Category: sethwCategory: sethw

On a morning walk this week, I saw a university work truck holding up traffic while the driver got out to pick up a paper cup that someone threw on the sidewalk. Sometimes the tools we use can be overkill. What gigantic tools are you using that could you stop using today and still get the job done?

Don’t expect a platform to serve you, or look the way you want it to look. You’ll never be satisfied.

Instead, serve your readers. The people already on your email list, the people who trusted you enough to subscribe and say “I wanna hear more from you.”

From today’s ’Making Cozy Videos’ Zoom call, an absolute mic drop quote from a guest:

“(Treat) making a video (on your website) about making someone comfortable, like, if someone came to an opening of mine, I’d want them to feel welcome and comfortable.”

Video isn’t just for touting your expertise and knowledge but to give the visitor a glimpse into what it’s like to work with you, or run into you at a book shop.

Don’t think of each video as something that has to end up on YouTube to be seen by everyone. Think of how one video can put someone at ease, to let people know they’re in the right place when they show up on your website.

From my piece “How I Write” over at Indie Thinkers:

For me, staying in the game is winning, and winning just means I get to play again tomorrow. I just never stopped writing for my little corner of the world.

Read the full piece here.

This from a recent Email Guidance offering (where I answer people’s questions):

You have the permission to do absolutely anything you want and you can do it outside of the confines of the social media attention stealing industry. Just get in front of a few people and do the thing. By doing that, you put up the flag for all the fellow weirdos that want to do the exact same thing. They say “yes, I want to do this!” Lead the way for them. 

You’re not creating a tribe because the tribe already exists., they just haven’t met. So be the one who makes the introduction and pulls people together.

Then three years from now. you’ll look up and know exactly what to put in your newsletter, and what your website needs to look like.

If you’re doing work that feeds you, and resonates with other people, they’ll be no doubt what goes into your next newsletter, your next album, your next painting. Everybody is doing what they want, and you can, too.