The Logo

2023 is the year of hustle. The way the economic winds are blowing, it does seem that there is a lot to worry about. There is a war going on in Ukraine that is likely to be a multiyear conflict, some of the most notable companies in America are starting to lay off workers, everyone seems to be convinced that there is a recession on the horizon, and inflation is rampant. We are just coming out of a pandemic and it certainly seems that the world on the other side is filled with much more uncertainty than the world before it. Consumers are starting to feel the pinch. As the saying goes, "having money is not everything, not having it is." Making this the year of the hustle. Everyone will go through some amount of adversity this year. We will need to find new opportunities. For some, that means a career change. For others that means a second job. Some people will be safe from the shocks of the economy but even they will feel the pain in their portfolios. Or in the value of their homes. Money will be harder to borrow and even harder to make. Lifestyles will change. So we have to hustle. But what does it mean to hustle? Does it mean we simply work more hours? Does it mean that we now take advantage of opportunities that we wouldn't have to in the past? The goal for this year is simple: survive. But how do we do that?

Steven was a product manager at Meta (formerly known as Facebook). Just a year ago, his life was set. He had received his biggest bonus to date. He had all the job security in the world and more money than a single guy could ever need. He had a great apartment in the city and was living the life. Then the layoffs started. People in his office started getting fired. His boss told him that these would be the only layoffs. A few months later, the second round of layoffs started. Steven was laid off. Laying off is just a nicer way of saying fired. Steven was demoralized.

At first, Steven was in a state of denial. Then he got angry. Then the bargaining started. Then he was depressed. And finally, he accepted his circumstances. Initially, he was so miserable that he couldn't get out of bed. His confidence was gone. But, as time went on he started to see his newfound circumstances in a brighter light. Steven was a severe optimist by nature. It was hard to keep him down for long. He looked at his financial situation. He was still making money for the next 6 months thanks to unemployment. On top of that, he had savings that could last him another year or so. He had a year and a half to find another job, he figured that was plenty of time. But that wasn't even the best part. He had so much free time now! Not having a job really frees up you're day.

What's next? This was the only question on Steven's mind. Did he want to go do product management for another company? No. He didn't love it. And honestly, working for a big company no longer appealed to him. He felt disposable and undervalued. Plus the hours were long and it had gotten boring. So many fucking meetings. Fuck meetings. He thought about switching fields but he was not in a rush to get back to work. He had been working non-stop for the past ten years, what was the rush to get back to that? He had time. Then the idea popped into his head, he should start a blog! He had been writing for himself ever since high school. He was the editor of his high school and college newspapers. He loved to write but never explored it as a career option, or even a hobby. He figured now was a perfect time. If not now then when? He had the time. Not to mention that you could actually make pretty good money blogging. Obviously not at first but if his writing was good and he managed to get a lot of people to read his stuff, he should be able to make something off his blog. What could be better than getting paid to write? It is something he did anyway.

He started writing the next day. It took him a few weeks to find his flow but eventually, he was writing a blog post every day. The editing was the hardest part. Writing is a cruel endeavor. It takes two hours to write something that takes six minutes to read. Not to mention another hour to edit, which can be very boring. It is a special kind of torture to read you're own writing over and over again. But, with time, Steven started to enjoy it. Working on his blog quickly became the best part of his day. He was the happiest he had ever been. But now he had a find a way to grow his audience. How on Earth do you do that?

He decided to go to a networking event for entrepreneurs. If he was going to treat his blog like a business then it's probably a good idea to talk to some people who had experience in starting businesses. In his life, he had never been to a networking event. He hated the word networking. It was just a fancy way of saying ass-kissing. And yet, here he was, on Eventbrite looking up networking events. He found one in his neighborhood and paid $10 for the ticket.

He got to the event an hour and a half late. It started at 6, and he got there at 730. The event was held in a very nice and spacious lounge. The crowd was mostly older men. Everyone was already engaged in deep conversation. Crap, he should have gotten there on time. He went to the bar and ordered water. He saw another guy also standing by himself, Steven approached the gentlemen.

"Hey, I'm Steven. How's it going?" asked Steven extending his hand.
"Hey man! I'm Alan," replied Alan. they shook hands.
"You come to a lot of these?"
"Yes, all of them actually, I throw these events." Steven approached the one guy that was working the event. Awesome.
"That's cool, do you like that?"
"Yeah, I do. My job is to help people network. What do you do?"
"I just started a blog."
"Oh that's cool, so what type of people are you looking to network with?"
"I guess people that would know how to grow an audience."
"Oh so social media, I have just the person for you. Follow me."

Alan turned around and the two of them walked to a couple of people who were talking. One of them was a really hot woman, the only hot woman at the entire event. Alan waited for a pause in the conversation and then made his move.

"Hey, Sofia I want to introduce you to Steven. He just started a blog and wanted to meet someone in social media," said Alan.
"Hey, nice to meet you Sofia," said Steven. Alan just introduced Steven to the hottest woman at the place. What a legend. Alan stepped away from the conversation.
"Hey, Steven! So tell me about your blog," said Sofia. They shook hands.
"Oh, it's very new. I've been writing for quite a while and I wanted to start writing for the public. What do you do?"
"I have a media company. We basically handle all the marketing for our clients."
"Wow, you're own company! How did you get started with that?"
"Long story short I did some ayahuasca and the idea came to me."
"What?"
"Yup. I was living in Miami at the time and I was just so unhappy. I hated my job, my friends were the worst, and I was miserable. Then I did ayahuasca and it showed me that I needed to make changes in my life. I moved to New York and started my company."
"That's great. How do you like New York?"
"I love it! So what's your story?"
"Oh, no real story. Got fired from a job and decided to start a blog. Now I need to find a way to get people to read my blog."
"Why don't you post your articles on Instagram?"
"See that's the thing, I don't have social media."
"What!" Sofia was stunned.
"Yeah. In you're professional opinion do you think it is possible to grow a following without social media?"
"No. Why don't you have social media?"
"Personally I hate social media. Don't think it's worth the hype. Causes too much anxiety."
"What about for your blog though?"
"Yeah, I guess I will have to consider it. I just don't believe in self-promotion. I wanted to grow my audience organically."
"I get that but why wouldn't you use all the tools that are available to you. You could grow your blog a whole lot faster if you did use social media."
"I guess you are right about that. I am going to try to get it to grow organically for a couple of months and see where I am."
"Okay, just try it though."
"Okay. Would you mind taking a look at my blog by the way? I could definitely use another set of eyes on it."
"Yeah, sure! Let's see it."

Steven took out his phone and pulled up his blog. He showed his phone to Sofia.

"Your logo is too childish, you need a new one," said Sofia immediately. Steven hadn't thought much about the logo. He bought a cheap one off of Etsy that he liked and put it on his site.
"I liked that one. It's cute," replied Steven.
"Yes, it is, but is that the brand you want to put out there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Everything from your logo to you're background pic is a part of your brand. The content on your blog is probably not very kid-friendly right?"
"No, it's not."
"Right. So for you're blog you probably want to go a different way with a logo. I was thinking of something more sarcastic and fun. Not so much cute. Something modern and minimal, likely black and white."
"Wow, you know you're shit."
"Well, that's a part of my job. I do logos."
"You make logos?"
"Yeah, that's part of the service we provide."
"How much would a logo like that cost me?"
"Well I normally charge $2500, but for you, I could get it down to $1500." What!? Steven almost dropped his glass of water.
"What?"
"Yeah, that's usually how much logos go for. It is an important investment. People will remember you're logo long after they leave your blog."
"I get that. But that is just out of my budget. You have to understand that this is a startup blog. There is a good chance it never makes money."
"Yeah, I get that. I have friends that can do it for half the price if you want that. What is your budget?" Zero. His budget was zero.
"Sadly that is still too high of an investment. I appreciate you're feedback though. You have definitely given me a lot to think about."
"It's no problem at all."
"Maybe I can take your number and get back to you if I change my mind?"
"Yeah sure."

They exchanged numbers. This certainly gave Steven a lot to think about. No, he was not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a logo for a blog he just started. That would be insane. Do people actually do that? Maybe he should give up his blog and start making logos for a living. He couldn't help but think that he was being hustled. Sofia seemed nice but the price she was charging for a service that he clearly did not need was downright savage. Are logos really that important? He could see it for bigger companies. Once you have established a product and you're making money, then it made sense to invest in a great logo. But the fact that Sofia was willing to charge him so much knowing that it was a simple blog that might never make money made her seem like a charlatan. Steven got it, everybody has rent to pay. But this was next level. Is this what it means to hustle? To squeeze every dollar you can out of your clients, even if it is probably not in their best interest?

The same internet that enabled Steven to start his blog out of thin air enabled Sofia to capitalize off the insecurities of her clients. When it comes to the internet, or media in general, it is all about views. Do people visit your page? Do they read you're content? Do they watch your videos? Do they do it over and over again? If they do then making money is easy in the modern economy. Companies will line up to sponsor you and you're site. But if you do not have those views, then making money will be impossible. That's just the way it is. This begs the question: how do you get those views? Steven believed that it all starts with a great product. He believed that if his writing was good, people would naturally flock to his blog. It doesn't matter how good you're logo is, if your writing sucks then no one will read your stuff. Sofia probably believed otherwise. She believed that you have to give yourself the best chance to get those views. And the only way to do that is to invest in a robust marketing campaign. A solid logo and a vast social media presence. Both viewpoints probably have some merit but Steven couldn't help but think that his view was the right one. How could you invest so much into something that might not even be a viable product?

Steven couldn't help but think that all the questions swirling around in his head were a good thing. Maybe that's what it means to hustle. To ask questions. To admit that you might not know everything and to learn from the wisdom of others. It doesn't cost you anything to ask questions. But the answers to those questions just might change your life. How do you know if you don't ask?

Steven talked to a few more people at the networking event and made his way back home. No, he did not gain any new readers for his blog. But he did have a lot more to think about. If he was going to be serious about his blog, then he had to at least consider the social media angle. Sofia may have been a hustler but you can't blame someone for trying to hustle. Especially when he was on the very same journey. Maybe in a few days, he would offer to grab a drink with Sofia, an alcoholic one this time. He certainly had many more questions he wanted to ask her. Even if she declined, this entire episode wasn't a waste. At least now he had something to write about.