Instructional Archives - Sean McCarthy

Yes, You Need a Newsletter

Sean McCarthy — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:24:48 +0000

Don’t think about it, just start one.

I don’t care if you only send one email to your subscribers each month, have a newsletter.

It’s been said time and time again that owning your mailing list of people interested in what you have to offer is one of the most valuable assets to your business. If your business is being a creator, I would argue that it’s by far the most valuable. It doesn’t even matter what you create.

I’m going to share the two simplest and most important reasons why.

1) You own it

If every current online platform were to fall apart tomorrow, you’d still have access to those on your mailing list.

2) Direct access to your people

This isn’t where you post something which is followed by hoping that some feed doesn’t bury your best pitch or whatever you had to say underneath the ice cream flavor of the week.

A newsletter allows you to skip past the social media finger-crossing, and hand-deliver your goods to people who already said they were interested.

Allow me to elaborate

I’m not sure what else needs to be said. Of course, me being me, I’m gonna say some more because it’s what I do.

Maybe you have some questions…

Where do I start?
Won’t this cost me money?
What would I even include in my newsletter?

Let’s tackle them, shall we?

Where do you start?

Take a pause from reading this right now, and either search Google or Yeehaa, or whatever your favorite search engine is these days for the best free mailing list. If you want to skip the search and check out a few, here are some options of what’s out there:

Not a single affiliate link here, just some to check out. I recommend looking at the pricing options for each, seeing what’s included, and choosing what works best for you.

What’s the cost?

Each of the options that I’ve just listed has a free version, or at least free for up to a certain amount of subscribers. Once you surpass that number, you’ll have to pony up a little cash to reach more of your people.

If you reach that relative number, chances are you’re catching onto this whole thing and doing well enough to invest the small monthly fee your chosen provider charges. Once you go up a tier or two, they usually throw in some extra goodies to allow you to get even more value from your list.

Some newsletters even offer the means of having your subscribers pay you for something, easily offsetting the price once you graduate from the free option.

What’s in a newsletter?

Perhaps the best part of it all…

Whatever you want to include.

I’ve learned that brevity is the key. Even though your mailing list includes people that said that they want to hear from you, that doesn’t mean that they want you to talk their ear off. Have some long intro in your email and not only will you probably lose them in the first few lines, but they also might skim for the unsubscribe link.

Keep it on point.

Mine is simple. I say a quick hello, share a couple of my own personal discoveries of the past week, and point them to something that I want them to read, aka, one of my recent articles.

That’s it. Just keep it interesting.

Still on the fence?

If you’re still thinking about it or wondering if you need to have a newsletter? The answer again is a resounding yes. Once you sign up for whatever service looks good to you, get that link at the bottom of everything that you’ve ever written.

Start even if you aren’t sure what you’ll do with it yet. The value of having direct access to the people that believe in you is invaluable.

The post Yes, You Need a Newsletter appeared first on Sean McCarthy.

Here’s Why (and How) I Meditate for 10 Minutes Each Day

Sean McCarthy — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:23:29 +0000

I do it for both of us.

If we’re being honest, we understand that life isn’t perfect for any of us.

We may not have the same issues as the people around us, but our issues are important. They take up valuable space in our minds. They steal what’s happening now from us and keep us thinking about the past or focusing on the future. They stress us out.

I got tired of that.

I had no idea what meditation was

I used to think that meditation meant that you simply sat on the floor with your legs crossed, made sure you had good posture, and closed your eyes.

No really, I had no idea what happened after that. Once my eyes were closed, would a vision appear? Would I hear a voice giving me directions? What if I suddenly had an itch on my nose, was I allowed to scratch it, or did I have to wait until I was done? How would I even know when I was done?

So much overthinking. I already had enough going on and just the thought of meditating seemed to add to the workload of my brain- Not exactly what I was looking for.

Full disclosure- My brother had given me a couple of music-meditation CDs a long time ago. He’s been all about the body-mind-soul thing for years. Back then, he’d sit for what seemed like forever in the same position that I always believed was required for the task. To me, that’s exactly what it seemed like, a task.

One of the CDs was to be played in the morning, and one in the evening. They were both pretty calming and I found myself putting them on pretty regularly. Aside from occasionally kicking back on the sofa and falling asleep to them, I never actually tried to properly close my eyes and reach out to God, Jesus, Allah, or Tom Cruise, much less my “inner being.”

Meditation is simply stopping and focusing

It turns out, it’s nothing like that at all. It doesn’t require any depth and isn’t equated to Sunday worship at all. Go figure?

(Apologies to the big guy upstairs, but this actually is all about me, well, just for these 10 minutes.)

Simply put, meditation is all about stopping everything that you’re doing, focusing on one simple thing, and letting everything around you just be there.

It’s so effortless, but consistently doing it each day can have a profound effect on your everyday life.

These are the 8 steps of my 10-minute meditation routine each day. I try to do it in the morning before I open my laptop or do anything work-related, but there are times when I stumble and don’t get to it first thing. When that happens, I’ll set a reminder or an alarm for later in the day so that I stop whatever I’m doing, and take those few minutes for myself.

My phone goes into do not disturb mode. This is my time, everyone and everything else can wait.
I set an alarm for 10 minutes. I use a harp sound for the alarm at the lowest volume. Believe me, nothing ruins a good relaxing meditation like coming out of it to a screeching siren of sorts.
I sit down and close my eyes. My legs may be crossed or not, and I’ll sit on the floor, in a chair, or on my bed.
I take a few deep breaths and relax.
Without thinking about it too hard, I lightly focus on my breath.
I hear all of the sounds around me and just let them be there while I continue to focus on my breath.
When a distracting thought of any sort comes to mind, I quickly acknowledge that it’s there, realize that I can deal with it later, and instantly go back to focusing on my breath.
After 10 minutes, my alarm goes off. I take another deep breath and open my eyes.

Yep, that’s it.

I don’t normally put on music. As a musician, I tend to focus on what’s playing in the background rather than my breath. I prefer nature sounds like rain or ocean waves– anything soothing that doesn’t draw my attention to it.

Strengthening your mind

Still wondering how this can actually accomplish anything? One word- equanimity.

Equanimity is defined as the evenness of mind, especially under stress.

In a sense, it’s a muscle of your mind. Exercising it consistently each day allows it to become stronger. That means that with daily meditation, the evenness of your mind, especially under stressful situations, will be stronger.

When you meditate daily, you’re building up the muscle that directly correlates with how you deal with people and things in your life.

It’s no different than hitting the gym each day with a focus on strength training. Your workout allows you to become stronger, which gives you the ability to lift heavy things.

That’s exactly how meditation works for your mind. Keep at it, and you become better at dealing with all that life throws at you.

I’m becoming a better person for myself and those around me

Meditation has allowed me to be more focused, have more patience, and be less stressed. I’m much calmer than I used to be. It’s become easier to handle everything in my life and I physically feel better. More importantly, I’m able to be in the moment rather than constantly thinking about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow.

I also just want to be a better person to be around, so I meditate.

Oh, and it’s okay to scratch the itch.

The post Here’s Why (and How) I Meditate for 10 Minutes Each Day appeared first on Sean McCarthy.

12 Tips for Writing an Article That People Will Read

Sean McCarthy — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 21:18:07 +0000

Follow the rules but don’t be boring.

There are a thousand articles featuring the best tips on how to be a better writer.

I still read most of them that pop up as being recommended for me on a given platform. If they follow rule #4 below, I can quickly see if there are any that might lend to me bettering my craft or not. The irony is that even with so many “Top 10” lists, I feel like I still can get a gentle reminder or learn something from each one.

Go ahead, skim through these. Some may seem (and be) outright obvious. But maybe there’s a refresher in here somewhere, possibly something new to try.

1. Have a good title that reflects what the article is about

The best way to catch a reader’s attention is to start with a good title that lets them know what they’re about to dig into.

Try starting off with a basic headline and begin writing. The best title sometimes presents itself after the article is written.

Keep in mind that we’re all human and the majority of us seem to prefer some form of proper formatting. Use a title case converter to help make sure that the title grabs some attention.

2. Have a subtitle

Subtitles are used to elaborate on the title and help to pull the reader in. They provide a deeper dive into the topic and can be as important as the title, so spend a few moments creating one.

3. Use at least one photo or image

If the one-two punch of the title and subtitle isn’t completely successful, this can help to convince the reader to click. If a picture is worth a thousand words, think of how it can complement a 500-word piece of writing. Unsplash and pixabay are great places for free photos and images. Be sure to properly credit the photographer.

4. Create an outline using subheadings

Starting with an outline helps to guide the content and can help us steer of writer’s block. Subheadings are a birds-eye view of the entire feature. People skim, so be sure to properly arrange and fine-tune the subheadings so that each one reflects the content of the upcoming section.

5. Have the opening, argument, and conclusion in the first few sentences

Yes- lay it all out here for the reader to know what they’re about to spend their time on. It’s all going to be given away in the end regardless. Remember, the short version first, the detailed version to follow.

6. Try to steer clear of the words “you” and “your”

Admittedly, I personally use them in many of my articles and blog posts. I often imagine having a conversation with another person when I write.

When the conversation is meant to include a broader audience, try substituting words like you and your with I, me, we, us, our, etc. instead. This helps to make the reader feel more included in the topic. This is a tricky one at first, but after being mindful of it in a single article, it becomes much easier and can completely change how we write.

(Side note: I only used “you” and “your” in #6 of this entire article, and only to reference the point.)

7. Keep it at a 5th-8th grade reading level

Knowing big words is great, but no one wants to have to Google the meaning of a word in the middle of reading. The online Hemingway app shows the reading level in seconds, and it’s free. Just copy and paste the article into the text area.

8. Include hyperlinks for sources

It’s not necessary to elaborate on where the source for a piece of information came from, but it’s important to include a link somewhere in the text of the article to allow the reader to check it out for themselves if they so desire. It also allows us to properly quote others without committing plagiarism.

9. Break the rules once in a while

Seriously. If we all follow the first eight tips here and nothing else, everything will read like our eighth-grade textbooks. Don’t be afraid to color outside the lines a bit. Just be unique.

10. Be genuine

We don’t write what we think people want to hear.

We’re the writers. We write what we want them to hear. They get to decide if they want to listen.

Don’t worry about offending anyone. Our goal isn’t to try to be offensive, but it’s important to say what we mean and stick to what we believe. Some will stop reading and not come back. Those readers aren’t our audience, the ones who stay and come back are.

Being nice and including empathy where it fits can also help to keep readers engaged.

11. Spell check is still free

The way to instantly lose a reader is to present an 8th-grade level article that looks like it was edited by a 1st-grade student.

Sign up for Grammarly. It’s also free and it takes seconds to copy and paste the text into it. The tool instantly points out spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors and also gives a few recommendations that can be accepted or ignored.

12. Before clicking “Publish,” step away

Go grab coffee, breakfast, lunch, or take a walk. Come back, read it again and make sure that everything from the title to the last sentence satisfies the original intent of the article. Doing this allows us to be our own fresh set of eyes so that we can fine-tune things before sending our thoughts and ideas out into the world.

A final thought- Brevity is the key to good communication. Whenever possible, say what needs to be said and move along. Don’t keep it short just for the sake of it, but rambling tends to lose a reader’s interest.

The post 12 Tips for Writing an Article That People Will Read appeared first on Sean McCarthy.

Maple Candy: From Syrup to Sugary Goodness in About an Hour!

Sean McCarthy — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:41:56 +0000

Surprise your maple-loving family and friends!

I’ve been a hobby sugar maker for somewhere around 20 years. Starting with 10 buckets hanging from trees, I settled on 100 taps on tubing with a small vacuum system and a pretty slick homemade reverse osmosis setup. Our family makes anywhere from 15 to 25 gallons of syrup each year. It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup, but the sweetness doesn’t have to stop there!

I never realized how simple it was to turn all that liquid goodness into delicious maple candy. Allow me to share how you can do this, too. It takes about an hour.

Basic Steps

Boil two cups of syrup to 240 degrees (12-15 minutes)
Cool to 180 degrees (15 minutes)
Stir
Pour
Be patient (30 minutes)
Enjoy!

What do you need?

100% pure maple syrup (16 ounces)
Four-quart saucepan
Candy thermometer
2-cup Pyrex (glass) measuring cup
Wooden spoon
Small spatula
Synthetic candy molds (enough for about 12 ounces of candy) OR wax paper
A small amount of butter
Microwave (optional)

Detailed Steps

Apply a thin coat of butter to the inside of the saucepan, just below the rim. Somewhere between ½ inch to an inch wide band is sufficient. Make sure that the butter is applied around the entire inside of the top portion of the pot, basically creating a ring of butter.
Pour the syrup into the saucepan.
Place the candy thermometer in the saucepan. Make sure that the tip of it isn’t touching the bottom of the pan or you may get an inaccurate temperature reading.
Bring the syrup to a boil. I recommend high heat. Don’t worry about it boiling over. As long as you completed step one above, the thin layer of butter will prevent this.
Once the candy thermometer reads 240 degrees, immediately remove the pot from the heat. Reaching this temperature will take approximately 12-15 minutes, but be sure to watch the thermometer.
Pour the syrup into the Pyrex measuring cup
Place the candy thermometer into the measuring cup, again making sure that the tip doesn’t touch the bottom of the cup to ensure an accurate reading.
Allow the syrup to cool to 180 degrees without stirring. Tip: If you place the measuring cup on a cooling rack, this will take approximately 15 minutes.
Once the temperature is reached, remove the thermometer and stir quickly with the wooden spoon for just over one minute until the syrup goes from clear to cloudy. Pay close attention and stop stirring as soon as this occurs.
Pour into molds. It begins to set quickly while pouring. Be sure to try to get from one mold to the next quickly. Alternatively, you can pour it onto wax paper in small spoon-sized drops.
Helpful Tip: If the liquid starts to set up in the measuring cup, place the cup in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, give it a quick stir with the spatula and resume pouring. You can do this a few times as needed.
Allow it to cool for about 30 minutes and voila! Maple candy!

The candy is best stored in a non-airtight container. How long does it last? Some say 3-4 weeks, others say two months. It never lasts that long in our house. Everyone seems to have a sweet tooth!

The post Maple Candy: From Syrup to Sugary Goodness in About an Hour! appeared first on Sean McCarthy.

DMXIS: Rocktron MIDI Mate Programming Instructions for Controlling Presets

Sean McCarthy — Sun, 20 Jun 2021 17:20:16 +0000

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

DMXIS is a lighting control software application for both Mac OS and Windows-based operating systems. A foot controller can be used to send MIDI signals through a computer to select presets that have been saved in the DMXIS application.

If you choose to use the Rocktron MIDI Mate foot controller as your DMXIS foot controller, the following steps will allow you to have any of your nine presets (scenes) available at your feet. Note that each preset MUST be in the same DMXIS Bank. Also, when programming and when using the MIDI Mate to control your presets, you MUST have that particular bank selected.

Requirements

Mac OS or Windows-based computer with the DMXIS application installed
Rocktron MIDI Mate foot controller
MIDI cable
USB to MIDI converter
At least two presets configured in a DMXIS bank for validation

You do NOT need to have your DMXIS USB box connected to your laptop/computer for programming, but you must have your Rocktron MIDI Mate connected to it (laptop/computer). Use a USB to MIDI converter for this, such as the “iConnectivity mio 1-in 1-out USB to MIDI Interface for Mac and PC”. A web search for “USB to midi converter” will show various options to purchase either the mio or another brand of your choice. If using the mio adapter, be sure to use the white (IN) connector for connecting to the MIDI cable coming from the Rocktron MIDI Mate. If using another brand, ensure that you are connecting to the cable marked “IN”.

Preparation

Make sure that your Rocktron MIDI Mate is connected to your laptop/computer via USB using the aforementioned converter and MIDI cable. Be sure to select the hardware device in the DMXIS > Preferences section in the “Audio/MIDI Settings”. The MIDI Mate will appear in “Active MIDI Inputs” and needs to be selected.

With the DMXIS software application open, launch the Preset Manager and select the bank that contains the presets that you want to program the MIDI Mate to control.

Steps

On the MIDI Mate, make sure Access (bottom left of pedal) is set to “Bank”.
Press “2nd” button to activate edit mode.
For this particular programming set the Midi Mate to Bank “0”, Press the Down (0) or Up (1) “Bank (Adjust)” button to show that you’re editing Bank “0”. (It will be flashing in the top left number display.)
Press “2nd” button to leave edit mode.
Press any of the numbered buttons to stop the flashing “0” on the top left screen.
Press “2nd” button to activate edit mode again.
Press Left “Edit Function Select” (5 button) so that “Programmable Patch Changes” appears – Wait for the text to stop scrolling.
Press either the Down (2) or Up (3) “Edit Preset Select” button to select the Midi Mate foot pedal/button number that you want to program. (Note that the “0” pedal/button is not an option. Use buttons 1-9.)
Press the Down (0) or Up (1) “Bank (Adjust)” button to select the number of the DMXIS preset for the DMXIS preset that corresponds with what you want the Midi Mate to change to. (ie: If the DMXIS preset is the 7th one down in the preset list, set this number to “7”. If it’s the 35th one down, set this number to “35”, etc.). You can continue to do this for each of the MIDI Mate 1-9 buttons.
Note: If you organize your presets in banks of 9 and assign each button to correspond with the position of the preset (1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc.), you’ll be able to more easily access additional banks of presets. See Switching Banks to access more presets below.
Press “2nd” button to leave edit mode.

Note that rearranging any of the DMXIS presets in the DMXIS Preset Manager after programming the MIDI Mate will cause the Midi Mate buttons to activate whichever DMXIS preset was put into the new “slot” in the software application.

Rocktron MIDI Mate Title Editing

If desired, this will allow the Rocktron MIDI Mate display to correspond with the name of the DMXIS preset when selected. The title could also be entered to indicate the type of scene vs. the specific preset name. For example, Chase, Solo, Front Only, Back Only, Blinders, Strobe.

To edit the MIDI Mate preset name – Press “2nd” button to activate edit mode.
Press the EDIT FUNCTION SELECT “‡” button (“TITLE EDIT” will scroll across the display). Wait for the scrolling to finish.
Use the ADJUST buttons to select a character.
Press the EDIT FUNCTION SELECT “‡” button to advance to the next character position to edit
Use the ADJUST buttons to select a character. Repeat this process until all the characters are edited

More on Rocktron MIDI Mate Title Editing from the user manual.

Validating

Select a bank in the DMXIS application that has at least two presets
Assuming that you’ve programmed the MIDI Mate buttons 1 and 2 to correspond with presets 1 and 2 in the above steps, pressing each of these buttons should switch between the presets. If you’ve programmed all nine buttons on the foot controller and have the same amount of presets in the bank, press each button to change between each one.

Switching Banks to access more presets

If you choose to program the foot controller buttons 1-9 to correspond with sequential numbers 1-9, simply selecting a different bank in the application will allow each button to then control presets 1-9 in that particular bank. Below is an example of how this can expand the available scenes.

DMXIS bank/preset examples:

Bank Name	Preset Example	Rocktron MIDI Mate Corresponding Button
Bank 1	1 – Blackout 2 – Front Lighting Pink 3 – Back Lighting Blue 4 – Front and Back Lighting 5 – Solo 6 – Chase Blue 7 – Chase Red 8 – Strobe 9 – Blinders	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Bank 2	1 – Blackout 2 – Front Lighting White 3 – Back Lighting Yellow 4 – Front and Back Lighting 5 – Solo 6 – Chase Green 7 – Chase Orange 8 – Strobe 9 – Blinders	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Bank 3	1 – Blackout 2 – Front Lighting Blue 3 – Back Lighting Red 4 – Front and Back Lighting 5 – Solo 6 – Chase Magenta 7 – Chase White 8 – Strobe 9 – Blinders	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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