Tag: The Shift

Categories
Newsletter

Inside the Elon-Substack drama

This week, Substack rolled out Notes, a new way to share short-form content on the platform to help drive discovery.

Not the quiet product launch they were expecting!

Elon dubbed it ‘the Twitter clone,’ which they deny – and apparently began to restrict promo and visibility for tweets with links to Substack posts (The Verge).

So much for Twitter being the platform of free speech.

How bizarre to block links to ‘competitors’. He’s cutting off his friends and allies publishing on the platform. How are writers/journos supposed to market their work?

“Twitter Files” journalist Matt Taibbi said he’s leaving the platform after Elon’s latest changes have made it ‘unusable’ for him. NPR has also quit over the government-funded label.

It doesn’t spread goodwill towards Twitter or make you inclined to pay for it, even with Creators Subscriptions to earn income from writing. They shut down Revue!  

Political battles and, once again, writers take the hit. It’s also backfired and given a tiny product launch full-scale media coverage. It’s not often we see a product story hit the headlines.

Shakespearian shenanigans! The ‘battle of the bros’ – Elon Vs Matt, Hamish and Chris 😉

Check out this interview with Kara Swisher (New York Magazine). No names mentioned, but Kara doesn’t shy away.

Chris and Hamish handled themselves well; you can read between the lines. They also discuss the challenging business model of newsletters. 

I am surprised Substack has gone into the social space, but I can see the logic. They are building “a subscription network”, and this will reduce their reliance on other platforms.

But building an ecosystem around social media is very different to running a paid newsletter – and content moderation is a big job.

I published my first note last night. It looks like Twitter, but doesn’t feel like it… much calmer, with no ads and a hospitable welcome from the team, appreciated. Less friction – you can subscribe directly from a note.

Substack is positioning Notes as a tool to help writers more easily get subscribers. It’s early days, so let’s see. Not keen to spend more time online, but if it’s fun to use and helps get more eyeballs on your work, all well and good.

Yet another reminder about the importance of owning your list and not building your biz on rented land.

I’ve redirected my Substack URL to my website, which will hopefully get around any Twitter nonsense.

Well, at least we’re not bored!!

Nika 🙂

The Shift Hot 5 🔥    

The 2023 Unsung Content Entrepreneurs. Usually, the 1% making the big bucks get all the attention. Great to see The Tilt spotlighting ‘middle-class’ creators who are making money from their content biz. A diverse and inspiring list!

Google’s latest update evaluates product reviews about services, media, and other things – articles, blog posts, pages. Worth keeping an eye on if you publish reviews beyond product reviews on your site.

Lofi Girl’s universe grows! French YouTube channel and music label Lofi Girl released a 24/7 livestream featuring Lofi Boy – a new character. Official title: “Synthwave – beats to chill/game to”. A new realm of retro-futuristic sounds to work to!

Is there life after influencing? Internet personality Lee From America wanted to see what life was like as plain old Lee Tilghman. How easy is it to leave lucrative brand partnerships and high follower counts behind? NYT profiles her move from TikTok creator to corporate (got round the paywall on Reddit).

Lee’s new creative outlet is a Substack called ‘Offline Time’ – interesting comment about having to take the app off her phone: “Oh god, this is becoming a social media app”… 🤦🏻‍♀️

Bionic Reading – become a super reader. Oh, to read a book a day again! Shallow forms of reading can dominate the internet. Read faster and retain info better. A typographical trick that works by highlighting certain words in the text – your brain reads faster than your eyes. Free to download.

Thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions? Email nika@nikatalbot.io or follow me on LinkedIn for content tips.

Have an good story to share or want to nominate a creator? Get featured in a Creator Business Spotlight | Hot 5

Enjoy reading this? Buy me a coffee

Categories
Newsletter

Become a next-gen writer now

Take a stand on how you will – and won’t – use AI

“Why learn anything when you can get AI to do it for you?”

I saw that comment on a LinkedIn post by writer Yessica Klein on the back of the ChatGPT4 release this week. 

She said her heart skipped a beat as a lifelong learner and curious person. Her job as a writer is to make AI work in her favour and ALWAYS use critical thinking and fact-checking to ensure accurate information. “Yes, I’m a fan of OpenAI – but what will happen to critical thinking? Can we trust the feedback loop?”

I agree. It sets alarm bells ringing. Shallow thinking patterns? SEO-stuffing? Will we rely on AI too much for decision-making? I worry that short-sighted decisions are being made (letting writers/marketers go etc) based on new technology we don’t completely understand yet. 

The AI space is moving at a dizzying pace. We need to let the dust settle and see the bigger picture. Integrate AI into our workflow and, learn more, upskill teams – right now, it seems to be solo writers and marketers tinkering around with it.  

Had to chuckle at this piece by Digiday on the AI race – all the latest developments. Pretty soon, we’ll need our own AI to keep up with – and make sense of – the updates.  

Imagine when GPT5 rolls out… we’ll be queueing up for brain transplants.

Fascinating to see some of the use cases – personalised learning – Duolingo’s new AI-powered virtual tutor for £20 a month. The Icelandic government is using AI to preserve the country’s language – fantastic.

I’m experimenting with ChatGPT – as a digital assistant. I’m excited to see how it can help me to be more productive and creative, but I can’t see how it will save me time (too much fun). It reminds me of an ex who refuses to use Sat Nav because it sends you round the houses – the journey takes longer. He likes map-reading and using his brain. 

Very sensible 🙂 Good to set some boundaries around it.

There are also copyright issues to resolve re creators’ images and works, unintentional plagiarism etc. 

WIRED just published a piece on how they will and won’t use generative AI tools – aggressive against its use. Smart move. Good to see them taking a stand. 

Writers must do the same and say how they use AI in their content. I should add it to my Terms of Service and website. One for #CopywritersUnite.

Interesting perspective from Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute. He says as more shiny tools flood the market, real content, human-made, will become more valuable. People will crave content that comes from human hearts and minds. 

I find that reassuring. It also means we can potentially charge more for our work 😉 Can you afford real human content?

I like the idea of having a ‘Certified Human Content‘ badge or watermark for authenticity. I can’t do that on my Substack posts – be interesting if a tech platform like Substack, as WIRED has, took a stand on it.

He also said we’re having the wrong conversation. It’s not about AI taking our jobs (it will create more work). LLMs are getting all the media attention right now, but AI goes much deeper than ChatGPT. We’re talking about the personalisation of experience, content, and decision-making.

Autonomous human robots – one robot for every human on the planet – are the end goal.

Personalised newsletters – yes! I see the value in that. But what I really want to know is how AI will give us back time, extend our lives, and help our productivity and happiness?

I want to live to a ripe old age. A happy, healthy life frolicking in the Italian countryside. Reading books and writing with the sun on my back. Making olive oil, drinking local wine and eating tomatoes that taste like tomatoes… 

If AI can help me get there, I’m interested!! 

Companies need to make a shift in content strategy – a more human approach. 

And part of my strategy is saying no to things.

I’ve signed up for MAI’s AI for Writers Summit on March 30 to learn more about ChatGPT and other tools – you can sign up here for free (courtesy of Writer.com). 

Nika 🦾

🔥The Shift Hot 5

LinkedIn launches ‘Collaborative Articles’ – using AI to expand its content, beginning with a new initiative, which will use AI prompts to call on users for expertise and input. Smart move. It’s harder to start a conversation than join one. To incentivise, they’re also adding a Community Top Voice badge. Play the LinkedIn game! 

The Solo Author – Diego’s Pineda’s new book for solopreneurs. Enjoying this – actionable advice and exciting ideas on content marketing and thought leadership evolution. His niche is how to write a book and leverage it for your business. Check it out at soloauthor.com (free chapter). 

Newsletter Growth Tips from Josh Spector. 13 bite-sized videos on YouTube. Advice on finding your niche, free vs paid, building a content system, pricing ads, client acquisition and more. Super handy to have all this in one place – thanks, Josh. 

Building in Public Definitive Guide 2022 – a free guide to the ‘building in public’ movement from content creator Kevon Cheung. Benefits, channels, writing tips and his Public Lab. I’m enjoying Kevin’s column in Courier on audience-building and growing an online business. 

LinkedIn Podcast Academy: what does this mean for B2B creators? LinkedIn has launched an in-house podcast network featuring B2B-related news hosted by some of the platform’s biggest B2B creators. Going all in on empowering B2B creators in ’23 – great to see!

Leave a comment

Thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions?

I love getting letters from you – email nika@nikatalbot.io

Have an inspiring story to share? Get featured in a Creator Spotlight

Need my copywriting chops? See my services

Categories
Newsletter

The Shift: How to build a life 😍

How to build a life 

In my 20s, I left a journalism job in Peterborough to freelance in London. I wanted to work on women’s magazines and thought I’d be happy once I got my dream job in the big city. The reality was quite different. Precarious work on low pay was stressful. When I landed shifts on glossy titles, I didn’t enjoy working in an all-female environment that felt competitive. I wasn’t very happy but I stuck at it – living the dream, right? I’d be happy once I was sorted with a proper job and a home. Then I could relax and enjoy London for all it has to offer.

I now prioritise my happiness and realise it’s a skill we can work on. I can’t control my thoughts or the outcome of my pitches and projects, but I can control how I spend my time. Rituals and habits are the building blocks of my day. I do the Writers’ Hour with London Writer’s Salon and a walk/run. I thought having a routine and doing the same things every day would stifle my creativity but I think you can boost creativity through constraints – as long as they are the right ones that make you happy (for me, that’s working remotely and being around for Julieta, and having a studio space I love).

The challenge is to stop thinking I can be happy by being busy. Trying to do too much leads to time poverty, which means I don’t get joy from anything. So, being mindful about how I’m working and creating little moments of joy to boost my energy and bringing that to others. Yesterday, I told a friend I love her to bits and I’m happy she’s in my life. It made me feel great (and her too). I need to do this more often, as well as writing down the things I’m grateful for.

What’s the secret to happiness? After looking at thousands of studies Arthur C Brooks, author of How to Build A Life concludes enduring happiness comes from human relationships, productive work, and the transcendental elements of life.

Make a list of the attachments in your life you need to discard. Then make a plan to do just that. The fewer wants there are searching inside your brain and dividing your attention, the more peace and satisfaction will be left for what you already have.

I’m getting rid of stuff that doesn’t bring me joy.

Enjoy this issue 🙂

Tools for thought 

😍Wellcome Collection’s On Happiness, a season of free events, activities and two exhibitions: Joy and Tranquility – bringing together voices from across cultural, scientific and spiritual fields to reflect on happiness. All very timely – how do we rebuild happiness for our current times?

🎞Short of the Week: Steve Cutt’s Happiness. The story of a rodent’s quest for happiness and fulfilment through the tropes and traps of modern society. The dehumanising effects of capitalism and consumer culture. Surely his best film to date 🙂 Soooo much juicy detail in the background.

🧠Ness Labs – Build a lab for your mind with neuroscience-based content and conversations. How to practice unbounded learning, self-education, a library of content, a weekly book club – expand your antilibrary. Co-working sessions and meetups with a brilliant community.

👀 How to help your kids be responsible digital citizens, from a tech exec (and mom). When you give a child their first smartphone, don’t send them into the digital world unprepared. Practical tips (and a template) from Jennifer Zhu Scott on how to be a digitally responsive citizen and make smart choices – whatever your age.

📕Sarah Hawley’s biggest project to date is Growmotely, an all-in-one global platform for remote hiring. Brilliant podcast: Conscious Culture – The Evolving Future of Work. ‘We’re just warming up so I imagine it’s going to get juicier and juicier!’ I’m also enjoying her new book: Conscious Leadership – A Journey From Ego to Heart.

Have a great weekend 🌈

Nicci 

The future of work is now

Let’s build it. The Shift is a newsletter about humans, technology and wellness. Rethinking how we live, work and play. Weekly curated tools for thought and ideas to share ✍️

Question or comment? nicci@niccitalbot.io
Enjoy the read? Share it on Twitter. I run on caffeine and Amaretti biscuits.
Want to be featured? Book a Classified ad. I’d rather promote your products and services first.

To offset the carbon emissions of this newsletter and my online work, I plant 12 trees every month via Ecologi. I encourage you to do the same in your country – here’s a list of climate action groups 🌍