Friendly reminder, the people who say that learning is another way to procrastinate have already read all the books, listened to the podcasts, and taken the courses.
I don’t see enough people who encourage folks to play the game from where they are. Especially since the most important part seems to be whether you keep going or not. For example, I thought I could just write and that if I kept publishing, people would find me.
They didn’t. What nobody tells you when you start a newsletter is that you’ll need three things. And whichever you don’t already have, you’ll need to create. You can’t have just one or two—you need all three—to actually gain traction.
First off, a newsletter is the delivery system, not the product
I know, I know… you just want to write a newsletter. Or books. Ok... it's me... I want that. And I’m not saying the answer is becoming a shiny, polished, figurehead, either. To do it effectively, you don’t need to be flashy.
When I say packaging, I just mean how people recognize your work (your appearance, your voice, your style). And when I say product, I mean whatever it is that people actually get. If they don’t know what you do, can’t tell it’s you, or never see it at all… they won’t subscribe.
You need all three pieces of the puzzle. And here I am, still working on mine, too. I’ve found that talent isn’t nearly as important as your willingness to keep going. The skills will build, But only if you’re still there to work on it.
See you tomorrow.
onward.
-dmac