Most people who work independently confine themselves to titles like ‘freelancer’ or ‘consultant’.
But Dan Nelken is not most people.
When Dan realized job promotion announcements were rampant on LinkedIn, he decided to have some fun too!
And that’s when he gave himself the title of Chief Creative Ding-Dong! No kidding. You can go ahead and check out his LinkedIn profile right now.
While this title is a clear indicator of Dan’s creativity, he didn’t embrace creativity from the start.
“I came late to it myself,” he said when he was on the show.
Today, he runs a newsletter called A Self-Help Guide for Creatives and inspires creative people across the world.
Tune in to see how a non-existent course led Dan to create his newsletter, what he thinks of creative habits vs goals, how the word ‘gigglemug’ was casually slipped in, and a lot more!
This is episode #13 on The Newsletter Nerd Show.

To never miss out on The Newsletter Nerd Show, consider subscribing on your favourite podcast player and on https://thenewsletternerdshow.substack.com/

Time Stamp:
0.41 - On being the Chief Creative Ding-Dong
2.44 - Life while growing up and what influenced his creativity
5.04 - Creative habits over creative goals
7.09 - Early morning sessions and other creative habits
11.09 - What he values more as a creative - control or certainty
13.00 - How a non-existent course led to launching his newsletter
16.06 - Delivering value in as few words as possible
17.28 - A recent experiment he ran with his newsletter
20.25 - Role of a social community in your journey
21.34 - Responses from readers
23.54 - Handling unsubscriptions
27.13 - A newsletter sin
28.49 - Reading Room
33.34 - Have You Ever?