Get ready for the re-brand 😉

This one is pretty special because Headshot Day at The Hive Wichita raised $500 for the Wichita Family Crisis Center!

The photographer is Karra Kostya.

Typeshare has just introduced templates for sub-atomic essays!

This is pretty cool for all you “I don’t have time” folks. Here’s my first sub-atomic essay, which took me minutes to write and comes in at exactly 108 words.

Not bad! Now, we can spread ideas on Typeshare, Twitter, Medium, and LinkedIn in bite-sized pieces while keeping up a simple, daily shipping habit. Love!

Let’s unpack how it went!

The first week of this newsletter went well!

• The first sign-up of an idea target audience member!

• A 17% open rate!

• ZERO unsubscribes from a legacy list I’ve kept since 2014 😊

• One rave review!

I put a TON of work into it!

I wrote it all of the week prior to its debut.

But I’ll be the first to tell you that spending hours on content won’t make it land. Work smarter, not harder. No one cares about the amount of work you put in. They just want to receive value.

This newsletter contained two exclusives for each intended audience:

• I offered a download on how to reprogram your subconscious mind (worksheet) for the legacy list who love yoga, personal development, Reiki, and meditation.
• For the new content creation/writing/solopreneur audience, I offered a Loom video showing how to evaluate companies that offer freelance writing gigs. It was a short-but-sweet video case study to help people spot green and red flags with a real gig of mine!

I also made promises about future content, which I’ll deliver in the next newsletter on Monday 4/11/22.

This is what building in public means to me. I’ve shared plenty of losses. Today, I’m glad to share a win!

You can see the first newsletter from 4/4/22 and sign up here.

When you’re ready to receive coaching on any of the above, you can book here.

This is one of those unspoken etiquette things to know, but I’m going to speak it.

It needs to be said:

No one is going to reach out and help you unless they see that you’re trying.

Try First. Do The Work. Ask The Questions Later.

This is one idea that proves itself true to me over and over again.

For example, this 👇

Just because I’ve been video editing for three whole months now with a fledgling YouTube channel (with 19 subscribers) doesn’t mean I can’t ask for help! It actually means this is exactly what I should be doing! I don’t ever want to be the “smartest in the room” or unable to humble myself and ask for help.

I may have made a lot of videos so far—but I know I can do much better.

What’s The Lesson Here?

Jordan reached out to help me because he saw I’d put in time and effort.

I wasn’t just another noob asking 20 questions before ever trying to get some points on the board. I’d been making thumbnails! Not all were this bad, but that was my worst one. I continue posting 5 videos a week to YouTube with various thumbnails.

You have to just begin without knowing all the things first and remember there are no free lunches.

This is how this atomic essay was inspired 👇

I had this fear as an early content creator.

I have friends who created pen names so they wouldn’t be “found out” for their side hustle. (Some still do this!) Which is fine, if you want to be a ghostwriter.

But if bylines and “getting your name out” as a writer / content creator matters to you, this is going to make you sweat 😥

The Problem With “Hiding” Your Writing

There have been many times I’ve chosen to take a writing job even though I wouldn’t be “seen.” I’ve done this in news and various forms of media. You do the work, but the world doesn’t know it was you who did it because someone else gets the credit—or no one does—but you get paid.

So you can eat.

But you’re hardly building a name for yourself. You are building a resume and getting paid, which is something to be proud of as a writer. But none of those gigs showed off that I am a writer with certain talents.

What Do You Want To Be Known For?

• If you want to be known as the next great journalist, then you don’t want to write for a news service that will give your byline away to someone more visible. (Been there, done that).
• If you want to be known for writing about 5-star dining options in your city, then you have to posture yourself to own that niche.
• Don’t get a job for a homeschooling website, “just to get your start,” if they’re going to “let you get exposure” in exchange for your hard work. Start your own thing. Own it. Grow it.

If you’re a new writer and content creator, you can benefit from hitching your wagon to someone else in order to get a foot in the door, get paid something, or gain exposure. I’ll never knock anyone for that! I’ve done it!

There shouldn’t have to be a choice between getting paid and getting credit for your work.

~my opinion

The best employers will give you both.

The best employers will encourage learning and won’t be threatened by whatever you choose to do on the side. If you’re a full-time worker who’s attached to a 40-hour a week job in order to get health benefits, I’ve been there. I know that it sucks and finding a balance between paycheck and passion is hard!

Let them have you for the 40 hours a week, but no more than that!

Don’t let them rent space in your head for the other 128 hours of your week. Don’t let it ruin your side hustle and hold you back!

Here’s more on how to deal with the fear of having your content creation side hustle be “found out” by an employer 👇

How To Get Over The Biggest Fear You Have As A New Content Creator: The Fear Your Employer Will Discover Your Side Hustle

The biggest side hustle fear is that an employer will become threatened…

I started out side-hustling in 2014 as a morning radio personality with an interest in Reiki. 

I had become a Reiki Master, made flyers, hung up my shingle, and started a blog. Of course, my employer didn’t want me to promote it on the air. I had to keep the two interests separate. 

They hadn’t let me promote my charity work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society either.

So Began My Long-Term Fear Of “Showing Up Fully” 

This “double life” led to a fear of success. 

What if the blog takes off? What if people who come to me for Reiki realize I’m the moring radio chick? What if… 

There were many ways my “paying gig” in radio held me back from showing up fully in Reiki, although I did well enough to subsidize my radio career. 

Do You Have To Pick One? 

Or can you live with each foot in two worlds? 

When doing Reiki, my mind would wander to all I had to do “at work.” When “at work,” my mind would wander to ideas for my Reiki business. Or I’d end up exhausted from trying to do ALL the things. 

To avoid burnout, eventually, something needs to be taken off your plate! 

Read. Your. Contract.

Get a lawyer to look at it. 

The biggest side hustle fear is that an employer will become threatened and say that the content you create online is their property, or that they will release you because your online activity doesn’t represent them well. These aren’t the types of employers to stay with; get out as soon as you can. 

The right employer will look with interest and admiration for your side hustle, not disdain.

Need help with goal setting? Try COMET Goals!

🚢 Ready to hop on the ship with us for the April Cohort of Ship 30 for 30? Sign up here!

I started a new site on Ghost so I could:

1. Experiment with Ghost, which is open-source.
2. I’ve wanted to bridge coaching & content for some time; this is a small step in that direction.

Check out my Ghost site in progress (as I like to build in public).

Why Ghost?

I’m experimenting to find out why.

My #ContentStorm experiment since 12/1/21 has brought me to a point where I am finding out what works for me and what doesn’t.

Patreon and Substack didn’t work out for me. Ghost replaces both. You can create a newsletter by subscription (free or paid), which replaces Substack. It also replaces Patreon because it gives you a membership site. Unlike Patreon, you’re not suck with its branding and Ghost doesn’t take a cut of your earnings.

Next Experiment: Trying Ghost for My Newsletters

I used to do a newsletter on Mail Chimp before I moved to ConvertKit. Then I found Revue, which made newsletters less laborious (but with fewer metrics available). I started a writing newsletter and saw how easy it was to drag and drop content I’d previously written on both Twitter and Medium.

I was sold.

That’s when I moved my email list for Destiny Architecture to Revue. Now I’ve been putting out two weekly newsletters during the entirety of my 90-day content storm!

Next week’s newsletters will be going out via Ghost. All I had to do was import each list and make labels for them to segment my audiences. (There are two now: Destiny Architecture for your life and for your business, the latter of which will be content-focused).

This is What Ghost Does On The Most Basic Plan

You can do a lot for $11/month. If you want to go hard and implement integrations, you’ll have to pay $25/month (obviously you’ll save on annual plans).

Yes, I checked; they don’t offer a way to migrate from Squarespace to Ghost at this time. Migrating to Ghost from Patreon is something they will help you do and they told me that would cost ~$300. Since I’ve already been repurposing that content to Medium, I decided not to do that.

But Ghost is open-source, so who knows what they’ll end up adding over time? I’m already loving my site. For the next cohort of Ship 30 for 30 in March, I’ll be experimenting with it.

If you’d like to join the March ’22 Ship 30 for 30 cohort, please consider using my affiliate link and I’ll see you on the ship!

Bonus: Writing in Ghost is much less clunky than writing in WordPress or Squarespace. It’s a much better experience! The interface just works.

Here's what you can learn from my 74-day writing streak so you can start your own! pic.twitter.com/UZ6xoCq6k3

— Heather Larson 🚢 ⚓ Jan'+ Mar '22 #Ship30for30 (@WriterHeatherL) February 12, 2022

To This, I’ll Add A Few Things Now That It’s Day 75

• The more you write, the more ideas you get.
• The more you write, the more you find your niche.
• The more you write, the more you seek inspiration.
• The more you write, the more you find inspiration.
• The more you write, the better you get.
• The more you write, the more you realize you suck.
• The more you write, the more you learn that you’re not half bad.

And so on…

Now, I’m Looking at Optimizing Performance

I’ve hit that point where I’ve written a ton now but still feel like I’m only getting started.

Clearly my niche is personal development. There’s long been the idea of Destiny Architecture being for your life. Now, I’m segueing into bringing out more of Destiny Architecture for your business. (There will be both!)

Heading into the next Ship30for30 cohort in March, I’ll be experimenting with some new things:

• I started a site on the open-source platform Ghost to replace prior experiments with Patreon & Substack (neither of which worked out).

• Niching down on what exactly Destiny Architecture for your business means—spoiler alert: it will focus on your content.

• As I improve my skills as a lightning node runner, I’ll be writing a little more about my lightning network learnings. Next up: tackling BTC Pay Server.

Yes, I’m Staying on the Ship!

I loved Ship 30 for 30 so much, that I accepted the Captain’s Table invite and signed up for the March cohort!

If you don’t yet have a daily writing habit, it will give you one. But I use “give” lightly as you’ll have to actually do the work. Not clean the house, not re-arrange the furniture, not get sucked into March Madness or spring weather—you will have to sit down at your laptop and do the work.

Ship 30 will also give you new friends and connections you wouldn’t have made otherwise with fellow shippers around the world.

It will begin to break every poor digital writing habit you have.

Ship 30 will break your ego and make you a more effective writer.

I’m happy to answer any questions in the comments or on Twitter!

If you want to join, here’s my affiliate link for 🚢 #Ship30for30!

I could also use about 980 more subscribers to my channel, so please subscribe!

Fearless 5 Podcast #206: How to Use FREE Online Courses To Pivot to a Marketing Career

I’ve Improved My Video Editing Skills This Month

When January began, I knew nothing about how to create a video. I spent an entire Sunday frustrated and cursing, trying to figure out how to go from audio editor to video creator.

I have now mastered basic video editing skills!

As you can tell, I’m laying two audio tracks in with a graphic in Premiere.

It’s a start!

I can now do the entire Fearless 5 Podcast in just under three hours:

• 5 Audio episodes (get ’em wherever you get your podcasts)
• 5 video episodes for Anchor (which go to Spotify)
• 5 video podcasts for YouTube

That’s 5 audio recordings I create, record, edit, and upload. Plus, I upload the videos (which I edit) to Anchor and YouTube. Then, I post the show notes on Destiny Architecture.

I Gained Two Major Skills This Month!

• 🚢Ship30for30 — I have learned to much about digital writing in January using Typeshare and learning from the January ’22 cohort!
• Basic Video Editing — I’m so glad I jumped in and powered through the initial frustration to learn this skill! Now, there’s a video version of the Fearless 5 Podcast on Spotify & YouTube!