As someone who has knocked around various creative industries for a while, this piece really resonated with me. I’ve come across so many “experts” on my journey - and when I was younger, I too probably put too much stock in their (so-called) advice. Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading and I am glad it resonated...
It's hard, isn't it? But I think we time we resonate - well at least this is the space I am in at the moment - that we are the 'experts' of our life. but we are also the ones who are open to be in the unknown and discover what arises. Personally more and more I want people who hold space for me to discover rather than 'telling' me. What do you think?
"Well, surely you need more people at the top of your funnel."
OMG I am seething.
Nevermind all the people who already signed up, and love your work, yet still haven't clicked to listen to your new track or pre-order that new shirt... but YES... the answer is MORE. MORE PEOPLE! SIGHHHHH
The problem is there are too many amateur marketers out there who know nothing about anything and on top of that aren't aware that different businesses and different creative fields require different types of marketing, advertising and PR. I hope you didn't waste too much money on that guy
Overworked, but surviving thank you for asking girl! Born to be a sea goddess, forced to put on PANTS (ugh!) and go to work (UGH!) How are you? Besides p*ssed off at that soulless generic feedback 😵 btw did I understand correctly, you have a new release coming? Exciting!
Yay! I hope you like it, it's a bit unhinged but I stand by it cause that's the vibe rn 😁 wishing you a lovely weekend (with NO idiotic men trying to tell you what to do!) ✊🏻❤️🔥
What most messengers of any kind get wrong is the fact that what works for them cannot necessarily be adapted by everyone. If life worked like that, we’d be living on a planet full of Jesus and Buddha clones.
The point where most artists struggle is the truth about the game: there is no recipe, no golden rule, no manual at all. Anyone who says otherwise is either naive or making money by selling something that doesn’t work. But hope dies last, right?
It has never been easy to find your own way, and it has only gotten worse now that everyone is allowed to call themselves an “artist” or a “friend” in this digital illusion.
In the end, it feels to me like turning my back on all internet illusions and using it merely as a kind of advertisement paper - for those who are searching for a pearl in a vast dumping ground.
It's the reason I stopped caring about IG. No one can give me any actionable advice based on who I am as an artist and musician.
I tried every bit of advice regarding posting content and nothing worked.
Same for YouTube. I can do everything in my power to promote my songs, but if YouTube decides to show my shoegaze/post-rock song on a Def Leppard video's recommended section...it was all for nothing.
I think sometimes marketers forget that it's about working on your practice, getting better, learning from testing out and knowing yourself so well that the content you share is just an expression of who you are. I love we connected :) Thanks for being here!
Not everyone can turn frustration into clarity! Cheers to you for rising above the haters, noise, doubters, and copy-paste experts. and the normies, Leti!! Trusting your voice and listening to your gut despite the struggles is the best thing you can do for yourself! You rock, girl!! Sending loads of hugs and love! <3
Thank you so much for this, I needed to hear this big time. I hate people who don’t take the time to get to know me or my creative process telling me how to interact with my fanbase. Will definitely will be looking at that quote you didn’t say during the next meeting with my team and read it out loud if I have to haha I hate people who have never made content in their life telling me to post every day, fuck that. Thanks so much for sharing your story ❤️
Hi Lea, thank you for reading and finding a bit of your story in there too. I know... I also learnt I need to let go of the self-shame of telling yourself 'you should know better by now' but it's a learning process all the time and sometimes I just forget that what I am looking for is either within or I need to look to connect with other peeps who are more in line. It's really lovely to connect! What brings you to substack? What do you write about?
Thanks for sharing Leti. I guess the moral of the story is, if you are able to trust your gut instinct, thankfully you were on this occasion, and have faith in yourself and your abilities, then take what's good, give your best self to others and ignore the rest.
Thank you Stavros for reading and for this. I appreciate you being on this newsletter and for your encouragement. Means a lot! And yes... it's a pratice to follow our gut instinct / intuition but it's so rewarding at the end :)
Preach! There's power in sharing this. I'm not kidding, this isn't even the first time I'd heard this kind of advice being spouted at an artist in the same week. The idea that more meaningless content is in some way better than authenticity is so capitalistic and creatively stifling. Behind every artist's success story is a more complicated journey. I find it so ironic that they mention Chappell Roan who's literally advocating for better working conditions for creators and would have a lot to say about this.
Ha! I didn't even think of Chappell Roan, so true! 👀
also.. I am positive for the future, I think more and more there will be people like us who ARE the industry - who finally dismantle gatekeeping and actually encourage people to follow their own truth... but in the meantime, it's good training to trust ourselves and learn to listen to what works for us.
Aww, I hear you. Must say my alarm bells tend to go off when someone gives me feedback, esp the unsolicited ones. Allergic, big time! Signed up for your workshop. :)
Sounds like he had his ears plugged and was holding a megaphone. He probably could have given suggestions about growing Substack with IG if he just heard what you cared about. Good for you for ending it.
I feel like for me, what excites me is experimentation, brainstorming, having a partner that truly understands what I stand for, and they are interested in adventuring into unchartered territories!
Even as a non-people pleaser, I sometimes struggle to maintain boundaries—like hesitating to disconnect a call I’m not interested in, hoping the other person will understand and hang up on their own.
Wishing you receive feedback from someone more sensible.
This is such a great reminder that not all feedback is worth taking. Trusting yourself and surrounding yourself with the right people makes all the difference. I love the part about creating a strategy that feels authentic to you!
I love this and relate on so many levels! I have become exhausted with the top social media platforms as well. Keep following your heart and intuition, you know what is best for you! 💙
As someone who has knocked around various creative industries for a while, this piece really resonated with me. I’ve come across so many “experts” on my journey - and when I was younger, I too probably put too much stock in their (so-called) advice. Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading and I am glad it resonated...
It's hard, isn't it? But I think we time we resonate - well at least this is the space I am in at the moment - that we are the 'experts' of our life. but we are also the ones who are open to be in the unknown and discover what arises. Personally more and more I want people who hold space for me to discover rather than 'telling' me. What do you think?
"Well, surely you need more people at the top of your funnel."
OMG I am seething.
Nevermind all the people who already signed up, and love your work, yet still haven't clicked to listen to your new track or pre-order that new shirt... but YES... the answer is MORE. MORE PEOPLE! SIGHHHHH
😢
The problem is there are too many amateur marketers out there who know nothing about anything and on top of that aren't aware that different businesses and different creative fields require different types of marketing, advertising and PR. I hope you didn't waste too much money on that guy
Thanks Teodora! Totally! Yeah no thankfully it was a free session! :) But yeah I feel lots of people are stuck in old advice mode!
"Trust yourself. Trust your art. Trust your voice." ❤️🔥
❤️🙏💫 how are you Venus? X
Overworked, but surviving thank you for asking girl! Born to be a sea goddess, forced to put on PANTS (ugh!) and go to work (UGH!) How are you? Besides p*ssed off at that soulless generic feedback 😵 btw did I understand correctly, you have a new release coming? Exciting!
Eheh sending love and I had to take a couple of days off to rest and sleep cause it’s so easy to overwork isn’t it?! 🪁
My release has ‘just’ come out 4 weeks ago 🛼🛼🛼🛼 time flies! You can find it on Spotify or any other platform, called Kaleidoscope ;)
When is your next song coming out?
Ohhhh duh me, I've listened to Kaleidoscope already! It's so beautiful! I must be going mad, sorry 😅
My next song comes out next Friday! It's about being angry at all the patriarchal BS I was literally at the end of my wits when I wrote it ☠️
Oh so cool! I’ll keep an eye and ears out! Can’t wait! Sounds my kinda of stuff!!!
Yay! I hope you like it, it's a bit unhinged but I stand by it cause that's the vibe rn 😁 wishing you a lovely weekend (with NO idiotic men trying to tell you what to do!) ✊🏻❤️🔥
What most messengers of any kind get wrong is the fact that what works for them cannot necessarily be adapted by everyone. If life worked like that, we’d be living on a planet full of Jesus and Buddha clones.
The point where most artists struggle is the truth about the game: there is no recipe, no golden rule, no manual at all. Anyone who says otherwise is either naive or making money by selling something that doesn’t work. But hope dies last, right?
It has never been easy to find your own way, and it has only gotten worse now that everyone is allowed to call themselves an “artist” or a “friend” in this digital illusion.
In the end, it feels to me like turning my back on all internet illusions and using it merely as a kind of advertisement paper - for those who are searching for a pearl in a vast dumping ground.
💜 insightful, thanks for sharing!
Agree about 'there is no recipe, no golden rule'
the magic is - I think - in nurturing our creative practice, knowing ourselves inside out and sharing who we are so that other humans can resonate!
It's the reason I stopped caring about IG. No one can give me any actionable advice based on who I am as an artist and musician.
I tried every bit of advice regarding posting content and nothing worked.
Same for YouTube. I can do everything in my power to promote my songs, but if YouTube decides to show my shoegaze/post-rock song on a Def Leppard video's recommended section...it was all for nothing.
I hear you!
I think sometimes marketers forget that it's about working on your practice, getting better, learning from testing out and knowing yourself so well that the content you share is just an expression of who you are. I love we connected :) Thanks for being here!
Me too! For the longest time, I felt like I was screaming into the void, alone. Now, at the very least, there's two of us 😆
Not everyone can turn frustration into clarity! Cheers to you for rising above the haters, noise, doubters, and copy-paste experts. and the normies, Leti!! Trusting your voice and listening to your gut despite the struggles is the best thing you can do for yourself! You rock, girl!! Sending loads of hugs and love! <3
Thank you dear Anjali! 💜 🌱
Thank you so much for this, I needed to hear this big time. I hate people who don’t take the time to get to know me or my creative process telling me how to interact with my fanbase. Will definitely will be looking at that quote you didn’t say during the next meeting with my team and read it out loud if I have to haha I hate people who have never made content in their life telling me to post every day, fuck that. Thanks so much for sharing your story ❤️
Hi Lea, thank you for reading and finding a bit of your story in there too. I know... I also learnt I need to let go of the self-shame of telling yourself 'you should know better by now' but it's a learning process all the time and sometimes I just forget that what I am looking for is either within or I need to look to connect with other peeps who are more in line. It's really lovely to connect! What brings you to substack? What do you write about?
Thanks for sharing Leti. I guess the moral of the story is, if you are able to trust your gut instinct, thankfully you were on this occasion, and have faith in yourself and your abilities, then take what's good, give your best self to others and ignore the rest.
Thank you Stavros for reading and for this. I appreciate you being on this newsletter and for your encouragement. Means a lot! And yes... it's a pratice to follow our gut instinct / intuition but it's so rewarding at the end :)
Preach! There's power in sharing this. I'm not kidding, this isn't even the first time I'd heard this kind of advice being spouted at an artist in the same week. The idea that more meaningless content is in some way better than authenticity is so capitalistic and creatively stifling. Behind every artist's success story is a more complicated journey. I find it so ironic that they mention Chappell Roan who's literally advocating for better working conditions for creators and would have a lot to say about this.
Ha! I didn't even think of Chappell Roan, so true! 👀
also.. I am positive for the future, I think more and more there will be people like us who ARE the industry - who finally dismantle gatekeeping and actually encourage people to follow their own truth... but in the meantime, it's good training to trust ourselves and learn to listen to what works for us.
Aww, I hear you. Must say my alarm bells tend to go off when someone gives me feedback, esp the unsolicited ones. Allergic, big time! Signed up for your workshop. :)
ahah I hear you! I distrust unsollicited big time! So awesome about the workshop! Look forward to seeing you there :) Look forward to meeting you!!!
Sounds like he had his ears plugged and was holding a megaphone. He probably could have given suggestions about growing Substack with IG if he just heard what you cared about. Good for you for ending it.
yes yes yes!
I feel like for me, what excites me is experimentation, brainstorming, having a partner that truly understands what I stand for, and they are interested in adventuring into unchartered territories!
I can relate to the fear you mentioned.
Even as a non-people pleaser, I sometimes struggle to maintain boundaries—like hesitating to disconnect a call I’m not interested in, hoping the other person will understand and hang up on their own.
Wishing you receive feedback from someone more sensible.
This is such a great reminder that not all feedback is worth taking. Trusting yourself and surrounding yourself with the right people makes all the difference. I love the part about creating a strategy that feels authentic to you!
I love this and relate on so many levels! I have become exhausted with the top social media platforms as well. Keep following your heart and intuition, you know what is best for you! 💙