I Get Most of My Clients from Shitposting on Twitter
I'm writing thirty posts in thirty days, again. This is number seven.
In many ways, my coaching business has surpassed my expectations. In other ways, it’s made my expectations look silly.
For example. When I began doing this, I thought that my credibility as a writing coach would be established by my published memoir. Potential clients would notice that I’m a fancy author, and then choose to give me money.
Admittedly, I didn't think this through in much detail. The problem with me running my own business is that I see the words ‘sales funnel’ and start to feel nauseated. But, nevertheless, I had an idea: step one have book, step two get money.
It did not turn out that way. Basically nobody cares about my book. 95% of my clients haven’t read it. Many of them are unfamiliar with articles I wrote for publication. Nearly everyone comes to me after they investigate my website based on some dumb thing I said on Twitter, or, less often, a Substack post I wrote in twenty minutes.
Recently, I felt nice after a morning walk with my wife, and I tweeted this, and it was pretty popular:
The resulting inbound will get me through to November, along with referrals from current clients.
This isn’t all that surprising. People hire based on vibe as much as anything else, especially when they’re looking for high-touch personal services. And if people are looking for my advice about communication, if they judge that I’ve communicated well, that’s a reasonable credential.
But I still did find it surprising. Perhaps because it didn’t square with an outdated piece of my identity. Part of me still bethought myself a dignified author, toiling away at my masterworks, sequestered in some cabin or belfry or something. But now I’m an adult whose ability to pay my half of a mortgage is directly based on me being silly on the internet every day.
It's the dismaying truth that you have no idea which of your public efforts will attract attention. So just hit publish a lot, in different places, until you find out.