Category: Social Media

HEAVY METAL EMAIL HITS 500 SUBSCRIBERS

I started my HEAVY METAL EMAIL newsletter in late 2021, writing all about email marketing in the magical music world, in a very niche sort of way. It’s not for everybody, and that’s just fine.

But it’s for 500 people right now, apparently.

This happened mostly without social media. I deleted Twitter, stopped posting on Instagram, and Facebook? My goodness, I never log in, really.

All that time saved creating “assets” for social media platforms, and “engaging,” now I just spend that time on writing. Hell, I moved to a summer schedule, posting just once a week, down from three times per week.

Most of the subscribers come from Substack, and recommendations from other people who also have Substack newsletters. And I picked up two new clients from writing the newsletter.

Maybe this “not being on social media” thing will work out fine.

UNENDING BLOAT

I know social media is a constant bombardment of images, video, and text, but I think the most jarring part is how it’s all different.

So for me it’s bike, anti-work, bands, podcast clips in audio form, cookies, more bikes, cool camper vans, bands, bands, bands, coffee…

It reminds me a little bit of flipping through the cable TV channels back in the day, but with even less friction. And it’s not just 75 or 100 channels, it’s unlimited. You can sit there for HOURS and (probably) never see the same thing twice.

It’s like sitting there with a bag of chips, or (for me) a bag of cookies. I can just mindlessly consume them with zero thought. But then afterwards, I’ve got nothing of value, I’ve lost time, and I feel bloated.

GOING OUTSIDE

I deleted my Twitter account 15 days ago, but I think I watched 10 hours of video on Instagram yesterday. Not literally, but it sure feels like it.

When we used to watch four hours of television a day, which would been four or five shows as we flipped around, now we watch four hours of videos on social media platforms and it’s from 10,000 different things.

After a nice six mile run yesterday (photo above), I was wiped out. So in the evening I was scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling. This kept me up, and then I got to bed late, which messed up my morning plans to travel for another adventure on Sunday morning.

Today I deleted Instagram from my phone. I feel like I gotta delete my account and just be done with it.

GET AWAY

Without Twitter (I shut down my account in early June, 2023) , what do I do now?

Well, I go outside more, wash my dishes, organize, go on bike rides, and talk on the phone more.

In this video below Jon Wayne talks about getting away from always being in the thing you wanna make (in his case, BEATS), and getting out and doing things that lend itself back to making beats.

Living a rich, well rounded, cultural life adds to your art.

Marlee Grace wrote about having someone else manage her Instagram:

I found that as I didn’t have access to my Instagram my interest in sharpening my website and offering came into clearer focus. I opened up my books for creative advising, saw opportunities for new classes, and started organizing plans for a new website. My ecosystem is so much more than an algorithmic grid.

Now that I’ve stopped focusing on tending to an app that many people don’t even use, I now have more time to work on things that can generate income, or give me joy, or fuck, just make my kitchen look nice.

And it’s not just about monetizing my hobbies or some shit. If anything it’s about not working – more bike rides, more running in the woods, more calm, casual conversations with friends.

So when it is time to work, I’m my best, most fulfilled self.

LONELY CONTENT MACHINES

I like this quote from New Creative Era:

THE CREATIVE STATUS QUO HAS MADE US LONELY CONTENT MACHINES
PRESSURED TO POST WITH UNNATURAL QUANTITY AND FREQUENCY
TO PURSUE OUR LIVELIHOODS AND EXPRESS OUR WORK
WE PLAY SOMEONE ELSE’S GAME

I’ve been thinking about that first line a bit, as I sort of felt isolated as a writer, as someone trying to offer up ideas. I feel like it’s me vs everyone, stacking up against everyone else trying to offer solutions and ideas in a busy, hyper-competitive world of music and culture.

Makes me think back to my high school days. I hung around creative musical people all the time, for years. The result was creative musical projects. These days, I’m not so creative with music anymore.

I wrote this in 2018:

We can’t do the “real life” thing if we’re scrolling through an app for hours a day. That’s not “keeping up” or “staying informed,” that’s taking time away from our creative pursuits! And emailing friends! Calling people. Have coffee with friends.

We are lonely content machines, cooped up in our rooms and studios trying to make everything ourselves.

The real life hangs and interactions came to an end in 2020 because of the pandemic, and I think it’s gonna take a minute to get back to that.

BYE, TWITTER

I joined in 2006, user number 2700 or so. Done. Later.

I also deleted the Metal Bandcamp Gift Club Twitter, too. We’ve got a buzzing email list, and an active Discord. No one was really signing up from Twitter, so fuck it.

My main email newsletter HEAVY METAL EMAIL got 38 new subscribers in May. One of them was from Twitter, so whatever.

And 30 or so a month is fine with me, because that’s 300 over the course of 10 months. If I get tired of Substack I can export them all and move somewhere else.

Will I miss things from other folks? Sure.

But I miss things because I’m not at the food court, too.

Or at a show three nights a week. Or a bar, or a group ride, or a group run.

I want peace and quiet, and that doesn’t happen on Twitter, or social media in general. If you’re reading this, you found me. Say hello: hi@sethw.xyz

ECONOMIC EVENTS

I haven’t posted anything to Twitter since May 8th.
Haven’t posted to Instagram since April 11th, aside from some Stories here and there.
I don’t remember the last run or bike ride I posted on Strava.

So when I saw this from Sara Eckel, something clicked:

If my husband and I go for a hike with our dog, Polly, nobody is making any money. If I snap a picture of Polly and post it on Instagram, I have turned this into an economic event. I’m providing Meta with personal data to sell to other companies, and free content to place alongside advertising.

If I asked you to send me all your photos and I would post them on my site, and then place banner ads on the site so I could make money, you’d tell me to piss off.

Well, that’s what social media platforms do, though with much bigger technology, and making a shit ton of money in the process.

Read the rest of ‘The People Who Don’t Want You to Sleep‘ for more.

FIVE EMAILS YOU CAN SEND TO YOUR FANS

This is my first big foray into a “service” for my HEAVY METAL EMAIL work, so let’s see how this goes.

This package ‘FIVE EMAILS YOU CAN SEND TO YOUR FANS‘ includes a Google doc of customized ideas and suggestions based around your creative project, and a personalized video from me explaining some of the ideas I present in the doc.

It’s FREE through the month of May, so get on it if you want it, cuz after that it’s $300, which will include an actual video / phone call to go with it.

ORDER HERE

Will this be a raging success for me? Can I quit my 800 freelance jobs and become a digital nomad? Probably not, but I’m gonna learn from this, and figure it out.

PROMOTE BY DOING

Since I’m done promoting things on social media, I should probably post about my new things here, right? Makes sense.

One of those things is a new HUNTERTHEN release, ‘ASCENDING TO THE DECOMPOSITIONAL TIMESCAPE.’

‘ASCENDING TO THE DECOMPOSITIONAL TIMESCAPE’ is a transport vessel to unknown, desolate worlds, destined for the monotonous hum of cold, futuristic data work lit by the glow of computer screens and datapads.

Since I’m spending less time on social media, I’ve put out a release in February, March, and April of this year (you can see them all here).

My last two sales on Bandcamp came from my Goodnight, Metal Friend mixes, not social media.

By putting out a mix every week this year, and also uploading them to YouTube, I’m getting more listens, all just because I’m putting things out consistently, and not spending so much time on social media.

And what about growing my HEAVY METAL EMAIL subscribers? How can I do that without social media? Well, that video interview I did with Laura Kidd led to my biggest rush of new subscribers ever.

While I did post that video a few times on socials, I wasn’t pushing for newsletter subscribers – I was sharing something big I did, without really asking for anything.

Do the big cool things, and maybe the subscribers and sales will come, maybe?