This is yet another great post - I've subscribed since the post "meet the team behind your feed" which was super helpful for me to understand what everyone does at a tech firm (and particularly, FB. Hello from a fellow colleague!). Really enjoying the newsletter, I'm glad it's accessible even for someone without a technical background.
Thanks HuiShan. Hello to a fellow FBer! Would love to hear feedback you have on the newsletter (especially since you've been around for a few months ☺️). Would you be open to sharing via email?
Thanks for sharing my link. Happy to compare notes someday. And do point out anything I am doing well/poorly in my Ask Gib newsletter -- it talks a village. A few things that struck me as I read your essay: 1) You have to find the balance of what you are passionate about and what interests others. My NPS essay is something that I am passionate about, but it's not as generally interesting as other topics. Roadmaps was both interesting to me and my audience 2) Keep trying new channels -- I have been focused on LinkedIn, Twitter, and am building out Instagram, which is fun. I do some drop-ins on Slack channels but need to think more about Facebook Groups, Reddit and others. A key thing I have learned (via that damn NPS essay: focus on shares as a proxy for a great essay. Shares are an endorsement of your work. Spend a little time understanding why highly-shared essays were shared and you get a significant clue about how to make future essays better. Thanks for writing this, Gib.
Thanks, Gib. Appreciate the thoughtful response. On 1), yes this is the right approach. Its a good reminder to treat your newsletter like a product and build for your audience's interest. 2) How have those new channels been? I've been experimenting with forums (ex. IndieHackers) and tried publishing in another publication (Product School) but it hasn't been as strong as social media. I also have organic shares as my "topline metric". My most popular article has driven a disproportionate amount of traffic/sign-ups -- all on the back of shares! Thanks for the discussion, Gib.
Instagram has been fun. Highly visual and has me posting stories on both LinkedIn and Twitter, too. Long-term play but I think the conversion to AskGib is pretty good. Much closer to 50/50 m/f than Twitter which I appreciate. Hacked around with 2 dollar/day ads which lets me spend more time writing and less time promoting. Gib
Definitely - I can see lightweight polls on IG being an especially good fit with AskGib. I have yet to explore ads but it might be the capacity-building action I've been missing. Been trying to write and distribute in 5 hours a week and it's been tough. I want to automate distribution and focus more on content.
This is yet another great post - I've subscribed since the post "meet the team behind your feed" which was super helpful for me to understand what everyone does at a tech firm (and particularly, FB. Hello from a fellow colleague!). Really enjoying the newsletter, I'm glad it's accessible even for someone without a technical background.
Thanks HuiShan. Hello to a fellow FBer! Would love to hear feedback you have on the newsletter (especially since you've been around for a few months ☺️). Would you be open to sharing via email?
Thanks for sharing my link. Happy to compare notes someday. And do point out anything I am doing well/poorly in my Ask Gib newsletter -- it talks a village. A few things that struck me as I read your essay: 1) You have to find the balance of what you are passionate about and what interests others. My NPS essay is something that I am passionate about, but it's not as generally interesting as other topics. Roadmaps was both interesting to me and my audience 2) Keep trying new channels -- I have been focused on LinkedIn, Twitter, and am building out Instagram, which is fun. I do some drop-ins on Slack channels but need to think more about Facebook Groups, Reddit and others. A key thing I have learned (via that damn NPS essay: focus on shares as a proxy for a great essay. Shares are an endorsement of your work. Spend a little time understanding why highly-shared essays were shared and you get a significant clue about how to make future essays better. Thanks for writing this, Gib.
Thanks, Gib. Appreciate the thoughtful response. On 1), yes this is the right approach. Its a good reminder to treat your newsletter like a product and build for your audience's interest. 2) How have those new channels been? I've been experimenting with forums (ex. IndieHackers) and tried publishing in another publication (Product School) but it hasn't been as strong as social media. I also have organic shares as my "topline metric". My most popular article has driven a disproportionate amount of traffic/sign-ups -- all on the back of shares! Thanks for the discussion, Gib.
Instagram has been fun. Highly visual and has me posting stories on both LinkedIn and Twitter, too. Long-term play but I think the conversion to AskGib is pretty good. Much closer to 50/50 m/f than Twitter which I appreciate. Hacked around with 2 dollar/day ads which lets me spend more time writing and less time promoting. Gib
Definitely - I can see lightweight polls on IG being an especially good fit with AskGib. I have yet to explore ads but it might be the capacity-building action I've been missing. Been trying to write and distribute in 5 hours a week and it's been tough. I want to automate distribution and focus more on content.
Love this piece and found it super helpful. Thank you!
Curious about products you're building on the side, are you able to share?
I second this ^
I'll shoot you an email!
Haha yeah I'll send you an email!