Editing The Pen Addict 255/transcript (section)

== Everyday Life ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and it clearly clicked with a lot of people because it just became part of people's everyday life. People started using it. People started sharing their stories with you. I would see posts about, you know, I've started to bullet journal and here's the system that I'm using. And then at what point did you realize this little site I've created to share what I'm doing? Number one is helping people. And, you know, number two, what's the next step? You know, I want to take it to with like something like the Kickstarter, you know, and do even more with it.

'''Ryder Carroll:''' Sure. Sure. So I think a big surprise for me was to see how well it mapped onto people whose lives were incredibly different from my own. Like the bullet journal is designed specifically to become whatever you needed to be. But there was no way that I could see what it could become. Like I'm never going to be a mother. I'm never going to be a doctor. But like these are people that it started to resonate with. And that was really fascinating to me. They were using the methodology very similarly to my own, just tweaking it for these use cases that I could have never conceived of. You know, I just I can only operate in my own field of view. And then all of a sudden these people brought entirely new perspectives. And that was really exciting.

'''Ryder Carroll:''' And also it kind of showed me that like maybe I'm onto something with this. Like I knew it worked for me. And again, I don't assume that it will work for other people or at least back then I didn't. But then it did. And then it did again. And then people kept building onto it and adapting it for their own needs. And so it started to grow. And it started to get picked up by publications. And then it really started to grow. It became viral really quickly after I launched it. And I really didn't expect that to be the case. You know, again, once I saw like 100 people cross the, you know, the 100 visitor threshold on the site, I had a huge smile on my face. I'm like, mission accomplished. And then like a couple days later, it was like 200,000 people. And I was kind of like, oh.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. So now, yeah. And then you offered them up the actual physical bullet journal that they could, you know, learn from and learn how to implement the systems. Is that how the Kickstarter came about? I think you wanted to do a couple of things with that project.

'''Ryder Carroll:''' Yeah. So in the first year, essentially, I kind of just sat back and listened to see where are people confused? What are they using it for? What is it very helpful for or helpful with? And essentially, I was just learning. Like I spent the first year learning from this growing community. Obviously, the exposure helped the community thrive and vice versa. So after a year, I was like, what else can I add? You know, I already taught it. That's what the website's for. This is it. But then it was just staring me right in the face. The next step is to highlight the community. So I originally launched the Kickstarter specifically to create a site that addressed a lot of the questions that were open in the community, but also to highlight the community themselves. Again, they can tell these stories about how this system I developed works in a way that I can't because they have a different use case than I have. So like in the meantime, we've had mothers and students blog on the site and, you know, that kind of thing. And that was the idea for the Kickstarter. And I also, again, I wanted to see if people cared. I wanted to see if people actually needed another website. So the way I did that is I put a price tag on it. I'm like, okay, it's going to take me this much time. This is how much it would cost me to build it. Let's see if people care, then I'll build it. And if people don't care, then they have what I already created and I'll be the end of it. But, you know, as somebody who's a big fan of Kickstarter myself, like I love the idea of, you know, funding people's ideas, not their products, but their ideas and their ambitions. I really resonate with that. I wanted to have something that the more ambitious backers could have something like a tangible relic of this experience. So I reached out to Life to them to see if they wanted to do a limited run of 999 books.

'''Ryder Carroll:''' You know, and for them, it would grant them exposure. And for me, it was really important because thanks to you guys, I actually started using them. And I just fell in love with their notebook instantly. And I really wanted to partner with the company whose product I vouched for. Like that's absolutely not non-negotiable for me. And yeah, they were in. And so we created this limited edition for a couple of the backer tiers. I think it was like $25 or more you would get a notebook. And then we launched the Kickstarter. And I think within eight hours, the funding had been reached. The funding goal had been reached, which again, kind of like flipped my toupee. And I was just sitting there just like, I can't believe this is happening. I mean, it's surreal. And like a lot of this experience has been. But then the second thing happened, which is the notebook sold out like immediately as well. And how should I put this? People were not pleased by the fact that there were no more notebooks available.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. I remember that.

'''Ryder Carroll:''' Passionately displeased, let's say. So, you know, it occurred to me, it's like, maybe we should create a mass market version of this notebook. Because, you know, I'd be bummed if I couldn't get the notebook and I'd want one. So I went back to life to him and I was like, shall we try this out and see how it goes? And that's kind of how the business behind Bullet Journal started.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. See, Myke, I didn't even have to ask him to pronounce it. He's already done it twice. I know. He just wanted to show up. Yeah. It's wondrous. So the Kickstarter, the way you approach Kickstarter, I think, is the way, you know, a lot of us like to see it. You know, you said, I have this idea. Let's see if other people like believe in this idea. And this is the good test bed for it. And you said it right. You know, if it's successful, great. We move forward. And if it's not, you know what? You know, I've provided, you know, a lot of value in what I've done. And, you know, I'll keep teaching the Bullet Journal system. But, you know, maybe people didn't need like the community aspect or things like that. It's clearly they've been behind it. And so that was a hit. And I know it took a while to get all the notebooks filled, which that's a whole other topic we won't even get into because that's just the way things go.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's just Hot Break Hotel. That's what that is.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I'm in the middle. I mean, like every project I do, it's like the same way. It's just going to happen. But, you know, in the end, you got a really, really awesome, awesome notebook. And, you know, Bullet Journal's off to the races. It's going well. Everyone's a fan of the system. And then there was a switch that flipped. I don't know the time or the date. But, you know, like in the last year or year and a half, something changed. And that's what I really want to dig into. Now that we kind of have the intro out of the way for those who are unfamiliar with the system, I think I want to get into these nuts and bolts of the last year, year and a half. But, Myke, let's first talk about one of our sponsors real quick, our good friends at Harry's. And, you know, maybe we could get Harry's bullet journal combination thing going like a branded thing. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Tell us all about Harry's. For decades, huge razor companies have increased prices at the expense of their customers. So Jeff and Andy created Harry's to stop this trend. They knew that there was only one way to ensure quality and to keep prices low. So they bought their own blade factory. By taking less profit and selling directly to you over the Internet, Harry's offers their blades at half of the prices that you're used to paying. And with Harry's, you'll pay just $2 a blade compared to the $4 or more that you'll pay at the drugstore. Brad, can you tell me one thing that you love about your Harry's products?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I never get tired of my orange handle. It's simple.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You don't really get the cool colors and cool styles and cool feel of razor blade handles. And I use my orange one. Religiously, despite having all kinds of other ones at my disposal, that's the way I go. The one I use this morning. And I'm getting ready to pack for another trip, Myke. So, you know, all my Harry's shave products will be with me in Chicago this weekend. So come see me at the Chicago Pen Show. But don't ask to come see the Harry's collection in my room because that'd be a little creepy.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Harry's is so confident that you're going to love their blades as much as Brad does that they want to give you their trial set for free. You just need to cover the $3 for shipping. This set includes a weighted ergonomic razor handle, five precision engineered blades of a lubricated strip and trimmer blade, their rich lathering shave gel, and a travel blade cover as well. This is around a $13 value for you to try out. Look, stop messing around. Get started shaving with Harry's today by claiming your free trial offer. Just go to harrys.com slash penaddict right now and get started. All you need to do is cover the shipping. Thank you so much to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.