33 Comments
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Veronica Llorca-Smith's avatar

Lovely message and spot on.

Going viral feeds your ego but it has short legs.

Talking to the 5 people who really enjoy your work is the mindset you need so that one day you have 500,000 people who enjoy your work.

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Ethan Musolini's avatar

Tom, thank you for the reminder because even one reader is priceless

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Becky Gosky | Jobity's avatar

Great article! I write to learn, to grow as a person, and to connect with other decent human beings. It's the intrinsic motivation that keeps me going. :)

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Shell Norman's avatar

I am with you here! I absolutely love the comments that people leave--they feel authentic, and they inspire me to write for those who have taken the time to give such a response.

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Joy DeSomber's avatar

This is a breath of fresh air, to read about how quality connections for some of us are more important than large numbers of people we don’t know and who don’t know us. I look forward to hearing updates from people I’ve gotten to know here and on Medium that feel like good friends.

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Dawn Levitt's avatar

Good insights! I have a few core subscribers and they are who I think of when I write something new. Recently, I had a note go "viral," 1k+ likes, and that drove a lot of traffic to my site and I saw a little hockey stick in my subscribers. Fingers crossed they stick around!

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Dre Beltrami's avatar

I've been writing a lot about this lately... how lost in the numbers we've become. We're so busy transactionalizing things in the name of growth that we ignore the work we really want to be doing + the people who really matter, our kindreds.

I've put metrics on ice for right now. I need to stripe shit back down to ME before I can address the tactical parts of business again.

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Jack's avatar

I am trying to appreciate the journey, not focus on the stats, but so many people talk about their impressive numbers, thanks for the reminder that the journey matters more

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Marla Grant's avatar

I so resonate with this which is why I'm diving into Substack. My community will find me, I'm sure, because I know they need interaction.

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Prajna O'Hara's avatar

Hi Marla

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Marla Grant's avatar

Hi Prajna!

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Karen Goldfarb's avatar

Totally with you on this! I write because I love to express and connect with people…

Everything else is gravy💕💕💕

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Thomas Smithson's avatar

It really is helpful to recognise that a handful of people might be in it for the long run with me, and that’s more than enough 😊.

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Ashley Greene's avatar

I still crossing my fingers hahagah

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A Small Business Life's avatar

Thank YOU for keeping it real and not sliding into the *go viral and make a zillion dollars overnight* nonsense that's so prevalent right now!! Build the relationships, put in the time, let it grow, and ENJOY the journey!!!

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Mohika Mudgal's avatar

Golden words, all of this!

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Jezz Lundkvist's avatar

To be honest, I would love to go viral some time. Not to gain subs from it. But to get a little smile on my face that plenty of people actually liked it. 😊

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Chris Briscoe's Memoirs, Books's avatar

Wow! Such truth oooozing off the page. Don't chase virality, chase people - THAT'S FAR MORE INFECTIOUS - ASK ANY MOSQUITO - IT’S PEOPLE WHO INFECT OTHER PEOPLE!

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