For the Love of the Game
Welcome to the Victory or Death! newsletter, the long-form companion to the podcast. Want to learn more about the show, and what you can expect here? Read on!
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Branching out in a world where everyone seems to be running a hundred miles per hour faster than you is a humbling experience.
It’s also downright terrifying.
Whether you’re one of those straddling the line of the generation that got screwed with crippling student debt and an existential anxiety injection (Millennials), and the slightly younger, postmodern enigmas that make up Gen Z, you likely share one key trait: you woke up one day and realized most of your options weren’t even real.
Getting a college degree really isn’t what it used to be (I promise the debt is rarely worth it), having a boss older than 45 tends to suck, and nothing quite stands up to the idea that you could make money on your own path.
From 2008 - 2010 there was a movement that took over called the “lifestyle entrepreneur” where socially skilled entrepreneurs made moves to get rich off their personalities. Some of those people succeeded. Many didn’t. And many still don’t.
However, it gave life to something unexpected, an evolution. With the advent of YouTube and the explosion of social media, many people saw a path forward… they could leverage their personality as a brand! They became content creators. Some turned to teaching — this was happening long before these platforms were popularized — others to entertaining. Niches were built, stars were born.
Guess what?
You and I missed the boat. It’s gone. The rapid success of the YouTube golden age is history, so good luck.
Mm. What a wonderful newsletter!
Okay, look. It’s not gone. But the space is crowded. If your angle is to get rich quick, there’s the door. That said, if you want to put in the work, try to ex nihilo your way into a sustainable brand as a content creator or freelance professional then you may be on to something.
I spend a lot of time on Reddit talking with freelance writers and creators trying their best. The truth is, a lot of them lack what it takes to build something for the future. They’re too stuck thinking about the money. Too many are using their content creation/freelance career as a catharsis for life’s problems.
The more self-serving your venture is, the quicker it’ll cave in on itself.
Every once in a blue moon I run across someone who has the unsharpened ability, but the correct mindset. They want to get good for the sake of getting good. They want to write for the joy of writing. And most importantly they want to serve others.
Translation: they want to create and work for the betterment of those around them.
If the past was all about the gold rush of being in it for yourself, then your future as a creative and professional is to act selflessly. To create to benefit others. At risk of becoming Comrade in this moment, it’s up to YOU to make a way for others to succeed as you go.
This is ultimately the heart of my podcast, Victory or Death! Why create something if it’s not serving others. Perhaps that’s why I fell into marketing as a career path, after running from it so long.
Before I graduated from college, I despised sales. I felt that it was evil and manipulative. So naturally, I ended up selling alcohol to the great people of Wisconsin. And I loved it. Learning to view alcohol as something more than no-no juice and poison grew me as a person. Diving into the art of creating beer, wine, and spirits was something I took joy in. Experiencing the shame of handing a 1.75 liter of bottom-shelf vodka to a clammy, gray alcoholic reminded me that what you sell matters.
So I vowed to get out of retail and back into copywriting. After short stint at Kohl’s I wound up working as Creative Marketing Copywriter for a small digital marketing agency in Milwaukee. It was there that I discovered the secret sauce to making $30K in a single day for our client.
And it was there that I realized the power of working to serve. But I was already creating the podcast at that point. So I need you to understand this:
I started Victory or Death! to build a self-serving brand under the guise of helping others. And yet the content sort of sucked. Season 1 was an experimental, rambling dumpster fire that I want to delete at times.
Season 2 evolved the show into something more structured. I had started to realize that I enjoyed helping people and didn’t really give a rip whether or not I made money doing it. A few episodes into Season 2 I started working for my current employer, and the service mindset was locked in.
And as we build toward a third season, I want to make it abundantly clear that I’m committed to service. So are my cohosts and guests. Which after a long-winded preamble leads to the the purpose of the Victory or Death! Newsletter.
To maximize the usefulness off the tools we share in the show, each episode will feature a long-form piece to expand on the themes and discussion therein. Before Season 3 lands sometime in February, I’ll be working hard to release companion content for each of Season 2’s episodes (with exception to the season finale).
Okay, that’s a lot to digest. What now?
Well, if you’re reading this for the first time and have never listened to the podcast, welcome. My team and I are here to equip you on your journey to make your own path forward. If you have any questions you’d like to see answered, or topics you want covered, send us an email at victoryordeathmedia@gmail.com.
And finally, subscribe here so that you stay up to date on all of the long-form content coming your way.
If you’ve been a listener, thank you! I know a few of you are here on friend recommendations and if you would like to keep that trend going, tell your friends.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you soon.
-Elijah