This post is timely for me. I quit being a lawyer this March to work on my Sci Fi novel full time. But I find that I’m still interested in projects outside of just novel-writing. Case in point: my substack. It’s been an entry point to being curious about running a business and creative ways to offer my skills to the world. So it was interesting to see how you found your writing niche by trying lots of different things. Seems like this was your strategy for your portfolio career as well!
Absolutely. My strategy with anything - whether it's creative pursuits, building businesses, creating products or services - is to experiment first, strategise later. In other words, fuck around and find out!
This is just what I needed today. Just hit post number 24 this week and I have been wondering why the needle is merely inching, crawling, pretending to move? But your post made me stop and take stock of what else has grown - like the number of new people I have met, spoken, interviewed with; other formats and platforms I am now posting on. Small steps, but like you put it - consistency wins. Fingers crossed, it will win the day for me too, in a distant future.
I hear you. Looking back I can't believe I slogged it out for 8 months with such slow growth. It was really tough at times but trust me, if you power through the hard moments there is light on the other side ❤️
I haven't paywalled any of my posts so far but I've been thinking about if / when / how I start to charge for this newsletter. It's a difficult one because I really want to be able to reach and impact as many people as possible without gatekeeping my content. But on the flip side, I spend about 5-10 hours every week on a post so it'd be nice to receive some income for the time spent. We'll see! I might in the future, but not anytime soon.
As someone who admittedly struggles with consistency, this is extremely inspiring and motivating! Thank you for sharing your journey (and insights, as always!)
Congrats on a great year writing and building Anna! I’m loving your content in general and super interesting to see the BTS of your year 1 growth here :)
Didn't know about that Tik Tok video! So wild. Congrats Anna, it's been a joy to read your work. Cheers to another great year, I'll be taking notes along the way.
Haha I've been in stealth mode over on Tiktok because I was stressed out about everyone judging me. Up until today, only my boyfriend and a couple of friends knew I was on there! Stealth mode, all the way.
Awesome application of AI! I tried it with a large sample of my articles and essays, but I asked ChatGPT to create the pie charts for me.
It wasn’t a surprise that 60% of my topics were health, well-being, personal growth, mindfulness, and intentional living. I was surprised that 30% were educational.
I absolutely using Chat for random stuff like this! I wasn't fully on board with its analysis but it pulled out some really interesting stats that are going to shape the types of topics I choose moving forward.
You're very welcome, it was fun to put together and reflect on all the things that worked to keep that line moving up and to the right! Feel free to steal any and all strategies 😊
This was so cool to read, I’ve had a pretty similar journey on a fairly similar timeframe. And it also has taken and continues to take a lot of experimentation and consistency. I also have been tweaking various ways to connect my Substack to my social and that’s been a whole journey but I have a few methods now that land
This post is timely for me. I quit being a lawyer this March to work on my Sci Fi novel full time. But I find that I’m still interested in projects outside of just novel-writing. Case in point: my substack. It’s been an entry point to being curious about running a business and creative ways to offer my skills to the world. So it was interesting to see how you found your writing niche by trying lots of different things. Seems like this was your strategy for your portfolio career as well!
Absolutely. My strategy with anything - whether it's creative pursuits, building businesses, creating products or services - is to experiment first, strategise later. In other words, fuck around and find out!
This is just what I needed today. Just hit post number 24 this week and I have been wondering why the needle is merely inching, crawling, pretending to move? But your post made me stop and take stock of what else has grown - like the number of new people I have met, spoken, interviewed with; other formats and platforms I am now posting on. Small steps, but like you put it - consistency wins. Fingers crossed, it will win the day for me too, in a distant future.
I hear you. Looking back I can't believe I slogged it out for 8 months with such slow growth. It was really tough at times but trust me, if you power through the hard moments there is light on the other side ❤️
I found this really insightful and helpful. I’m fairly new here, and I wasn’t expecting the Australian accent! 😂🩷
Thank you for the time that has gone into this. I’d also be interested to know if and when you started to paywall any of your posts?
Hahaha, yes I'm Aussie! Sorry it was so jarring 😂
I haven't paywalled any of my posts so far but I've been thinking about if / when / how I start to charge for this newsletter. It's a difficult one because I really want to be able to reach and impact as many people as possible without gatekeeping my content. But on the flip side, I spend about 5-10 hours every week on a post so it'd be nice to receive some income for the time spent. We'll see! I might in the future, but not anytime soon.
I feel the same! Whatever you are doing, keep going 🌟
As someone who admittedly struggles with consistency, this is extremely inspiring and motivating! Thank you for sharing your journey (and insights, as always!)
You're welcome, I hope it's been helpful 😊
Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with Substack.
You're welcome, thank you for supporting my work ❤️
Congrats on a great year writing and building Anna! I’m loving your content in general and super interesting to see the BTS of your year 1 growth here :)
Thanks gorgeous! Appreciate your support as always, and it's been so lovely to connect with you IRL through this whole writing thing!
Didn't know about that Tik Tok video! So wild. Congrats Anna, it's been a joy to read your work. Cheers to another great year, I'll be taking notes along the way.
Haha I've been in stealth mode over on Tiktok because I was stressed out about everyone judging me. Up until today, only my boyfriend and a couple of friends knew I was on there! Stealth mode, all the way.
Thank you 🥰
Thank you for the behind-the-scenes look! This was super helpful.
Anytime!
This gold! Here’s to the next 52!
Thanks Jen🥂
Thanks for sharing your journey - it will inspire many others, including this guy.
Appreciate you, Anna!!!
You're so welcome, I'm happy to play a very small part in your own portfolio career journey. It's only the start ❤️🔥
Go gal!
Thanks Meggie ❤️
Yes it can
😊
God bless you and your family forever
Awesome application of AI! I tried it with a large sample of my articles and essays, but I asked ChatGPT to create the pie charts for me.
It wasn’t a surprise that 60% of my topics were health, well-being, personal growth, mindfulness, and intentional living. I was surprised that 30% were educational.
I absolutely using Chat for random stuff like this! I wasn't fully on board with its analysis but it pulled out some really interesting stats that are going to shape the types of topics I choose moving forward.
So interesting. I use Chat daily for many things, but this is a great use of it. How did you feed the information to generate the analises?
I pulled all my articles into a word doc and uploaded it. It took some time, but it was so worth it!
I see. Thank you! I will try it.
Congrats on one year! This was such an inspiring read! I love how you broke down the different tactics you used that helped you reach every milestone.
You're very welcome, it was fun to put together and reflect on all the things that worked to keep that line moving up and to the right! Feel free to steal any and all strategies 😊
All the best for the next 52 weeks!
Thanks!
This was so cool to read, I’ve had a pretty similar journey on a fairly similar timeframe. And it also has taken and continues to take a lot of experimentation and consistency. I also have been tweaking various ways to connect my Substack to my social and that’s been a whole journey but I have a few methods now that land
Thanks! I'd love to hear more about your journey - what's been working vs. not working for you?