The Open Mike Show

Episode Summary: A story-time episode — Mike’s backstory on how he ended up making daily tutorials and teaching online, what nearly 800 straight days of content creation taught him, and what success actually looks like for Mike Murphy LLC.

What You’ll Learn

• The backstory behind Mike’s move into daily tutorials and online teaching
• What 792 straight days of content and 381 straight days of video actually taught him
• Why teaching comes naturally to him and what drives the daily-content habit
• What success looks like for Mike Murphy LLC, in his own words

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” — Albert Einstein

“What’s my deal?” — a question Mike’s been asked more than once, including twice in the past month on social media alone. This episode is the abbreviated backstory, a look at the present-day game plan, and a conclusion on what success actually means for the business.

The Backstory

As a kid: sports, staying active, and anything that used his head — cards, puzzles, games, game shows. School and learning were genuinely enjoyed, not endured.

College: no clear idea what to study or do — a theme that’s stuck around ever since — but every minute of the experience was loved: independence, studying, learning, and plenty of road-trip travel.

Post-college: resort and college-town living, chasing quality of life over a career ladder. Bartending, traveling, exploring, staying curious. “Those who wander are not lost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hard Questions

What’s your passion? What do you want to do with your life? What’s your calling? What are you good at? The past 9 years answered them slowly: managing a photo studio in Florida, consuming huge amounts of tutorials and podcasts, wearing every hat available, and learning constantly — photo, video, audio, Adobe, networking, business, marketing, web, design, IT. Creating. Moving forward.

Why Teach

It comes naturally, and sharing knowledge that genuinely helps people is satisfying in a way that doesn’t need much more explanation than that.

Present Day

792 days of content created and uploaded in a row, including a 381-day streak of one video per day. The daily habit started as a way to figure out what “the thing” actually was — and making something every day is how you get good at anything: you practice, a lot. Two years into daily content, the picture is clear: creating online content and teaching people is exactly the right lane. The focus now is teaching people to create online content for their own personal brand or business — podcasting, video production and editing, social media trends, and industry-leading tools like Adobe Creative Cloud that give them a real competitive edge. Technology moves fast, and creators and educators are only going to become more valuable.

What Does Success Look Like?

Simplicity and happiness, with enough money to keep creating and enjoying life. Learning and creating for a living, sharing that knowledge, and inspiring people to take a chance on themselves by leading through example. It might not be obvious to everyone else — but the only person who needs convincing that this is the right path is Mike himself.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Show Notes & Links

No external resources referenced in this episode.