HOME | NATHAN BARRYBLOGBOOKS & PRODUCTSABOUTHOW I MADE $19,000 ON THE APP STORE WHILE LEARNING TO CODE I’m the founder of ConvertKit. As a creator I realized the tools for building an audience just didn’t cut it. So in January 2013 I started ConvertKit, an email marketing platform designed specifically for creators. Since then it’s grown from a small side project to powering the audiences of over 30,000 creators including Tim Ferriss

NATHAN BARRY

Nathan is a software designer and author in Boise, Idaho. Most recently he wrote The App Design Handbook, a complete guide to designing beautiful iOS applications. WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? THE LADDERS OF WEALTH CREATION: A STEP-BY-STEP ROADMAP TO Apply your existing skills in a new way to build wealth. There’s a difference between working for a better wage and truly building wealth. Using an earlier rung on the ladder to fund the next one. Moving between ladders often means a decrease in income. Each step is easier with an audience. INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIESSEE MORE

ON NATHANBARRY.COM

13 TIPS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH FROM A CONSUMER TO A CREATOR Here are 13 tips to kickstart your own journey: Set a daily “make something” goal — Grab a sticky note and write “make something today.”. Stick it to your monitor. Your goal is simply to make anything. It could be following a new recipe to bake a loaf of bread, making a video, painting that wall that you’ve had the paint for

sitting

WE BOUGHT A GHOST TOWN After a little back and forth over details, I wired off the money to join a group of ten investors as the new owners of Cerro Gordo, an old ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The entire town, the mine, and 336 acres of land was purchased for $1.4 million. Not the highest bid the owners received, but the one they accepted because of our 7 TECHNIQUES TO DESIGN KILLER GRAPHICS FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS 1. Adding color + detail. A photo will add a lot to any blog post, but anybody can use the sites I mentioned above to get one, so you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps if you want your image to stand out. Here’s a short video tutorial on how to turn a good, but very common, photo into something unique to your site. “PRODUCTIVITY IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT. IT IS i “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

- Paul J. Meyer

HOW TO BY-PASS THE TSA NO-FLY LIST Few people like the TSA, but undergo security screenings because they believe it makes flying safer. But does it really? What the TSA provides is security theater. Strictly for show, this security is designed to make you feel safer, but it quickly falls apart under closer scrutiny. A classic example HOME | NATHAN BARRYBLOGBOOKS & PRODUCTSABOUTHOW I MADE $19,000 ON THE APP STORE WHILE LEARNING TO CODE I’m the founder of ConvertKit. As a creator I realized the tools for building an audience just didn’t cut it. So in January 2013 I started ConvertKit, an email marketing platform designed specifically for creators. Since then it’s grown from a small side project to powering the audiences of over 30,000 creators including Tim Ferriss

NATHAN BARRY

Nathan is a software designer and author in Boise, Idaho. Most recently he wrote The App Design Handbook, a complete guide to designing beautiful iOS applications. WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? THE LADDERS OF WEALTH CREATION: A STEP-BY-STEP ROADMAP TO Apply your existing skills in a new way to build wealth. There’s a difference between working for a better wage and truly building wealth. Using an earlier rung on the ladder to fund the next one. Moving between ladders often means a decrease in income. Each step is easier with an audience. INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIESSEE MORE

ON NATHANBARRY.COM

13 TIPS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH FROM A CONSUMER TO A CREATOR Here are 13 tips to kickstart your own journey: Set a daily “make something” goal — Grab a sticky note and write “make something today.”. Stick it to your monitor. Your goal is simply to make anything. It could be following a new recipe to bake a loaf of bread, making a video, painting that wall that you’ve had the paint for

sitting

WE BOUGHT A GHOST TOWN After a little back and forth over details, I wired off the money to join a group of ten investors as the new owners of Cerro Gordo, an old ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The entire town, the mine, and 336 acres of land was purchased for $1.4 million. Not the highest bid the owners received, but the one they accepted because of our 7 TECHNIQUES TO DESIGN KILLER GRAPHICS FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS 1. Adding color + detail. A photo will add a lot to any blog post, but anybody can use the sites I mentioned above to get one, so you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps if you want your image to stand out. Here’s a short video tutorial on how to turn a good, but very common, photo into something unique to your site. “PRODUCTIVITY IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT. IT IS i “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

- Paul J. Meyer

HOW TO BY-PASS THE TSA NO-FLY LIST Few people like the TSA, but undergo security screenings because they believe it makes flying safer. But does it really? What the TSA provides is security theater. Strictly for show, this security is designed to make you feel safer, but it quickly falls apart under closer scrutiny. A classic example

ABOUT NATHAN BARRY

My name’s Nathan and I like to build audiences and companies. Right now 110% of my time is focused on building ConvertKit, an email marketing company for creators. ConvertKit powers the audiences for creators like Gretchen Rubin, Chris Guillebeau, Pat Flynn, Tim Ferriss, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tim McGraw. My mission is to help

creators earn a

DESIGNING WEB APPLICATIONS Because of that frustrating learning experience he is determined to teach software professionals exactly what they need to know to design great software. Nathan is the author of Designing Web Applications, The App Design Handbook, and Authority. He also founded the email marketing company ConvertKit. THE MAGIC OF CREATING Hi Nathan, You are more than correct, making something with your hands is the best. Years ago, after completing a degree in recording arts and sciences, I was able to use my acoustic design skills and build a small recording studio control room and isolation room in my basement starting from studs and concrete floor. PHOTOSHOP FOR WEB DESIGN The Complete Package. $ 249. 2 hours of course videos on using Photoshop for Web Design (24 videos). 7 exercises to implement what you've learned. Free updates each customer gets free updates for one year! 6 case studies designing real-world applications (over 6 hours of content!). 22 PSD files to learn from and follow along with the

videos.

WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? What’s your system for establishing principles? Making every decision from scratch is messy and time consuming. Especially when you are building a team and pushing them to make great decisions that align with your values. That’s where principles come in. Simple ideas that clearly communicate a specific course of action. HOW APPLE’S EMAIL PRIVACY PROTECTION HURTS CREATORS Today Apple announced sweeping new privacy protections across iOS15 and macOS Monterey.Many of these are great changes that give consumers more control of their privacy. It’s creepy that visiting a website on one device changes your entire browsing experience on your other devices, so Apple’s announcement of Private Relay and other tools are an exciting change for privacy. WHAT COMPANY CULTURE MEANS TO ME Every company says they have a great culture. But what does that mean? For some that's free lunch and ping pong tables, for others it's remote work and work/life balance.While those may be a part of culture, they are surface level.To me company culture comes down to

trust.

INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIES Inside Ahrefs: one of the world’s most efficient companies. I’ve long been fascinated by the highly efficient companies. Basecamp at over $2 million in revenue per employee, Valve at over $11 million, and MVMT at over $1 million. Each of these companies has unique ways of doing business that allow them to be so efficient. HOW TO GROW AN AUDIENCE THROUGH CURATING CONTENT The first step is to make a system you can work, rather than simply posting sporadically or without focus. Choose a narrow topic — Focus your topic on a specific niche and you’ll have an easier time attracting followers. That means started “iOS design weekly”, not “design weekly.”. ENDURE LONG ENOUGH TO GET NOTICED This is such a common experience. There is so much content being produced that we can’t possibly discover it all. So instead we wait for the best content to float to the surface after time. If step one in building an audience is to create great content, step two is to endure long enough to get noticed. Seth Godin is very generous with

his

HOME | NATHAN BARRYBLOGBOOKS & PRODUCTSABOUTHOW I MADE $19,000 ON THE APP STORE WHILE LEARNING TO CODE I’m the founder of ConvertKit. As a creator I realized the tools for building an audience just didn’t cut it. So in January 2013 I started ConvertKit, an email marketing platform designed specifically for creators. Since then it’s grown from a small side project to powering the audiences of over 30,000 creators including Tim Ferriss

ABOUT NATHAN BARRY

My name’s Nathan and I like to build audiences and companies. Right now 110% of my time is focused on building ConvertKit, an email marketing company for creators. ConvertKit powers the audiences for creators like Gretchen Rubin, Chris Guillebeau, Pat Flynn, Tim Ferriss, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tim McGraw. My mission is to help

creators earn a

WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? THE LADDERS OF WEALTH CREATION: A STEP-BY-STEP ROADMAP TOSECRETS OF WEALTH CREATION PDFCREATION OF WEALTH DEFINITIONCREATION OF WEALTH DEFINITIONWEALTH CREATION ALLIANCE CALCULATORWEALTH CREATION ALLIANCE OPTION CALCULATORWEALTH CREATION DEFINITION Apply your existing skills in a new way to build wealth. There’s a difference between working for a better wage and truly building wealth. Using an earlier rung on the ladder to fund the next one. Moving between ladders often means a decrease in income. Each step is easier with an audience. INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIESSEE MORE

ON NATHANBARRY.COM

WE BOUGHT A GHOST TOWN After a little back and forth over details, I wired off the money to join a group of ten investors as the new owners of Cerro Gordo, an old ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The entire town, the mine, and 336 acres of land was purchased for $1.4 million. Not the highest bid the owners received, but the one they accepted because of our 13 TIPS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH FROM A CONSUMER TO A CREATOR Here are 13 tips to kickstart your own journey: Set a daily “make something” goal — Grab a sticky note and write “make something today.”. Stick it to your monitor. Your goal is simply to make anything. It could be following a new recipe to bake a loaf of bread, making a video, painting that wall that you’ve had the paint for

sitting

7 TECHNIQUES TO DESIGN KILLER GRAPHICS FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS 1. Adding color + detail. A photo will add a lot to any blog post, but anybody can use the sites I mentioned above to get one, so you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps if you want your image to stand out. Here’s a short video tutorial on how to turn a good, but very common, photo into something unique to your site. FEELING ACCOMPLISHED Feeling accomplished. The last few weeks have been rough. Despite launching a successful new edition of Authority, getting over 100 five-star reviews on Amazon, and having lots of free time to spend with my son, I’ve felt more stressed, sick, and depressed than any other time in the past few years. My son August was born on May 15 th

and the

HOW TO BY-PASS THE TSA NO-FLY LIST Few people like the TSA, but undergo security screenings because they believe it makes flying safer. But does it really? What the TSA provides is security theater. Strictly for show, this security is designed to make you feel safer, but it quickly falls apart under closer scrutiny. A classic example HOME | NATHAN BARRYBLOGBOOKS & PRODUCTSABOUTHOW I MADE $19,000 ON THE APP STORE WHILE LEARNING TO CODE I’m the founder of ConvertKit. As a creator I realized the tools for building an audience just didn’t cut it. So in January 2013 I started ConvertKit, an email marketing platform designed specifically for creators. Since then it’s grown from a small side project to powering the audiences of over 30,000 creators including Tim Ferriss

ABOUT NATHAN BARRY

My name’s Nathan and I like to build audiences and companies. Right now 110% of my time is focused on building ConvertKit, an email marketing company for creators. ConvertKit powers the audiences for creators like Gretchen Rubin, Chris Guillebeau, Pat Flynn, Tim Ferriss, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tim McGraw. My mission is to help

creators earn a

WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? THE LADDERS OF WEALTH CREATION: A STEP-BY-STEP ROADMAP TOSECRETS OF WEALTH CREATION PDFCREATION OF WEALTH DEFINITIONCREATION OF WEALTH DEFINITIONWEALTH CREATION ALLIANCE CALCULATORWEALTH CREATION ALLIANCE OPTION CALCULATORWEALTH CREATION DEFINITION Apply your existing skills in a new way to build wealth. There’s a difference between working for a better wage and truly building wealth. Using an earlier rung on the ladder to fund the next one. Moving between ladders often means a decrease in income. Each step is easier with an audience. INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIESSEE MORE

ON NATHANBARRY.COM

WE BOUGHT A GHOST TOWN After a little back and forth over details, I wired off the money to join a group of ten investors as the new owners of Cerro Gordo, an old ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The entire town, the mine, and 336 acres of land was purchased for $1.4 million. Not the highest bid the owners received, but the one they accepted because of our 13 TIPS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH FROM A CONSUMER TO A CREATOR Here are 13 tips to kickstart your own journey: Set a daily “make something” goal — Grab a sticky note and write “make something today.”. Stick it to your monitor. Your goal is simply to make anything. It could be following a new recipe to bake a loaf of bread, making a video, painting that wall that you’ve had the paint for

sitting

7 TECHNIQUES TO DESIGN KILLER GRAPHICS FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS 1. Adding color + detail. A photo will add a lot to any blog post, but anybody can use the sites I mentioned above to get one, so you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps if you want your image to stand out. Here’s a short video tutorial on how to turn a good, but very common, photo into something unique to your site. FEELING ACCOMPLISHED Feeling accomplished. The last few weeks have been rough. Despite launching a successful new edition of Authority, getting over 100 five-star reviews on Amazon, and having lots of free time to spend with my son, I’ve felt more stressed, sick, and depressed than any other time in the past few years. My son August was born on May 15 th

and the

HOW TO BY-PASS THE TSA NO-FLY LIST Few people like the TSA, but undergo security screenings because they believe it makes flying safer. But does it really? What the TSA provides is security theater. Strictly for show, this security is designed to make you feel safer, but it quickly falls apart under closer scrutiny. A classic example THE MAGIC OF CREATING Hi Nathan, You are more than correct, making something with your hands is the best. Years ago, after completing a degree in recording arts and sciences, I was able to use my acoustic design skills and build a small recording studio control room and isolation room in my basement starting from studs and concrete floor. WHAT’S YOUR SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES? What’s your system for establishing principles? Making every decision from scratch is messy and time consuming. Especially when you are building a team and pushing them to make great decisions that align with your values. That’s where principles come in. Simple ideas that clearly communicate a specific course of action.

039: ERIC JORGENSON

Eric Jorgenson is a writer, course creator, blogger, and podcaster. He is also on the founding team of Zaarly, an online marketplace for hiring home service providers. HOW APPLE’S EMAIL PRIVACY PROTECTION HURTS CREATORS Today Apple announced sweeping new privacy protections across iOS15 and macOS Monterey.Many of these are great changes that give consumers more control of their privacy. It’s creepy that visiting a website on one device changes your entire browsing experience on your other devices, so Apple’s announcement of Private Relay and other tools are an exciting change for privacy. WHAT COMPANY CULTURE MEANS TO ME Every company says they have a great culture. But what does that mean? For some that's free lunch and ping pong tables, for others it's remote work and work/life balance.While those may be a part of culture, they are surface level.To me company culture comes down to

trust.

INSIDE AHREFS: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT COMPANIES Inside Ahrefs: one of the world’s most efficient companies. I’ve long been fascinated by the highly efficient companies. Basecamp at over $2 million in revenue per employee, Valve at over $11 million, and MVMT at over $1 million. Each of these companies has unique ways of doing business that allow them to be so efficient. HOW TO GROW AN AUDIENCE THROUGH CURATING CONTENT The first step is to make a system you can work, rather than simply posting sporadically or without focus. Choose a narrow topic — Focus your topic on a specific niche and you’ll have an easier time attracting followers. That means started “iOS design weekly”, not “design weekly.”. STAY IN YOUR LANE AND OUTLAST YOUR COMPETITION Six years ago, when I started ConvertKit, I wanted to build a product to serve creators like me.Five years ago I became acutely aware of a paralyzing number of email marketing platforms to choose from and I couldn't get traction for ConvertKit.Four years ago I decided to

refocus on a narrow

UNDERSTANDING CONVERTKIT’S OPEN METRICS When we crossed $1m in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) ConvertKit's open metrics dashboard received a wave of attention. That attention brings good questions, but also confusion and people reading the

metrics only on th

FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, AND PREPARATION: MY MESSAGE TO THE 3. The right mindset. The final step to prepare was to make sure as a team we had the right mindset and preparation. We addressed that through all team discussions in November on weathering the inevitable economic downturn [This was a link to a

* Home

* Blog

* Books & Products

* About

Twitter YouTube

Search Menu

* Home

* Blog

* Books & Products

* About

Twitter YouTube

HELLO, I’M NATHAN BARRY. I’m a creator, author, speaker, designer, and the founder of ConvertKit. Subscribe to get my weekly newsletter and latest articles.

Subscribe

I DESIGN PRODUCTS.

I’ve always cared about great visual design, but a few years ago I learned that I loved to teach as well. That led to starting this blog, building iPhone apps, writing several books, and ultimately quitting my job to focus on creating my own products. This site chronicles my journey learning to create the best products possible. All while teaching others to do the same. A little more about me

I’M A CREATOR.

I got my start as a web and software designer, but soon became obsessed with the world of audience building and book publishing. I WROTE 3 BOOKS, 2 COURSES, AND BUILT AN EMAIL LIST OF 37,000

SUBSCRIBERS.

learn more about my books and products

AUTHORITY

Learn More

THE APP DESIGN HANDBOOK

Learn More

DESIGNING WEB APPLICATIONS

Learn More

PHOTOSHOP FOR WEB DESIGN

Learn More

I’M THE FOUNDER OF CONVERTKIT. As a creator I realized the tools for building an audience just didn’t cut it. So in January 2013 I started ConvertKit, an email marketing platform designed specifically for creators. Since then it’s grown from a small side project to powering the audiences of over 20,000 creators including Tim Ferriss, Gretchen Rubin, Tim McGraw, and many more. Learn more about how I built my SaaS business

2013

started as side project

100%

bootstrapped

$15M+

annual recurring revenue

$2M+

annual profit

37

team members across 28 cities

$1,000,000+

shared with the team I TEACH EVERYTHING I KNOW.

BECOME A CREATOR

AND GROW YOUR AUDIENCE. more recent articles September 17, 2019 – Business WHEN SHOULD YOU TRADE TIME FOR MONEY?

read more

September 7, 2019 – Life ANOTHER TRIP TO CERRO GORDO, THIS TIME IN A PLANE

read more

August 19, 2019 – Life AN UPDATE ON LIFE AND WORK

read more

August 16, 2019 – Life I TOOK A WEEK OFF TO LEARN TO SAIL IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY

read more

* previous page

* 1

* 2

* 3

* …

* 33

* next page

SUBSCRIBE TO GET MY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.

CONVERTKIT FORM

Subscribe

� Copyright 2019 Nathan Barry. All rights reserved.

CATEGORIES

* Audience Building

* Business

* Design

* Investments

* Learning

* Life

* Local (Boise, Idaho)

* Marketing

* Mobile

* OneVoice

* Podcast

* Security

* Social

* The Web App Challenge

* Travel

* WordPress

PRODUCTS

* Designing Web Applications * The App Design Handbook

* Authority

* Photoshop for Web Design

* Commit

* ConvertKit

* How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code * One Year After Quitting My Job * Starting The Web App Challenge: From Zero to $5,000/month In 6

Months

* User Experience Lessons From the New Facebook iOS App * Step-By-Step Landing Page Copywriting * Designing Buttons in iOS 5 * The Best Marketing Method I Know * On Design Approval and Intentional Flaws � Copyright 2019 Nathan Barry. All rights reserved.