Here are some things we talked about on our calls this past week:

• You’re probably not doing email wrong
• The growth vs. quality trade-off with recommendations or going viral (8,000 new subs but zero paid conversions)
• Domain validation and email deliverability (DMARC/SPF, testing tools)
• Platform sovereignty: owning your website vs. relying on platforms
• The dangers of platform dependency (Lucy Werner’s entire Substack getting wiped)
• Content restrictions and AI detection tools flagging original work as fake
• Using email marketing automations (or not)
• Physical networking still works (think business cards at conferences, zines)
• Multi-platform content strategy, the Austin Kleon model (blog + Substack)

Come join a call this week!

UPCOMING ESCAPE PODS:

◾ CO-WORK ESCAPE POD
Clean up your online store, refresh your bio, write a newsletter – come work with the Social Media Escape Club and get things done!
Tuesday, February 3
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/nadilhbk

◾ MINI ESCAPE POD Q&A #29
Limited to just three guests so you we can focus on your challenges and answer questions together.
Wednesday, February 4
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM EST
REGISTER: Members only, start a 30 trial here!

◾ ESCAPE POD VIDEO CALL #105 W/ NOLAN GREEN
​Musician Nolan Green is the force behind The Grassy Knoll, an experimental, jazz-influenced electronic and alternative rock project with a cult following dating back to the 1990s. His cinematic, genre-blurring work has appeared across film, TV, and games, including the theme for Netflix’s Bobby Kennedy for President and placements in Legion and Roswell.
Thursday, February 5
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/gn6hr7ig

Five actionable items from this week’s calls:

1. Test your emails before sending – Use mail-tester.com to check deliverability, send previews to multiple email providers, and check how your emails render in dark/light mode
2. Set up domain validation (DMARC/SPF/DKIM) – For email deliverability and helping prevent your newsletters from landing in spam
3. Buy your domain name now – Even if you’re not ready for a full website, secure your domain as a long-term investment towards owning your work.
4. Implement a 24-hour review period – Wait a day before sending emails and get a second pair of eyes to catch errors 
5. Start a tiny email circle – Replace sprawling Discord servers with a 4-person email thread for ongoing connection and direct collaboration (reply to this email to join one of ours)

◾ BREAK UP 💔 WITH SOCIAL MEDIA DAY
We’ll gather on Zoom to delete at least one social media app from our phone. ​This is a group break up, together, in good company.
Saturday, February 14
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/sime7eyi

◾ ESCAPE POD #108 W/ CARLY VALANCY
​I’ll kick things off with a 15-minute conversation with Carly Valancy about the art of reaching out and building real connections. There will definitely be a 5 minute exercise in reaching out on this call!
Thursday, March 5
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/w0oh4x06

Some takeaways from today’s ALL EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDERS SUCK Focus Pod, where ten of us got together on a Zoom call and talked about our experiences with multiple email tools like Mailchimp, MailerLite, Squarespace, and more.

1. No one is really “doing email wrong.” A lot of people talking about their setups made it clear that the communal frustration is real. So many platforms, so many quirks, all with the usual pain points.
2. Platform vibes, not feature lists. The back and forth gave us more insight than a comparison chart or watching 12 more YouTube videos. Adult content restrictions, WordPress file upload weirdness, support loops that go nowhere, analytic blind spots… all these things come to light when get together and compare notes in real time.
3. Growth stories sound very different when told out loud. Viral posts, recommendation engines, and big numbers looked way less awesome once folks shared what actually happened afterwards, which was usually low engagement, zero paid conversions, and high churn. This felt good as it helped recalibrate what “big growth” really means.
4. Simplicity wins (for lots of different reasons). Some folks valued simple tools because they reduce tinkering and messing around with designs. Others because they reduce anxiety. Hearing those reasons side by side helped people name what they actually need from a platform, not what they think they should want.

This was a group of smart people thinking out loud together, testing assumptions, talking trash, and helping each other feel less alone in all the messy decisions we’re trying to make.

This sort of collective sense-making doesn’t translate in a recap post like this – you sort of had to be there, so consider becoming a member today!

DIRECT CONNECTION: “Speaking of RSS, I’m using it more than ever. Every newsletter I subscribe to goes into my feeds now and I made major progress unsubscribing from most newsletters that were coming into my email inbox. In 2025 I added 74 new feeds, bringing the total number of sites in Feedbin to 3,651.” Brad Barrish

CONSIDER:  “A question worth asking yourself: How would you act if you could ONLY reach the people you’ve already reached? No one new. It’s probably different than how you’re acting now… and maybe it’s better, too.” Jay Clouse

WORTH A WATCH: Via B. Paraseltzer: “I just watched this very timely interview with Chris Gethard in which he discussed getting back to independent/DIY creative movements, and getting away from platforms and social media.”

UPCOMING ESCAPE PODS!

◾ CO-WORK ESCAPE POD
Update your website, prepare for book club, clean out your inbox, or whatever else – come hang with the Social Media Escape Club and get some work done!
Tuesday, January 27
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/82r8ujm9

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ORBIT: “Some of them join me in zoom rooms and some over in Discord, but if digital is not their thing, we’re doing snail mail, long phone calls, and methods of platform-independent connection,” says Mel Mitchell-Jackson.

IGNITION: “Can I say your suggestion to start hosting zoom calls was a gamechanger over here? I now have a tiny group of people who are on a journey together and are making things happen. I know them and they know me and so much more can happen at that level. it’s like we’ve done intros already, lets get to work now,” from a former Email Guidance client (members get two free rounds with me). 

TRAJECTORY: “When I hear (my talk from The Moth), I wish I’d gotten it a minute or two tighter. But what is also there is me, the human being, doing something I was not fully prepared for (because there was no way to prepare except to do it),” Kato McNickle

SIGNALS: “I like how everyone talked without raising their virtual zoom hand and how nice and goofy and smart everyone was,” said our Escape Pod guest Erin Shetron.

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GOOD SUPPORT: “Community isn’t about content access or exclusive perks. It’s about shared accountability to a higher standard of work and life. It’s a commitment to significance through support.”

GOOD GROUP: “She and other students talked all the time about craving a break from their phones, which pulsed all day long with distractions. They debated giving them up, but doing so seemed inconvenient and isolating. Maybe the solution was to try it together.” (via Kottke)

GOOD ADVICE: “Go get an RSS reader app, stop being spoon-fed slop by algorithmic platforms, and start consuming content at your own pace.”

◾ ESCAPE POD #102 W/ ERIN SHETRON
Special guest Erin Shetron; creative advisor, editor, and “newsletter whisperer.” She writes the Frequent Criers Club newsletter, and she’ll be joining us to share her process, and dig into the gentle and genuinely helpful way she works with clients.
Thursday, Jan 15 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
REGISTER: https://luma.com/y2c0a3sm

◾ MINI ESCAPE POD Q&A #27
Small group Q&A with other like-minded folks. Limited to just three guests!
Friday, Jan 16 from 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM EST
REGISTER: MEMBERS ONLY (start your 30 day trial here)

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