Category: VideoCategory: Video

On today’s Substack Live I covered a bunch of topics, from the punk rock flea market where I handed out Social Media Escape Club flyers, to our earliest internet memories — AOL, IRC, dial-up, even real-life pen pals.

We also talked through the real numbers behind social vs. email, why flyers and bulletin boards still work, and what it looks like to deepen ties with the people already in our creative orbit instead of chasing more followers.

The conversation bounced between quitting Instagram, starting local event newsletters, the value of a blog over a static website, and even the compounding power of a simple daily walk (got my 10 miles in today).

This is the live replay of my Substack Live call from March 22, 2025, where I talk through what leaving the feeds actually changes — and what it doesn’t.

In this live video I cover:
• Why “posting more” wasn’t helping my creative work
• Reclaiming attention and momentum without Instagram, TikTok, or X
• How newsletters + websites beat algorithms long-term
• What fills the void when you stop scrolling
• Audience growth that isn’t dependent on social platforms
• Community > metrics, conversations > likes
• The emotional side of stepping away (fear of disappearing, FOMO, identity)
• Rebuilding trust with your own ideas when the noise is gone
• Sustainable marketing that doesn’t burn you out
• How I think about YouTube without getting sucked into the feed mindset

If you’re tired of chasing algorithms and want to build something more sustainabl this replay might help.

This is a hill I will die on – if you’re going to tell your newsletter subscribers or social media followers about your new video, put the video on your own website, and then link to your own website.

Leading people to YouTube just keeps people on YouTube’s platform. Their site is built and optimized to keep people on YouTube, and to make it as difficult as possible for your fans to stay in your universe, whether to pre-order your new album, or sign up for your new course offering.

Sure, keep posting your videos to YouTube. But don’t send your already established fans to places where you can’t reach them. Why build up your audience on YouTube if you can’t even reach 5% of them when you post a new video?

Your audience is your email list – something you control, something you can export, something that the algorithms can’t mess with.

Today Substack rolled out Substack Originals to go along with their new media tab in the app, and I got this question from Johnathan Dodson, which I answer above.

I think two things are true here:

1. Video and audio can be a great way to deepen your connection with your audience (heck, it’s what I’m doing right now).
2. You should do it only if you want to do it.

I reference Beth Spencer and the amazing work she does with her drawing sessions on Zoom, but she also makes videos for some of her posts, too.

A video like that brings you just a little bit closer to Beth. If you’re a fan, well, you’re probably a little bit more of a fan after watching that clip, you know?

At the same time, if the thought of talking on camera makes you sick to your stomach, then yeah, it’s probably a good idea to skip making videos. Or find a way to make videos in your own style, like Marcus does with his Probably Riding channel on Youtube.

I love how Marcus shares his love of riding bikes without ever doing the whole “talking into a camera” thing.

Photographer Noah Kalina walks around the woods and answers questions from his audience.

You can even just record small audio clips and upload those right to your posts, and those are wonderful, too! You don’t even need to make a full podcast – single blips of audio are still wonderful!

I don’t think you’ll get left behind by Substack if you don’t start making videos. Just focus on the subscribers you have in front of you today. Those are the people you need to build with, before you ever need to hope to get “promoted” by some official Substack channel.

If you’re already posting images on Instagram, you’re sitting on newsletter material whether you realize it or not. Reusing those images in email isn’t cheating or lazy, t’s just practical, and like I say, most people never see your social media posts anyway.

My buddy Bill sent me this email from Tapehead City that did this perfectly: the same cassette photos from Instagram, dropped straight into an email, with no fuss or overthinking.

The small additions matter, too. Don’t just copy and paste. Add a sentence, a bit of context, an extra detail. The feed gets the quick bits; the newsletter gets the extended version. Same work, more mileage, and a better payoff for the people who actually signed up. This is how email quietly becomes the main event instead of an afterthought.