I’m Building In Public And It’s Not As Bad As I Thought It Would Be
Keeping it simple was the right decision
A couple of months ago, I wrote this piece about a major pitfall of building in public — the stress of having to fall flat on your face in public if you fail.
There are definite cautionary tale vibes in that piece. At the time, I was still on the fence about committing to Medium, and I was unsure about putting my heart and soul into a writing venture and having it flop. Not just because of the competition — that’s a given on any platform — but because historically, I’ve been bad at building a presence online. I’ve tried multiple times to start an Instagram blog, and last year I created a Substack that flopped after seven posts.
Consistently showing up and being interesting to an audience just didn’t go with my introverted ADHD personality — or so I thought.
But it’s been three months since I’ve been writing on Medium with focus and intention, and I’ve been enjoying myself hugely. The money is yet to pour in (although there has been an uptick), but that’s okay because I’m just starting out. And the response I’ve been getting from readers and followers is truly humbling.
Why has this time been different? I can state reasons, but when you read them, they’ll read more like outcomes. And that’s because they’re both. Cause and effect have blended beautifully to propel me onward and keep me coming back to Medium with ideas I’m excited to share. Of course, it helps that long-form content comes naturally to me, but I needed more than that to build a sustainable practice. Here’s what made that possible.
Finding my niche (finally)
When I started writing on Medium in August 2022, I had no clue what my niche was.
Like many of you, I just wanted to write whatever my heart desired. But, like many of you, I had read over and over that a niche was vital to making it big online.
So I compromised — I started by writing articles on any topic I wanted.
And while doing so, I paid attention to what ideas came to me most often and which pieces felt most natural to write.
Gradually, I started noticing myself gravitating toward three main topics:
- Literary fiction
- Solopreneurship as a literary fiction writer
- Solopreneurship with ADHD
And once I identified those as my themes, it got a lot easier to develop ideas and outlines for pieces.
Building broad-spectrum rules
With ADHD, the structure is a double-edged sword.
I need it, obviously, to prevent my brain from running riot. But too many rigid rules and I start panicking about them and falling behind and feeling bad about myself.
That’s why I started creating more flexible systems for myself. I’ve decided to call them “broad-spectrum rules” (because who doesn’t like coming up with their own fancy-sounding concept?). Like broad-spectrum antibiotics that work on a bunch of germs, broad-spectrum rules are rules that leave a lot of room open for creativity and the vagaries of life.
My slow mornings are an example of this. So are the writing habits I’m deleting from my life (while still leaving a large range of habits I can experiment with).
On Medium, my broad-spectrum rule is — to publish 15 articles a month.
I can write on the topics I want, in the publications I want. Even if something isn’t accepted anywhere and I just publish it on my own page, that’s okay. As long as I’m sharing 15 articles a month.
Six months ago, the notion of writing 15 articles a month would have been a massive anxiety inducer.
But thanks to the previous step, I already know what niches I’ll be writing in, which gives my thoughts some direction. The rest is just a matter of doing it, as I explain in the next bit.
Proactive planning and prepping
15 articles a month is a considerable number. Here’s how I’m making it happen without getting overwhelmed:
- Since I know I must publish 15 a month, I start preparing for those 15 in advance. I note down ideas, make outlines, and write out small sections. This makes it easier when the month begins and it’s time to start sending things out.
- I’ve gotten into the habit of outlining by hand. My thoughts flow so much more freely with a notebook and pen.
- At least three times a week, I try to come up with ten new headlines. I want to make this a daily practice, but three times is already a huge improvement over what I was doing earlier, which is just waiting for ideas to come to me (not a good idea).
- Whenever I’m on the go or have a few spare minutes, I pull up the Medium app and see if I can make progress on any of my drafts, even if it’s just a clever turn of phrase.
I respect creators more
When I started out, I was extremely skeptical about creators and the claims they made about how much money they earned online.
I still think there are many unscrupulous people out there. But I also have a lot of respect for the process that goes into becoming a consistent and successful online creator.
Justin Welsh is a prime example. For those who don’t know, he talks about solopreneurship on LinkedIn and has a following of 412,000.
None of his posts are groundbreaking in terms of insight. And he repurposes a lot.
But he’s excellent at writing each post such that it feels pressing, urgent, and fresh.
I have stopped and read many of his posts and felt inspired to do something immediately — even if I’d read a similar post from him just a few days ago. And that’s the hallmark of effective writing — moving the reader to action!
I respect the work that goes into creating that pipeline of inspiring content. And I have massive respect for how he became a multi-millionaire in under five years.
I’ll be frank, even six months ago I thought his posts were a waste of time. But I was wrong. And I don’t mind eating humble pie on that count.
Less stressful than I’d feared
This, I’ll have to say, has been a process.
I used to think I’d have to be on a bunch of channels right away — Twitter, Substack, YouTube, etc. It was super anxiety-inducing: how on earth do I keep creating that much content every day???
I decided eventually to put the other channels on hold and commit to Medium. It was a smart move. Maybe I’d grow faster if I had one other channel, but I’m not ready to be consistent on another channel yet. If I were to try, I wouldn’t do well — and that would upset me and derail all the progress I’ve made so far.
In the future? I might explore other channels — if and when I feel ready and I have a pipeline of content that’s uniquely suited to that platform. I’m in no rush.
Less fear about things not working out
This goes completely counter to what I said in that piece about building in public.
The secret? I know now that if one idea fails, there’s plenty more where that came from.
My Medium draft folder currently has 120 drafts. Any individual draft may get any number of views (including zero), but when I have 120 articles out there, chances are they’ll add up to a fair number of reads. I don’t need to agonise over each piece’s performance, because I know I have 119 more to back it up.
The same goes for any future channels I set up. As I said, I’ll start one only when I have clear goals and a solid pipeline of content. But even if any video/podcast episode/Tweet/LinkedIn post flops, I won’t stress — because I’ll have a whole lot more waiting in line for their turn.
And the simple fact is that the more I create, the better I get at creating content, and the better my chances of success are on Medium and any other channel I take up. So I have even less reason to be scared!
Takeaway
I used to be skeptical about building in public.
Turns out, what I was skeptical about was building the fast-paced way.
As an ADHD solopreneur, I’ll always have to make adjustments for my mental health needs. I can’t just wake up and make a bunch of changes, no matter how objectively good those changes might be. I have to add them, one by one, and wait for them to fit in before adding more.
It’s how I started with my slow mornings, then added other lifestyle adjustments. Most recently, I’ve been working on being more consistent with my workouts and building a training regime for some tough summer hikes.
Building gently and organically, without any self-flagellation — that’s how I do best. And that’s what maximizes my chances of staying the course on any new path I take up.
I’m pumped about what I’ve done on Medium so far, and I’m even more pumped about what lies ahead. Writing has always been my happy place and I’m so, so glad that I finally get to turn it into something meaningful for other people.
To learning, growing and always moving ahead. :)
