A most gracious Michael Maupin wrote this tonight, after chatting with a stranger for a bit:

Live in the world, but your Substack (and online life) is a part of it. They feed each other. You can’t be online all the time.

OPEN UP. Git yer ass outside.

I only really know Michael via Substack, but we’ve talked once on the phone awhile ago. Online met offline, at least by way of actual conversation late one night.

Same as Michael’s conversation with someone at a closing eatery. Stories shared, and he got a new subscriber to his newsletter. It’s not all about “growing our audience,” of course, but it all takes place one person at a time, whether you’re trying to run a store front, sell a record, or live a good life.

Lex Roman talks about wanting to write more, and how you can’t exactly always do that with a newsletter. Something written generally… gets sent out, and you don’t want to send multiple emails per day (or per week, maybe) to your readers.

Plus, it gives your work a home. Your newsletter generally isn’t your permanent address, it’s the delivery truck that transports your readers to the places you want to take them.

(link via Alex Dobrenko)

Big thanks to my friend and owner of I Heart Blank, Tom DuHamel everyone! Tom talks about different WordPress systems, SEO, calendar plugins, ADA accessibility and lots more.

Come to our next co-work, Tues June 3rd from 9am-11am. Register here: https://lu.ma/7t5k37r6

(more…)

From Dan Blank, in “10 things I wish every writer knew about marketing.”

“What if instead of redesigning your website, you reached out to one person each day for three months? Where your goal was a meaningful conversation, a generous act, or a thoughtful reply.

I have seen writers not only learn so much in this process, but create wonderful connections and opportunities. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to spend your days talking with people who love to read?”

I say do a little of both, but with a twist.

Let’s stop redesigning our websites, or rather, let’s just strip them to the bones and get back to the writing. I’ve had enough of the Squarespacification of what a website should be.

The blog format has endured because it works. One of the most popular websites in the world uses the blog format. Just a photo, followed by a block of text. Then another photo, with a block of text.

It’s called Instagram. Look it up.

Magazines, newspaper articles… photo, then text. Photo, then text.

THEN… then share some of those posts with people from time to time. That doesn’t mean blast it to “everyone” on social media. Instead, send one link to a person from time to time.

“Here, I wrote this is a bit ago and was thinking of you…”
“Hey, remember that time we did this thing?”
“I know you’ve been struggling with X, and I just wrote something about that.”

Our website is the library in our cozy cottage in the woods – not everyone visits, but for the right people it’ll feel like home.

Social media lets us become viral stars in an instant. With just our phone and a funny dance or witty remark we can be mentioned on late night TV.

But all that is fleeting. Seldom does anymore make a career from that.

The real work is slower, with other folks. It’s building the foundation one brick at a time, for years. Decades, even.

Conversations, collaborations, emails, phone calls, meetings and messages. Other people will get us where we’re going.

This was written by Bradley Spitzer about photography, but applies to so many other areas of life:

“Spending $3,000 on a road trip will have a greater impact on improving your vision compared to buying that brand new camera you’ve been lusting over.”

Heck, skip the road trip and start with a walk!

Get up from your computer and get near some water, drink a glass of water, take a nap. The gear, the tactics, the strategies will be there when you come back, but making sure you’re replenished and whole is most important in all this.

Had an amazing chat with artist David Speed on his Creative Rebels podcast:

“Navigating (social media) is hard, so I was so happy to chat with Seth Werkheiser who offers a bunch of alternative ways to connect with your audience. Ways that don’t involve spending six hours producing a video that won’t be shown to the people who have chosen to follow you!”

We end our chat talking about this post ‘Outdated expectations kill creative dreams,” which is about my dad, and I was surprised to find myself getting emotional talking about it, but that’s where the conversation went!

Give a listen to the full 57 minute interview on Substack or Apple Podcasts.

One of the best ways to start getting away from social media is to think about where we put our stuff. We’re so conditioned to upload a photo, a thought, a hot-take to social media because we know something will happen – likes, comments, shares, etc. It’s absolutely the slot machine at the casino – insert coin, pull the lever, and something will happen.

Instead of posting that photo for “everyone,” try sending it to a friend and see what happens. Send it to another, with a little note.

Maybe post that photo on your blog and write a bit about it, and send a newsletter later to let people know about it.

Instead of posting your “hot takes” and opinions and ideas onto a platform to be monetized by Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, use them elsewhere for your benefit.

As I wrote a year ago in ‘Practice leaving social media,’ “the spontaneous bits you’d post on social media can be the source material for your next newsletter, text to a pal, Discord group, or next live Zoom hangout with good people.”

We won’t get the same dopamine hit from these actions. They won’t go viral. But maybe they’re the start of something better, like deeper relationships, or strengthening friendships.

It’s hard to be good friends with 10 people in your life when you’re always trying to entertain 1,000 strangers.