Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Is Full Time Filmmaker worth it? 

I’ve produced online courses for half a dozen different solo creators in the past. Full Time Filmmaker blows them out of the water. It has 10x more lessons than the biggest course I ever produced.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

My first book is finally here

Even after publishing over 700 articles on my website since 2018, writing 465 days in a row, and writing over a quarter of a million words…the resistance was still strong. The imposter syndrome was still there.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

This is cool to me

A few years ago I was in New York with friends, and they decided to see Hamilton on Broadway. They asked if I wanted to join. I said no. Why? Because Hamilton wasn’t cool to me.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Why your ideas never work

You can either say “Well, I tried,” and accept the plausible deniability. It isn’t in your court anymore after all. Other people dropped the ball, yeah? It’s not on you, right? Or you can take radical responsibility.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Big brands don’t care about your portfolio

Photographers and videographers (and all sorts of creative freelancers) spend tons of time tinkering with their portfolios, hoping that big brands will notice. What they don’t realize is that big brands are searching for something beyond just good work.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

4 Lessons From a Viral Video

One of my videos is earning tens of thousands of views on Instagram. And counting. Amidst the scramble to respond to comments and messages, I’ve pulled a few lessons from this experience that I’d like to share.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Be where your people are

Wherever the folks in your industry are spending time, you need to spend time there too. I’ll add, it doesn’t matter which end of the industry. Clients and colleagues are equally as important in the freelance game.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Curation is more important than ever

I barely believed it when I read it, but Barnes and Noble grew by 4% last year. They’re in pursuit of opening 30 new stores this year. Even in the shadow of Amazon, which offers every book cheaper and faster, Barnes and Noble is expanding.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Persona vs Person (Olivia Rodrigo’s Wisdom)

“Something that I learned very early on is the importance of separating person versus persona. When people who don't know me are criticizing me, they're criticizing my persona, not my person.”
–Olivia Rodrigo

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Non-Profit Marketing

Behind every piece of good marketing is a good cause. Even the most profitable companies in the world wrap their products in a “cause” that helps their customers.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

The Idiot’s Advantage

My friend started a disc golf company that creates discs from 100% recycled material. Anyone who knows anything about plastics knows that this is a difficult thing to do. It’s a good thing my friend didn’t know anything about plastic.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Masterpieces and Morons

“You’re better off with a great salesman and a mediocre product than with a masterpiece and a moron to sell it.”
–Herb Cohen

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

“I'll be the weird YouTube Wiffle Ball guy” – How Kyle Schultz grew a niche passion into a thriving internet business–with a serious fanbase

Wiffle Ball is largely seen as a backyard replica of baseball that won’t break your window. Not anything serious. So how did Kyle Schultz turn a kids’ game into MLW Wiffle Ball: a verified YouTube channel, boasting 45 million views, multiple income streams, dozens of players, interstate travel, and an avid fan base?

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

When you deserve credit (and when you don’t)

I’ve worked with Nike, Disney, and Toyota, and none of those logos are on my website. Why? Because I’m not that concerned with getting credit for my work. Now you may be asking, “Isn’t getting credit for your work essential to new business as a creative freelancer?” Let me tell you a story. Then you can tell me.

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Reese Hopper Reese Hopper

Find the format that works for you 

You know the feeling, right? Staring at the blinking cursor on the blank word document? Or fiddling around with a few video clips in an editing software, not getting anywhere because nothing looks cool? Feeling stuck is the worst.

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