How to never need to beg your fans for attention
Being more exciting than an online catalog is a good start
Many of us in the creative world have a choice in how we tell people about our work.
It’s not just picking which platform to use but also how much time we devote to each. Do we make videos? Static images? Long captions or short?
And now, after years (for some of us a decade or more), we’re faced with the unique challenges of using (or even supporting) the platforms that are deemed so vital to our success.
This is why I changed the name of this newsletter to Social Media Escape Club - because people are being more intentional about how they use these platforms. Some people even consider not using them (gasp), like
said in our recent Zoom Club Meeting:We’re not crazy for thinking there has to be a better way.
As I wrote last week, Bryan runs the As The Story Grows podcast with zero social media presence.
Softer Sounds podcast studio isn’t on social media.
I say all this as we’re barreling into the holiday season, where we’ll be drowning in marketing messages, commercials, and various media blasting in our faces.
The name of the game is interrupting everyone all the time, grabbing any bit of attention with ten thousand other bright lights and flashing messages.
BUT… in the middle of all that, it’s nice to get a call from an old friend, right?
A DM from someone you love hearing from—an email from someone you always have time for.
As artists, photographers, musicians, DJs, writers - that can be us, you know that, right?
Now, if you only show up every time you have something to sell, that’s not as endearing.
It’s hard to fall in love with mail-order catalogs.
It is far easier to have a pleasant exchange with the jovial mail-person who shows up daily with a smile and a bit of small talk.
Social media is about interruption, noise, and reaching only a fraction of your followers.
But with an easy pace of telling stories, showing up regularly, and earning the trust of your fans, you win the social media game of attention roulette by not playing.
I’m Seth Werkheiser, and Social Media Escape Club exists as a place to explore the world without making social media the centerpiece of everything.
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Email: seth@closemondays.com
There's such a world of difference between being treated like a 'customer' versus being treated like a 'person' -- and it comes across in email marketing! You can still sell/convert certain things but you have to earn that trust by seeing your email lists as people, not potential revenue. Hence, sending a "DM" instead of sending marketing upsells. Thanks for sharing!
I have dwindled my social media presence down to just X which I’ve fully automated and never open. I’ve kept it because I payed for a year of premium and I figure I might as well plug my Substack until that runs out. At which time I will delete it to.
I think it’s for more beneficial to focus all my energy on Substack.
I’m new here, so I’m curious what you’re feeling are about Substack Notes. It’s slower and more humane than twitter in my experience. It reminds me more of announcements from the Myspace days. But I’m also worried it will degrade into any other social media in time. I’ve only dabbled with it.
I just don’t allow time for feeds into my day.