What Happens When an Introvert is Forced to Self-Promote
How I ended up with the highest-grossing article on Coffee Times Substack
In January I entered the Coffee Times challenge as a BootCamp for my newsletter. I wanted to use this opportunity to solidify my writing habit. This is the story of how I broke my own barriers and exceeded my own expectations.
The challenge required me to get 100 likes on my substack article. These likes are not like medium likes. Each person is only allowed 1. So, I needed 100 individual people on planet earth to give me a heart. My writing life is mostly kept secret from friends, extended family, and acquaintances. So this was an enormous challenge for me. If I put together all the people I could force to like my article, I would still be below 15.
How I got my 100 likes
Let me tell you, I am exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. All this socializing and connecting is draining, but don’t get me wrong, I am loving it. I wouldn’t change it and would do it all over again.
So how did I do it? — Sheer shameless self-promotion. On Twitter. In retrospect, I think it would have been smarter to do what Tamil did and promote the article on Substack itself. I, however, already had about 1300 followers on Twitter which I wanted to connect with too. So, it began.
I never sent a ‘thank you for the follow message’ to any of my followers and now I regretted it deeply. I had never really connected with anyone in my audience on Twitter and now I realize the importance of it.
I tweeted about my article, some friends retweeted it, but I wasn’t getting much traction. So, I turned to DMs. I messaged countless people sending them my article and asking for them to leave a ‘like’. The challenge with substack is, it requires you to set up an account and not many people are willing to do it. Many people flat out replied back saying no.
As I started DMing people I noticed some people were actually kind enough to click on the heart on my article and some even made accounts just to leave a heart. Many people went ahead and even subscribed to my newsletter. The kindness of strangers filled my heart with joy.
The kindness of strangers
What started out as a challenge requirement fulfilling quest, turned into an emotional journey. I connected with so many writers through DMs. I taught one writer how to make Chai. I met 3 other writers who live in the same city as me, and I connected with at least 4 other writers from my country of origin.
I taught one writer how to make Chai. I met 3 other writers who live in the same city as me, and I connected with at least 4 other writers from my country of origin.
I have so many mini-stories to tell from all the people I connected with. I ended up retweeting and helping out a lot of other writers with their works in progress. There was so much empathy going around on my Twitter, I was getting addicted! I even found out some people I follow and love are writing books that I can’t wait to read— shout out to you Ellie Jacobson!
I stepped way out of my comfort zone when I started DMing people. I would never have done it if it wasn’t for this challenge. I took the time to actually read the profiles and connect with my followers personally, rather than blindly send DMs. I created a circle of kindness and gratitude around myself and this put in motion a barrage of likes. I ended up with the most viewed article on Coffee Times Substack. It gives me joy to still see it as the most popular article.
Rising together
I wanted to get the complicated qualification steps squared away before I lifted my head up to help others. Sort of like putting your own oxygen mask on before helping neighbors. To do that I needed to get my likes way ahead of schedule so I would have enough time to help others promote.
This challenge taught me some valuable lessons in empathy and renewed my faith in the kindness of humanity. So, I wanted to share the love. I started promoting everyone else’s articles on Twitter as well. But the retweets and love don’t end with the challenge.
Here is a shout-out to my friends in this challenge! Please help and leave a heart on all their articles here.
Ellie Jacobson, Ashley, Karen Schwartz, Tamil, Robert Shaneyfelt, Rhea Anglesey, Kathryn Eriksen, Marilyn Flower, Sharing Randomly, Libby Walkup, Rosa de Saron C. Yan Huang Jean Elizabeth Glass, Kathy K, Ida Johannesen, Drashti Shroff, and T Mann have valuable newsletters you stand to learn something from. I subscribed!
Please help and leave a heart on all their articles here.
Lastly, thank you Winston and Coffee Times for this unique learning experience and all your support!