I agree, although the switching cost between writing and marketing is real. It isn't just a question of the time spent creating and the time spent promoting, there is the time spent switching between the two (very) different mindsets. It's that switching cost that I think leads many to not make it, since the expectation is that it should happen immediately and when it doesn't they give up.
Yeah this is true. It's why time-boxing can be so valuable. I generally think there's also an education gap on what does promotion actually look like, how do you do it, etc. Takes time to learn all this stuff
I've been on an incredibly steep learning curve with this this year. I am practicing the thought "I love learning to find and connect with my readers!" The switching back and forth and learning to balance the two has been uncomfortable. So much uncertainty, self-doubt chatter about whether I'm doing things "right" or if I "should" be doing something else. When I remove attachment to outcome, consider everything an experiment, and focus on taking the next right action, it quiets down a bit.😎
This is a very important perspective to keep in mind. If you value your own time and content you should not be ashamed to share it with anyone who may benefit or enjoy it!
Love this discovery: "What was really important for me was to decouple the creation process from the amplification process."
I used to highly couple the two together as well — and the down-energy from trying to amplify when I was feeling excited from finishing a piece got me stuck for a couple years.
hi Scott. incredible content and congrats on your exit. I think we connected ages ago via Justin. great to see a SaaS founder's perspective on growing substack. you mentioned most writers spend 80/20 on writing/promoting. what would you say a better ratio would be for a new substack?
Thanks man! Good to hear from you. I think something closer to 50/50 - the key is you really need to produce high quality stuff while still putting more emphasis on connecting with others and seeding the content on the interwebs : )
Mar 14, 2023·edited Mar 14, 2023Liked by Scott Britton
Thank you for this article! I love this idea: "treat the promotion of that work as a completely separate process that's independent from the actual artistic expression." This is a great way for me to look at writing on Substack. I realize that you can't just write and hope people will somehow see it and that you have to market your work. But promoting the work felt like it got in the way of writing. I'm going to look at the process as two steps and that both are creative as you write about here. Excellent advice!!
Glad this helps Diana! A simple thing you can try after you write is think, okay who out there might find something like this valuable? Where are those people already hanging out?
I agree, although the switching cost between writing and marketing is real. It isn't just a question of the time spent creating and the time spent promoting, there is the time spent switching between the two (very) different mindsets. It's that switching cost that I think leads many to not make it, since the expectation is that it should happen immediately and when it doesn't they give up.
Yeah this is true. It's why time-boxing can be so valuable. I generally think there's also an education gap on what does promotion actually look like, how do you do it, etc. Takes time to learn all this stuff
I've been on an incredibly steep learning curve with this this year. I am practicing the thought "I love learning to find and connect with my readers!" The switching back and forth and learning to balance the two has been uncomfortable. So much uncertainty, self-doubt chatter about whether I'm doing things "right" or if I "should" be doing something else. When I remove attachment to outcome, consider everything an experiment, and focus on taking the next right action, it quiets down a bit.😎
Treating everything as an experiment has been so helpful for me in all walks of life. Glad you are also finding that mindset useful!
This is a very important perspective to keep in mind. If you value your own time and content you should not be ashamed to share it with anyone who may benefit or enjoy it!
Yes! I don't care how great the artist is, I don't know that any great creator would be thrilled about no one seeing their creation.
Thank you, Scott! This is really good advice.
Love this discovery: "What was really important for me was to decouple the creation process from the amplification process."
I used to highly couple the two together as well — and the down-energy from trying to amplify when I was feeling excited from finishing a piece got me stuck for a couple years.
Yeah, its a critical learning and important one to feel good about spreading your work!
hi Scott. incredible content and congrats on your exit. I think we connected ages ago via Justin. great to see a SaaS founder's perspective on growing substack. you mentioned most writers spend 80/20 on writing/promoting. what would you say a better ratio would be for a new substack?
Thanks man! Good to hear from you. I think something closer to 50/50 - the key is you really need to produce high quality stuff while still putting more emphasis on connecting with others and seeding the content on the interwebs : )
Thank you for this article! I love this idea: "treat the promotion of that work as a completely separate process that's independent from the actual artistic expression." This is a great way for me to look at writing on Substack. I realize that you can't just write and hope people will somehow see it and that you have to market your work. But promoting the work felt like it got in the way of writing. I'm going to look at the process as two steps and that both are creative as you write about here. Excellent advice!!
Glad this helps Diana! A simple thing you can try after you write is think, okay who out there might find something like this valuable? Where are those people already hanging out?