A Growth Strategy for Honest People

A quick note before I get started. Kristina God, MBA mentioned that she’s putting on a bootcamp with Fleur Hull. I know Kristina from my Medium days and she’s awesome. When I decided to take Substack seriously, I subscribed to her newsletter and she gave me the boost I needed. Kristina offers great information and I consider her a friend. I’ve messaged Fleur a few times, but we haven’t been able to schedule a meeting yet, but I hope to do that at some point. You can find the details of her bootcamp here. She also gave me the discount code CELEBRATION which allows you to participate for $149. If you’re looking to jumpstart your Substack, I think this would be a good value bootcamp (it’s three days of classes plus a question and answer day). I’ve offered to stop in for a session, so we’ll see if they take me up on that. Feel free to DM me with questions if you have any. I look forward to the days when I can do some writing camps instead of all this political stuff—but we don’t get to choose the challenges of our times! Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offHello Everyone!After my extended break, I’m going through what feels like a soft reset. I’ve been working really hard since the 2024 election (and before). Throughout that time, I haven’t had that many opportunities to stop and reflect.To be honest, I didn’t really want to take a break. I wanted to push through right to the midterms, but I’ve come to realize that my body couldn’t take the stress. I’m at the age where my kids are starting to look out for me a little bit, “Dad, take it easy.” I don’t mind that at all if I’m being honest.After the 2024 election, I was scrambling to talk to as many people as possible. We were all dealing with the truths that election forced us to recognize about our country. Since then, the media landscape has transformed. Right now, the right controls the treasury, so there’s a lot of money being spent on right wing and center-right ideas. However, if you have an alternative perspective, you also deserve a platform.I’ve also seen that change seems to be accelerating. A year ago, nobody wanted to talk to DSA candidates. Today, they’re on a hot streak and they’re winning primaries. The voters are indicating that progressive ideas are the policies they like. Unfortunately there’s still a tidal wave of legacy media that is committed to repeating the same old talking points we’ve heard since Ronald Reagan. They weren’t true then and they aren’t true now. But people are still regurgitating that nonsense out of habit.In 2024, I was using the same outdated tactics for growth that everybody used. Mainly, you look for larger platforms and you collaborate for exposure. To that end, I did a lot of lives with former media celebrities and other known figures.However, I’ve come to see that there’s a flaw in that strategy. Often, those massive platforms are nothing more than an illusion. Although they boast huge follower counts, they really don’t get a lot of interaction with their content. The result is that even though it seems like you’re getting platformed by a celebrity, what’s really happening is that the celebrity is trying to steal your audience. They also want to coerce you into working for them for free.Exposure doesn’t pay the bills. The kicker is that you’re also not even getting any exposure.Another problem is that I’ve found the “established” personalities aren’t really interested in exchanging ideas. Instead, they want to dictate their beliefs and they become hostile if you offer any pushback. The establishment doesn’t make space for your opinions, and that’s not something I can stomach. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many platforms that lose their own independent voice because they want to protect their access to the celebrities of yesterday.This brings me to my first point about growth for honest people: do not surrender your integrity.That sounds easy, but the truth is that fame is addictive and the people who have held it and lost it are desperate to preserve as much significance as they can. They’re going to fight tooth and nail to suppress the voices of tomorrow as they try to protect their own dwindling significance. They’re going to act as gatekeepers and trick you into punching down. Do not fall into that trap.I strongly believe that the much more effective growth strategy is to collaborate with emerging voices. Sometimes emerging voices have 100 subscribers. Sometimes they have 10,000. Don’t be fooled by huge subscriber counts which are quite often false. Instead, look for engagement and look for people who are sincere.False media figures try to muscle into every situation and make it all about them. Look for people who are willing to share the spotlight. Elevate people like that, then go on to elevate others.As I sit here today, I feel very proud of the work I’ve done over the last two years. I have been deliberately trying to avoid scrolling for the last three weeks, so I’ve stayed off several social media platforms. When I jumped on today, the results I saw were dramatically different than what was available a few weeks ago.New voices are speaking out, and they’re being heard. I’m here for it!The Democratic Socialists are having a moment. People are fed up with status quo politicians and they’re casting their vote for change. Does that mean that DSA is perfect? Of course not. But I believe they are a group that can be pressured to do better. What we know from recent history is that neither the GOP nor the DNC is willing to listen.It’s unfortunate that so many people have been deceived by the promise of proximity to power. It’s becoming more and more clear that the neoliberal or centrist viewpoint is going extinct. That’s a big reason why so many of the prominent voices from that ideology have moved to independent media. There’s no longer an audience for their ideas.I think the most important piece of advice I can give to new writers is to be true to your own voice. It’s easy to look at somebody who used to be on television and assume they have some secret knowledge about how to succeed in modern journalism. However, what’s become clear over the last two years is how deeply rooted corruption has been within every corner of our society.Merit hasn’t been allowed to rise to the top in the United States. Therefore, former celebrities were more likely to have been manufactured. They did not lift themselves up by their own bootstraps because that’s impossible.Throughout my life, it’s often felt like I’ve turned away opportunities. Even at the time, I sometimes doubted my instincts. But for me, writing is sacred. I won’t tell lies just to ingratiate myself with people of influence that I don’t truly respect. There have been a lot of times when I hit “publish” knowing that I was going to cut off relationships. In the end, it was never me that decided to end an association. It always comes from people who become offended when I indicate the facts that discredit the establishment narrative.Some people become very angry when you mention facts.Today, I feel validated. I am seeing a larger and larger community standing up for the values that I’ve held for a long time. These people have always been there, it’s just that they’re only now finding the courage to speak. The establishment is still trying to suppress them, but there are too many voices rising up! We don’t need kings. We need a collective of courageous creators whispering in harmony. That becomes a roar!There are no shortcuts. When some recognizable name approaches you acting as if they want to be your friend, more often they want to coerce you into becoming one of their unpaid advocates. At this point, everyone in this country has had a crash course in narcissistic abuse. We recognize the traits and we’ve developed a strong rejection response.Once the wind shifts, change starts happening fast. Some people are early adopters. After a while, you’ll see the opportunists come in. I predict that we’ll see a massive change in the attitude of many of the former celebrity journalists as they realize corruption no longer pays the bills. They’ll start attempting to present themselves as “reformed.” Remember what side they were on when it mattered the most.Above all else, listen to that little voice that warns of danger. That voice is all too easy to ignore, but the more you focus on listening the louder it becomes. You know who the good people are. They’re the ones who make you feel good when you listen to their lives or read their articles. Integrity resonates. Con artists can make deceitful ideas sound reasonable, but some part of you always recognizes when the words ring false.Listen to that!Seek the truth!I look forward to doing what I can to help platform the next round of creators and political candidates. I was one of the first landing places for so many people who have achieved levels of influence far beyond my own. That makes me happy. We need to reach out to help people of integrity. Nobody is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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