May 20th, 2023: Greetings from Austin! My daughter turned 11 weeks this Friday. The last few months feel like a total blur but she’s sleeping a bit more at night and during the day so it feels like time is slowing down a bit. She’s smiling a bit and laughing with us. It’s one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. On to the newsletter…
This was super interesting! When I started Twitter, I joked with my friends that the goal was to get so big that I could pay someone else to do it. Which is also when I realized I had to rethink my approach. I can see how it makes sense if your page takes a life of its own and you don't want to manage it. It's comforting to know plenty of people are happy with their success even if others aren't.
I like this “This is WAY better than pretending to care about stuff to random clients in the service of keeping my career going” because I just had this conversation with a journalist turned executive. I tried to pitch “executive coaching” to a potential client and we just ended up talking about books for an hour. I said, you help me find outlets for writing, I’ll help you solve people problems. I’m so glad I found your writing via Michelle.
I’m surprised how much of my learning overlaps with ghostwriter’s.
Not chasing followers is already an established view, as people accepted that vanity metrics have little to do with how successful you are on these platforms.
Well that was great, thanks for sharing! Reminds me of that Instagram influencer who had a few hundred thousand followers and she tried to sell a few t-shirts. And she couldn't even sell like $100 worth of shirts. Blew her away. Didn't realize her audience was a mirage.
What a brilliant idea to interview a Twitter ghostwriter Paul. As someone who has dragged his feet forever on embracing Twitter, I found that super helpful. I actually feel encouraged, especially along with Michelle's equally empowering essay.
This was super interesting! When I started Twitter, I joked with my friends that the goal was to get so big that I could pay someone else to do it. Which is also when I realized I had to rethink my approach. I can see how it makes sense if your page takes a life of its own and you don't want to manage it. It's comforting to know plenty of people are happy with their success even if others aren't.
Thank you for sharing my essay!
I like this “This is WAY better than pretending to care about stuff to random clients in the service of keeping my career going” because I just had this conversation with a journalist turned executive. I tried to pitch “executive coaching” to a potential client and we just ended up talking about books for an hour. I said, you help me find outlets for writing, I’ll help you solve people problems. I’m so glad I found your writing via Michelle.
Thanks for doing this interview. I did the growth hacking thing myself between 2021-2022.
I’m pretty open about it and share all the bad things that came from it. Here’s one: https://akoskm.substack.com/p/i-was-doing-social-media-wrong-all
I’m surprised how much of my learning overlaps with ghostwriter’s.
Not chasing followers is already an established view, as people accepted that vanity metrics have little to do with how successful you are on these platforms.
Well that was great, thanks for sharing! Reminds me of that Instagram influencer who had a few hundred thousand followers and she tried to sell a few t-shirts. And she couldn't even sell like $100 worth of shirts. Blew her away. Didn't realize her audience was a mirage.
What a brilliant idea to interview a Twitter ghostwriter Paul. As someone who has dragged his feet forever on embracing Twitter, I found that super helpful. I actually feel encouraged, especially along with Michelle's equally empowering essay.