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Find the tribe that vibes with you.
I've willingly asked people to criticize my Newsletter's landing page on IndieHackers. There was a lot of great feedback on how to improve it further and not sound abstract or ambiguous. I'm so grateful for people who take the time to give tips on how to improve. Also, I did change a few things on the landing page if you'd like to take a look at it and maybe subscribe to it as well. Let me know what you think of it. 🙂
Although I look for others' feedback on my newsletter or any work I put out publicly, I realized something recently. I went back to thinking about why I start things. It is mostly to do with satisfying my own cravings. For example, I come across a lot of valuable content that I feel is worth sharing with the world. Tweets or short posts about those resources felt too limiting, I wanted the full attention of like-minded people to go through them so they find value in it as much as I did. That's when I decided I'll start a Newsletter that resonates with people like me. When I came across a few successful newsletter creators and curators, I started spending more energy on marketing and getting the word out about my newsletter. Somewhere I started feeling that what I'm doing is not good enough. So, I went back to my original reason for starting this newsletter. I realized there's no greater critic than me for my own work.
I'm open to constructive feedback but also decided that I'll do what aligns with my first principles and the values I established at the beginning of starting this newsletter. The thing is, you have to find the tribe that vibe with you. Do not take drastic steps by changing yourselves just to please every person out there. Take what's needed and discard what you think isn't aligning with your values. There are people who will never like your work no matter what. Realize that it's not because you're not giving your best but because they do not simply want what you're offering. They aren't here for that type of content.
I've come across something that my friend Naomi shared in her recent letter and I resonate with it really well. David Perell says, "Write for one obsessive person". That's when you stop fighting for other non-interested people's attention. That's when you focus on what's important to you and your tribe and grow along with them. Your priority should be doing things you love, things you enjoy no matter what.
There's something else I found recently.
People who like you or your work, express their gratitude silently. So silently that you almost always miss out on recognizing it. Most of them don't give big shout outs. They show their love in the most silent ways possible. They constantly like your posts, they reply to you when they find relevant material, they give feedback anonymously. They ask you doubts because they believe you can guide them in the right direction. They send interesting articles your way because they think you'll love them. They're always looking out for you.
You just have to recognize those little signs. I'm sure most of you do the same to the ones you admire. You might think your constant presence or "liking" their posts might annoy or bother them. You silently acknowledge their presence. You like and share their posts. The last thing you want from people you like is to be annoyed by you. So you adapt those ways where you silently love them. What if others who like your work are also doing the same? No matter how much you encourage open feedback, they might not find it in themselves to come out and show their love towards you.
The solution I could think of is to make feedback 'anonymous' as much as possible. Give them that safe space where they're welcome to talk about anything. What do you think could be another solution to this problem?