Founder of the Social Media Escape Club
From ‘3 Ways to Amplify Your Creator Gravity,” by Alice Lemee:
LinkedIn posts and Substack notes and Skeets (that’s Bluesky for the uninitiated) are not dense. They extend your reach, sure, but they’re more like your planet’s atmosphere—thin, easily dispersed, and quickly forgotten.
Instead, you need density. When I say dense, I mean something that doesn’t have a 24-hour life cycle and can’t be plucked from the top of your head.
This sounds about right:
“No one wants to take a risk. Not elected officials. Not 19-year-olds picking college majors. Because in this economy, everything is compliance now. As the Italian philosopher Umberto Eco warned in his essay “Ur-Fascism,” social systems don’t collapse overnight. They erode through small surrenders, through the gradual normalization of compliance as a civic virtue.”
From ‘Compliance is the New American Dream‘ by Kyla Scanlon.
Noah Kalina from “Newsletter #178 – The Chicken Camera.”
“Sometimes the best thing we can do as artists is simply create the conditions for interesting things to happen and then just get out of the way.”
Creating the conditions for interesting things to happen. Yes. That’s why I started my newsletter back in 2021 (here’s the first post). Write about the stuff I want to write about. Maybe other people will enjoy it.
From that, interesting things have happened from Social Media Escape Club.
I did two interviews today:
Being yourself, human marketing and more with Tim Bailey
I’ve found I really enjoy having conversations like this. For better or worse, Substack makes it stupid easy to do a live interview via the app, which means the image quality is superb, and the audio quality is pretty good, too.
“when you’re living according to your values, immersed in nature, and putting your talents toward things that matter to you, life becomes easy.
There is no cognitive dissonance, no exhaustion, no fear, no guilt. There’s peace and ease in everything, and a rhythm to it. The sense of freedom that comes from refusing to wear the itchy mask anymore gives you energy and optimism, which you channel into your projects.”
Katherine Pomfret
Before seeking more (subscribers, audience, fans), seek flow. This is something I bring up a lot through my Email Guidance offering.
Is your website set up in a way that pulls people in? Or is it a bunch of links to third party platforms that seek only to monetize and collect data from your fans?
Does your sales page include comforting and informative videos about what you offer? Or do you only post those sorts of videos on Instagram for just 3% of your followers to see?
Does your store have more than one item (this one from Laura Kidd) in stock?
We want to expand and grow our audience, but stepping back and making subtle changes to our current operations might be a better place to start
I do a thing called Email Guidance, which sort of replaces my 1:1 Zoom call offering which I’ve done with clients, mostly through my Social Media Escape Club newsletter.
I want to offer something without paying for something like Podia or Teachable which are $30/mo and more, plus 5% fees!
So I figured an email offering could work. Potential clients could email me their obstacles, I reply with my guidance, along with a Strip payment link.
Some people click and book, some don’t. Either way I’m gaining insights on my readers, and the guidance I provide can easily be repurposed as future newsletters or videos.
Try it. The first email is free.
Love this from Natalie Brite:
By shifting from competition to collaboration, you:
Create sustainability—because you no longer have to do everything alone.
Build trust & credibility—because people respect businesses that uplift others.
Challenge the corporate model—because small businesses thrive in community, not isolation.
Social media has led us to believe the idea of the lone genius. We figure everything out on our own. Growth as the singular focus.
What’s the old adage? To go fast, go alone. To go far, go with others.
AI won’t replace you but AI-enhanced freelancers will.
If you’re not using AI to streamline your workflow, automate admin tasks, or turbocharge your creativity, you’re already losing to those who are. It’s pointless to try to fight technology, become comfortable with it and own it! This will give you the time to do the tasks you need to focus on and be present with potential clients and collaborators.
AI-enhanced freelancers. Damn, it’s true.
I use chatGPT to do some very basic, menial formatting work for me, across several of my clients. If I did it all “by hand” I’d be adding hours every month of busy work. Not worth it.
(via ‘How to freelance in 2025‘ by xavografica)
Like it or not, some folks are going to settle for crap AI to fill up the sections on their business websites, or write bios for their bands.
But those aren’t our clients. We don’t wanna work with them anyways.
You and I are going to work with people who would never THINK to use AI for that sort of thing. We’re not seeking clients who are looking for shortcuts. If they want a shortcut, they’re likely not reaching out to us.