Category: LifeCategory: Life

I’m officially in “Not My Business” Season, for which I owe a debt of thanks to Olivia Rafferty for describing how I’ve been feeling most of this year.

This isn’t just for Substack authors- it’s for every creative person.

Social media made us believe we must become graphic designers, video editors, sound engineers, interview hosts, SEO experts, copywriters, and about a dozen other things in addition to the thing we do.

Experts will have you believe that if you tweak your About page a little bit more, focus on SEO, or make better thumbnails, then success is just around the corner!

Not my business.

Sure, there are some “best practices,” but the bar is low (ahem, a website and an email list). We’re not here to chase lowest common denominator tactics, we’re here to shift culture and change the world, right?

• Imagine spending more time on things that rejuvenate your soul instead of cosplaying as an overworked social media manager.
• Instead of learning how to navigate all the new features that Meta has set up on Instagram, imagine becoming a better musician, photographer, or artist.
• Spend most of our non-day job hours honing our craft rather than becoming part-time “content creators” while expecting full-time results.
• There’s a screen time app, but where’s the guitar time app, or painting time app? Imagine if we tracked our creative practice and saw that we spent three hours a day writing. We’d celebrate that, wouldn’t we?

We don’t need more subscribers; we need more heartbreak, laughter, and / or deep metaphysical talks about the afterlife in cemeteries on rainy evenings.

That’s the business I want.

Let’s stop worrying about growing our audience. Open your contacts app and reconnect with the people who came into your life but you stopped talking to because you felt just posting on social media was enough.

Get in the business of building connections instead of shouting.

We’re talking about art here, people. We’re not selling USB cables or homeowner insurance, we’re channeling the divine, spending time in the fog, smelling the flowers, jumping in puddles, and walking around museums.

That’s our business.

What if the people receiving your emails forwarded it to friends? What if they copied the text from it and posted it on social media? What if your words traveled from the inbox into Facebook group chats and meeting rooms?

When was the last time you sent a newsletter that got 10 replies?

If none of those things happened — not even close— maybe getting more subscribers isn’t the answer.

From social media to Substack Notes, people post in the void. No comments, likes, or engagement of any kind.

Hey, sometimes things don’t work!

Your “questions to everyone” or “open invites” have good intentions, but after a dozen or so attempts, it’s time to reassess your strategy.

Stop asking “everyone” and start actually asking people.

➡️ Reply to someone else’s post. Go into the comments section of another post, or another Tweet, and reply there. Be the person that people love seeing in the comments section by being insightful, gracious, and / or funny.

➡️ Email someone directly in your network. If you’re hoping those people even see your original post and take the time to reply is a long shot. Instead, reach out and ask them. Say you’re looking for their insight for an upcoming post.

➡️ Invite someone before inviting everyone. If you’re just getting started in hosting video hangouts, live sessions, or workshops, consider inviting a few people you know directly. See if you can get three people to commit before announcing to “everyone.”

➡️ Go beyond “just sharing” and make it a big deal. Make a whole post about it. Go deeper than typing “THIS,” and explain why this piece resonated. Don’t just “curate your feed,” rolling the dice hoping that 10% of your audience might see it. Take the time to write about something (or make a video or an audio snippet), and share it directly with your audience in an upcoming newsletter (where 99% of your subscribers will see it in their inbox).

“Yeah, but Seth, I just want to post my thing and go do other things,” you might say.

Well, you see the results that “just posting” gets you.

Also, how can talking to your fans, audience, and readers be a waste of time?

Setting a timer for 15 minutes and communicating with real people five days a week will probably get you more results than the hour you spend making one Reel for 153 “people” to see (and which will never be seen again after 12 hours).

Does it scale? Fuck scale, do the work.

The strategy of “just posting” ain’t working, and it’s not going to get any easier to reach your fans in that way as we roll into the second half of 2024.

Writing this newsletter has been a solo endeavor for about two years, but I’ve switched that up in the past month by starting weekly Zoom hangouts to talk with subscribers about social media, online marketing, and (usually) cats.

I’ve walked away from those calls each week feeling stoked, and used our discussions as starting points for upcoming newsletters.

I do this because I can’t know all the answers, but we learn together.

In a recent video chat, Josh from Úzkost talked about playing a show in a mall.

Whether it’s something like Beth’s Introvert Drawing Club or Josh and his band Úzkost melting faces in a mall, the people in front of you provide the energy.

Do your best to find those people.

They might be in quiet cafes or calm Discord servers or… malls. I’ve met some fantastic people on Twitter earlier this year and by signing up for some online courses.

Maybe your people are waiting for you to carve a space for them.

From The Creative Shift by Dan Blank:

Back when I used to manage a bookstore and cafe in the 1990s, we would run multiple events each week. What would make a great event? 20 people attending. Even an event with 8 or 10 would be a success.

Imagine that your website is a place of refuge for your fans.
Your newsletter is a ray of sunshine for someone.
The magic you create helps someone get through bad times.

HINDZ brings calm and peaceful vibes with his YouTube videos. He’s carved that niche for himself, and it’s beautiful.

Make a space for what you do with your website, with your newsletter – the essential online spaces that you can own and control.

Your website can be more than YouTube embeds and Bandsintown tour dates.

Your newsletter can be more than tour JPGs and BUY NOW buttons.

Trust me – your biggest fans will appreciate it.

We have to do marketing, I know.

But how are we fostering community around the things that we do? How does it affect change and expand culture? How do we foster a creative and vibrant space with our work?

Harriet JW’s clients are doing unconventional things to get their songs heard (via LinkedIn):

My buddy Dino Corvino got me listening to WORRIERS.

Not because of a song, or a music video, but because Lauren Denitzio replied to a comment or two on TikTok.

Dino (he writes Skateboarding on their Altar) has seen it all, so when he tells me something like this, I listen.

I’m a fan now, and maybe a few people reading this will go see WORRIERS on tour, or listen to the new album ‘Trust Your Gut.’

Don’t get stuck playing the “GET A MILLION NEW FANS” slot machine, dumping a bucket of pennies onto social media, and playing it safe with mullet marketing.

Commit to some dialogue with your fans a few times a week at least.

Does it scale?

Fuck scale, make your fans feel something.

When’s the last time an artist made you feel something?
Let me know in the comments, or reply to this email!

A great point came up on Saturday’s Social Media Escape Club video chat – this idea of “being bored.”

We pour energy into our art, and white knuckle our marketing efforts, but sometimes we just gotta get bored.

I signed up for a half-marathon that’s on an abandoned highway and goes through two pitch-black tunnels. Though I consider myself a runner, I’ll admit I’m not really in “half-marathon shape.”

So this weekend I ran for an hour, turned around, and walked back to my car, just to get time on my feet without beating up my body too bad.

The walk back took an hour and a half.

With no music. No podcasts. Just me and this:

Get bored. Get out of your element. Get yourself in uncomfortable places with your art, your goals, your casual running.

The act of being bored sometimes requires action.

Get in touch with someone you haven’t spoken to in awhile.

Send fan mail.

Mail a package.

This all starts when you let go, and get bored.

It’s okay to admit you don’t know all the answers, and accept that it’s okay to ask your community for help.