A writer I’ve been working with recently share this with me: “I see inspiration all around me!” This was after her first efforts of being public online as a writer, sharing her initial essays on Substack, and videos on Instagram.
This is the place I always hope a writer gets to — not just focusing on hollow numbers, but truly living a life filled with inspiration and connection around the themes you write about. This moment is a huge milestone.
Many writers who are just starting to develop their platforms worry that they may run out of things to write about. But reaching that moment of seeing inspiration all around you means that you have developed this skill to observe and listen, and see thousands of ideas for what you can write about — that your audience may love — that aligns to the themes or stories that matter most to you.
Today I want to share a small case study about the work this author has been doing to go from “zero to 100,” so to speak. A month or so ago, she launched her Substack and author Instagram account, and recently hit 100 subscribers on the former, and 100 followers on the latter. Does that specific number matter? Not really. But it’s a nice round number, and a fun metaphor to work with!
In the process, I want to share what the steps look like to understand how to share your message, and really step into the light as a writer.
Awhile back I began working with Ruhie Vaidya, a doctor in Australia who is writing a memoir. You can see her Substack here, and her Instagram here.
We worked on developing her messaging — how to translate her mission to specific wording that would engage her ideal readers. We moved through many other steps of my Creative Success Pyramid, including developing her bio, creating audience personas, identifying the channels she will use, creating a content strategy, and so much else.
While one can plan, there is so much learning that happens in the doing. Putting yourself and your message out there can be really scary. It opens you up to judgement from others, and can trigger hidden inner fears we have about saying the wrong thing, or taking the wrong action.
In setting up Ruhie’s platform, we didn’t worry about the gimmicks and trends, but instead focused on developing her identity as a writer, and seeding the experiences with readers that she hopes for. It is about the moments of connection, when someone is moved or inspired or educated by what you write.
In all of this work, there are so many literacies happening at once: to understand new platforms (such as Substack and Instagram), define yourself and your life’s work concisely, have a clear path to share what matters most to you, develop an editorial process, let others know, record videos, and so much else.
I suppose that is why I wanted to focus on “zero to 100” instead of case studies you often see about people reaching 10,000 subscribers or something like that. Zero to 100 is huge! It is the culmination of so much work to step out, share, and connect. And that is also a lot to learn at once, plus a lot to experience emotionally and psychologically.
Ruhie’s most recent post on Substack (her fourth overall) had 28 comments. She described to me how incredible that felt to have real conversations happening, and knowing her writing is connecting with people.
She started sharing Reels on Instagram about how to support others through grief — stepping in front of the camera and sharing her literal voice too.
What else could Ruhie be doing to optimize her efforts and grow her audience? I mean, so much. I could look at each individual thing she is doing and offer optimizations, as well as identify loads of other ideas for growth. But I also believe that we have to move through this one step at a time. I see so many writers caught on a hamster wheel of a million ideas that seem to stop them from making any real progress because they are rushing from one to the next, and always overwhelmed by the new ideas being added to the list.
I believe that sometimes the best prompt is the simplest:
- What is one thing I can do to share my message today?
- How could I engage with or attract one additional person to my writing?
These are small steps that lead to meaningful interactions with real people. And isn’t that the goal? I’ve spoken to so many people over the years who will say things like: “Oh sure, I have 20,000 followers, but I don’t really know any of them, or who my audience is at all.” That is a remarkable difference from having a smaller following, but truly knowing who they are and feeling that something beautiful is growing there.
Don’t let fear stop you. This is a journey and it is filled with important lessons.
I’ve sent out my newsletter every single week for 19 years. That’s nearly 1,000 issues in a row. It is filled with moments, not metrics. And when I do look at the metics, something I see is that every single week, someone unsubscribes. Usually more than one person. And I am fine with that. It is someone choosing to focus their time and attention on what matters most to them. For whatever reason, that isn’t me or my message at the moment. Good for them!
Other times, a single connection turns into something magical. Chris the Teacher’s Champion mentioned me in a post, referencing something I wrote. That was incredibly kind of him. Then Neera Mahajan saw that, and looked into my work, saying:
“For the next 24 hours, between cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing, I read most of Dan Blank[’s] posts (of course, only the free ones), explored his website, binge-watched his videos, and bought and read his book, Be The Gateway.”
I mean, wow!
She then wrote a Substack post reviewing my book and sharing about my work. It was an incredibly generous post, and she even followed up with me via email. She didn’t have to do any of this. She could have left a simple “like” on one of my posts, and that alone would have been nice. It was amazing to see her reach out and be so public in sharing what she is learning and her own process. And of course, there is a lot to learn here.
The other day I spoke with a writer who had pitched a few collaborations to others and felt frustrated that they weren’t receiving a reply. I encouraged them to flip it: what if you review what these people are doing, identify what they are most excited about, and then instead of pitching your stuff, take an action celebrating what they are doing? Why? Beyond just being generous and helpful, it helps that person become aware of you and get to know your work. This is something I remember learning when I worked with salespeople — the really good ones never made a cold pitch right away. They looked at it as a relationship that took time to develop, one meaningful moment at a time.
Sometimes the salespeople would track this, and create a little 5-part system, from how someone goes from a cold lead to a loyal customer. They would focus on developing the relationship slowly from 0 to 5. At 0, it means the person doesn’t know you at all. A 1 means they are aware you exist. A 2 means they have met you. A 3 means they have a good feeling about your work. A 4 means you had a meaningful conversation. Etc. So instead of saying “I’m going to pitch someone today who has never heard of me, doesn’t know how my work aligns to theirs, and I will make a specific ask of them that may or may not fit into their existing process…” — they consider: “How can I go from a zero to a 1” — from not being aware of me, to being aware. Then a few weeks later: “How can I go from a 1 to a 2” — from being vaguely aware, to feeling my work aligns with theirs.
Is all of this just a heartless process to make a sale? With the salespeople I really admired, it wasn’t. Their lives were filled with relationships that truly mattered. Also, they were some of the best listeners I’ve ever met.
This is something I consider when I talk about Human-Centered Marketing. Ensure that meaningful experiences with real people are at the heart of what it means for you to share your writing — and yourself — publicly.
Let me know in the comments: how has sharing your work helped fill you with inspiration, ideas for what to write about, or meaningful moments with others.
Thank you for being here with me.
-Dan