Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush have changed my approach to writing online in three significant ways. I am confident that building these habits will result in more engagement with people online:
1. Emphasize publishing (or “shipping” in their nautical terminology) —don’t revise endlessly or make sure something is “perfect” before sending it into the world.
- This helps me create consistently and lets me see what kind of writing sparks interest. Receiving quick feedback lets me improve and refine my focus while the content is still fresh in mind.
2. Don’t start a blog, just use Twitter to share my writing.
- This is one of the most powerful things I learned—I thought that writing a blog was the best way to share more in-depth thoughts online. But I dreaded the effort needed to start and maintain a website.
- It makes so much sense to use a platform I’m already established on and where lots of folks already gather regularly instead of having to build an audience from scratch and point people to an external site.
3. Focus on writing headlines that convey precisely what I am discussing so people can see at a glance if the article is for them or not. The more specific and niche, the better!
I’m still working on developing these habits, but am making progress with the encouragement of others in the January 2022 cohort. I’ve incorporated #1 by posting several atomic essays on Twitter that I would never have written at all if not for Ship 30 for 30.
I was pleasantly surprised by the interest generated by the essays, which was at least more than 0 likes and comments! And one person even said that an essay encouraged them in their work, which is meaningful and satisfying feedback that will keep me going.
If Michelle's story resonated with you, click here to hop aboard Ship 30.