Ironically enough the best way to study marketing, business and entrepreneurship is by *NOT* taking traditional marketing courses, business courses, or entrepreneurship courses. Similarly speaking:

1. Don’t study ‘marketing’ as a major
2. Don’t study ‘business’ as a major
3. Be suspicious of ‘entrepreneurship’ majors … especially if they’re taught by non-entrepreneurs.

Sociology was great to understand marketing, branding, advertising and entrepreneurship because:

1. You understand societal dynamics
2. You understand why people think a certain way, and why society progresses a certain way
3. You think of society as a dynamic and changing organism and culture-complex, rather than the narrow-minded view of economists who see society and humans as static and predictable.

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Why does America run the world? Simple … we have the most lethal military.

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Critics typically say one thing and do another. For example I’ve met soooo many people who are initially anti Lululemon and then eventually buy them. Or people (myself) who are anti Apple, eventually get a MacBook laptop and then never turn back to PC or Windows. Or consider the people who are anti Leica (Fujifilm users) who all secretly want a Leica digital M camera, yet cannot afford it (sour grapes fallacy). Or how Porsche drivers shun Lamborghini cars, yet perhaps they have the Porsche is because the Lamborghini is still more expensive. Or the Android users who shun iPhones because they cannot afford it.

Go luxury or die.

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Defense is key:

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Don’t buy the most expensive option on a budget brand. Also, never buy the most expensive option for a luxury brand.

Simple thinking:

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As you gain new followers, you also shed old followers. This is life!

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The quadrillion dollar question:

How can I get more followers?

Some of my real thoughts:

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The reason why I’m so fascinated with economics and money:

What is money … really?

Also —

If we assume that money sets the whole world in motion, what does this mean towards humanity?

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Simple ideas:

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The problem with digital:

We have a quadrillion photos to look through and choose.

Google Photos has done a pretty good job of suggesting your ‘best’ photos, and making it easier to share. But still … let us assume we want to do a more manual approach, what are we to do?

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What is our life blood as photographers?

Simple — to just keep making new.

What is our life blood as bloggers?

Simple: to just keep blogging!

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The maximal upside of human ingenuity and skills, and computer-machine efficiency and help.

For example with Tesla:

Cars are made mostly by machines and robots, and humans do the final touches.

There will never be 100% pure machine robot automation. It ain’t about a robot taking your job … but a machine making your life easier and better!

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What is it really worth to you?

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Something very interesting I’ve learned about myself:

I am not sensitive to prices.

Instead, I value this abstract notion of ‘worth‘ or ‘value‘.

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Why I don’t think China will ever become more economically powerful than America:

All the great innovations happen in America, as American culture promotes and encourages aberrant thinking, disregard for notions of the family (China still has *some* vestiges of Confucianism which is anti-individual, more pro-communal).

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What is the true value of ‘doing more’? Is it this strange American-British-Taylorism notion that one’s self worth is dependent on his or her money-making ability and their ability to produce a lot, do a lot, and make a bunch of money?

What is the future of money? Let us assume money is just a technological tool which facilitates trust and commerce between human beings.

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The most difficult thing: having the courage and the guts to decide.

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GEMERA: great cars, great design begins with the side view — the silhouette. Or even the silhouette and body shape of human beings:

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The goal—

Not to join a big company, but to create your own company … your company of yourself.

ARSBETA.COM. WHY APP. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES. ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS.

Essentially … a company as an extension of yourself, your ideals, and your own ego. You will die, but your company (may) live on.

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When in doubt, be more child-like!

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To be a photography entrepreneur means:

To make, create, and exploit risks in photography, visual arts and society for the ultimate betterment of humankind.

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What is the most difficult thing in life? To decide. To put your foot down, and to take extreme culpability and extreme responsibility for your self and life.

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Never water yourself down. Society can only advance if you share your thoughts, RAW.

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Why is it so hard to meet others who have an opinion?

You must own your own opinion if you desire to do anything truly great in life.

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Creative flow is the goal. To create without any creative friction, and to keep flowing until you die.

Do not be fooled or suckered. Your car isn’t you. Your car doesn’t show any of your own personal life, moral or ethical values. Just get a car that can reliably get you from point A to point B. Better to invest your money into your own mind, flesh, and muscular gains!

Don’t trust the news. Just go out and see the truth for yourself:

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Creative friction is bad. It is the friction which prevents us from doing that which we truly love, which is to make and create!

To blog from your laptop is often too much friction. Just blog from your phone instead! The benefits:

1. Concise and to-the-point
2. Easier to get started
3. Less creative friction
4. You can blog whole walking and standing upright. Better for your back and posture. Very useful especially if you have chronic back pain (I never sit anymore).
5. If you can text message and send emails from your phone like a boss, why not just blog from your phone as well?

ERIC

Arsbeta.com; the anti Instagram for photographers. To be insanely ambitious and fail is superior than take the safe route and succeed.

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I was born in 1988; does that make me a millennial? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless here are some of my candid thoughts on some of my personal critiques on my (fellow) millenials:

1. Lack of personal courage: Millenials want to do awesome and epic things yet are too risk averse. They want others to like them too much. This is what holds them back. Millenials care far too much for external validation. No internal self validation.
2. Millenials are too suckered by travel: Now with COVID, is there even a realistic future for travel? Perhaps not. Thus most millenials lose their zest and purpose of life.
3. Millenials care too much for good food: 90% of their income is probably squandered on eating out, drinking or on alcohol or other drugs. No notion of saving money.

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What is the hardest thing for us to do? Make decisions. Then:

Be insanely stubborn when following your own gut, and if you are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ (later), it ain’t about having someone to blame, or to ‘vindicate’ yourself.

The point of life:

To win. (credit to Nassim Taleb for the idea).

Let me explain the idea in further depth:

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First sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER

Dear friends,

So the way it looks, it looks like that COVID ain’t going away anytime soon. So why not use this chance to just re-up your photography skills? Some simple and practical thoughts and ideas for you:

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The beach: one of the best places to shoot on the beach!

1. Use small camera like RICOH GR III. The bigger the camera you use, the more suspicious and weird you will look.
2. Shoot kids in the water, playing around! Aim for dynamism. Remember the famous photograph that Henri Cartier Bresson was inspired from Martin Munkácsi (the kids playing in the water).
3. Photograph kids on the pier or other scenarios

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Peace, tranquility, focus of thought and vision.

We Americans and entrepreneurs are addicted or very interested in innovation… but for what or towards what end? Some of my thoughts:

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Just live your life (with a face mask) and just recording videos of what you see and experience is super interesting and fun!

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Simple photo project: shoot textures!

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Thought:

The new small full frame mirrorless camera (Lumix S5, $2000 USD) is essentially a mini digital Leica M camera ($7000 USD).

Panasonic Lumix has essentially helped Leica a lot to get into the digital game. So we can understand digital Leica cameras as being co-produced with Panasonic Lumix. Even the Leica M10; I’m certain the sensor isn’t much different than the full frame Lumix S5 or Lumix S1 camera. Even the Leica SL is just an expensive Lumix S1 camera. Leica Q2 camera is an expensive Lumix S1R camera. The Leica M10-R probably very similar to the Lumix S1R sensor as well.

Some of my American street photographs:

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Tesla Model 3 is Just a Really Nice Toyota Corolla?

Tesla Model S is just an insanely nice Toyota Camry?

1. Beaches in California suck because it is soooo over crowded and impossible to find parking.
2. Traffic in California (both norcal and socal) is insanely horrible.
3. People in Bay Area tend to be close minded (“woke” and intolerant liberals on the left). Southern Californians are actually more open minded and tolerant (leave me alone, and you leave me alone), but anything outside of Downtown LA seems like a suburban nightmare.
4. Socal is too consumerist and shallow minded. Too much fakeness; guys juiced on steroids and women with too much unnecessary cosmetic modifications.
5. Norcal as too boring and monocultural. Everyone either wears Patagonia or North Face. Absence of style and fashion. Caveat: Los Angeles has great style (especially Downtown LA); far superior to even New York and London.
6. Car slavery: Socal life (beyond downtown LA) is car dependent. Norcal is also mostly car dependent (unless you live in SF). Also too much of externalizing one’s ego and self worth to one’s automobile.
7. Beyond Los Angeles; nobody really speaks their true uncensored mind and opinion. Orange County as far too conservative and narrow minded. Bay Area is liberally narrow minded.
8. Bay Area weather is too cold and wet. Southern California is too sunny and hot. Lack of seasons sucks. East Coast (New England) as great for the distinct 4 seasons. I feel everyone in Southern California (in terms of weather) is constantly a 6.5/10 in terms of happiness. Bay Area people are probably on average a 5/10 happiness scale (love to complain about rent being too expensive). San Jose and Silicon Valley folks probably a 7/10 happiness; irregardless of how rich or poor. San Jose and Palo Alto is nice but just really boring and unusually expensive. Nobody wants to live in San Jose. Palo Alto is very nice (folks who live there are probably on average much happier at 8/10 happiness). However I find Providence, Rhode Island a perfect 10/10.

Google rules everything around me. This is the future:

1. WordPress.com and Google News Initiative are in bed together. This means any website or blog or news agency on WordPress is going to be favored.
2. Google will become the news agency. All news sites will eventually become assimilated into Google. Publishers dependent on Google Adsense to monetize and to transmit and publish their works.
3. Websites or blogs with Google Adsense will probably be more low key (subtly) favored and might rank higher.
4. The more you publish, the better.
5. Optimize your site and blog with Google Website Speed Insights. The higher score you will rank higher in Google.
6. Google owns YouTube. YouTube and your website and blog integration is better.
7. Google Amp (Accelerated Mobile Pages) will be favored.
8. WordPress “Newspack” theme will be favored. Install it on your WordPress.org site (an open source version exists; I’m currently using it on my site).

In praise of shooting nature, even though you’re a street photographer.

1. Shooting nature is good for the soul and body. The color green is the color of life. The more green you shoot it will improve your mood.
2. Shoot selfies with yourself in the middle of nature.
3. Use macro mode. Ricoh Gr3 in macro mode is really good! Shoot wild life, birds, plants, spiders or whatever!

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COVID 19 ain’t going away anytime soon. Perhaps we Americans should just do as Asians do (even pre-covid):

Just mask up and live your life.

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Key to success:

First dominate a small niche and then continue to expand outwards!

Easier to start off by being a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.

Let us not be fooled — the purpose of a phone is to make phone calls and send SMS text messages. The simple rule:

Buy an insanely cheap phone for phone calls, and own an expensive laptop.

Android or Google Pixel as superior for a phone for:

1. Google Maps is the killer app for smartphones and it runs far better on Android than iOS. For best Google Maps experience, use an Android smartphone or Google Pixel.
2. Smart replies text messaging for Android is very useful. Less mental strain for texting back friends.
3. If you use Gmail, or Google Calendar, Android is far superior.
4. Google Photos
5. Android phones and Google Pixel has USB-C which is the future. I love I can recharge my Android Motorola smartphone (I bought it new for only $150 USD!!!)

You never know what you really like or prefer in life until you’ve actually spent your own real money on it. Also, don’t ask other people what they think, their opinion or “recommendation”. Better to ask what they actually do, what they’ve actually spent their money on, what car or phone they bought or what they’re personally invested in. This is real preferences … the revealed ones.

Don’t get suckered. There is a difference between ideals of humanity and “revealed preferences” of humans in embodied reality.

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A heart-warming personal essay by Timothy Flanagan (my friend and blogging mentor and teaching guide) … originally posted here. Reading this has re-warmed my enthusiasm and passion for photography and the personal meaning and *worth* of a photograph:

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The problem with digital:

It is so insanely fragile.

Almost everything digital gets worse over time (digital is not “antifragile”). Digital devices get outdated in 6 months. None of my devices have really stood the test of time. Even my website (this blog) has been quite robust over the years, but sooner or later even everything on this site shall fade into the digital ether.

So … what are we to do about this?

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Let us not be fooled and suckered:

Amazon is just Walmart 2.0

Or,

Amazon is just Walmart with a Good Conscience.

For example:

1. I find it hiiiiighly hypocritical when I hear all these left-leaning elite liberals who chest-thump and virtue signal about how shitty Amazon is about treating their workers so poorly, when these ‘critics’ all have Amazon prime memberships. Simple rule: Thou shalt not critique Amazon or their services or how they treat their workers if one owns an Amazon prime membership (or has ever purchased anything recently on Amazon). Or better yet — just look at how many random Amazon cardboard boxes you got lying around at home (just in case).
2. Amazon works. Really well. But if you go to the Amazon.com website home, it is a mess. It is really ugly. But it works! Amazon sells a shitload of stuff and will continue to dominate the planet. Jeff Bezos is a genius. But for any techie or ‘woke’ or ‘elite’ individual who is anti Wal-mart but is addicted to Amazon … there is a huge discrepancy here. Amazon is just Walmart with new Emperor’s clothing.

Some pragmatic thoughts:

1. If you have Amazon, feel no shame, guilt or whatever if you decide to shop at Walmart. At this point it is a class issue — poor people shop at Walmart, rich people shop on Amazon. But Amazon and Walmart is the same thing; two different sides of the same coin!
2. To be clear I am not Anti Amazon. I actually think Amazon is great. I have zero ethical or moralistic qualms against Amazon. I just think Amazon is ‘bad’ insofar much as it promotes you buying tons of shit you might not really need.
3. Amazon is a ‘net positive’ to society (in my opinion).

Caveats

1. I would prefer to support local ‘mom and pop’ shops than to use my money on soul-less corporations. Whenever possible, pay in cash ($20 dollar bills, USD in hard cash) than credit card with local vendors (VISA is mafia; they take a huge 3% cut for local merchants). Also whenever possible pay with a cash tip (it is more morale-boosting for industry workers).
2. When possible, buy stuff used, or buy it from a friend or from a local on craigslist, eBay or whatever. Keep the money in the family, or with friends, or with local community members. These people need our money the most.
3. Cash-forward society; Use your credit card as little as possible. Whenever possible pay EVERYTHING in cash, and you will probably save money (net) by knowing how much you *really* spend on things.

My personal design aesthetic and preference:

A design or thing which is smaller, more compact, doesn’t have superfluous elements (uber-clean). No logos. All black.

Note:

1. MUSE by KIM (ultimate minimalist-blacked out luxury strap)
2. RICOH GR III (ultimate smallest premium luxury point and shoot compact camera; ultimate in performance, size, and everything).
3. Outlier.NYC clothing: Black merino wool T-Shirt; I will wear these shirts until I die (thanks to my friend Kevin for gifting me two of these shirts). The ultimate minimalist shirt, highest quality materials; you never gotta buy another shirt again.
4. Luxury minimalist living: I prefer an insanely small apartment (300 square feet) with the most premium materials (in unit washer and dryer), insanely fast wifi (fiber optic), and ceiling-to-floor windows (tons of natural light) in the best location in a downtown area. This is my ideal. I would NEVER desire to live in a big home, because I have to vacuum the whole motherfucker myself. Also I realize I really care for interior design and aesthetics. Ideal is clean, simple, minimal, wabi-sabi vibes. My ideal as being a techno-zen Kyoto-modern aesthetic.

I believe in life the best life is the life with the *LEAST* amount of worries about maintaining stuff. NOT wasting any of your valuable time, energy, mental space or brainpower to fix stuff. To rather focus your thoughts, energy and metabolic life towards creating, thinking, rather than just basic maintenance. This means:

1. Do not buy the ‘best’ car, or the ‘nicest’ car, or the most ‘luxury’ or fast, cool, sexy or best designed car. Just buy the car that will break down the least, that will need the least amount of fixing, maintaining, etc. Because no matter how rich you are, it is always a headache when you gotta fix your car. For example a guy I know who owns a Range Rover just had to drop $3,000 to fix the turbo. Or friends who own BMW’s who have an insane headache with the cars constantly breaking down (includes Mini Coopers, which is a sub-brand of BMW). Same goes with Audi cards (the components always seem to like to break and let us not forget, Audi is just an expensive Volkswagen Car, as the VW corporation owns Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc).
2. Homes as machines for living: A home is just a car, except it doesn’t move. Do not get a home that is too big to vacuum on your own. Older homes are typically bad insofar much as they always have hidden costs, hidden things that break, hidden headaches and nightmares.

Don’t go broke. Don’t waste money. Live like a poor person. In praise of “ghetto” living.

Some quick thoughts: First of all, you no longer really need to live somewhere in a ‘good’ location. You can just work remotely. So why live in an expensive downtown area? Best to live a bit further out, or even move to a new city which is waaaay cheaper (I think California is insanely overrated — since moving to Rhode Island I’m 10000x happier).

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The best way to leave a substantive and enduring legacy:

Don’t devote any of your life doing anything you hate for.

Also … only doing that which you truly love and care for.

And when you do what you do, share it openly and freely with others! In praise of OPEN SOURCE.

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Of course we need jobs to pay rent, feed ourselves, etc .. but with today’s brave new COVID world, what is really the purpose of a job?

For example for a lot of people, a job is their external identity and sense of self. For others it is a monetary thing; they have too much debt (debt is the devil) and cannot afford *NOT* to work (they are dependent on their job to pay off their bills, credit card debt, mortgage, additions to their house, car payments, etc).

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To be human is to share our meals with others. If we do not share our meals with others, what separates us from the beasts of burden?

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I think it is Corbusier who called homes “machines for living”. Is this the right idea?

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Simple thought and idea:

Once you’ve made your own needs and wants uber-basic, then you can devote all your energy, time, mental space, mental power, and human metabolism on creating things *beyond* yourself.

Note arsbeta.com (crowd sourcing real photography feedback). Why App — philosophical reflection tool.

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Simple ideas:

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Ideas:

1. Shoot a lot
2. Run around with the kid
3. Play with the kid
4. Don’t worry about making “good” photos … just have fun and enjoy the process!
5. Shoot while they move and are dynamic. Dynamic photos are better.

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The brave new quarantine lifestyle:

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Money makes the world go round. Money puts the whole world into motion (Publilius Syrus). The thought and my personal curiosity:

What will the future economy look like, and what will it be for?

Consider:

1. What’s the point of having fancy possessions if you don’t even have anywhere in real life to show it off?
2. What is the point of saving up money to buy a house … if you hate staying at home all day? (Quarantine Lifestyle)
3. What is the point of desiring to travel, when traveling is banned? A future without travel?

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What is photo vision? Your ability to see details, see compositions and beauty everywhere you go, live, see and experience:

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In praise of grit and grain in your photos:

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