I Wrote Every Week for 6 Months. This is the #1 Lesson I Learned.
The one thing that no one talks about writing online.
August 1st, 2024 was the day I decided to take Substack seriously again.
Almost 7 months have passed since then, and I’ve written every week.
Damn, I’ve even written every day for some of those weeks.
Anyhow, I guess I could write a deep dive post where I would go through everything I’ve learned in the process:
How I created my writing schedule.
How do I get people to discover my publication.
Or how do I come up with strategies to monetize my writing…
But I’ll leave that for another time.
Today, I want to focus on the #1 lesson I learned after writing online for the past 6 months:
No online connection can match the impact of real, human interactions.
Just look at my last week only and you’ll see what I mean:
I started a ritual at work where we brew coffee every morning before starting our working bouts. This way we avoid the shitty coffee from Volvo Cars electric coffee machines.
I went on an After Work event with the colleagues of my consulting company and their families and we had great food and played Petanque.
I stayed late at my Volvo Cars office playing board games with my teammates who have very limited time for social activities because they have obligations with their partners and children.
I had two hard climbing sessions because it is a fun and very social way to exercise. I crushed my goals for the week and that always makes me feel good.
I played football for the first time this year. Played for two hours and ended up destroyed but happy. The winter is fading away and soon we will be able to play outdoors again.
I became friends with an Estonian climber who's into plastic arts, and I instantly hoped she might inspire my wife to pick up her pencils again.
I got sick on Valentine’s Day and fell asleep on my couch watching Princess Mononoke for the 27th time.
Even though I got sick on Valentine’s Day I still went to a salary discussion meeting with my manager and walked out of there with a great compensation increase.
Even though I got sick on Valentine’s Day I still called my parents and talked to them for an hour because I had not spoken to them in two weeks. Sometimes life gets in the way but you should always keep track of what’s important to you.
Even though I got sick on Valentine’s Day, I still went on a mini-date with my wife before she went to work a 9-hour shift at the restaurant where she works. And even though I was sick, we planned how to celebrate our Valentine’s Day on the 17th because the date is not really what matters.
Sorry if my week was a bit packed.
I assure you I could have written even more things here but kept it to what I consider the highlights.
Anyway, do you see what’s happening here, right?
All these things that you read in under 2 minutes took several hours to develop during the week, created memories and opportunities, and most importantly, happened with real people.
My latest attempt to simulate this in the digital world is to have conversations in real time.
One thing I’ve been doing lately and that I want to start doing more is to hop on a call with readers and writers on Substack.
I’ve had beautiful conversations around here:
- couldn’t believe I would share Substack tips and tricks with her on a free 30-minute call that extended a little bit.
- told me everything about his plan to write a Substack related to learning languages.
- took time on a trip to Spain to exchange our experiences on Substack.
- tried to sell me a $5000 program that would help me make $3000-$10000/month in the next 6 months and I wasn’t ready for it.
- and I struggled to find a slot to hop on a call for two days until we finally met last week and talked about possible future collaborations.
- likes my profile picture with an orange background and wants to challenge me at Paddel (Padel? Paddle? That game somewhere in between tennis and squash).
See now?
I mean, more perfect than that would be to meet in person and have a coffee while we chat.
And please, if you are ever in Gothenburg, Sweden, let me know and I’ll take you to my favorite coffee place.
That being said, writing online is a massive opportunity for career growth and relationship-building.
That is if you know how to play it right.
And I don’t mean to be the best writer or the best salesman or the best promoter of your work.
I mean doing the right things with your online presence such that you still have time to live your life without looking at a screen.
I mean stepping out of the “mere consumer“ status and stepping into the “creator“ area without letting it consume you as well.
And yes, I’m the first one to admit that sometimes it gets hard.
I am not an expert on the online writing game (yet), but I’m definitely onto something here:
I grew my newsletter to ~3700 subscribers.
Of which 77 are paid subscribers.
The open rates of my emails are at a solid 33%.
The newsletter is averaging 39k views per month.
The Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is $2500.
I’m not making up these numbers.
And even if maybe my numbers don’t compare to the Substack Behemoths, they are good.
They are excellent if you put them into perspective.
For example, this ARR is already covering my grocery expenses for the whole year.
This is no small feat.
Is something of which I am extremely proud.
And the best part is that this is just the beginning.
Because writing is a long game.
Is an infinite game.
And the only way to beat this game is to keep playing it as long as possible without burning out, without sacrificing your health, and without neglecting your real-life connections.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This is what I offer you.
Let’s make both you and me happy, ok?
I’m hosting a weekly workshop with the members of this newsletter who want to use Substack as the platform to build their personal brand, share their expertise, and make a few bucks in the process.
This way I get to see your face and experience a deeper connection with you and you get access to all my expertise after writing this newsletter consistently for the past 6 months now.
It’s a win-win.
If you want to join next week, I’ll leave the invite link below.
Stay deep,
Alberto
P.S. Here’s the invitation link 👇
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