Disclaimer #1: If you find reflections around Substack annoying, this essay is not for you. If on the other hand, you find them annoyingly insightful and inspiring you’re in the right place and I invite you to keep on reading.
Disclaimer #2:
is a passion project that has sprung to fruition from following my gut and passion to write more.As a result I will not put myself limits as to when, where and how I write. Maybe with time I will adapt a more clear system (I do have big ambition for this publication as with everything I set out to do). But for now all I’ve got is this:
Just write whenever you’ve got something to say, post ASAP and the rest will fall into place when the time is right.
So often we try to control and plan ahead (myself included) for things that we have no idea of how they will turn out. We worry about things that haven’t happened yet and perhaps never will.
Like…Is it even suitable to write this essay right not?
Screw that!
I find instant action to be a more productive process, because otherwise we all know (I’m especially looking at you mama), the initial idea will most likely never happen.
I’m a newbie to Substack so I assume his message. It felt upsetting at first, but who am I to argue? He’s probably right.
But it would also be thrilling if I could be the exception to the rule. And why can’t I? You can decide to be the exception too.
All I know for certain after years of introspection is that ones I set my mind to something there’s no turning back. No second guessing, only full commitment. All or nothing. Black or white.
No wonder why I’ve been referred to as extreme by friends and family. But I’ve reached the point on my creative journey, much thanks to motherhood, that I don’t care.
As I wrote in yesterday’s spontaneous essay “Write what matters for those who care”, not everyone will like what I write and I’m OK with that. I don’t want to let the fear of judgement hold me back more than it already has in previous online endeavours.
“Keep going, to keep growing” as the headline said on an email from Substack yesterday.
Ps. I’m pretty stoked that Jeff Goins granted yesterday’s post a like. I’ve read his books through the years of running my other art business and could never imagine he would one day read something written by me. I kinda feel like I won already.
I’ll be honest,
At first thought I felt cringe to share about my fan-girl moment. But after a second thought I realise it could be as inspiring and motivating for others who are also new to the whole “newslettering business thing”, and who hope to create something substantial on Substack too.
The fact that I’m completely out of the womb, a teeny tiny baby in this space, and I’m able to have my 11th post reach the screen of an international bestselling author is pretty darn fabulous.
Not to mention having my 10th post (yes
, I admit again, I definitely went out strong with 10 posts in the first 14 days…), be read by close to 600 people, have 60+ likes and 25+ comments (yes that it includes my answers) is mind-blowingly exciting.Even more so,
The fact that 63% of readers came from within the Substack network - not through email (those already subscribed) or other sources is the best part of it all.
As opposed to popular criticism of the platform in the past couple of weeks, my experience tells me that you don’t have to be an established writer to attract readers from the get-go.
Thank you
for creating an incredible opportunity to be read as a small self-published writer.But Elin, you claim to have close to half a million in your audience on other social medias?
Yes I do.
I don’t neglect that it gives me an advantage. But only as far as experience of building something from the ground. Because I actively chose to start over from scratch on here.
I didn’t transfer any email list. I only made a small announcement to a list of a few thousands a couple of days after launch and a very small percentage (about 70 people) came over (you’re amazing, you know who you are).
My main audience didn’t sign up to read my rants about life, creativity, business and motherhood. They signed up because they love my hand embroidery art and most likely want to make some for themselves. And I want to respect that.
Furthermore, it’s kind of exciting to start a passion project from scratch to see what’s possible. It’s part of the thrill of a new creative venture don’t you think?
I believe that as soon as you’re able to find the creative joy and success in the journey - Nothing can beat you.
It’s like
talks about in her book “the Success Myth”; Life doesn’t miraculously improve because you’ve achieved a level of external success (be it money or status). You still have to do the internal work.To me, the main driver for the internal work in relation to creativity, is to fall in love with the journey rather than the end result. Because, as I said in the essay that just went viral this past weekend… You never know which effort on the journey that will have the greatest payoff.
Have you heard of the 80/20 principle in business?
It comes from a large iconic book by Richard Koch, in which he explains how (and this applies to other areas of life as well) 80% of your effort results in 20% of the gain and vice versa.
So if only 20% of your whole body of creative work will be responsible for 80% of your success, you’d feel miserable 80% of the time if you weren’t in love with the process.
Depressing, right?
So… What was the viral post about and why do I think it became a hit?
I have numerous theories on why this post got so well received.
First I think the title is very clickable. I would click it if it had been written by someone else. This is usually the filter I use when setting my titles.
I guess that’s another advantage from having run an online business for many years. You have to get good at copywriting to be able to sustain yourself. If nobody clicks, nobody buys.
The post itself, is very relatable to many as I share my mindset of being perfectly imperfect. You cannot, and should not, strive for perfection or else you’ll get nowhere. Something is always better than nothing. Yet, as creatives we all tend to be our own harshest critics. And for no good reason really.
There’s an added beauty to the concept of imperfect work too: The more you write/post, the better you get at it. We all suck at the beginning as much as that sucks to admit.
I’m not sure how much the thumbnail plays a role. But I think of it as the book cover. In a utopia you don’t judge a book by its cover. But we don’t live in a utopia.
It’s too early for me to say on Substack (maybe you know better?), but at least from other platforms, images with people in them tend to do better. I think it comes down to humans inherent need for connection and belonging. You see a beautiful image of a woman who sits down to write, and you want to check out her world to see if you can belong.
The woman in the picture is not me by the way.
I use Unsplash like many others on here. As a result, I try to dig a bit deeper into the search engine to not fall for the generic “typical” picture that everyone has already seen. Perhaps the one I used have been used on here before too. But if so, I didn’t see it. You can generally get an idea if an image has been used a lot by looking at the number of downloads and when it was published.
If it’s too many downloads (in the higher 5 to 6-figure range), it’s a pass for me.
Fourth, I didn’t discover the “substack content trend” until after I published my essay. Somehow I want to believe that readers could really feel my genuineness and that I didn’t write it as a strategic post. Though in the aftermath, it did work.
It was a very intuitive and quick text (I wrote it during the kids nap-time), which I think contributes to others ability to resonate easier… The fact that it isn’t perfect becomes a relatability factor.
Ps. I’m currently writing this after bedtime… Mamas you know the drill.
I’m in the season of motherhood that forces me to write from the heart rather than the mind. I simply don’t have the brainpower (breast milk brain is really a thing, IYKYK), to plan out my essays too much. And definitely not to edit too fiercely either.
Motherhood made me more brave to trust my instincts. It has also allowed me to not take myself too seriously, which in turn has made it easier to accept that imperfect is better than nothing.
I love to write and I can feel the words bubbling inside of me. I have big dreams for this publication and I don’t want to hold it off for a later date when my children are older. (If anything, I wish to be a good role model and example of someone who dared to follow their dream).
And who knows… Maybe I’ll be the exception to the rule.
Thank you for reading,
Elin x
If you found this intriguing, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! And please share it with your friends if you think they’d find value from it too.
Last but not least; don’t forget to subscribe to join me on this adventure if you haven’t already. Imagine how cool if, a couple of years down the road, you are a part of the first supporters of a now large publication... (I think it would be pretty cool at least, haha!)
Well done mama! So here for this! And love your transparent invite to everyone to come along on your journey of growth here from the start x
I love your refreshing and honest take on things here. You write from the heart and that really comes across.