This Should Help is a business newsletter for the creative class. 

Creators of all kinds — including writers, journalists, podcasters, video producers, visual artists, activists, musicians and software developers — trust This Should Help to deliver a fresh alternative to the digital junk food distributed by addictive and outrageous platforms that value advertisers, algorithms and investors over the well-being of the humans they rely on to fill their newsfeeds.

If working and living on your own terms is your priority, then you’ll definitely want to make This Should Help a habit.

The Daily Reader

This Should Help is supported by direct subscriptions to the Daily Reader, an afternoon email and web update featuring longform reporting and analysis of the people, products, companies and ideas shaping how you make, brand, market and sell your creative work. The goal of each Daily Reader is to streamline the news of the day into insight you can immediately apply to your creative business or side project.

Recent Daily Readers have challenged social media’s perceived preference for authenticity, taken Facebook to task for its ad-supported growth-at-all-costs business model, questioned the value of Instagram’s new hidden-likes policy, documented where Republicans and Democrats stand on data privacy and explored Apple Card’s role within the Apple Universe.

Additionally, This Should Help publishes a free Weekly Post designed to reset the pace of our frenetic news cycle and share the know-how creators need to navigate the new economy.

Subscribers get exclusive access to three Daily Readers per week, monthly subscriber-only discussions, first dibs on quarterly events, plus the Weekly Post. (A detailed breakdown of delivery times and planned days off is available in the Daily Reader Schedule.)

Allow me to introduce myself

This Should Help is written by me, Michael Jones. I report and analyze the intersection of technology, politics and media through a creative lens with one goal in mind so creators feel empowered to earn an independent living by expressing their knowledge, craft, imagination and heart.

Previously, I created shopping features, edited the home and tech markets and wrote the “Ask Michael” column in print and digital editorial roles at Lucky, a Condé Nast-owned magazine (RIP!). And before that, I crafted e-commerce copy for ShopBAZAAR — the online shopping companion to Harper’s BAZAAR magazine. I used to publish a cool fashion blog too. And in what feels like a lifetime ago, I designed, developed and delivered learning experiences as a corporate trainer for clients including Bank of America and Chase.

I’m based in New York City.

Interviews

I’m usually on the question-asking side of interviews, but I’m down for some role reversal every now and then. If your blog, podcast or video channel serves the creative class — aka people whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and new creative content (especially its unsung heroes (women, people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community) — then I’d love to join you for a conversation on a broad range of topics. 

Ethics statement

I operate under a strict ethics policy that ensures its editorial independence and the integrity of my journalism. Many of the guidelines I adhere to exceed media industry standards. You can read the ethics statement in full here.

Earning and keeping your trust is, and always will be, at the core of my work. We’re drowning in information, but starving for knowledge so it’s important for me to be accountable to clear ethical guidelines that allow you to know where the content you consume comes from, how it’s funded and whether it can be trusted.

Contact

Email me directly to get in touch. My intention is to respond to humans — especially subscribers! — as soon as responsible. Thanks in advance for your grace in advance if it takes me longer than you expect to get back to you.  If your request is urgent, please feel free to send a follow-up email.

If you’re curious about the top tools for making, branding, marketing and selling your creative work on the internet, here are 27 recommendations (including the software I use in my newsletter workflow). Want to be a better consumer of creativity? Here’s how to support your favorite creators. Interested in why a newsletter is the core product in my digital media business? Allow me to explain. If you want my feedback on how to make, brand, market and sell your creative work: Stay tuned — I’m writing a book about all of the above. In the meantime, here’s what I’ll share: 

• Develop a point of view about the world and how it works that can be articulated through your creative work

• If you’re starting out, begin with a hurdle you can leap: Set out to serve someone who shares your POV (or is at least interested in it), find more of those someones, then obsess over this group of someones

• If you’re starting over, study people who do what you do at the level you want to do it so you’re not reinventing the wheel

• If you’re burned out, take a break and do something (or go somewhere) that makes your heart come alive

• If you’re leveling up, prioritize ownership and freedom over social approval and convenience

• Master the craft of storytelling (“people who can tell stories rule the world”)

• Challenge everything you’ve been told about how to make, brand, market and sell your creative work

Finally, thanks but no thanks to brand partnerships or requests from corporations on how to profit from the attention or creativity of women, people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community. However, I’m happy to recommend some dope creators who deserve a seat at your table if your company is committed to an inclusive culture.