substack = the modern creatives linkedin?

When I talk about the early days of social media I feel like an older generation speaking about how simple life used to be. That twinkle of nostalgia in my eye. “Back when I started an instagram page it was just pictures and some filters.” A quick sigh while reminiscing on the simpler times.

Friends, it was fun.

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You were able to have a creative idea, put it into fruition, and have it judged by your peers or client base not by the algorithmic gods measuring it against “is it going to make our users spend more time on the app so advertisers invest more money?”

I still remember the day I was introduced to instagram by two 12 year olds that had ridden bikes to the clothing store I was managing. They were taking pictures in public (before this was the something that is a given norm in modern culture.) As a perpetually curious person, I asked them about what was happening. They showed me instagram and how they were adding filters and sharing pictures with followers etc. I had been using Facebook to upload photos to a business page for a while for that store which worked decently but the view of not having to sift through people’s status’ and written posts and group posts to see an image seemed entirely more ideal. The customer’s eyes would just be on our post. Full screen. No side menus. The interface was so simple and clean, allowing your own products to be the full center of attention. It had that new, exciting, shiny energy to it.1

Instagram was and still is a life changing tool for business owners and modern creatives. The platform is ideal for monetization. It’s how so many of us shop. With businesses directly giving you daily samplings of their inventory, influencers showing you their curations from the internet, or entertainers capturing your attention and sneaking some ads in in their bits. It truly is a modern commerce hub like nothing we have seen in the past and I think it will remain that way for a while (and if I see data telling other wise, of course, I will let you know.)

But what about those of us that are looking to have bigger conversation about our businesses that aren’t just selling? The ones who have been able to use said social selling as a way to make a new framework of entrepreneurship. I love talking about what’s going on in the modern business world in a practical, straigth-forward, collaborative way (and not set to trending audio, for the love.) Unfortunately, that’s not really the intent of of the sites we built our businesses on.

I did dip my toe into Linkedin2 watering hole to see if it could fill that gap. I do think having a presence there is smart for a business owner and especially important for the tech solutions arm of my business I am building out. But it’s just so corporate. It doesn’t give the vibe of creative entrepreneurs trying to grow businesses the non linear way.

So that leads me to Substack. They have been rolling out new features like DMs, notes, paid subscriber chats that feel like they are taking the best features of other sites without the rest of the not so greats. I have been using it as a consumer for a few years and a writer since January, and I have to say, I’m getting those early Insta vibes. Innovative business leaders like are popping on to give a broader view of their takes on life, other businesses they admire (video on that below!), and life in general outside of the brand itself. There is a lot of community involvement and much fewer trolls. People are having convos- not just throwing one liners at each other.

So all this to say, should you drop everything and start a substack? No. But do I think it could be a smarter part of a long term play that’s simple to start investing in now and be an early adapter? Absolutely. I see the social media business owner generation that is looking for a place to hang outside of work (TT and Insta) but not at their CPAs office (linkedin)3

I just ported all of my podcast episodes over here as well which took a very simple 5 mins and I love how they organized they look!

Here’s a video on how I turned a 60 second read into 5 mins!!!! (but also more about what is exciting me on Substack)

Also- I am finally working on a place for all of my nerdy (but useful!!!) tutorials and business takes and it will be here on substack!!!! I am working on a paid community/ private newsletter so share all my hacks and keep you guys up to date on what’s I’m excited about in the small biz world!! Stay tuned!4