Great read and great interview, as well. I do think that a lot of people tend to overthink self-promotion. I certainly do. I have to remind myself all the time that I'm not being "arrogant" if I talk about what I have done, or learned, or whatever.
I'm also learning to lean into what I care about more, which is all the frustrating things about marketing in today's world. Maybe then I can start talking to other people who have the same frustrations instead of just my best friend, who is probably tired of hearing my rants.
Anyway, just thought I'd pop in here and give my two cents. I look forward to reading more insightful posts.
Hey, I rant about this stuff to my best friend, too! But YESSSSS... write what delights your heart, lean all the way in... it's the only way I've been able to write about this nonsense since like 2012 or whatever (going back to my blog)!
Hey Seth, this is really interesting and certainly resonates.
The self-promotion train can be hugely depressing and the shouting into a void process certainly rings true.
Changing from concentrating on producing content you love - and hopefully others will too, to a focus on ‘here I am’ style posts seems to me to be a sure fire way to suck the joy out of everything (unless you’re one of those I love me, who do you love types! 😂)
All that said, how do you practically make that move to talking to those closer to you/simply putting out quality content if no-one is seeing/interacting with it?
If you never post on socials etc, no-one ever sees what you do. If you have an audience already, it’s cool to get stuff out to them and they will hopefully do you a good turn and shout about it for you.
But if you’re still building an audience… back to shouting into the void?
Or am I missing something? 🤷♂️
Thanks for the excellent newsletter… I must make sure to share it!!
An interesting read - I've heard the following a few times over the past two years: If you're a creative it is a good idea to have your own website in case social media decides to do something stupid. It's a place where you can post your content, your photos, your opinions (within certain parameters I guess) and it can't be taken away by an overlord or a power hungry social media dictator.
websites are a cool thing for artists. mine is a bit complicated to use and my webmaster is no longer available, so i've pretty much stopped posting on there! Now what?
I did web-design for a few years as a side income so if you need advice you can contact me. I'd recommend Wordpress, it's just super easy to setup and use. I'm going to use it for my next website.
Yeahhhhh all the old posts are there in the archive, you can see 'em! A lot more mentions about metal bands and such, but still leaning towards the whole "what's your social media escape plan?" concept. And that then became the battle cry! haha
Just finished writing my next newsletter and I feel like we must’ve been channeling the same wave length. I’ve decided that social media platforms are too big of a playground for me. I’m going to plant myself here and just talk to all the cool kids who decided to stay inside and play with Pokémon cards instead 🤟🏾
I’m so glad we met on Twitter, Seth!
Me too!!!
Great read and great interview, as well. I do think that a lot of people tend to overthink self-promotion. I certainly do. I have to remind myself all the time that I'm not being "arrogant" if I talk about what I have done, or learned, or whatever.
I'm also learning to lean into what I care about more, which is all the frustrating things about marketing in today's world. Maybe then I can start talking to other people who have the same frustrations instead of just my best friend, who is probably tired of hearing my rants.
Anyway, just thought I'd pop in here and give my two cents. I look forward to reading more insightful posts.
Hey, I rant about this stuff to my best friend, too! But YESSSSS... write what delights your heart, lean all the way in... it's the only way I've been able to write about this nonsense since like 2012 or whatever (going back to my blog)!
Hey Seth, this is really interesting and certainly resonates.
The self-promotion train can be hugely depressing and the shouting into a void process certainly rings true.
Changing from concentrating on producing content you love - and hopefully others will too, to a focus on ‘here I am’ style posts seems to me to be a sure fire way to suck the joy out of everything (unless you’re one of those I love me, who do you love types! 😂)
All that said, how do you practically make that move to talking to those closer to you/simply putting out quality content if no-one is seeing/interacting with it?
If you never post on socials etc, no-one ever sees what you do. If you have an audience already, it’s cool to get stuff out to them and they will hopefully do you a good turn and shout about it for you.
But if you’re still building an audience… back to shouting into the void?
Or am I missing something? 🤷♂️
Thanks for the excellent newsletter… I must make sure to share it!!
Thanks for this great question, Craig. I'll be answering it in an upcoming newsletter!
Fantastic, thanks. Look forward to reading that.
Yep. "Shouting into the void". My thoughts exactly.
Gonna smash that this year - somehow!
An interesting read - I've heard the following a few times over the past two years: If you're a creative it is a good idea to have your own website in case social media decides to do something stupid. It's a place where you can post your content, your photos, your opinions (within certain parameters I guess) and it can't be taken away by an overlord or a power hungry social media dictator.
What are you thoughts on having a website?
websites are a cool thing for artists. mine is a bit complicated to use and my webmaster is no longer available, so i've pretty much stopped posting on there! Now what?
I did web-design for a few years as a side income so if you need advice you can contact me. I'd recommend Wordpress, it's just super easy to setup and use. I'm going to use it for my next website.
Thank you so much, Richard, will keep that in mind. I appreciate you reaching out.
Ditto - I use WordPress for my main site: https://sethw.xyz/
Thanks for sharing, Seth.
Bookmarked for further reading over a cup of coffee :)
Oh no! Time to move to something simpler so you can update it yourself!!
Also, heavy metal email to social media Escape Club is a pretty intriguing change ;)
Yeahhhhh all the old posts are there in the archive, you can see 'em! A lot more mentions about metal bands and such, but still leaning towards the whole "what's your social media escape plan?" concept. And that then became the battle cry! haha
Do cool stuff in your friends and share it?! This is advice I can get behind. Love it. Thank you.
"Be so good, they can't ignore you." -- Steve Martin
Just finished writing my next newsletter and I feel like we must’ve been channeling the same wave length. I’ve decided that social media platforms are too big of a playground for me. I’m going to plant myself here and just talk to all the cool kids who decided to stay inside and play with Pokémon cards instead 🤟🏾
Haha yes!!! I always compare Social media to the food court at the mall. No thanks, I’ll be at the comic book / hobby shop on main st!