Category: WorkCategory: Work

Instead of posting 10 things on social media today, email 10 people you’ve never talked to before.

Hop on a Zoom call, swap ideas, ask questions, tell them you like their work.

What if just one of those people included your work in their next email? Or mentioned you on their podcast?

Posting into the void lets us off the hook. “Well, I tried!” we can say.

There’s tension involved in writing to 10 people directly, know that one person will most definitely read your email, and they just might respond.

Got this bit from ‘Discoverability for illustrators’ by Tasha Goddard via Robyn Hepburn:

“While emailing is more about outreach than discoverability, I have heard that art directors and art commissioners will actually use the search facility in their email app (e.g. Outlook or Gmail) as a first point of call after any in-house databases – so they might type ‘room illustration, colourful’ or ‘collage illustrator, newspaper’ etc. into the search bar to see if they have been sent any work by a relevant illustrator.”

Keep this in mind when reaching out to art directors and venues and other people you’re pitching for potential opportunities.

Hardly anyone knows about your latest project, let alone something you did three weeks ago (or three years).

Send a link to three people and let them know about it. Doing this takes minutes and is probably more effective than posting on socials for 95% of your audience to miss. Send via email, text, or DM. Just be cool about it.

This week on our weekly Escape Pods, we kicked things off on Monday by talking about letting go of misaligned content and making space for better signals. We explored the tension between short-term platform growth and long-term creative sustainability, and how even small changes (like a new name or format) can breathe life back into stalled projects.

On Thursday, we were joined by my friend and Peabody Award–winning producer Sean Cannon, who traced his path from my little music blog to AOL Music chaos to deep-dive investigative podcasting. We talked about chasing weird stories (Run the Jewels + cat rap, and boxing Ted Leo), and how getting just 5% better each time can transform your work.

Then on Saturday’s Escape Pod Mini, we brought things back to the local level, like flyers on bulletin boards, in-person readings, and rebuilding creative energy offline. We talked about the sting of unsubscribes, the strange dance of asking friends and family for support, and how renaming your newsletter or project might be exactly what opens our next chapter.

If you’d like join our Zoom calls, sign up for a 30 day trial here. That’ll give you time to sit in on a few calls, and even get two free replies of my Email Guidance offering.

(more…)

​Join me (Seth Werkheiser) for a 90 minute interactive workshop on the endless decisions that come with running a newsletter in 2025.

​Should you import your list to Substack?
What should you put in my welcome email?
Which analytics even matter?
Should you switch platforms?
What the heck is SPF/DKIM/DMARC?!

​Instead of writing, we’re getting lost hours in CSV files and platform settings instead of actually connecting with your readers.

Wednesday, August 27 from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

Get more info here: https://lu.ma/uqrfb65q