(Aaand I don’t know what happened to the last four seconds. But if you make it that far, I would have said…. get started!)

Why would I encourage the busiest people I know to essentially abandon efforts on other thought leadership efforts, like LinkedIn (albeit temporarily!) and add yet another platform?

This is the bigger point of Substack:

If you're trying to build visibility or influence and you don't have a central place where your ideas live, Substack helps solve that problem, and more.

Substack offers your thought leadership a home base, where you can publish writing (short form posts and long form articles, blogs), podcasts - AND will send an email to subscribers when you do!

Why start now?

You want to be there while it’s still early. Not because it’s trendy. But because it’s working. ever wonder why some people have huge followings and their stuff is… mediocre? They got there early. That’s why. They scooped up the gains.

More to know:

* Other writers can recommend your Substack to their audience, which helps you grow.

* You can host your podcast there. I do.

* It sends your thought leadership straight to your subscribers by email — every post, every podcast. If you don’t have email marketing set up, this is a big deal (if you don’t need complicated segmentation)

* What audiences are on Substack? Business, tech, journalism, venture capital, finance, politics, arts, philosophy, religion, science, ‘the future of’ and much more. Only way to know if your people are there? Go look.

* When you go to start, avoid choosing a title for your Substack that is vague, abstract, skippable. Stand out! Use four or five words.

* Yes, you can have subscription levels for your Substack, and subscriber-only options. If unsure, don’t think about this part for now. Just write.

* B2B? Yes, organizations have a place on Substack, and can help fill voids of thought leadership in your marketing calendars and when SEO is less than useful.

I’m able to help you launch your Substack with a two-session process from idea to live. Book an 20-min intro call at this link if having a partner would be helpful.

I’ve said if I ever was going to write a book, it would look NOTHING like the current state that publishing is in today.

(And while I’m not here to thumb my nose at publishing, I believe that whatever the route - traditional, self, hybrid, publishing - I’d LOVE to see a major rethink of the extractive, zero fun rigamarole I see WAY too many thought leaders stumble into, and walk out the other way with $20-50K less in their pocket and their confidence crushed.)

I have no patience for a big reveal months down the road after manufacturing hype and teasing, while the world is in the biggest AND fastest transformation we’ve ever experienced.

This method meets the times. I have a playbook to put into your hands.

AND want to do the thing I always aim to do… pull back the curtain on the ‘how’ of thought leadership. There are so many ways to approach the ‘doing’ of thought leadership, and I am a firm believer that you will not do the things you do not like to do. This writing method is what will work for me to get it done.

My (different) writing method:

* Speaking the book: While I write… all day… I know myself enough to know that this is about the length I’ll write for me - article length. I will not sit down and write a book for myself. Verbally processing is useful. You’ll hear my method in action.

* The team: My intern. Yes, intern. My mentee. She’s another author, a novel self-published on Amazon at age 12. In high school. It’s her summer, and she asked about an internship. She’s a great writer. And knew nothing about AI. It’s a project to teach her AI and to leverage her ability to write and execute.

The Book Title: No way.

This book doesn’t have a title yet. I usually title everything I’m working on (you recall I am a ghostwriter, yes?) at or near the end.

Where will we start?

We begin at the beginning. You need a WHY and a thesis statement. They can change mid-process, but you start from a best guess.

THESIS: I'm writing a reinvention field guide that teaches people how to figure out what they want and confidently go after it. It's specifically for people who want to monetize their expertise beyond the norm of corporate, with a three-part framework and practical tactics for turning your expertise into revenue and thought leadership into positive influence.

WHY: Most of us are going through life on two of five cylinders - puttering along in our work, our business, our personal mission. This is how to get all cylinders running so you can go after whatever it is you want to do with your one life.

Listen and hear more about my book process and wrestling with an introduction, as a voice note to my intern working to interview me, gather all the material I have. This is my behind-the-scenes as I build a book.

You won’t be surprised that I’m nudging you to finally start your podcast.

If you’re stalled in your own podcast, you’ve been debating for three years now whether to start one, or you’ve talked yourself out of starting one, but you feel like you could or should, take 20 minutes and listen.

This is everything I would’ve wanted to know before starting my podcast, why I started one, the few must-do’s, how to get moving on zero budget, and what a podcast will do for you.

Four years ago would’ve been the best time to start a podcast. But instead, what you’ve got in front of you is today.

And by the time you finish listening to this one, you’ll be ready to go.

Or you’ll remember the power of this medium and pick up a couple of new tips and tricks to make yours even better.

Make sure you get to the part about the Stir Test.

I can’t wait to hear what you think and what you’ll do next.

Julie Michelle Morris