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Practical tips for attracting your superfans

by Jamie Sanchez of curiouser.design

Hi, there! I’m a Chicago-based creative consultant since 2014. This hub is for in-house marketers and indie creators who want more pragmatic promo tactics in their arsenal. No marketing degree necessary!

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Featured Post

Digital Marketing for Mortals

Dec 27, 2023 Digital Marketing for Mortals Hey reader — 2024 is upon us, and I couldn’t be more excited about GIVING UP. I’m halfway through Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, and this book’s theme is hitting hard. What are humans if not time itself? And if we live 4,000 weeks on average, how can we hoard info and obligations as we do and still be functional, fulfilled people? So, I’m starting Q1 by giving up unrealistic marketing expectations. Engagement rates, search traffic,...

4 months ago • 1 min read

Dec 13, 2023 How to Ditch Your Resolutions Hey reader, it’s that time again! That time when we scramble to choose a 2024 goal, make some blanket promises to ourselves, plan out the first week, and then drop the charade by February. The Western world loves a linear hero-focused journey, so New Year’s Resolutions make sense in this context. Become the hero of your life! Conquer your biggest goals! What’s not aspirational about that? IMO, everything, such as: 365 days is too long to feel the...

5 months ago • 1 min read

Nov 29, 2023 3 Lessons from the Death of TinyLetter Hello again, reader – Let’s pour one out for the most endearing email newsletter platform. This morning, Mailchimp announced they’re closing TinyLetter forever… migrate to Mailchimp or leave by March. Marketing platforms come and go like a fleeting Chicago summer. I knew this would happen, but that doesn’t make it less frustrating! So, what can we learn here? Lesson 1: Have a backup for the inevitable pivot or acquisition. TinyLetter...

5 months ago • 2 min read

Nov 15, 2023 State of WordPress 6.4 Welcome back! If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty invested in WordPress for my content management needs. Nerd Alert… The project that started my obsession turned 17 — happy birthday, AnimeChicago.com! I officially took the helm for Chicago’s WordPress Meetup last week (dormant since Lockdown). Ask me for details, and WordPress swag! I’ve converted over 10 Classic Themes to the block-powered Site Editor. Mostly for fun, but recently for a big client with...

6 months ago • 2 min read

Nov 1, 2023 Down with POSSE Welcome back, and thanks for reading! I’ve mentioned self-hosting in another issue. The movement to supplant social media with personal blogs, coined POSSE (Publish on your Own Site, Syndicate Everywhere), has obvious benefits and challenges. But the odds are against us! Most folks will never know to disable motion smoothing on their beautiful 4k screens, and you want them to Inspect Source??? Then no-code Page Builders like Squarespace and Wix fill the void and...

6 months ago • 2 min read

OCT 18, 2023 Branding Backwards Branding is hard. It’s a subjective process for stakeholders, designers, everyone involved. Some companies pay a low-budget network freelancer sub $500 for what amounts to a clipart logo. Others pay tens of thousands and get the same result! Folks have to live with it for a long time, so landing somewhere even off-center feels like a Big L. Oh, and we needed this stuff yesterday but person can’t stop micromanaging a shade of corporate blue because they aren’t...

6 months ago • 3 min read

OCT 4, 2023 That “Make it so” Energy Hey, thanks for reading this fourth issue. It’s a personal one. This week marks 9 years since I started consulting full-time! It’s been a great ride. I’ve served dozens of creators, communities, and more through chaotic times, albeit with many privileges that decrease my overall risk. One of those privileges is fitting in. Until last year, I believed serving clients meant tucking my nerdy interests away to look “more professional.” The 3,000-member anime...

7 months ago • 2 min read

SEP 20, 2023 Getting Started with Mastodon Twitter is no more. Its rotting corpse shambles along as X, and rumor is the whole thing is going subscription-only. Pay for a regular dose of anxiety to microblog on some billionaire’s fiefdom? Hard pass. While Mastodon has some governance and onboarding issues, its privacy and automated purge settings are admirable in the age of corporate surveillance. If you’re not already there, I hope this guide helps you out. And if you’d like a 20-minute...

7 months ago • 3 min read

SEP 6, 2023 Surviving the death of Web 2.0 Howdy – Welcome to Issue 2. I hope my Miro template simplified how you think about promotion. Please tell me, what helped you most? I would love to iterate and improve its impact. A devolving web and You ⬩ ⬩ ⬩ ⬩ X neé Twitter, Reddit, Stack Exchange… Summer of 2023 was about digital watercooler destruction. Here’s some “light reading” that helped me make sense of it. Doctorow’s coined phrase enshittification Catherynn Valente’s long but historically...

8 months ago • 2 min read
Screenshot of my Promo Calendar Template

Aug 23, 2023 The First Letter + A gift for you! Howdy — Thanks for joining me on this newsletter journey, which arrives every other Wednesday starting today! Please reply or send me your feedback and wins so I can upgrade this format over time. Whether you’re starting now or have promoted for decades, these letters will help you prioritize impact, achieve more with less, and give you a push when needed most. So if you’re ready to become a more effective promoter of your work and attract...

8 months ago • 1 min read
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