Before seeking more (subscribers, audience, fans), seek flow. This is something I bring up a lot through my Email Guidance offering.

Is your website set up in a way that pulls people in? Or is it a bunch of links to third party platforms that seek only to monetize and collect data from your fans?

Does your sales page include comforting and informative videos about what you offer? Or do you only post those sorts of videos on Instagram for just 3% of your followers to see?

Does your store have more than one item (this one from Laura Kidd 💌 Penfriend) in stock?

We want to expand and grow our audience, but stepping back and making subtle changes to our current operations might be a better place to start.

I saw someone saying that writers need to make more video and audio because people love watching video and listening to audio.

I don’t care what “everyone” likes, but I’ll say this – in this modern age of AI where “anybody” can write a newsletter, your voice is more valuable than ever.

I’m not saying you need to start a YouTube channel or a high-production podcast, but I bet your readers would love to see you and hear you.

Again, I don’t care what TikTok or YouTube people are looking for, or what “content they like to consume.” I’m talking about the 35 people who subscribe to your newsletter.

There are many ways to do video and audio that don’t require dancing, talking into a camera, or buying a $350 microphone. You’re a creative person. Now is the time to find a creative way to share the parts of yourself that AI can’t replicate.

Make a video this weekend. You don’t need to upload it anywhere, or show it to anybody. But make a video. Watch it. Listen to your voice – YOUR VOICE. The one that OpenAI would like to train from.

Make a video so two weeks from now you can come back to it and feel something. Make another one. Someday share it with someone.

Do this because AI slop will continue to fill the internet, but your readers might find peace and calm in hearing your actual voice. The future of your work depends on the trust you build today.

This from Davin Trail-Risk: “a tip for people making their own websites… you don’t have to “finish” it before you make it live. The joy of websites is that they can be living changing things.”

You probably don’t need to officially “launch” your website. You don’t need even need to announce it.

Simply start linking to your website from your newsletter and various other places. When a podcast host or someone asks you where they can find you online, just give them the URL of your website. Print your website address on postcards and flyers and hand them to friends, or leave them in coffee shops.

INTENTIONAL INTERNET: “I believe in primarily using the internet to enrich the outernet. I.e. leveraging digital tools and the distributive power of the internet to delight and connect people IRL,” says Danielle re: turning your Substack newsletter into a printable newspaper.

PLATFORM OVERLOAD: “You are on your own blog, your own corner of the web, powered by the platform you’re the CEO of, a blog that also serves content via RSS, the thing you’re building a tool for, and you’re telling people to follow the progress on fucking Twitter?” says Manuel Moreale (here) of the Ghost CEO and founder John O’Nolan telling people to follow along on Twitter (where he’s posted exactly zero times since the original post).

YOUR NEWSLETTER IS A DELIVERY TRUCK: “You can write on your own site and distribute via email, getting the permanence of a blog with the push distribution of a newsletter. The writing lives at your domain; the email is notification infrastructure,” says Joan Westenberg in The Case for Blogging in the Ruins.

(more…)

Caroline in the Garden explains in ‘Stop being ‘demure and mindful’ when sharing your creative work’ how she tried something new to get people to a recent show:

“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.”

We covered this in our recent Escape Pod Zoom call, about talking to people in person, and texting people about our upcoming events.

And this isn’t just about getting people to your events and shows. Do this for new things you’ve got for sale, a new course you’re offering, or a group Zoom call you’re trying to put together.

You can come back to this post later, but for now put down the phone, or close the laptop, get up from the computer, and do the work.

You know what needs to be done. You know the next step.

That email you have to send, the print you need to finish, the form you need to fill out. They’re all small tasks and I know they can feel super big, but I promise putting off the tiny things will only compound.

​February 14, 2026 at 12pm EST is BREAK UP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA DAY. We’ll gather on Zoom to delete at least one social media app from our phone.

​This is a group break up, together, in good company.

• ​Sign up if you want to get away from social media.
• Sign up even if you’ve already deleted the apps and/or accounts
• Sign up if you’re curious about escaping social media
• Sign up if you’ve re-installed the apps a dozen times

​We’ll come together, check in for 10 or so minutes, then we’ll delete a social media (or two).

​Stick around and we’ll share your experiences with social media with other people on their own journeys.

Like I’ve learned from Priya Parker, this isn’t about self-help, this is about group help. We shouldn’t have to try and figure this out ourself, in isolation. Let’s delete, and then we’ll figure it out.

I’d love to see people host their own BREAK UP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA DAY hang outs in their bedrooms or kitchens or studios and join in on Zoom. I’d love to open the call and see your face surrounded by all the other people you brought together into your space! (if I can help make this happen, let me know)

This isn’t the answer, but it’s a start.

Register for BREAK UP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA DAY here.

We talked about this in yesterday’s Escape Pod Zoom call (next one is Sunday at 10am ET), about making videos to showcase our work.

This doesn’t have to mean making dance videos, or shouting directly into the camera, either. Check out the work of Noah Kalina, Taylor Pendleton, Softer Sounds, and ISETTA FILM, and see how they tell stories in their own unique way.

And when I say make a video, I don’t mean produce a fully-featured clip and upload it to YouTube. Set up your smart phone, or turn on your web cam, or make some voice notes talking the thing you do. Do this today. Tomorrow. This will help you when you get interviewed about your work, or someone asks you about your art at the local coffee shop.

Practice talking about your stuff.