I Know I'm Selling A Lot Lately

An honest letter about blogging and selling

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

Hey friends!

I’m going to get really vulnerable in this letter, so I hope you’re ready.

I’ve undergone a seismic shift creatively in the last 6 months.

I went from this guy who was all about real, raw, human writing to “shilling” AI. I get it.

And on top of that, I started launching new things left and right.

• February: The NoteSmith tool

• March: The NoteFinder tool

• April: The 45-Day Notes Challenge + The Notes Underground

Etc. etc.

As I write all that up right now, I can see how it’s been overwhelming.

I used to write four free posts a month—completely free—and now it’s like I got a brand new tool that I spam you all about every few weeks.

As creators, we’re constantly trying to find the balance between creating with our WHOLE HEART and making some money from it. It’s such a hard balance to strike.

Too little selling and you make no money.
But too much selling? Everybody thinks you’re a “sellout.”

First, I wanted to let you know that in the future, I won’t spam you with 5+ articles a month selling every one of my latest tools.

I’ll maybe write one email about it, and then let you be.

My big courses, though? I’ll try to keep my emails about them minimal, too. Maybe 2-3 emails max for each of them.

I got something else I want to discuss, though..

---

On Evolving As A Creator

I’ve been writing online since 2015, and I’m NOT the same person now that I was back then.

I’ve undergone so many evolutions as a creator.

• I used to be a freelancer in 2015.

• I used to be a travel blogger in 2016.

• I started a successful Medium publication in 2017, so I blogged about growing on Medium.

I mean, if I showed you what I wrote back in 2015, you’d gasp in horror.

When I started writing about blogging more in 2017, much of my “freelancing” audience tuned it out.

When I quit vlogging about the Philippines in 2021, people stopped following me then, too.

That’s okay. That’s part of evolving as a creator. I’m not going to shame ANYONE for not following me into a new stage..

---

It Is A Huge Risk To Evolve As A Creator

But at the same time, can we recognize that “evolving” is a huge freaking risk for all creators out there?

I mean, you’ll be lucky if 10% of your audience sticks with you.

For creators, it’s the scariest thing in the world to plant your flag in a new place, because your current home is probably profitable and comfortable. Why would you screw that up?

Furthermore, it takes extra cajones to plant your flag in a new place that you know your audience will actively hate. Aka AI. 😅

It’s basically creative suicide. So why did I do it?

Because I believe in it! With all my heart. I was an AI skeptic, like many of you, then I gave it a chance and realized how truly game-changing it really is. It’s insane.

I have found gold, and I want to show you the mine.

Yes, I’m selling a lot. But you know why? Because I believe in this stuff with all my heart. I’ve seen people use my tools to write viral Notes that generated thousands of subscribers for them in weeks.

This was impossible years ago. I’d have to look at people’s work, burning hours of my time, just to make sure it was good enough. Now? Just use my tools for $20/month.

AI is THAT big of a deal, yes, and it marks the biggest seismic shift in the creator economy in, well, EVER. I’m sorry that I’m excited about that! 😆

---

Explosive Growth Only Comes When You Arrive Early

When I made the shift from Medium to Substack in 2023, I got hate mail, guys. I did. I got people telling me “I’M STICKING WITH MEDIUM!” and crap like that.

Now, in 2025, I see a mass exodus from Medium to Substack, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. In 2024, just months after I switched to Substack, I discovered Notes, which helped me grow my newsletter by 10,000 subscribers in months.

How was that possible? Because I got here before everybody else. I went all-in on Notes before it was “cool.” The early bird got the worm. And now everyone’s coming to Substack from Medium, wanting to grow on Notes.

You can definitely still grow on Notes, but guess what? You’re not going to see the same growth I did, because you already missed the boat. Why did you miss the boat? Because instead of adapting, you stayed right where you were—in your comfort zone—until you HAD to move.

And instead of getting on Substack and “buying beachfront property” before it skyrocketed in price, you’re immigrating here at a time when it’s practically modern-day Miami. The gold rush is already over, guys.

---

When Are We Going To Learn This Lesson?

My question to you is… how many times do I need to do this before we learn our lesson? I got on Medium in 2016, because I heard someone mention it in a newsletter they wrote. I got on it, and it was…definitely not a bustling city at all. But I put my flag in the ground and took a chance on it. It grew into a bustling metropolis within 2 years, and I reaped the rewards of being early.

Right now, it’s the same with AI. Many of you just don’t seem to know it yet.

You don’t get an edge as a solopreneur by going where everybody else already is.. you get an edge by going where few people are, making a calculated bet on the future, and watching everybody else figure it out late while you’re already there sipping coffee in your mansion.

THAT’S HOW.

That’s been true for me so many times in my career.

In 2018, Youtube was THE platform for video creators. But I decided to post video on Facebook as well. “Tom, just post on Youtube!” people said. Unbeknownst to them, my videos on Facebook were getting 10x the views they got on Youtube with less than half the followers.

I hit 200,000 followers on my Facebook Page before I got 5,000 subscribers on Youtube.

When are we going to learn this lesson, that the way to see explosive growth is to take a risk and go somewhere most are afraid to go?

All it takes is a little guts and open-mindedness.

The irony of all this?

When most bloggers take a huge stand against AI… It’s just strengthening my position. It’s just helping me out. That’s the crazy part.

People have no idea what’s about to happen with me, my brand, and this newsletter at large in the next 12 months.

But more than that, I hope you join me. I sincerely do.

If you do, I think you’ll be shocked at how much possibility opens up. I don’t say that lightly.

So yeah, this is the new me. But it’s the new me for a reason. And I just wanted to explain that to you real quick today.

Thanks for reading.

Tom Kuegler