The Power of Showing Up Online
‘Put yourself, and your work out there every day, and you’ll start meeting some amazing people.’ — Bobby Solomon
I’m a huge fan of the Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal podcast. Recently, I was listening to this episode where he interviewed Nathan Barry, the CEO of ConvertKit. They talked about the importance of writing every day, building a system that suits you and prioritising what you know you should do.
Often, you come across a podcast or a blog that pumps you up and sends you down a couple of days of exploration, goal setting, and discovering new ideas. That’s what this episode did for me.
It’s a little over 2.5 hours and worth every minute. But if you don’t have time to watch the episode, here’s a gist along with my thoughts. Plus I wanted to document what I learnt so that I can look back and draw inspiration.
Without any further ado, let’s jump right in.
1. Teach everything you know.
Nathan said- we have this idea that only experts can teach. But the thing is people don’t teach because they are experts. We perceive them as experts because they teach.
This is why so many small creators share everything about their craft online. Writers talk about writing, designers talk about design principles and so on. In doing so, people are more likely to perceive them as experts, even if they are not.
What can a beginner teach? Document things, share what you’re learning or what you have already learnt.
You’re more likely to learn from someone who is 2 steps ahead of you than from someone who’s 200 steps ahead. The reason is simple. The one who’s 2 steps ahead just went through the roadblocks you’re going through. The expert faced those challenges so long ago that they might not even consider them as a challenge anymore. They might still have the answer but won’t be able to help you the way the former can.
2. Write 1000 words every day.
Nathan wrote 1000 words every day for 600 days and it changed his life! (Ali read your mind- What the f***!)
You might have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, Ali asked them all.
Q. Do you write on weekends too?
A. Yes, because if you’re committing to something, you might as well commit to it fully.
Q. What if you’re sick or on vacation and miss some days?
A. You can adjust the 1000 words a day a week before or after. Say you know you’ll be on vacation for a week. So you can up the word count to 1500 a day for a week before and after that. Or whatever suits you.
Q. How do you generate ideas?
A. The more you write, the more you’ll have to write. If you want to write an ebook, outline the chapter and create separate folders for each. When you start writing, you can simply pick which topic you want to elaborate on that day.
Q. Does that mean you publish every day?
A. No. The goal is to make writing a habit and create a publishing schedule. It could be every day, once a week or a few times a week. You can even work towards writing an ebook which you’ll publish at the end of a month.
(Some other entrepreneurs I look up to believe in publishing every day instead of writing every day. Both are great goals. Do whatever works for you.)
3. Run a personal blog.
Don’t worry about making it perfect or professional. Nathan says- make sure it’s at least a notch below perfect. People want to know about you, who you are, your interests, and what you do.
Ali mentioned how much joy it gives him whenever he discovers a personal blog. Your blog should be easy to get lost in. Make it your space and document stuff for you to look back on.
You can start on Medium or Substack, both of which cost nothing and already have an audience which makes your writing more discoverable.
My favourite personal blogs (that I’ve got lost in one too many times)-
Ps, I discovered 3/4 of these people through Ali’s videos.
4. You set the pace.
Whether you want to get something done in a couple of years, which is fine because some
things should take a little longer, or you want to get it done immediately is your choice.
Schools are designed to go at the pace of the slowest child. A lot of jobs are designed this way too. But in reality, you can go as fast as you want, taking however much time you need.
Nathan talks about his childhood and how he was homeschooled. There was this one day when Nathan really wanted to play in the snow but he had homework. He went to his mom. And what she told him had a huge impact on him. She said- you can complete your homework whenever you want in the day as long as you do it. When you do or how long it takes you to do it does not matter.
5. Work in public.
Share your process online. (Check out Austin Kleon’s book ‘Show Your Work!’ which is all about this)
Nathan lives by these 3 quotes that are framed on the wall in his home office:
- Create everyday
- Teach everything you know
- Work in public
Working in public essentially means taking the readers behind the scenes. Even if there are no readers yet, document the behind-the-scenes for yourself. (Btw, if that’s the case, I’d love to be your first reader)
Share your learnings in public, what content you consume, who you look up to, what you’re building on the side or even your work.
If you have a blog or newsletter or write on Medium/ LinkedIn/ Substack or anywhere else, share the link in the comments. I’d love to check it out!
Also, how do you generate ideas to write?
Thank you for reading!
