We have people right in front of us – digitally, and in real life. On our existing email list. In Zoom rooms, and Discords.

Imagine if we spent our time and energy on them, instead of spinning our wheels on social media trying to impress everyone and no one?

This from Kinda Conquering Creative Fear with Caroline,

“I made a list of every single person I had ever interacted with that seemed remotely interested in hearing more about my music. Then, I contacted them directly via emails, text messages, DMs and face-to-face. I was going to make sure that everyone I could think of was invited, personally, by me to my show.”

Instead of posting into the void of social media, make direct contact. Reach out to people you can reach out to.

In the past I might have called this hand to hand combat, but we don’t want to think of our interactions with fans as combat, or fighting. Inviting people just feels so much better.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Shradical, makers of high-performance helmets with built-in front and rear LED lights. Look good, be seen, and stay safe – check ‘em out here.

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I believe that finding work and interesting opportunities can come from your existing contact list and network. The creative people in your orbit.

Since I started playing music in the late 90s, and made a music blog back in 2001, I’ve met a lot of people so, sure, it’s easy for me to offer this advice.

Q: What if you don’t have decades of contacts to pull from?

A: Start being around the people you need to be around. Today. Right now.

Social media has led us to believe we can find success as “lonely content machines, but the adventure becomes easier with other people by your side.

THE MUSIC BLOG

In 2005 I was four years into the “I’m a music blogger” thing, and that’s when I met someone that I didn’t know would change my life (and it would take half my life to realize it).

Sean Cannon started helping with my music blog, and we worked together up until 2008, when I handed him the site because I started another music blog for AOL Music called Noisecreep.

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Hello and Happy Friday, thanks for reading. Uncle Seth here to guide you through four things that may help you move your work forward.

Also, the replay for yesterday’s Escape Pod is available here.

Upgrade to a paid subscription and join our weekly calls!

// FOUR THE WEEKEND

1. SPEND LESS TIME ON SUBSTACK NOTES (AND SOCIAL MEDIA)

I know a handful of you reading this have your own Substack publications, but I’m telling you – spend less time on Substack Notes (and social media in general).

Use your time wisely. If you must use social media, just reply to a few friends, and join some conversations here and there. Spending time and energy trying to craft the perfect post just to get 100 likes? I don’t recommend it.

Instead, try reaching out to a writer friend and workshopping your next email newsletter together, or update your websites. Craft a pitch to a creative director.

I fully believe there is more to be gained collaborating on an hour long Zoom call than spending two hours a day scrolling on social media.

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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.

Saw this question on Substack Notes from Aishwarya Vardhana, and figured I’d make a full post about it because I see it a lot.

Go to the profile of the people you already subscribe to and find out what they’re reading! You’re probably subscribed to some quality folks, and I bet they subscribe to good folks, too.

Relying on the Substack Notes algorithm (or any algorithm, like Spotify) to show you exactly what you’re looking for is a waste of time. As you can see, I Subscribe to a lot of people – maybe you’ll find something from my list!

Do your own homework, and seek out the sort of materials you want to consume via your own network.

And don’t be afraid to ask your friends (and even your subscribers) what they’re reading, too. You just never know who you’ll discover along the way.

I got a great question from Maja Lampa asking about using a stand-alone blogging platform like Pika versus using Substack.

Deciding between Pika (or any stand-alone blogging platform) and Substack depends on what you’re trying to achieve.

Pika gives you more control but no built-in audience, so driving traffic is entirely up to you.

If you want a nice quiet corner on the internet, then Pika is great!

Substack, however, has a built-in network to help readers find your work and makes it super easy to grow an email list, which I think is super important at whatever level you’re at.

Again – it depends on what you’re trying to achieve. I love the built-in network that Substack provides because it makes it super easy for people to subscribe and get my posts in their inbox.

That means if someday I leave Substack, I can export my email list and set up shop somewhere else, and my fans won’t have to find me elsewhere or re-subscribe on another platform.

Spend time setting up a new social media account, and in five years you’ll be right back where you started.

I’ve seen this song and dance before. We’ve learned nothing from the days of Xanga, MySpace, and Facebook. What was the name of the app that’d replace Instagram?

“I’m wondering if another social media network is really the answer we need.”

It’s time to build something that lasts – your own website, a homebase on the internet that becomes the primary source of all the work you put out into the world.

A place where casual fans can turn into bigger fans of your work.

Now, most “build your own website” services make websites that are good enough, but your work deserves so much more.

“We are the creative professionals who base our entire careers on making things look interesting.

Why would we stop with our branding, our collateral material, and – for the love of God – our website?

We are in the world of visual excellence. We should make visual excellence the priority feature of our brand.” Photographer Don Giannatti 

• Roman Muradov made a micro-site for his comic, and Diana Pappas & Tom Bland made a site for their photo & video shoot location titled Meadow, both using Cargo.
• Cody Cook-Parrott uses Notion to explain their upcoming classes.
• My interplanetary commuter music project (Hunterthen) needed a website, so I built one using Carrd. MMM is another website builder, but weirder.
• You could upload HTML files to YAY.BOO, made by A Good Enough Newsletter (they make Pika, too, which is a neat little blogging platform).
• I have a WordPress guy, and they set up my blog sethw.xyz in 2018, and I’ve been manually importing photos and posts dating back to 2004. I can introduce you.

You can do whatever you want!