her and “pushing” her forward.

She had every reason to quit. Didn’t. 

There’s no glory in finishing last. There is pride in finishing what you began and doing what you said you would. (more on this lady in our Get Hacking section at the end of this post)

Facts & Stats

Bonus: 64% of B2B buyers said ________ were helpful at the start of their buyer’s journey. Answer: Podcasts (Siege Media)

Most people who visit your website ghost you

It’s not you, it’s them… and it’s just the way of the web. 

Good news, though. You can attract them back to your website with an “abandoned browse” email. 

Similar to an abandoned cart email, but the shopper doesn’t need to add an item to their cart!

Smart Recognition identifies people who browse & bounce so you can send follow-up emails or add the leads to your Network Audience for retargeting ads. 

Stop the ghosting and attract shoppers back to make a purchase. Start with a free demo of Smart Recognition.

^{*Need 15k in monthly US-based traffic. Presented by Smart Recognition}

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

Want to create more video content but don’t have time? 

Then, react more. 

Reaction videos are stupid-easy compared to being the protagonist in every video — like our Olympic marathoner showed above. The commentator did a really good job with a great sports moment and… 

• He didn’t have to devote four years to training

• Didn’t break a sweat

• He didn’t have to compete against the world’s best just to be there 

• Didn’t have to be on camera

Plus, he could commentate on the fly. And great sports moments happen every day. 

Great moments outside of sports happen every day too. So, react to them to increase your video content output. If you can enhance a great moment with your commentary, even better.

Inbox Hacking is read by marketers from Mastercard, Allstate, and You. Please forward to your marketing friends, fam, and mortal enemies.

Shane McLendon, Copy Kingpin - Inbox Hacking