
Doin' The Thing w/ Dillan Taylor
Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their content business better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He interviews top creators to share their biggest mistakes and lessons and tells stories from Grindstone, a coaching company for video creators.
Latest episodes

Aug 15, 2024 • 46min
Winning the Internet (w/ Joe Previte) | 035
Dillan interviews Joe Previte (@jsjoeio). He's a full-stack software engineer who has created tons of projects that live on the internet—including: courses for programmers, Spanish language programs, and most recently Cowork With Friends. He started his online career by sharing his travel lessons on his first blog, and has since grown a hefty Twitter audience.We discuss: how Joe got 42,000 Twitter followers on accident, the power of sharing "How I" content instead of "How To" content, how Twitter has changed over the last decade, why people follow you, how Dillan and Joe met, Joe's biggest opportunities from having an audience, how Joe began monetizing his audience, the balance between creating for fun and creating for your audience, the best ways to use the internet to win, and much more.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3500+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you make better stuff, grow an audience, and make more money online.Want to become a full-time creator with a tribe of others doing the same?Join the Grindstone community:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/about•••Follow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Aug 12, 2024 • 57min
The Art of Juggling Multiple Projects (w/ Steph Smith) | 034
Dillan interviews Steph Smith (@stephsmithio)—a serial online creator. She's the author of books & courses like Doing Content Right, Doing SEO Right, and Doing Time Right. She’s the host of the a16z podcast and the Shit You Don’t Learn in School podcast. She has a massive Twitter audience. And her latest project, "Internet Pipes," teaches all of us how to make sense of the chaotic mountain of online data.We discuss: not having a niche, how to be one of one, how she accidentally grew a community of 1600+ people, how to use ChatGPT as a thought partner, doing free work when starting out, whether or not you should ask people to "subscribe," how to start and finish lots of projects without burning out, how to balance being productive with taking time off, how to take advantage of the most productive hours of your day, and much more.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3500+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you make better stuff, grow an audience, and make more money online.Want to become a full-time creator with a tribe of others doing the same?Join the Grindstone community:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/about•••Follow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Aug 6, 2024 • 46min
Meet the Genius Behind MrBeast’s Viral Success (w/ Mario Joos) pt. 1 | 033
Dillan interviews Mario Joos (@mariojooss)—the #1 YouTube Retention Director in the world. He's worked with massive creators like MrBeast, Brave Wilderness, Jose Zuniga, and more. They discuss: what retention actually is, how Mario got introduced to the YouTube world, Mario's 5 steps to doing research, why Average View Duration and Click-Thru Rate are useless metrics, the first 3 things Mario notices when watching a video, the differences between big and small creators, huge mistakes newer creators make, and much more.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3500+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you make better stuff, grow an audience, and make more money online.Want to become a full-time creator with a tribe of others doing the same?Join the Grindstone community:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/about•••Follow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

May 6, 2024 • 23min
How to Keep Creating No Matter What (w/ Quotidian Writer) pt. 2 | 032
"No matter the circumstances. If you don't have time. If life is getting in the way. If you don't have the energy. If you don't think you're good at this...Just keep doing it."Dillan interviews Diane Callahan—aka Quotidian Writer. She's a YouTuber and podcaster in the fiction writing world. Her aim is to help creators tell better stories and 'just keep writing.'We discuss: balancing authenticity and professionalism, what to do when people don't take you seriously, why you don't need confidence, shortform vs longform content, Diane's #1 piece of advice to smaller creators, and much more.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3000+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Want way more accountability and feedback for what you're creating?Join Grindstone for 100% free:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/aboutFollow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Apr 29, 2024 • 20min
The Easiest Time Management System Ever | 031
"Now that we know what we're going to do, we need to put it on the calendar so we know when we're going to do it."Today, Dillan (@dillanroytaylor) shares his simple weekly system for being super productive and managing time and tasks in a stress-free, organized manner. •••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3000+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Follow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Apr 22, 2024 • 21min
The Key to Great Storytelling (w/ Quotidian Writer) pt. 1 | 030
"The key to great storytelling is change, meaningful change. Readers want to look at the beginning and end of a story and see that something has happened."Dillan interviews Diane Callahan—aka Quotidian Writer. She's a YouTuber and podcaster in the fiction writing world. Her aim is to help creators tell better stories and 'just keep writing.' We discuss: what makes stories good or bad, Diane's creative career, how Diane uses YouTube as a lead magnet for her business, how to collaborate with others, working on your own creations vs others' creations, the strange power of inconsistency, evergreen content, and much more. •••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3000+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Want way more accountability and feedback for what you're creating?Join Grindstone for 100% free:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/aboutFollow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Apr 15, 2024 • 12min
How to Work Harder Than 99% of People | 029
"I get the most done when I am in a dark room, away from all civilization and happiness."Today, Dillan (@dillanroytaylor) shares his 3-step process for working undistracted for hours every single day.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3000+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Follow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | newsletterTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Mar 25, 2024 • 23min
Hiring a Social Media Manager (w/ Andy Arthur Smith) pt. 2 | 028
Dillan interviews Andy Arthur Smith (@andyarthursmith), a musician and certified goofball. He's crushing it online with over 4 million followers on all platforms, most notably on TikTok and Instagram.You'll learn: how musical creators deal with copyright rules, Andy's recording process, how to find a trustworthy manager, Andy's history of being a weirdo, and what it's like to have your childhood hero follow you on Instagram, and much more.•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 3000+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Want way more accountability and feedback for what you're creating?Join Grindstone for 100% free:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/aboutFollow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | dillantaylor.comTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Mar 18, 2024 • 30min
Setting Up Calls Without Being Creepy (Typical Life Coach Podcast) | 027
"It's okay if you're not feeling confident. Of course you're not if you've never done this. Of course you feel that way. But you can change that through your inputs and your effort."Join Dillan (@dillanroytaylor) as he guests on The Typical Life Coach Podcast to share valuable lessons on starting a business, doing outreach without being creepy, and getting strangers to open up. The Typical Life Coach Podcast is hosted by John & Natalie Strasser:https://typicallifecoachpodcast.buzzsprout.com/•••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 2500+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and become a professional creator.Want way more accountability and feedback for what you're creating?Join Grindstone for 100% free:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/aboutFollow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | dillantaylor.comTheme song by: myboyscoochy

Mar 11, 2024 • 28min
This Guy Got 4m Followers by Making Goofy Shorts (w/ Andy Arthur Smith) pt. 1 | 026
Dillan interviews Andy Arthur Smith (@andyarthursmith), a musician and certified goofball. He's crushing it online with over 4 million followers on all platforms, most notably on TikTok and Instagram.You'll learn: why you should never give up when you think it's too late, the power of hiring a social media manager, why you should decide to go all in on content, what Andy would do if he lost all of his following, how to collaborate with sponsors, and much more. •••Doin' The Thing is a show for creators who want to build their thing better and faster. It's hosted by Dillan Taylor—certified life coach, writer, and CEO of Grindstone. He tracks his journey of scaling his first company, tells stories from 2500+ coaching sessions, and interviews creators who are way cooler than he is...to help you grow an audience, make more money, and stay consistent in your work.Want way more accountability and feedback for what you're creating? Join Grindstone for 100% free:https://www.skool.com/grindstonecreators/aboutFollow Dillan Taylor on the interwebs:Twitter / X | YouTube | dillantaylor.comTheme song by: myboyscoochy