Welcome to my two-week check-in for the 90-day #ContentStorm experiment. The motivation driving this:
- Will consistent daily writing help me grow my audience?
- Will it make me a better writer?
- Will this effort bring any opportunities whatsoever?
In short, the answer to all three questions is most likely “yes.” Now let me break this down.
Audience Growth
Any audience growth in only two weeks is minuscule and nothing to shout about. But just a couple of things I’ve noticed:
- People will hella follow you back on Medium (but that’s because everyone wants 100 followers).
- TikTok is an amazing place to put content—the follower growth there is amazing. I got 50 followers one night after using the “boop” sound. (I make Bengal cat videos @roaring20sbengals).
- Growth isn’t coming from the places I expected. For instance, I tweeted about running a Bitcoin lightning node on Twitter and that tweet blew up. I didn’t expect that! But apparently, node runners are a force. Happy to be a part of it!
Here’s what’s been disappointing so far:
Patreon continues to be a letdown. The platform is promising improvements for 2022. But the analytics tell me nothing and I can’t figure out what works there other than a certain topic now that I can see a trend emerging.
Of course, this is the point of posting online consistently. The more I write the more I can see trends! So at least I can say I learned something about the Patreon Reiki audience. But I also went through six years’ worth of Reiki client files. Those showed me clients were interested in the same things from my in-person sessions and classes. (I’ll write a separate blog about all that).
I am guessing I’ll have to post daily to both Patreon and Medium to get the proper amount of feedback. To do this, I’ll have to post shorter pieces. The idea for these platforms is to post shorter content more frequently; I get that now.
This Stuff is Kinda Cool
I’ve realized that the more I write, the more I want to write. Writing begets more ideas! The more I write, the more I come up with the NEXT thing I want to write.
Also, the more I write and put it into Grammarly, the more I can see my bad habits. I do write as I talk. Yay for being a conversational writer! Boo for having to go back and delete every “really” and “actually,” which don’t need to be there.
I’ve found a new passion for editing my main site, DestinyArchitecture.com, which contains five years’ worth of blogs. I went through and deleted a bunch of blogs that no longer resonate with me or reflect my coaching practice. Delete. Kill. Rewrite. Let go!
Going Forward with This Challenge I Will…
- Continue to write daily, but shorter pieces for Medium & Patreon. I hypothesize that daily writing will help me beat the Patreon algorithm. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that you have to write daily on Medium.
- Most likely, I will give DestinyArchitecture.com a makeover. That may happen soon or at some point in the next 2.5 months.
- Spend more time on the podcast. I’ve spent so much time on my writing that the podcast has gone unloved these past two weeks. I have guests to book and need to figure out this video thing already!
This brings me to my final point—finding balance. To me, this is the hardest part of being a creator. My brain moves fast and has ideas that move 1,000 MPH. But there’s only so much I can do in a day. So I’ve tried hard not to burn myself out. I know if I get overly tired, I’ll try to convince myself to skip a day.
No matter how “tired” or “overwhelmed” I’ve felt at any point so far, I’ve just pushed through. I’m just a honey badger who refuses to give up!
If you want to make sure to stay up to date on my #ContentStorm effort, follow the hashtag on Twitter @WriterHeatherL and sign up for the weekly newsletter I sent out Monday nights.
Writer Heather Larson 