Software
ScreenFlow
Excellent for creating presentations and making great tutorials on how to do things on the internet. This works well as beginner level video editing software, but if you begin editing with ScreenFlow, you’ll have to upgrade to a better system after a few edits. This is the easiest, but it’s got a lot of problems once you get more developed in video editing.
Adobe Suite
Obviously, this is professional grade software. It’s probably the most high-level creation software available in the universe, but it’s not easy to learn. Each program is a library of knowledge. Learning a program in this suite is akin to learning to play an instrument or speak a language. Just like playing an instrument or learning a language, the first one you pick up is the hardest, but once you learn one, it gets easier.
Digital Media Creation Gear
I’m no expert. If I were advising someone interested in starting with photography and filmmaking these would be my recommendations:
Video Cameras
Cannon G7X
This is a simple point and shoot that takes stunning videos. Most of the recordings on my YouTube channel from August 2015 onward were shot with this camera. It has worked great for me and it simplifies the filmmaking process.
Audio – Audio Technica ATR 2100
After testing a bunch of bad microphones, I found a great one in the ATR 2100. Check out my podcast recording studio page to see how to set one up and record your first audio file on Audacity. If you’re using audio recordings as part of your media empire, invest in this cheap, high quality microphone. It makes everything sound better and sound quality is important.
Still Photography
Nikon D7000
This is the camera I use for still photography right now (Post date Oct. 2015). I love it, but that might be because it’s the first camera I ever got serious about photography with.
Books
My list of books could be absolutely exhausting so I’ll put the three most impactful here so you can get started. Join the recommendations list to stay up to date on future recommendations.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
This book brings together adventure, spirituality, romance, international culture and philosophy like nothing I’ve ever encountered in my life. It’s amazing. It makes this list because it’s the only 700+-page book that I’ve read more than 3 times. That’s real.
Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
Richard Branson and Tim Ferriss were top contenders for this section of the list. Losing My Virginity and the 4-Hour Workweek were hugely impactful and I consider both to be critical reading for any entrepreneur trying to build a company that just might outlast herself.
The reason I choose Anything You Want to be featured here is because Derek tells his story in a way that makes me think it’s possible. Derek built his company in the digital age so the lessons from his story are more current than those of Branson’s. Derek provides a story of what happened to him which is missing in Tim’s account.
It’s the clarity of the unknown that earns Derek the top of this list. Sivers writes in a way that left me feeling empowered to build a business.
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
Before reading this book, I didn’t self-identify as an irrational optimist, but if someone had brought up that term, I might have.
I had an ugly belief before reading this book. That belief was that humanity is a strange type of cancer to the biosphere of earth. This is not a happy thing to believe.
This book changed my perspective on this in a way that would have been incomprehensible if I hadn’t sat down and spent the time with this book.
Biographical:
Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela – If you read 1 book off this list, read this one. Everyone on earth should read this book.
Loosing My Virginity by Richard Branson – Richard Branson is my favourite entrepreneur. I love his outlook on life.
Steve Jobs & Einstein by Walter Isaacson – Fascinating stuff. Did you know Einstein married his cousin? Did you know Steve Jobs was a hippie working an apple orchard before starting Apple computers? Read these books!
Business:
The 4-Hour Workweek – Body – Chef by Tim Ferriss This book provides a lens for examining your life as a finite experience. The best way to live this experience, is to seek optimal lifestyle balance. It’s a very actionable book to get you organised and hunting whatever it is that you want.
Linchpin by Seth Godin – This is my favourite of his work, but he is amazing. If you aren’t on his mailing list and reading his work daily, I suggest it. You can find it here.
Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuck is inspirational.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – This book helped me to see money through a new lense. I used to think that employment and wages, mixed with a healthy frugality would be the path to riches. Especially in this new economy, I feel the lessons in this book are very important our generation.
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferazzi – Hot damn this is an interesting book.
Fiction/Fun:
Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk – The island hotel owning experience.
The Redwall by Brian Jacques – Never met anyone but me who loved these books. They are fascinating, like Lord of the Rings with animism.
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max – Hate it all you want, this book has excellent voice and is funny as can be.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts – This book has everything from laughter to tears, ‘how-to-knife-fight’ to how to love. Prison escapes, living in villages in rural india, running illegal passports in Africa. This book has it all with some philosophy to boot. I love this book.
Hells Angels & The Rum Diaries by Hunter S. Thompson.
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy – Love this character and I appreciate the movie starring Matt Damon. They were both great works. I think this book had an effect on me wanting to move to Australia and work on an outback cattle station.
Philosophy:
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn – The gorilla said, “your an inventive people right, well…. invent.”
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel – Having perspective on the way we experience our lives. This book (and now movie) played an essential part in constructing how I see the world.
The Alchemist – Go get that treasure. This book is like 200 pages. Read it in a day.
Non-Fiction:
Electric Koolaid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe.
Essays:
Snows of Kilamanjaro by Ernest Hemingway – Sit down for an hour and read this. It’s beautiful and will stick with you. Classic Hemingway. My favourite book of his is called For Whom the Bell Tolls (Chapter 23 “El Sordo’s last stand is probably my favourite chapter of all time).
Paul Graham’s Hackers and Painters is an excellent essay on the interaction of computing and art. It’s an essay that had a big impact on my life.
Tools for Building an Online Presence
These are the tools I’ve used to build various online projects.
WordPress – Best content management system to build a website. It makes it easy. Anyone can do this.
MailChimp – Free mailing list subscription service. Though I’ve hear from everyone that Aweber is the better service, I’ve yet to understand why I should pay a monthly fee for something I can get for free.
Tools for Making Videos
ScreenFlow – Probably the best for simple stuff. You can use this to record whats on your screen, add text to videos and cause movement in a project that is boring. This is the best, beginner friendly video editing software that I’ve seen.
Productivity
Audible – This is my favourite resource for tearing through books. Being able to listen to books while walking, working or exercising helps my retention and make it so I can read far more. While listening to books on Audible, I take notes using Evernote. This increases my retention rate.
Evernote – This tool syncs with all your devices. It is incredibly useful and completely free. Use this!
Photoshop and the Rest of the Adobe Suite – From editing photos to adding text, resizing, and 10,000 other things. This is a must have for anyone seeking to make stuff on the internet.
Hotspot Shield – Good tool for when traveling in foreign countries and you get the “not available in your country” message. Open up hotspot shield and you can side step this.
ScreenFlow – I use this for recording screencasts and for editing movies quickly and simply.
Rescue Time – Great for tracking what you’re doing.
Long Tail Pro – This is my keyword research tool. It helps select keywords, check competition and manage your SERPS rankings. Note: this is only for the really geeky SEO types out there.
Piezo – Great for recording Skype calls. It looks way better than call recorder.
Blogs I Read
Seth’s Blog – Marketing and doing something. I love Seth Godin’s work.
Bulletproof Executive – Lifestyle design and bio-hacking.
Four Hour Blog – Tim Ferriss never stops inspiring. Whether he is blogging about entrepreneurship, language learning, fitness, science or economics, he always produces great stuff.
Tropical MBA – Dan Andrews helps people start businesses while they travel the world while acting as the radio king of the great digital nomad movement.
Think Traffic – Corbett Barr is on the forefront of making great quality products on the internet.
Smart Passive Income – Pat Flynn provides the best advice for getting started making money on the internet. He also comes of a the nicest guy on the planet.
Ryan Holiday – Author of Trust Me, I’m Lying. I’m interested in this guy. Really did an amazing job with his book. I look forward to reading it.
Julien Smith – Has his book out there for free. Another really interesting perspective.
Founders Fund – Group based out of San Francisco. I love this perspective of the world.
Podcasts I Listen To
The Joe Rogan Experience
Tropical MBA
Freakonomics Radio
Man Vs. Debt
The Naked Scientist
Planet Money (NPR)
The Random Show
The Smart Passive Income Podcast
The Smartest Man in the World
SModcast
This American Life
TED Talks
Ken Robinson | School Kills Creativity | (Illustrated version)
Phil Hansen | Embrace the Shake
Pico Iyer | Where is Home?