#7 My son, the crypto millionaire
photo by By Dmitry Lobanov for Shutterstock
I’m thinking of trying that line out at the bar mitzvah next weekend. I mean, “my son the doctor” is getting old already, right?
Is this shameless brag actually true? Yes, amazingly so! My 22 year old son, Aidan, founded a creative collective in the Web3 space and presold 10,000 tokens at $315 a pop. This all transpired in the last 2 months. This was the seed, the problem that needed to be solved…from which it all grew…
If you’re an artist working in the fashion, music, or entertainment industry, you are a low man on the totem pole.
Some young artists feel like this is total b.s. and say it’s time for a revolution. Aidan decided to do something to reset the scales of the powers that be.
In an interview last week, my boy told Variety, “I was just like, ‘Okay, how do we fix this?’ And I think we completely have to leave the system and do our own thing.”
Enter the Heart Project, which aims to make the entertainment industry more accessible and equitable to artists around the world. How? Through the crazy popular world of NFTs.
I am absolutely fascinated by this new frontier and amazed that my son has jumped in and disrupted an industry heavily in need of disruption. I have also talked about my own frustrations with the entertainment industry — read about me loving a career that doesn’t love me back here.
So yeah, I could not be more proud, kvelling, even, to see my kid out there in the world doing amazing things. I am fascinated with this whole new cryptocurrency world and very excited to see where Aidan and his partners take the Heart Project.
As I have worked tirelessly to reinvest in myself and relaunch these last six years since separating from my ex, I have been also working behind the scenes to nurture, encourage, inspire and launch my boys out in the world. The divorce was a painful, traumatizing episode for all of us. Selling the house was another tough moment, and it was also difficult for them to see me struggle financially as I picked up the pieces and moved on from the marriage.
In terms of parenting, I have slowly entered new terrain as a mom where I am sort of done pushing them with their training wheels. Suddenly they are riding on their own, and it’s such an amazing and gratifying experience when that happens. It has felt so good to focus more and more on me and lean into my talent and really go for it, career-wise, but it would not feel good if I thought they were struggling and they needed more of my attention.
I know many parents feel a gigantic loss when they become empty nesters but as for me, I’m sort of skipping through the apartment, blasting the Joni Mitchell, eating soup from the pot, and working all odd hours on stuff that I love, like this newsletter, my Medium blogging, my client work, and my book, Career Interrupted.
Actually, I’m still high off of the good vibes of last weekend when my incredible partner and co-author, Reena Gupta came down from Pleasanton to LA for our book launch party. It was so incredible to have my colleagues, friends, boyfriend, and kids all mingling in one room together, celebrating this huge accomplishment. These are a few photos of Reena and me with our host, David, saying a few words about the themes of our book and the “3 bucket” structure of Realize, Reinvest, Relaunch.
It was a night of celebrating this book which we hope will help anyone and everyone who has ever been at a career crossroads.
On to one SEO/content creation tip for the week:
Let's face it:
Coming up with content topic ideas can be TOUGH.
Over the last few years, I've figured out how to generate GREAT content topic ideas for blog posts, YouTube videos, and more.
The following is a gem inspired by Brian Dean, who has an excellent site called Backlinko that you should check out:
Use Google Image Tags
Here's how this strategy works:
First, type a broad topic idea into Google Images. For example, take the term "Paleo Diet." Then, check out the tags that Google suggests. One of the tags is "meal plan" and another one is "breakfast."
Now you can use those tags to generate topics like "Paleo diet meal plan," "Paleo Diet breakfast,” etc.
Bonus Tip: Click on the arrow on the right to see dozens of additional content topic ideas.
Medium writing tip of the week:
Formatting is a big deal on Medium. These are the Medium Text Toolbar Buttons:
To format an article on Medium, select the text you want to format and choose the relevant option from the toolbar.
For a ridiculously comprehensive article on Medium formatting, see the excellent Casey Botticello’s article on the subject here.
Use one-line sentences sometimes
All writers should mix up sentence types.
It’s easy to get carried away in long sentences and subordinate clauses.
Sure they look nice, but they don’t pack as much impact as a one-line sentence.
One-line sentences force the reader to give you their attention.
See what I mean?
When blog post formatting, don’t be afraid to make firm structural decisions.
Secret cookie crumb technique
Remember E.T. ? Remember when the main character uses Reese’s Pieces to draw E.T. out of the woods and into his house? You can do the same with a blog post.
The secret cookie crumb technique is basically using big bold subheaders to draw the readers eye down the page. Like Reese’s Pieces to E.T.
Hey, this is kinda major, I got published in Start It Up! Check out my piece:
I Turned My Guilty-Pleasure Side Hustle Into an Actual Job
How I leaned into my talent and bet on myself and how you can too
also, I got published in The Writing Cooperative, woo hoo!
The Balance of Truth and Storytelling in Non-Fiction Writing
Truthiness comes from the heart
Experimentally, I am posting some of my more popular Medium stories on Vocal Media to see how I like the platform. This one was published today on Vocal, check out:
Open Marriages, Manchildren, and Men with Big Fish
The perils and joys of online dating at 50
If you have any tips, tricks, or advice about Vocal Media, please do lay them on me!
That’s it. Until next time,
Write on, write on, write on!
~ Rebecca
P.S. I am ghostwriting my co-author Reena’s Medium and in order for me to start getting paid she must have 100 followers (new annoying Medium rule). We’re actually going to be writing some very cool pieces, one got accepted to Being Human (yay), so please give Reena a follow, and thank you in advance!