Hello from London! We’re back at Bankside for the weekend. It’s hard to beat for culture: Tate Modern, Borough Market, St Paul’s, Globe Theatre (last week of Romeo & Juliet!), BFI, and Foyles, all on your doorstep. And brilliant buskers on every corner—it makes my heart sing!
I’m writing this in the lobby at CitizenM. Good vibes, arty and cheery with books, mags and big desks – all set up for co-working. I’ve been self-employed for years, and I still find it hard to take time off during the holidays, so the laptop comes everywhere with me. I don’t even like missing a week of this newsletter!
I had a pitch this week from a PR agency looking for clients. It must be my LinkedIn Company Page—folks assume you’ve got employees and a marketing budget. I’ve been pitched all sorts lately—SaaS services, headhunting, office space, apps, executive travel—and a few PRs offering their services. Spring vibes and the start of the new financial year…
I hired a local freelance PR to promote one of my books a few years ago and paid her £300 a day. She was great, and it worked out fine; I got some press coverage and interesting opportunities, but I felt stressed about the cost. Hiring a PR agency isn’t affordable long-term for solopreneurs.
Other friends with small businesses struggle with this, too, and spend a lot of time on social media promoting themselves, which is a hamster wheel of content creation and hard to measure.
Better to DIY PR (no one knows your biz like you do—or has the passion for it) and build your network and profile, so I always refer people to Lightbulb.
Lightbulb💡Entrepreneur & Press Hangout
Lightbulb is a private Facebook group for entrepreneurs & press with 5K members. It’s £5.99 a month, and for that, you get:
Live chat with the press
Daily media requests for interviews and appearances
Strong community support from like-minded entrepreneurs
It’s a place to cut out the middleman and connect directly with journos. Offer yourself as a case study or expert commentator and focus on building long-term relationships with the press.
Press plays a huge part in biz growth, so there is a better way than flogging yourself on socials. And don’t just pitch the big players – focus on local biz networks, newsletters and blogs too.
If you show up regularly and refine your pitch (give them everything they need upfront), you will get free press for your business. You might even get paid to be interviewed—always nice!
Happy 5th birthday, Lightbulb! And congrats to founder Charlotte on your big idea, which she describes as “an accidental business I never meant to start.”
The best ideas are usually simple—a service that’s affordable and makes people’s lives easier. Great to see it’s still going strong five years on and launching in the US.
Here are Charlotte’s 5 top tips for anyone pursuing a biz/membership model:
Other ways to find journos to write about you – follow the hashtag #JournoRequest on X/Twitter. I still see daily pitches asking for help with sources and case studies.
Sign up for Lucy Werner’s fab newsletter for tips on non-icky self-promotion, creative living and doing things differently.
I’m following Lucy’s journey and she’s an inspiration. She’s left London with the co-founder of her kids and moved to the south of France for a better lifestyle (and weather!)
Pivoting her PR consultancy from time-for-money/client-facing work towards content creation and workshops with her newsletter, Hype Yourself. Great to see her rising up the Business board here on Substack.
Here she is talking about ‘how to find SPICY angles that the right people cannot ignore’ on my fave podcast: Everyone Hates Marketers.
Happy pitching and good luck! 🤞
Nika
PS I’ve signed up for this AI Writing Summit, which starts tomorrow, Monday, April 8. Five days of expert sessions, live panels, special presentations, and more (sessions start later PM GMT).
Grab your free ticket and check out the agenda here.
I’m a writer and founder of Firebird, a small but mighty content consultancy.
I help entrepreneurs and biz leaders tell compelling stories that connect and inspire. See my services here.
📌Newsletter Talent Directory! Feel free to add your deets here.
If you’re enjoying reading my newsletter, consider upgrading to paid to help me grow it and do more. It makes a big difference to my life. My offering for paid peeps is here.
AI has side-tracked me this week – an AMA with J. Thorn (aka Tim Desmond) at the Leading Expert Alliance.
He’s just returned from SXSW, where he gave a presentation on using AI creatively. This year’s rock stars were the OpenAI attorneys – walking around with bodyguards!
I can see why, reading this piece by Ted Gioia (also there), consumers are getting angry about new tech (and not just AI).
I had a long convo/argument with my sister about AI. She’s doing a PhD in Music at Glasgow Uni and has written a paper on the impact of AI on the industry (she’s new to Substack, give her some love here).
AI is a big deal for musicians, and people are pissed off, she says. It got a bit heated, so we had to change the subject.
We’re seeing exponential growth, things are moving very fast and it’s hard to wrap our heads around.
Here are some key titbits from the convo with J. Thorn. He said a few things that resonated with me, so I wanted to share them.
Like many of us, he’s veering between ‘AI will save the world’ and ‘fuck, we’re all doomed.’
How to use ChatGPT
Here’s one tip you can use instantly that will dramatically shift how you see this tool.
Don’t use it as a search engine.
Think about the tasks that you typically do—or do on a regular basis—and instead of asking ChatGPT to do them, ask it what it needs for you to accomplish them.
Try it and see. He says you’ll be shocked at what you get back, so now you know what you don’t know!
It’s a big mindset shift to start conversing with ChatGPT rather than telling it what to do as we would with Google.
The Pro version is worth paying for (several people said this) – it’s stronger, multimodal, and can analyse text, images, and voice.
On setting your ego aside as a writer. “The purpose of being a writer isn’t to write words; it’s to get your message across.” Love that, keeping it at eye level.
More personalised AI is coming – an encrypted AI assistant that can remember everything you’ve ever written and store all your personal info.
Licensing is a key area—musicians will be able to make more money from licensing their voices than doing the voiceover work.
Hmm, where’s the fun in that!? We enjoy the creative process and the sense of achievement that it brings.
The quantity game is over, so you need to focus on making the highest quality content that only you can write. And supplement it with IRL events and experiences (which don’t scale…)
I feel like we’re coming full circle – from global to local, more intimate community events.
In many ways, the next several decades will force humans (in the West, maybe globally) to redefine purpose because AI & robotics will do what we’ve done for ourselves for generations.
Much food for thought and a positive conversation. Thanks to Tim & the team.
And some Further inspo from Brian Clark in his newsletter this week on ‘Why it’s time [for Gen X] to adapt (again).
Because your wisdom and experience (armed with AI) in your own gig can do some seriously amazing things.
We’ve been around the block and can remember how life was before the internet, and that’s our superpower!
My dad sent me a pic of his new birthday shelving: books, maps, DVDs, VHS tapes (us as kids), WD40, cans of Stella, and survival tins. He says it holds up to 50 tee-shirts (or more!)
So if it all goes to pot, he’ll be ok!
ChatGPT-5
It’s coming soon…maybe in June – and it will be even smarter.
Interesting to hear Sam Altman say that ‘ChatGPT-4 sucks!’ on the Lex Fridman Podcast. I love how he gets right in there: ‘Take me through the OpenAI board saga.’
I’m interested in learning what the next iteration can do so playing around with the Plus version and figuring out how to integrate it into my daily workflow.
I don’t have a VA, so a little help with admin, marketing/PR, distribution, and repetitive tasks is welcome and it will free me up to do other stuff, e.g., getting OUT there and networking!
ChatGPT is the only AI tool I use as it’s affordable, and I want to keep things simple. I don’t need different interfaces to do the same job. I figure they’re all using OpenAI data anyway.
What everyday tasks are you using ChatGPT for and how is it helping?
Nika
PS Speaking of events, last chance to grab your ticket for CEX 2024. Spring pricing ends today. Sign up and use code TOM100 to win a guest spot on This Old Marketing Pod.
An action-packed agenda – there’s a lot on AI this year. And because it’s a niche, smaller event, there’s a strong focus on networking and collaborations.
Good Reads
▶️Rejecting Specialization: Using vibes and voice to attract the right clients [Tom Critchlow]. An excellent piece on why specialising as an indie consultant is hard, why it fails, and what an alternative path looks like. Lean into your weirdness and POV to consistently generate senior clients.
▶️With this LinkedIn algorithm change, your best posts could reach new readers for months. One of many new features the platform is rolling out in ‘24 to help you grow and why they’ve dropped the term ‘creator’. [Entrepreneur]
▶️Spotify adds video learning courses in latest experiment [The Verge]. It’s offering four categories of courses in the UK: make music, get creative, learn business, and healthy living because more people are coming to Spotify to learn. Curious to see how this experiment goes!
▶️What’s happening with Substack right now is why creators need to understandtheir platforms’ business models and incentives. [Jay Acunzo]
Great commentary and insight on platform biz models. You still get your email list, so it’s not like YouTube. Personally, I enjoy the social side of SS—content should lead to connections and conversations, and that happens naturally in this ecosystem. I don’t mind if they bring in ads to support paid subscriptions.
▶️Travel videos, health hacks, and entrepreneur interviews by Ever Wander aka [Ashley Perona]. She and her husband have been full-time nomads since 2021 and she’s been to 47 countries, 7 continents. She’d love some tips on growing her channel.
Fascinating to see how she’s managing her content biz (& her health) while on the road. Some inspo for your next trip!
Hi, I’m Nika!
I’m a writer and indie consultant. Founder of Firebird, a small-but-mighty content consultancy.
I help entrepreneurs and biz leaders tell compelling stories that connect and inspire.
Need my copy chops? See my services here. You can book a 1:1 intro call with me here.
Newsletter Talent Directory! Feel free to add your deets here.
Gold star for reading this far. If you have an indie newsletter I’d love to chat! 🤩
I’ve been tinkering around with my Google Knowledge Panel this week. I have an old one from 2007 when I wrote my first book, which is outdated now and looks a bit sparse.
Google still dominates online search results, so I’m keen to grow and improve my KP – it’s your digital business card and the first thing people see when they look you up online.
If you don’t have a Knowledge Panel, you look like a nobody. So, it’s a really good way to push yourself up the career ladder as it were, to be recognised as a leader in your field.
Jason Barnard, the Brand SERP Guy.
I clicked on the dots next to my name and suggested an edit. I added a a short bio, but they rejected it. That info comes from the Knowledge Graph, Google’s information collection about people, places, and things.
So, back to the drawing board. I have to educate Google!
Google is actually a child, thirsty for knowledge who wants to understand the world. It doesn’t care about notability; it just wants to understand everything.
I’m working through this free guide from Kalicube (Jason’s agency specialising in KP). I’ve updated my website bio (Home/About page) and social profiles (Crunchbase, Journolink, Response Source, Haro, Muck Rack, Substack, and LinkedIn).
He says your bio needs to be clear and consistent (who you are, what you do, who you help), and preferably written in the 3rd person. I’m not keen on that; it’s too formal for me, but I’ll try it for now. I can tweak it later.
Repurpose the same bio across all your social platforms and link back your website to “create an infinite loop of self-corroboration that Google understands”.
I checked it this morning, and it’s now updated my name and added my social profiles, but there’s no pic of me or bio, so I still have some work to do.
It could take months so I need to be patient, but at least I’ve made a start.
Thanks to Jason and team for this resource!
I enjoyed his interview with Kristina God on how to create a KP as a writer (Kristina writes on Substack and Medium), plus they touch on other stuff – how Google is explicitly looking for writers, multimedia content, the importance of visual branding (often overlooked) and whether we should let AI crawl our content (we now have that option on Substack).
If the future of search is about how we educate these smart machines, then we need to understand the knowledge algos and how they function. This is a good place to start!
Also, check the information about you on ChatGPT, etc, to make sure it’s correct. Joe Pulizzi asked it what his favourite colour is, and it said ‘purple’ when we all know it’s orange! 🚩
If you make videos, check the auto-generated captions on YouTube, as they can be inaccurate.
Let me know how you’re growing your Knowledge Panel.
Congrats to Kristina on becoming a Substack Bestseller and getting 100 paid subscribers! 🥳
Good Reads
▶️It’s not just you. It’s harder now to make a living as a creator. An excellent essay on how the sea has shifted when building an online business. Those who are killing it are mainly marketers selling courses about marketing. I agree; it’s very meta (more Substacks about how to succeed on Substack). I’m in this space, too, and struggling with it. Some advice on how to look forward and innovate. [Alexis Grant]
▶️Google’s Helpful Content update – reflecting on what happened. The September ’23 HCU caused thousands of sites to lose organic (SEO) traffic from Google in a few days (there seem to be NO recoveries from this), and the March core update rolls on. Here’s Lily Ray on patterns she’s seen in her work, research, and advice for smaller indie publishers. [Lily Ray]
▶️Time to Act. What are publishers doing now? Some industry leaders in the blogging and publishing space have joined forces to create a collective non-profit association, the Web Publishers Association, to inspire change. Tony Hill shares his thoughts on it here [Amy Aitman]
▶️Joe Pulizzi’s new book, The Content Entrepreneur, is out in the next few weeks. I love the cover of the proof copy – very Gatsby! Direct sales only via their websites, not Amazon etc, so a bold move. I’m interested to see how the experiment goes – not sure how it differs from Content Inc. [Joe Pulizzi]
I’m not big on International Women’s Day (it’s every day, as far as I’m concerned) and it’s hard to get enthusiastic when nothing much changes, but we do need to keep banging on about inequality and helping each other.
So a shoutout to all the strong, kind, and supportive women in my network who lift me up and keep me going. THANK YOU. It is much appreciated.
The other day, I was asked to promote a panel in parliament that was all blokes. “Where are the women?” I asked my colleague.
“Doing all the background work for less pay as usual, probably.”
But he did flag it and asked if we should suggest a more balanced panel. The usual female speaker was ill, so it was last minute, but there are other women who could’ve stepped in.
I posted on LinkedIn here about #IWD2024 campaigns worth supporting:
United Nations: Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress – show us the money! #InvestinWomen #FundFemaleFounders
And it’s Mother’s Day. First priority today: calling my lovely mum.
I did appreciate the flowers and dark chocolate waiting for me when I got back from the conference 💐 🍫
We’re off to Bella Vista for a mother-and-daughter day dinner.
Nika
Bold Types…Adriana Tica
Wine is my drink of choice. I even thought about becoming a sommelier at some point. I write about some of the gems I discover on Instagram
I really enjoyed chatting with Adriana Tica, a strategist, writer, trend forecaster, and entrepreneur known for her no-BS, zero-hacks marketing strategy. We met on LinkedIn.
She’s built not one but two businesses on her own, with absolutely minimal investment, zero paid ads, and zero PR effort. “My rise to (moderate) internet fame was “more organic” than Whole Foods.”
“Getting hooked on independence doesn’t take much.” I agree!
And now introducing biz no #3: Ideas to Power Your Future, her brilliant weekly newsletter, which she says is the best lead generation tactic she’s ever built.
Semrush named her one of the world’s top 100 Content Marketing Influencers, and Buffer said she knows a thing or two about social media.
She’s a digital nomad who loves working remotely, especially from a Mediterranean island. She also speaks six foreign languages.
I like that she’s not your typical ultra-niched strategy consultant. There’s so much pressure to narrow down and be known for one thing, but broad expertise across industries is a superpower. It gives you an edge.
One of the things the Executive loved about the conference was the “non-industry attendees.” And in the feedback survey, the members always ask for more “speakers outside of the industry.”
Worth bearing in mind when you’re pitching yourself as a speaker. Be bold, and as Cindy says, never give it away for free 😉
Super inspiring. Enjoy! (scroll down for the video 🎦)
Hi Adriana, firstly, I’d love to know where you grew up and your first job.
I grew up in Craiova, Romania, and then moved to Bucharest for college, where I stayed. These days, I’m a digital nomad who enjoys working remotely, especially from a Mediterranean island.
My first job was waitressing when I was 16. It lasted for exactly six days; it turns out I’m not cut out for smiling at jerks 😊. In college, my first job was in ad sales—also not a good fit for the same reason: the utter lack of a poker face.
What do you do and why?
I started my business out of sheer need. It was supposed to be short-lived, with a few freelancing gigs between jobs. But those freelancing gigs took off, and before I knew it, I was making more freelancing for a couple of hours a day than my full-time job paid.
So, I stopped going to interviews and turned my freelancing gigs into a digital marketing agency in 2015. My goal has always been to create great content for our clients, not the SEO fodder you see everywhere, and I’m proud to say I have succeeded.
At the end of 2022, I launched Ideas to Power Your Future, a weekly newsletter about no-BS marketing strategy. As this newsletter and its community keep growing, I’m happy to see how many people are over hacks and quick wins and focus on building a solid foundation for their business instead.
This is what I set out to teach my subscribers, and despite all the bro marketing out there, it resonates with my community.
What are you most excited about at work right now?
Growing my newsletter and my consulting business. I love seeing the spark in my clients’ and subscribers’ eyes when something clicks. When they realise they don’t have to hack social media algorithms to grow their audience or sell their soul to sleazy marketing tactics.
I know everyone hates marketers – and they have good reasons to. I’m here to show there’s a better way to market your business, one that lets you sleep easily and doesn’t annoy your audience.
How do you stay on top of industry trends?
I read a lot, perhaps too much. I focus on mainstream media (The Economist, HubSpot, Forbes, and so on) and obscure blogs, newsletters, or social media accounts that border on fringe. It’s very easy to dismiss them, but they are usually trendsetters.
Piecing the information together is my favourite thing to do, along with finding correlations between seemingly unrelated industries or trends, i.e. how does the state of the economy affect the creator economy? Or is there a connection between the housing market and the travel industry? Fun questions to answer!
Tell us about your marketing process. How are you finding clients, and building your network?
Most of my clients and subscribers come from LinkedIn and Twitter, the platforms I’m most active on. My newsletter is the trust bridge that establishes me as a credible strategist and the best lead-generation tactic I’ve ever built.
Social media is also where I find partners, friends, and networks like Lettergrowth (for newsletter cross-promos) and the Convert Kit Creator Network.
Samaria Gorge in Crete, Greece – her favourite place
How do you define success? And balance ambition and contentment?
Success is the most subjective word. For me, success means not dreading my work and being excited about the future. Every job and every business has ups and downs. But as long as there are more ups than downs, I count it as a success.
I never set out to rule the world, so I’m content with carving a small corner of the internet for myself and a business that feeds me and allows me to travel without claiming my soul in return.
How do you manage your health and prevent burnout?
I’m afraid I don’t do enough here. I love what I do and tend to become hyper-focused on my work. Since I’ve already dealt with severe burnout once and definitely don’t want to go back there, I force myself to take breaks, exercise, and disconnect at least one day a week—even when I’d rather be working.
Can you recommend one book and one podcast for digital entrepreneurs?
Before you get to the trendy books, I recommend reading Philip Kotler’s Principles of Marketing. The book may be slightly dated, but it has everything you need to understand the foundations of marketing. Mastering a new trendy channel or tactic will be a breeze if you read this.
My favourite podcast is Everyone Hates Marketers by Louis Grenier. His conversations with his guests are refreshingly candid, with zero boasting and posturing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Paul Graham’s “Do the things that don’t scale first” is my guiding light. This is what you need to do in the beginning – talk to your customers and your partners, gather feedback and ideas, and mine the web for information.
And you have to do all this yourself, not by automating DMs through AI. It’s a crucial step most digital entrepreneurs miss in their chase for quick hacks.
Are you happy, and what would you change?
Oh, that’s a loaded question! Yes, I’m happy and content overall, but there’s always room for improvement. If I were to change one thing, it would be my working hours; I need a better balance here. I’m working on it!
Who should I interview next and why?
Hannah Szabo and Michael Scott Overholt are the smartest, most fascinating people I’ve met on LinkedIn, and I’m proud to call them friends. I think you’ll like how their businesses are built on solid principles and ethics. (I surely will! Send me your questions for Hannah and Michael).
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to get in touch with me is to subscribe to my newsletter, Ideas to Power Your Future. This is where I publish my best work and answer every email from my subscribers. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Resources
Special issue: One-year anniversary – How I grew and monetised this newsletter in the past year (what fuels the growth of her newsletter – ranked from best to worst). Read it here.
Spending too much time creating content? Read this! (why repurposing and reusing are your best friends). Read it here.
Is the subscription economy in trouble? (tips on how to price a paid newsletter or paid community and future-proof yourself as a newsletter writer). Read it here.
How am I doing?
I love hearing from you, and I’m always looking for feedback. Is there anything you’d like to see more of or less of? Which bits of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?
Hit reply and say hello – or email me: nika@nikatalbot.io.
Join the Newsletter Talent Network! Directory for collabs – online and local: Go here.
🧩 Q&A with Johanna Renoth, founder of Bye, Social Media! Plus resources for building a biz on your own terms.
I was sad to hear Johanna Renoth is retiring Bye, Social Media!
She’s had a great ride – and it’s time for a change, she says in her latest post. “Over the course of the past two years of writing this newsletter, I’ve enjoyed connecting with you in the inbox tremendously!…
“At the same time, I struggled with building a brand online. Doing so frequently felt at odds with what I enjoy: exploring ideas and creativity.”
I relate. Building a brand solo is hard, especially if you aren’t visible on social media. Just heard Jenny Blake talking about this and how she’s pausing her pods for a bit to figure out what her broader business wants to become.
Switching context and juggling the maker’s and manager’s schedules is also challenging – Paul Graham’s essay. I’m using my time in units of half a day when I can.
I really admire what Johanna’s built – a strong premise and a reminder to have fun, experiment, and be playful. There’s no solopreneur manual on the internet to follow – “it’s for you to make this digital, marketing, and business world your own.”
She’s keeping the blog on Beehiiv alive to continue to be a resource for those who want to build a biz on their own terms and create an intentional relationship with social media.
Good luck with whatever you create next, Johanna – and thank you for connecting. I enjoyed our chat – here it is (still one of my most viewed pages, so you’re on to something!!)
What’s key is choosing the platforms you enjoy that add value – for me, that’s Substack, LinkedIn and Reddit, as they are more conversational and text-based – and then scheduling proper work time to use them.
On Reddit, I’ve helped folks with their Substacks, shared my Newsletter Talent Directory, and met a developer building a similar resource who was keen to collaborate.
I shared my panic after getting heart palpitations with NMN supplements (I thought I was having a heart attack – much too high a dose!), and I’m very grateful to Redditors for reassurance and an explanation. It helps you feel less alone.
This week, LinkedIn has brought me:
A free 1:1 call with a high-performance success coach
An invitation to join a free programme of support, networking and mentorship locally to help me grow my biz
A new book about newsletters
An illustrator who can teach me how to draw (I want to add sketches/doodles to this newsletter)
A new client and a testimonial
Ideas, inspo and links. I get excited about sharing other people’s stuff – it brings me energy and hope.
Approach it like a dating app – be intentional and get it offline as soon as possible. I offer a free 1:1 intro call because I care about and value connection and relationships. Feel free to book in here if we haven’t spoken yet.
Make use of the digital tools we have available to us. This week, I’ve been testing Sendible for social media scheduling (thanks to Adriana Tica for the recommendation – interview coming soon). I came off Hootsuite as it’s gone all corporate and is far too expensive for soloists.
Enjoying it so far – nice dashboard and a content calendar for inspo. It’s saving me time as I’m not scrolling sites natively and getting distracted by my feed. It also prompts you to re-schedule posts – a reminder to repurpose your content as not everybody sees it. Make your content work harder for you!
Happy writing ✍️
Nika 🙂
PS I’ve had enough of this bloody rain! I got wet on every run this week, and my joints don’t like it. Thanks to Kate Arnold for making me laugh.
5 Things
CJ Chilvers’ new book, Principles for Newsletters, condenses the most important lessons he’s learned from 37 years of newsletter publishing into 49 short principles. I read this last night with a glass of vino – smart and succinct.
Neal.fun made a museum of the internet – explore artefacts from the early internet – “a collection of everything I made when I’m bored during lecture.” Discover who sent the first spam email (DYK the term ‘spam’ was inspired by a Monty Python sketch?)
My dream writer’s studio. Bringing the outside in. Walk past 1700 poets to get to your desk – with a 180-degree view of nature. Full of distractions but the right kind of distractions. Isn’t this fabulous?
Thanks for reading. If you have topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, please get in touch: nika@nikatalbot.io. I’d love to hear from you.
Newsletter Talent Directory! Add your deets here for collabs
Nika Talbot 