And here's a link to that James Hart post.

Right now, it’s summertime—open rates are down, comments are down, “likes” are down. But when you hit send, that doesn’t mean you’re done. Especially if you’re on Substack, you have the direct URL for every post you send. Sure, it lands in inboxes, but that’s just the beginning.

I’ve moved all paid memberships to Memberful, and I’m now posting these audio entries here on Transistor. That means a new RSS feed, which you can grab here: https://feeds.transistor.fm/smec-currents

And all episodes are here: https://smec-currents.transistor.fm/episodes

This new podcast (called SMEC: Currents) isn’t listed publicly on all the major platforms, so I’d love if you shared it with your friends.

I’m not playing the game of formatting and optimizing for every platform. I’d rather spend my time writing the newsletter, doing our Zoom calls, and recording these podcasts for the people who are actually here, right now.

This is me putting my time where my mouth is. I want to own what I make and keep it on my site — not fully wrapped inside platforms I don’t control. Substack has issues lately (ahem), and that’s why my writing now lives on my own website where you can follow along via RSS.

Then the newsletter will still go out every week here on Substack, and it will stand on its own, and not just be links back to my site (this isn’t 2014).

I’m trying to keep things simple: make good stuff, share it directly, and skip the extra noise. If you want to listen to the new podcast, subscribe to the new feed below: https://feeds.transistor.fm/smec-currents

I make the thing, and the delivery person comes and picks it up. It goes on the truck, and then it’s out of my hands.

You’ve seen the disclaimers from online shops—‘we’re not responsible for what happens during shipping.’ I’m kind of feeling that for myself now. Once I hit send, I’m out.

I don’t want to look at the tracking details. I don’t need to know how fast it got there. I don’t want to care about the open rate 48 hours after I sent the email.

We’ve all done it—hit refresh to see if it got delivered, or opened, or clicked. But I don’t want that. I just want the message out the door so I can go live my life.

For reference:

• https://socialmediaescape.club/2025/its-supposed-to-be-quiet/
• Your newsletter isn’t your permanent address, it’s a delivery truck

Oh, and this is the Alex Dobrenko` interview where his guest Isabel Cowles Murphy talks about someone else who says writing is your legacy.

https://botharetrue.substack.com/p/how-to-write-about-the-vulnerable

Art is a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and it is intended to change the recipient for the better, often causing a connection to happen.

Five elements that are difficult to find and worth seeking out. Human, generous, risky, change and connection.

Read that full post here.

https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com/p/print-your-tour-diary-start-a-conversation

Keep telling people about the thing you do!

Inspired by this zine project by Kel Rakowski: https://rakowwwski.substack.com/p/the-zine-we-made-together

I riff on some small ways to collaborate: ask for summer memories, favorite songs, books, whatever.

Start small, ask a few folks directly, and let it grow from there.

Not everyone will engage—and that’s normal. You’re not trying to rally the entire stadium, just the ones in the front row.

“How do I get people to my WordPress,” is the wrong question.

Your blog and your newsletter should work together—your blog builds the archive, your newsletter delivers the value right where people already are.

Weave links into real writing. Offer substance in the inbox. Let readers wander deeper on their own, clicking a link on occasion. Don’t make it a requirement.

Feed the people that showed up, right where they are.

Where could you lead your current subscribers?

If you're a paid member you get two rounds of Email Guidance from me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF6bNA0nUWs

Just send an email to podcast@socialmediaescape.club and let me know what you’re working on!

It starts a bit after the 10:00 mark of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zcnK6Lx_p4

Are you chasing more? Or are there people right in front of you who still don’t really know everything you have to offer?

As I said in this episode, I think we’re so terrified of publishing our own videos and audio because it doesn’t look as good or sound as good as all the the hotshots on YouTube - but that’s why we need to do it!

We need more quiet, soft spoken podcasts. More videos about doing your thing even in bad lighting. Post it!

And oh yeah - Scott Perry! Subscribe to his work below. Paid subscribers can to join his Monday and Friday video chats. Good group of people on those calls! https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/

Look at how others are making their work, and think how you could adapt that into your own art.

Oh, and here is Gabby’s listening party that I mentioned! https://meandtimory.substack.com/p/listening-parties

I replied that instead of asking, "what should I write about?" try asking, "who should I write about?"

Your experiences, projects, and adventures likely involved other people, so write about them.

When you highlight someone in your newsletter, you can send it to them, which can spark conversations, build connections, and create momentum.

This human-centered approach bring more energy to your newsletter, especially in the early days when growth feels slow.

Success is different for everyone, and heck, you might not even be playing the game - and that’s fine!

But for a lot of us, trying to pay rent or get the new gig, we gotta get picked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBRuUj0pXAM

I explore this modern dilemma, and of course urge creative folk to be intentional about where they share their work.

“Let go of what’s no longer useful,” as Mr. Pizza puts it.

I’m also emphasizing the shift away from exhausting social media efforts and instead urging you to focus on email list building by sharing valuable work naturally (work you’ve already made), rather than simply screaming “sign up for updates!”

What’s your biggest struggle with growing your email list?

The stuff just comes to me a lot. So I want to get these out here, out and about.

And I really came to come to that from a conversation I had today with Amber Carnes. We got on the phone. We got on a Zoom.

That's how ideas come, is when you get talking to people and express this idea. Because I've seen other people do the voice note thing.

And yeah, Amber really summed it up of like, you know, we have these ideas and they all don't need to be a fully formed, fully produced podcast with editing and background music or a fancy video with lighting and perfect audio.

This is just going to be riffing from me. And you see me riff a lot on the Zoom calls and in the interviews that I do and writing these posts.

So this is just going to be more of that. And it's going to be in podcast form.