Instead of “just launching” a new product or offering, see if people care first.

See how Mel Mitchell-Jackson does this to gauge interest on upcoming classes; they set up a section called Future Classes, which full descriptions and an email sign up for interested folks.

It’s time for the BIG MONEY PIZZA PARTY!

I’m not gonna promise $10,000 a month, but hey, let’s pay a phone bill, maybe. We’re gonna talk about paid offerings, Stripe, selling stuff online.

This’ll be a kind, gentle, safe space to talk about the cash money side of creativity without the HUSTLE and SALES talk.

Wednesday, November 19 from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST

From Joe Pulizzi:

Take a piece of your content offline. As everything around us becomes digital and synthetic, physical experiences will be like luxury goods. A printed newsletter. A quarterly dinner. A local meetup. A short book. Even a small run of “best-of” print issues. Tangibility creates trust. When everything else feels virtual, something you can hold in your hands becomes memorable, meaningful, and rare.

Found this quote the same day I found out about the Six String Social Club!

Said David, “I’m glad people are digging this idea. It’s a giver of life to players to get together with each other.”

How can you move your content into the real world?

Q. How will I hear new music, find new things, see new art if I’m not on social media?

A. Did we not do those things before social media? Of course we did! Ask your friends, subscribe to newsletters, look up bands you see on flyers, read interviews with artists and see who they’re talking about!

See some fun answers from the community here!

A client who has worked with some big names wanted to build their email list, and I gave them this idea:

Think of the amazing people you worked with throughout the years, and think of all those stories you shared, and the memories you’ve made. They’ve got to have dozens of those stories to write, right?

So write that post, with that one person in mind. Then email that person a link to the piece.

This gets you around sending a boring email to “all your contacts” saying, “hey, I have a newsletter now, you should subscribe.”

Write a post that will resonate with the person you’re emailing. Yes, even if it’s just that one person. Email the person the link. Maybe they subscribe, or at least reply and you two catch up, and who knows where that leads?

It’s not always about striking it rich and getting 100 new sign ups. Sometimes the right message to the right person at the right time is all you need.

Originally posted on Nov 24, 2024 here.

“I need more subscribers” season is over.

Maybe now it’s Embrace What Exists season. Or Time to Celebrate Who’s Here.

The season of “more subscribers” will come around again, for sure. But today—right now—there are wonderful people already in our life and creative orbit. Maybe this can be a season (or even just a week) of honoring what already exists.

I saw Substack’s latest post, Demystifying the Feed, and figured I’d rant about it on a Substack Live!

Here’s some of the stuff I covered:

• The lottery effect: I compared Notes (and social media in general) to a lottery—someone wins big to keep the rest of us playing, but most people don’t.
• Algorithms ≠ strategy: I talked about how algorithmic feeds will always disappoint. You can’t game them, and they don’t owe us growth.
• Don’t outsource your audience: I reminded everyone that Substack is useful, but temporary. Platforms crash, change, or ghost. An email list is portable and ours forever.
• Real-world examples: I shared a story about a musician who skipped social media promo, reached out to a local newspaper and radio station, and played to 150 people in a new town—plus 30 new email signups on a clipboard. You can read that post here.
• Offline matters: I talked about how flyers, zines, and conversations still work. My own punk rock flea market table proved it—people still want to connect in person.
• Community ≠ platform: I said Substack makes great tools, but the “community” belongs to them, not us. Real community happens off-platform.
• For quieter creatives: I encouraged folks to stay authentic—slow growth, not performance. I’d rather grow as myself than pretend to be louder or slicker than I am.
• Blog and email > Notes: I emphasized that everything I post on Notes should also live on my own site.
• Let unsubscribes go: I reminded everyone to stop watching unsubscribe counts. I don’t track them either, it’s better to just focus on who stays.
• Final takeaway: The way I “demystify the feed” is by not relying on it. I’d rather build small circles, reach people directly, and keep the internet human-sized.

Perhaps this is a time of undoing, ridding ourselves of complex processes and systems.

This from Yancey Strickler:

“THE LONG GAME IS ABOUT CONFIDENCE. YOU HAVE TO WILLINGLY LIVE IN A TRUTH THAT’S NOT CERTAIN, YET OPERATE WITH THE FAITH THAT IT WILL BE. A CONSTANT PRESSURE YOU MUST BEFRIEND/TOLERATE.”

Having the confidence that I don’t need to back up every single post, file, or image from the last 20+ years. Confidence is cancelling Adobe and just figuring it out. Confidence is deleting social media profiles and having the faith that it will be okay (it will).

I have no confidence that the Unholy Trinity, that a new app, gadget, or system will come along and give us the answer. Their interest is self-interest, and they’ll continue to string us along if we let them.

Instead, my confidence is with fellow creative folk, even if the directions are a little messy and the path looks weird.