Category: WritingCategory: Writing

Here’s a bit of some Email Guidance I wrote someone recently, about launching a newsletter. They were wondering if they should plan out what to write, and I started riffing on stories:

But think of three stories you like telling people. Or even three stories that involve the wonderful people in your orbit. It all comes back to you, right?

The people you’ve worked with. Recorded with. Performed with. So many people!

BECAUSE then you can send that newsletter to those people! Re-connect, catch up, laugh together about it.

Maybe follow that energy. Instead of thinking about what you’ll write, think about who. Who lights you up? Who made you happy? Who’d you make memories with?

Because if you’re writing from a place of joy and good memories, it’ll probably be easier for your audience to connect with, you know? I mean, you gotta write the music for yourself first, right? Same could be said for a newsletter – write around the good energy of the people you’ve met, and the stories you’ve created with those people.

For artists of all types, it’s very easy to get stuck in this broadcast mode of talking the things we do, and who we are. We are interesting people, of course, but writing about ourselves is HARD. It never feels good, right?

Which is why I suggest writing about other folks in your creative orbit. Weave that into your newsletter, and see what unfolds.

Erin Shetron of FREQUENT CRIERS CLUB (and marketing consultant) wrote about the messiness that sometimes comes with working as a “growth strategist,” and how there’s many ways to develop growth:

“I realize that i’m working with a grander definition of “growth.” growth in authenticity, in craft, in honesty, in nuance, in alignment. the question “how can I grow my newsletter?” becomes, “what happens when I work on my creativity so deeply and in such true alignment that my project naturally expands?”

I wrote something similar in Posting is a distraction:

“What if our practice became so deep and rich that the 100 people lucky enough to be on our email list started telling more people?

What if the magic isn’t about hitting an arbitrary subscriber count, but reaching the tipping point in our work where the magic can longer be contained, and it begins to spread without us needing to write messages on beaches?”

The “messages on beaches” part is how I think about posting on social media; constant posting, seeking growth, yet all that work washes away in minutes.

But the true work, as Erin explains – “growth in authenticity, in craft, in honesty, in nuance, in alignment” – that’s where the visible growth can come from. When the foundation is strong, and the motives pure, the work becomes a vibration, a wavelength for others to pick up on.

No one discovered you because of your About page, or your well written bio.

You’re discovered from a piece you wrote, a story you crafted, a video you made, a song you wrote, a photo you posted.

Everything you post is your “About page.” Bake in your credentials, your wisdom, your unique viewpoint that only you can offer.

That’s why when I see people repost something, and their only commentary is “THIS,” I get sad.

Here’s a post, a “piece of content” that you shared with your followers, and an AI bot could have done it.

But an AI bot (or someone with 15 years less experience than you) can’t add to the reposted item like you can.

Every post is another opportunity to impress someone for the first time. And this is a big internet, so it might also be your last time.

I’m not saying everything you post has to be perfect, without typos, but don’t post without highlighting yourself in someway.

Not in a boisterous, ego-driven way, but in a way that you’ve earned, from your hard work and long hours you’ve devoted to your craft over the decades.

I’m running a Talking About “About Pages” Workshop this week, Thursday, February 13th from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST. It’s free, and yes, a replay video will be available.

This happens on social media a lot – you post something about a subject matter that isn’t actually your thing, and it takes off. Goes semi-viral. And suddenly that’s your most popular piece, when you have all this other stuff you write about.

The thing is – we don’t get to choose.

So write for your email list first.

If they’re not vibing, or opening, either rework how your doing it, or accept they signed up for something you’re not giving them. And that’s okay. Let them unsubscribe.

But keep writing to your newsletter audience about your real work, regardless of open rate or click data. Maybe there’s “only” 10 people that give a fuck about it.

Don’t let the other 90% determine it’s not worth continuing, because man, there’s also a zillion other people out there that don’t give a fuck about what you’re doing, too. But you don’t have time to worry about them, and it’s the same for the people on your list who don’t either.

I had a boss one time who said this in regards to audience who doesn’t click, or vibe with what you’re doing – “fuck ‘em.”

I hit 5,000 subscribers recently, and 70ish paid subscribers – that’s barely 1.5% of my people. And even still, 14 people were on my call the other day from 2 to 3pm.

The most important 14 people in the world that hour was those people. Full attention. 

Have I worked “this hard” for this many years for 14 people? I guess so! And I’m completely fine with that, because at least I know those 14 people now, and they hang out with me on a workday in the middle of the afternoon. It’s so great.

A lot of people would love your work but they don’t even know about it yet – so keep writing about it so when they find you someday, it’ll feel like they’re home.

I’m always telling you to have an email list, but it’s only going to be helpful if your newsletter is worth opening.

Is your email showing up like those messy grocery store flyers we all get in the mail?

That’s the sort of noise we easily tune out, knowing we won’t really miss out on anything if we ignore it.

But those vinyl record deliveries, that package of zines, artwork, or art supplies we ordered – those feel different, right?

These are things we’re looking forward to. We ordered something, and then we keep an eye out for those shipping updates. Delivery confirmations.

But then we all get emails like this everyday.

”New merch in our store”
”Deals ending soon”
”New workshop announced”

Sure, these can work. They’re serviceable. “Don’t ask, don’t get.” I get it!

But consider this email from Lauren Denitzio, of the band Worriers, with this subject line: ”Tips for tour and life.”

Everyday we get emails asking for something; buy now, book soon, pre-orders available.

But how many emails are we getting that are giving us something, too?

How many creative beings send out emails of stories, unraveling the wonders of life by way of their unique viewpoint?

• Like Lauren above, sharing tips for life while also promoting their hand written lyric sheets.
• Like Cody Cook-Parrott sharing how they got XC skiing equipment for free during their spending ban while also promoting a limited edition version of their new book.
• Like Tom Bland and Diana Pappas who decided to live blog the making of their latest photographic art drop.

You’ve already done the hard part; you’re a photographer, a painter, a professional mountain biker, a comic book maker.

We just need to use that same creative vision to talk about the work we do in our own unique way.

If our newsletters stopped acting like product catalogs, maybe our newsletter becomes something that people won’t want to miss.