Served him right. Can you help?
P.S. Someone asked me about you...
Happy Friday…
Roughly forever ago, I was in management for Canada’s biggest retail chain. There was 12 of us managers. Eleven 40-somethings in proper suits—and me. I was a teenager. In my Winona cut and wearing a teenager’s idea of office appropriate. lol.
Long story how that happened.
Anyway. We had a lot of meetings, but every quarter we’d have big brainstorming meetings, to discuss store wide events, growth ideas and such. Always 2 quarters away. Like, end of Q1, we’re planning Q4.
I had an idea.
A big idea. I was sure it would do killer sales for the store. But I was terrified of sharing because I was still pretty new. Hadn’t even been there half a year yet.
So I shared it with another manager over coffee. Yeah.
You know where this is going, alright.
Meeting day comes and we wade though the data and charts and sales reports and finally the store manager asks if anyone has ideas. I took a deep breath…
And the guy blurted out my idea. What?!
I was trying to stare him down but dude wouldn’t even look at me.
So mad. So mad. Steaming.
Then the store manager asks for some details. Hahahah. Dude freezes. Looks at me desperately and I give him a cold look. Then I shrug and say fess up.
His face turned beet red.
Served him right.
Finally he mumbles it was my idea. The store manager glares at him and asks me for details. It kicked butt. Best quarter ever. Got me my first raise.
Don’t never steal someone else’s thunder. Not cool.
So here I sit with a quandary.
Someone asked me about you this week. Yes, you.
I know it’s you, because you’re reading this. Sure wasn’t the people who don’t open. But let me explain so it makes sense, because I have an idea.
I got an email from a publication owner on Medium. Here’s what he said…
Wow Linda, your Substack is super impressive!
Why is your engagement so amazingly high?
And like that guy who tried to steal my thunder, I couldn’t answer.
My brain was doing this…
Um… because my readers are the best? Is my engagement high? I didn’t know that. Honestly, I thought this awesome thing we have here was normal and wondered why I didn’t do it sooner. Should have done it sooner, chickadee. lol. Apparently, no. What we have is not normal.
Turns out you’re pretty amazing.
So, I’m writing about Substack for his publication.
Weird how things turn out, sometimes. He asked if I’d write about substack for his publication and he’ll add it to his Substack series on Medium.
I thought it would be fun to do this together.
Instead of me just blathering my opinion.
Can you help?
It’s real easy. Just leave a comment and answer one of these 3 questions.
What inspires you to interact with a writer?
What makes a newsletter good, vs. a dud?
What am I doing right?
I’ll share the draft with you…
I promise not to be like those journalists who turn people’s words around.
That’s not how I roll. But you already know that.
On Monday, I’ll start. When it’s ready, I’ll share the draft with everyone who contributed and ask y’all for feedback before I submit it.
I think we can make something awesome together.
Also? Credit where it’s due…
At the bottom of your comment, let me know what you’d like me to link to in the credits. Your Medium profile, or your best story. Your website or your book.
And also — thank you.
I appreciate you!
"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself." – Henry Ford
My new publication…
I’ve created my own publication. If you’re on Medium, I hope you’ll follow. https://medium.com/linda-caroll
Here’s what I wrote this week:
If you’re reading via email, click on the title and you’ll be able to leave a comment. Comments are open to everyone.
Don’t forget to click the little heart if you liked this, too. Thanks!
:)
Linda
Linda-
What are you doing right? Your articles are always interesting, entertaining, engaging. They are valuable, useful. Your stories and examples are applicable and helpful. And I love the conversational tone of your articles and stories... fun, playful, confident, knowledgeable. I feel grateful for the quality and quantity of your content and always look forward to reading what you have to say. I know I will learn and grow from it.
Warm regards
Laura
https://medium.com/@lauraraduenz
Linda,
You asked what you’re doing right? Why do I read your emails? Why haven’t I zeroed in on that tiny gray Unsubscribe link?
Well, I do unsubscribe from a lot of the mailing lists I sign up for. I have to. I get so many emails promising me miracles that sometimes they leak out of my phone. And when I get too impatient to stop stuffing them back into the sides of my Samsung, I start hacking away at my inbox.
But every time, yours makes the cut. Why?
1) You add honest-to-God value. Not clickbait – real words of wisdom from a writer who knows what she’s talking about.
2) You don’t funnel every story into a hard (or even soft) sell for your products or ones you can’t live without (and with which you are coincidentally affiliated).
3) Your emails are well thought out and structured so my tired eyes can read them. Short sentences, pointed subheadings, lots of white spaces. I don’t open one, groan, and flip over to Facebook.
4) You state hard truths and force me to think.
5) You grab my attention with a fun, chatty writing style that keeps me reading.
I might fall for the clickbait titles a few times from those who say they want to help me succeed. Once…twice…perhaps even three times before I realize how gullible I am. But I do eventually weed them out.
However, there are a few who deliver what they promise. And yours is one.
That’s what you do right.
You deliver what you promise.
Wow, why didn’t I just say that at the beginning?
I hope that helps. Keep doing what you do.
Joni - www.lifeunflaked.com