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Trevor Carss is the author and illustrator of over 80 quirky children’s books.

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What’s even more interesting is that he distributes many of these stories as PDF copies, video narrations and audiobooks. Readers can optionally donate on his website or find copies at major eCommerce stores like Amazon.

Trev’s mission is simple: make stories to brighten your day.

He also likes to break the boundaries of how we see books and digital publishing today. With social media, podcasting and branded websites, authors can get more creative with storytelling than ever before.

Trev’s artistic style is minimalist in most of his books. He uses a simple drawing program to design unique characters and ideas, reminiscent of the illustrations from classic reads in the 1960’s and 70’s.

Sometimes the simplest of stories can cut through the clutter and deliver important messages. Trev’s books focus on themes of self-confidence and courage to reflect his personal experiences growing up. Many children and adults who struggle with confidence, anxiety and emotion would resonate with these positive messages.

Trev has a streamlined writing, illustration and launch process. Without traditional publishers, designers and editors, Trev can produce work at a more rapid pace. He makes checklists for everything to simplify or remove repetitive tasks. His rigid structure applies to many processes, from book formatting to website publishing. With structure, he can channel all of his wild creativity into a story.

More recently, Trev has been branching into character merchandise as a way of bringing his stories to life in new ways. By looking at additional approaches to the author brand beyond books, Trev is building a mini media empire of his own.

By transforming children’s picture books into audio, video and merchandise, he is expanding his reach across the world. Readers all the way from Brazil to Japan have discovered Trev.

If you are looking to find that creative spark in your life, Trev might be the perfect inspiration for you. His volume of work speaks for itself.

Aside from creating new stories, you can find Trev in his Canadian hometown of Vancouver, BC, swimming, running and eating ice cream (sometimes all at the same time).

Brighten your day with a children’s book by Trev!

I want social media to be helpful. I really do. But every time I go on there to help others or learn things, I’m bombarded with distracting advertising, irrelevant content and addictive mechanisms at play. It simply isn’t the place to get any real work done. As a society, we are faced with the noise of social media.

Some entrepreneurs I’ve talked to are building businesses with social media alone. Sure, it’s definitely a tool to reach success. The question is, how long do you need to invest time-wise, to reach this success? Are there better methods? Is social media just delaying success? I’m not so sure we need it to build a business. Certainly not to the level most feel these days.

Let’s be real for a second. Social media engagement is down. Attention spans are fractured. If your post isn’t interesting, you’ve wasted time creating an irrelevant post. You could have been writing an amazing book instead. You could have been creating something meaningful. Yet the chase for a new follower is much more desirable.

Are followers that important? I don’t think so. Look at new Instagrammers who were celebrities before they started an account. Jennifer Aniston is a good example. Or Matthew McConaughey. They already have millions of followers, within weeks of setting up an account! Why is that? These actors focused on the craft first. Before hopping on social, they were people worth talking about. They did meaningful things. If you don’t have something meaningful to share, social media will become a nuisance for you.

So if not social media, then what?

I can think of a few ideas. Write something. Draw something. Video record something. Screenshot something. Voice record something. Paint something. Act out something. Truly connect with someone.

These actions are more likely to gain you the attention you seek. Focus on what you can do. Focus on your talents. Express those. Develop those.

When you look at an online ad, there is a pretty good chance you will find it annoying. Even the good ads always seem to be in the consumer’s way.

For instance, I’m trying to find an answer to a question I have and some darn ad pops up in my feed. It disrupts the flow of what I’m reading. Right then and there I get a feeling of annoyance towards the business that made the ad. I may even take a moment to acknowledge which brand it is, to ensure I never buy from them again. Harsh, but true.

Many small-time companies run ads, and I can only say it’s the wrong marketing strategy. It’s certainly one way to gain exposure, but it often backfires if done wrong (and most times wrong is what happens). No I don’t want to hear about your discount sale. I want you to help me. I want you to be useful if you are going to interrupt my day. Not useful? Then don’t bother me.

Now the top two advertising platforms in the world are Facebook and Google. They have convinced us that you have to pay to play the game of business these days. They want to make sure that you spend advertising dollars to grow your business, just like stock brokers want you to day trade for “wealth-building”. The reality is, the brokers always win. The more action you take on, the more the brokers earn. You are never guaranteed a win.

Most companies focus on noise when they should be focusing on where their noise takes us. If it takes us to a crappy landing page, as most ads do, then that will annoy us even more. Make the product better and maybe, just maybe, you will have a better chance of someone talking about you by word-of-mouth. If your product isn’t word-of-mouth-worthy, then fix that. Make or build something worth talking about. Avoid ads unless you have a major budget to throw money around. But even if you had the budget, people simply hate online ads.