Lessons Learned

Following your gut beats following the gurus.

Links:

• Want an easy way to make some extra cash? I got you covered.

• This is a great take on content strategy and well worth the read.

---

Let’s talk about lessons learned.

I thought today we might look at some of the things I’ve learned the past three months. Some wins, some losses, some things I need to do better. Maybe it can help you, too.

You know that advice about building a bunch of products and seeing what sticks?

Yeah, I tried that. Made some half-assed digital products because I thought they were good ideas.

Sales were crickets. The market was basically screaming “these suck” and I finally listened. Took them down. Maybe I’ll fix them later, maybe not.

All those “proven engagement tactics” everyone swears by?

• Post 10 times a day on every platform.

• Be everywhere.

• Optimize your posting schedule.

• Track your analytics like a day trader watching stocks.

Those are the tactics that burnt me out. Got me nowhere. My subscriber count barely moved.

So I tried something stupidly simple instead. I just... engaged with other people first.

Found creators I actually liked. Left real comments on their work. Had actual conversations. Got introduced to their audiences because we genuinely connected.

No posting schedule. No analytics dashboard. No bleeding eyeballs from being everywhere at once.

And it worked. Way better than the “proven tactics.”

Last month? Made just over $1K following my own strategies.

Not life-changing money, but proof that trusting my gut instead of guru playbooks actually works.

So, what did I learn?

The market will tell you when something’s wrong if you’re willing to listen. And sometimes the best growth strategy is just being a decent human who shows up for other people first.

Intellectually, I knew these things, but sometimes you just have to go through on your own to learn.

Those fancy tactics might work for some, but for me they’re a bad suit. They just don’t fit.

What’s one “proven tactic” you tried that absolutely bombed for you?