Category: WorkCategory: Work

It’s none of my business what the kid that sat in front of me in 10th grade science had for breakfast, and people working at social media platforms bought multiple vacation homes convincing us that it is.

Your attention is coveted by the social media platforms, along with the cell phone companies that will gladly take your auto-pay unlimited-plan payments. Heck, Tim Cook is saying iPhone prices are going up.

We don’t need better devices and apps and service plans to keep up, we need better systems and networks to continue making the work we’re called to make.

For the last decade we’ve put our best work on social media – videos, images, hot takes – you name it! But with so much time and energy devoted to publishing on so many platforms, our websites and newsletters just became digital brochures; static and boring.

So it was refreshing to hear Natalie Brite on Amelia Hruby’s Off the Grid podcast talking about where we limit our imagination.

“For so many entrepreneurs and micro businesses … this total dependency, where there’s no imagination outside of social media, it’s like my imagination stops at social media marketing and it’s like there’s so many other ways, right?”

I’ve seen this for decades. I was one of the first 3,000 people to sign up for Twitter. I’ve subscribed to a lot newsletters since I began this journey in 2001.

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In an interview with Frame Set, cinematographer Todd Banhazl (Winning Time, Hustlers, Nike) is asked for advice for young cinematographers trying to make work like his:

Don’t make work like mine, make the most personal thing possible, and really try to spend time shooting what you love in the way that you love it. I really mean that. I don’t know if that means it sounds like a platitude, but like, there’s a lot of cinematographers out there now that I feel like the technology has been democratized, like everyone’s a DP, so I think the thing that sets you apart is making the work personal, and like being brave to make it personal.

Writing good subject lines and building our websites is great and all, but it’s secondary to being brave and making the work you love.

Watch Banhazi talking about “The Cameras Behind Olivia Rodrigo’s Lo-Fi Music Video.”

You can post about things being unfair, or you can do the work and make art.

I’ve seen this from all sorts of creative folks, from people just starting out to Grammy nominees, dating back to my music blog days in the early 2000s.

I get it – part of the problem is that people aren’t aware that Spotify doesn’t pay well. Or that simply “liking” something “really does help” with the algorithm.

But what resonates for me with this clip of comedian Anthony Jeselnik is that no one is gonna see him hurt. There’s enough hurt in this business. Why add to the pity party? Who does a crack in the armor serve?

The art doesn’t need excuses, it needs work.

You’ve heard that one way to grow is to get on some podcasts. You did the research, sent out some emails, and got booked for a handful of podcasts.

It takes time to find the right podcast to pitch! To craft the email, and wait for the response. And we can’t discount the anxiety leading up to the call. The Substack superstar Sarah Fay had me on as a guest a few years back, and I was definitely nervous!

But afterwards? Crickets. No noticeable uptick in subscriptions.

All this work, and worry, and it had zero impact in the moment.

Heck, even artist Amie McNee “went on one of the biggest podcast in the world and it didn’t sell any books.”

It’s not that this “strategy” of going on podcasts is “bad,” it’s just how it works. That’s why social media is so alluring; you post something, and at least you get one like in the first five minutes. Instant gratification!

We got to hear this directly on a recent Escape Pod Zoom call, about going on podcasts as a way to grow an audience and how it wasn’t really paying off.

Even if you didn’t get a subscription, you built some trust. People need to see you a few times, hear you, notice you a few times, before they subscribe.

Sure, we’d all love more book sales, or at least more subscribers, but you’re learning how to get better at pitching, booking, and being on podcasts, all of which will serve you for years to come.

In the follow up email conversation with this person, we talked about this trust part, and arrived at this opportunity; reaching back out to the podcast host.

Send a two or three line message to the host a month later. Ask how they’re doing. Follow up on a point that was made during your talk. Mention a recent episode. Keep the connection going, continue building trust with a person who thought enough to have you on their show.

You can keep chasing the ocean of strangers, and doing what the “experts” says, which is spending time and energy trying to impress people who’d rather keep scrolling. It’s an exhausting endeavor that never ends.

Instead, you could flip it, and focus on the few people you’ve already built a connection with.

We talk about this sort of thing every week in our Escape Pod Zoom calls. Join a call with other creative people figuring out the same stuff you’re dealing with. Check our upcoming schedule here.