Category: Newsletter

The Shift

🌟🚀 Success on Substack

CSA Images

It’s ok to grow slow

Happy September! It’s good to be back at my hot desk with some entrepreneur energy, art, dogs, and stuff happening around me. I’ve missed it.

Coastal Currents art festival opens today – fully independent this year, with no Arts Council funding – go Tina & team! 👏

I keep trying to take August off like the Europeans do for proper rest and reset, but it doesn’t work at home. I slip back into the usual habits and routines.

To take the entire month off(line), I need to go AWAY and be in a different environment. So, something to work towards for next August.

Back-to-school vibes… Farrah Storr sums it up perfectly in her newsletter:

As summer fades, change at this time of year feels inevitable. One of the things that has always struck me about September is its capacity for renewal, especially creative renewal. I think it’s something to do with the summer months allowing our ideas to just sit and be, and in their being, that’s when they truly take shape.

September is the perfect time to give those ideas a little push out into the world.
Farrah Storr – Things Worth Knowing

I like working in seasons/12-week sprints and setting small goals. Enjoyed this piece in Vox on why dividing your life into semesters, even when you’re not in school, can help with goal-setting, time management and motivation.

It gets us going and out of a rut. And it gives you something to aim for and look forward to – the next break from mid-Dec to mid-Jan.

Seems like a productive way to organise the year.

📚 The 12-week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months is about breaking down the activities that are most important and creating a sense of urgency to get stuff done.

Time to ditch the annual plan?

🛠 Substack Toolkit

So, I’ve been thinking about where to devote my energies this season and the ONE thing I want to focus on.

Growing on Substack and getting to know the community better alongside my 1:1 client work.

I’m compiling a toolkit of resources for Substack writers – industry trends, articles, experiments, opportunities, and folks to follow.

It will live here on Google Docs; I’ll update it as I go. Let me know if you have a link or story to share, and I’ll add your name and newsletter.

I see a lot of resources for general newsletter growth, so it’s good to find some support with a Substack-specific focus.

Substack has launched two new features this month. You can find and follow friends and AI-powered tools to generate transcripts and create social sharing assets (useful if you do interviews).

🗞 Read

👉 Writer making six figures on Substack says ‘I won’t write for free anymore.’ | Press Gazette

👉 Revealed: Top 27 highest-earning Substack newsletters generate over $22m a year | Press Gazette

👉 The people earning 56K a year through their Substack side hustles | iNews

👉 Substack faces fresh competition in the newsletter wars | Vanity Fair

👉 Digital platforms and journalistic careers: A case study of Substack newsletters | CJR

👉 Why New Statesman became the first major publisher to exclusively host newsletters on Substack | Press Gazette. Be interesting to see if other publishers follow suit.

🌱 Grow

I’m seeing a desire for cohort-based courses over standalone training/videos you do solo. People want to learn with others who are doing the same thing. Be part of a community and a challenge. Just keep ‘em affordable!

👉 Ready to kick-start your creative future? | Things Worth Knowing – Farrah Storr’s new Substack support channel and writing group dates. Pitch her (and get paid £200 – she’s now commissioning writers).

👉 Substack Soiree – Starts Sept 11 – a 5-week supportive group programme for anyone looking to start, grow or expand their Substack. Covers: optimisation, subscriber growth, sales, self-promo and community, what to write about, getting out of your own way, and sharing with love.

👉 Success on Substack: Craft a Subscription Newsletter Worth Reading | Marlee Grace. “Everything I know about writing a digital newsletter for over a decade, and specifically choosing to monetize it – sending it weekly to 25k subscribers, 1400+ paid subscribers, and a gross annualised revenue of over $80k a year.” (1-month free trial on Skillshare).

Marlee writes Monday Monday, a weekly Substack on creativity.

👉 Substack Course: The Ultimate Guide to Creating, Operating, and Monetising a Substack Newsletter | Casey Botticello (he also has a Facebook group for Substack writers).

👉 Grow – How Laura Kennedy made more money on Substack than anywhere else. On moving from Patreon and earning a steady income. Plus, updated resources, a workbook and creator interviews – one to bookmark.

👉 Bringing your LinkedIn followers to Substack | Linda Lebrun (and what to do with your LinkedIn newsletter).

👉 It’s OK if you grow your audience slowly | Inbox Collective. Claire Zulkey on why, for some indie newsletters, focusing on content – and community – is the right move.

I’m with her on this – a refreshing perspective and an antidote to all the 7-figure newsletter biz articles and podcasts.

Yes, most of us need to make money. But it’s not the only goal.

What about building for impact while you earn a shit ton of money? That’s my plan. I’d love to hear more stories about global initiatives, impact projects, celebrating cultures, and telling stories to build connection and empathy – Substack for Change?

After years of struggling as a freelance journalist in London trying to make writing pay, it makes my heart sing to read posts like Emma’s about earning six figures from her Substack.

I enjoy seeing writers flourish on the platform, building an audience, earning a steady income, and paying others to write.

Yes, you need to have your eyes open. Substack is VC-backed and under pressure to grow. But it’s exciting and inspiring to see what’s possible – and great to see people experimenting.

Platforms may come and go, but the humble newsletter isn’t going anywhere.

This week’s fave Substack post: We need more jazz vinyl cafes by Ted Gioia. Oh, for a trip to Tokyo to check out the jazz joints!

To your success! 🥂

Nika

PS, I’m doing Joe Dispenza’s Walk for the World on Sept 23. I love his work – inspiring stories of transformation.

His ‘You Are The Placebo’ meditation is 👌

Would you like some marketing support?

I help badass biz owners get their big ideas noticed and make money through strategic storytelling + compelling content so they can shine online, grow their tribe, and get outside and LIVE LIFE.

1. Big-hearted brand stories – got a story to share? Learn more

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Tags digital publishing, growth, newsletters, online business, substack, writing online

Newsletter

INVITATION: Boss Branding 🌟🚀

Post author By niccitalbot
Post date August 20, 2023
No Comments on INVITATION: Boss Branding 🌟🚀

Boss Branding - Sudhana Singh

Crafting your big-hearted brand story

First week back, and I’m struggling to open the laptop – just not feeling it. I want to be outside, offline, and hang out with Julieta – take her mind off next week’s exam results!

Took the day off yesterday to go to Brighton. I’ve lost track of how many independent shops there are in the Lanes – just start walking and soak it all up.

As Pandora Sykes said, “Nothing beats the physical hunt when you’re in a market – you can smell the vintage and all the tales it has to tell.” 🌈 💅

Date for your diary. I’ve booked Sudhana Singh to talk about how she built a powerful personal brand for her business and self-published three books.

Boss Branding with Sudhana Singh

Sudhana, an award-winning author, journalist, and Exec coach, will share her Imbue Story Brand model (ISBM) with the NUJ on Monday, 11 September. The ISBM helps you grow sizzling SEO by using the art of storytelling with the psychology of marketing to help you:

1. Choose a clear, strong plot for your brand story

2. Formulate a short, snappy tagline for your brand and create a brand personality

3. Craft a marketing message

4. Build brand loyalty

5. Cast off cliches with an authentic brand story

Boss Branding: She’s created a Deck to take you through the process step by step.

Get inspired and learn how to improve your ~~personal brand~~ relationships to reach your business goals and stand out in a noisy world.

To be followed by a Q&A on entrepreneurial journalism and the creator economy – the highs and lows of flying solo.

Send me your questions.

Date: Monday, 11 September
Time: 6.30 pm on Zoom – speaker @ 7 pm

Boss Branding is available on Kindle here.

There’s always something new to learn and a different perspective. As one reader said: “A timely book to help all sectors as we rebrand during the Covid crisis.” And now AI… the future is coming at us fast!

WATCH/READ/LISTEN 🔥

Thomas Strider’s ultimate guide to building a powerful personal brand. Loving his thoughtful podcast that focuses on the personal growth journey of creators and entrepreneurs – can’t wait for the episode on Human Design.

A piece from Emma Gannon on how she makes six figures on Substack. “I’m aware that from reading this long post, it looks like running a Substack is a lot of work. It is. But it’s the best job I’ve had in a long while.” [Substack On]

10 AI tools to help you boost your business operations from Mike Kaput, chief content officer of the Marketing AI Institute [The Tilt]. “The power of these tools is incredible, especially as a solo or small team. You can scale up to a level previously impossible.”

Finding the time to market and repurpose content is a struggle, so let’s see how AI can help.

Keep shipping! Remember: the tortoise always wins the race.

Nika 🙂

PS I’ve rewritten my welcome email. It’s a bit more personal – added some context and explained what I’m trying to do. It’s important as the first piece of communication (no welcome sequence here) and needs to set the tone.

Thanks to Dan O for the inspo. I’d love your feedback on the questions.

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Would you like some marketing support?

I help badass biz owners get their big ideas noticed and make money through strategic storytelling + compelling content so they can shine online, grow their tribe, and get outside and LIVE LIFE 🌟🚀

1. Big-hearted brand stories – got an experience to share? Learn more

2. Book a 1:1 Power Hour Session. See my services

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Tags AI, books, brand story, newsletters, Personal branding, publishing

Newsletter

🔥 Sell or go big?

+ the books topping my TBR pile this summer | #123

Big news from Joe Pulizzi this week – Lulu has acquired The Tilt and its Creator Economy Expo (CEX) event.

Lulu is a leading self-publishing platform that allows creators to publish and distribute books globally. They have been The Tilt’s biggest supporter over the last two years – sponsoring their newsletter, CEX, and third annual content entrepreneur research.

They are on a mission to teach authors about the business model of content entrepreneurship (beyond books!). Loads of educational material on their site – toolkit, guides, Lulu University and more. You can even make a magazine!

Good synergies between the two, and this move positions them perfectly as a leader in the creator space.

I’m blown away by this news. Wow. It’s a much faster exit than I expected – just two years since The Tilt launched, still a toddler—a speedy trip from Part 1 to Part 8 of Content Inc.

Congratulations to Joe and Pam, and the team. I’m excited to see how this will evolve and what opportunities it will bring with combined audience power. Lulu has come a long way since they published their first book in 2002.

Fascinating to see that a content business has acquired a content business!

It gives The Tilt resources to expand on education, research and networking opportunities (yes, please!). They’ve built an audience of 25k+ newsletter subscribers, which is important for an exit plan.

Just shows it’s never too soon to start thinking about exit strategies, even if you haven’t made much money yet. Because how you exit will affect how you build your business.

This is Joe’s third official sale of a company, and he says his goal is to continue doing what he loves and is good at and leave the business side to someone else. I get that. No more payroll!! Having employees can get complicated and expensive. I didn’t enjoy putting myself on the payroll when I had a limited company.

The Tilt & Lulu are launching a new imprint for content entrepreneurs – a hands-on service to publish your print book, ebook or audiobook.

If you’re thinking about self-publishing, you can express your interest here.

🔥 WATCH/READ/LISTEN

I’ve been to see three films this week – British Summer!! Barbie and Mission Impossible are both excellent. Barbie is a masterclass in marketing. MI – a warning about the dangers of rogue AI…

I loved Talk To Me, the new indie horror from Danny & Michael Philippou, the daredevil twins from Down Under.

Something different. Gory, fast-paced fun. Wild punk energy and passion, with a great soundtrack.

I love how this movie came to be – read the backstory in The Ringer. They’ve racked up over a billion views on YouTube, and leveraged that to transition from social media to Hollywood. “We don’t want to be chasing the algorithm our whole lives.” [NYT]

Or have their work censored by a tech platform 👏

Another reason not to build your content home on rented land.

Talk to Me soundtrack

Nicky Blewitt is an author who runs a freelance collective of writers & publishers that supports new writers. They’ve launched a bursary scheme to support low-income authors. “We offer a free two-hour self-publishing and book marketing consultation.” Details here.

Sophie Rhone started her Digital PR business last year and has a podcast covering the creative industry – advertisers, marketers, and influencers. The first episode: The Art of Personal Branding, is now on Spotify. Send her some love and leave a review if you want to be a future guest.

Jennifer Phan, Co-founder & CEO at Passionfroot, is rocking Carousel posts on LinkedIn. I appreciate the time and research that goes into these and keep saving them to return to. Great resource. Here are 30 books EVERY creator should read to build strong content systems.

Tons of inspo here for your TBR pile this summer.

Recommendations for fiction welcome too – I need to lose myself in a good book.

Happy reading… 🍉 ⛱ 🌴

Nika 🙂

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Tags books, content business, content entrepreneurs, creator economy, creator economy expo, Joe Pulizzi, Lulu, newsletters, Self-publishing, The Tilt

Newsletter

On nimble power and driving industry conversations.

Post author By niccitalbot
Post date July 23, 2023
No Comments on On nimble power and driving industry conversations.

“The only way to succeed in media is through niches.”

I just queued for 15 minutes and paid £11 for two scones.

On autopilot and about to swipe my card when my brain registered the price.

“Is that right? £11 for two scones to take away?” The waitress nodded her head. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s the cost of the ingredients. Everything’s gone up.”

I’m in a multi-award-winning free-from tearoom in an old fishing lodge. Set in a hamlet with lakes, a caravan park, a working farm and walking trails – mostly locals and a few tourists.

I looked around, and the place was packed – families, kids, dogs under tables, people on laptops.

Not one table left outside on the terrace. Going niche is big business. They’ve gone an inch wide and a mile deep – offering over 50 gluten-free cakes and bakes. Crazy combinations to surprise and delight the customer.

I’m sure it wasn’t this expensive last time I came, but here we are. The cost-of-living crisis – one year on.

Not seeing much evidence of that here, mind. The woman before me didn’t bat an eyelid at £23 for a small order. The folks behind me talked about the best places to eat and where to get good quality cake.

People will pay for something niche and different. We associate higher prices with quality.

We may have cut back on non-essential spending, but we’re not willing to compromise on other things – life’s simple pleasures. Our daily rituals and routines.

Time out, good food, company and conversation. A nice place to work.

I paid a premium to not be treated as an afterthought. I stopped eating gluten a few years ago for health reasons, and it’s a pain. Often not much choice on the menu – usually chocolate cake and boring biscuits.

Here I can have anything on the menu – and something different whenever I go.

As they say, the riches are in the niches.

They are celebrating their 10th anniversary and clearly doing something right. Younger staff, shorter hours, a simpler menu, local deliveries, an online shop, and gift vouchers.

With a vision that people can get behind. Simple food created with love.

She handed them over. Big, fat, juicy scones, wrapped in paper bags with little pots of jam and rolled butter.

They tasted great and didn’t crumble and fall apart, so she’s got the magic recipe right. All that trial and error has paid off.

Got me thinking about niche media and what I can take away from this for my business.

Shorter hours, a simpler menu, pricing, a 5* experience, printed content, maybe.

Little things to surprise and delight. An inspiring view on the road. A thank you note to new clients. A cuppa and a chat.

There is no problem a cake and a cuppa can’t fix.

Something so simple and universal is very powerful.

Nika

Things to Read, Listen, and Watch

Jacob Donnelly on the concept of nimble power, at FIPP World Media Congress 2023. “My belief is that going forward, the only way to succeed in media is through niches.” Morning Brew’s ethos: “Business doesn’t have to be boring.” Full report here – worth a read.

6 steps to kicking ass as a freelancer with Eman Ismail – brilliant advice on being intentional with your pricing, niching, life-work balance, and creating a 5* experience. Really enjoyed this one.

Eve Arnold wrote a piece on how to never run out of things to write about. She’s just published her 900th article on Medium (updating its Partner Program incentives btw). Spotted this in Chenell Basilio’s fab NL.

PS, I’m watching ‘Deep Fake Love’ on Netflix. So bad it’s good!? Slightly alarmed that this is being classed as entertainment. But then it’s raising awareness, I guess.

When did life get so complicated? Bring back Cilla Black and her sympathetic shoulder pads. The wordplay, the innocence, the rituals, the flirting!

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CEX 2023 is for contentpreneurs interested in building and growing their content-first businesses without relying on social platforms. Get access to all 45 sessions and learn from the best. Advice from experts on newsletters, podcasts, communities, SEO and more. Get $100 off your Digital Pass.

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Tags content entrepreneurs, FIPP World Media Congress, freelancing, newsletters, niche media, small business, writing

Interviews Newsletter

Twitter and Threads 🧵

ALSO: An interview on marketing without social media | #121

Have you left Twitter for Threads yet? 😉 I played for a couple of hours on launch day.

Instagram has over 2bn monthly active users, which explains why Threads has exceeded 70m sign-ups in less than 48 hours.

Very smart move letting you port your existing audience over (stop, think. Do you actually want to!?). The worst thing about joining a new social network is starting from scratch with zero followers.

Initial thoughts – it’s fast, clean, light, good UI. I like the simplicity – no fancy features yet, fun for now. Good vibes – it feels like Twitter c2008. It is the first-week flurry and novelty factor, but people seem to be enjoying it.

I’m not loving the data grab.

Threads collect the same data as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. From Znet: “Threads collects users’ physical addresses, health and fitness data, and sensitive info like biometric and ethnic data. Twitter does not collect these types of data.”

It’s unavailable in the EU for now – privacy nightmare, but people are finding ways around it – a tip here from Jens Joseph Mannanal, co-founder of Passionfroot.

Future versions will integrate with ActivityPub, a decentralised social networking protocol, so you could potentially take your content elsewhere. The friendly fediverse as it’s called – interoperability is where the industry is heading.

Early days, but I think it’s worth your time, especially if you used to enjoy Instagram.

All this talk about strategies to win on Threads already. Ugh. Chill, keep it light, and reconnect with long-lost friends! Mine will be tiny threads as I hate typing on my phone. There’s no desktop version yet.

LinkedIn is still my main social platform, and I’m trying something new over there – themed weeks focusing on specific topics. So, this week it’s ‘newsletters’, and how to market yourself off-socials. Timely!

Meta has chosen a name that the Germans can’t pronounce very easily, which seems bizarre in their quest for world domination.

Expect to see even more puns on the platform. Stitch is a serious contender.

At least it’s not Threadz… 🙀

Listen to a special episode of the Hard Fork podcast with the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, on why the company now wants to take on Twitter.

Interview: Johanna Renoth, founder of Bye, Social Media!

Johanna Renoth is the founder of Bye, Social Media!, an agency for marketing without social media. She helps small businesses, creators, and solopreneurs thrive away from the algorithms.

In this interview, she shares her insights into moving her marketing off all social media, how her PhD on social media inspired her to make the move, and what she’s learnt in the past year of pursuing this avenue.

Food for thought here – enjoying your marketing is important.

I have mixed feelings about this. I agree with a lot of what Johanna says, but social media is a gift and we’re lucky to have it.

I don’t take it for granted – it is a great time to be a creator. We can share ideas and connect with others for free.

If I stop enjoying it, I’ll stop doing it.

READ JOHANNA’S STORY

Things to Read, Listen, Watch

The Write to Roam | Ethan Brooks. An inside look at how 6 & 7-figure writers make money, and on their own terms (via the Copyblogger podcast).

Chenell Basilio | Build In Public podcast on what newsletter creators are doing differently to grow to 50K subscribers. “Find the thing that feels like torture to others and a gift to you. And do that thing!”

Josh Spector studied the home pages of 10 smart creative entrepreneurs. They have a LOT in common. Here are six approaches you can borrow from them for your own site (via For The Interested).

– Just keep going 🙂

Nika

Classifieds

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Tags content marketing, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, newsletters, Social media, Threads, Twitter, writing