notes app; on selling yourself
so dramatic! i'm really just here to talk about numbers, niches and nows.
Annyeong.
Sav here.
You know what’s been on my mind recently?
Sales, for whatever reason.
And by sales, I mean marketing, traffic, conversion, relationship building, affiliate links, subscribers, target market determination, content creation…
All the multitudinous keywords that marketers employ to justify their strategies/tactics/existence — both within the context of a traditional business but also in the space of social media.
I know why I’m thinking this way: I’ve recently moved from a pricing analyst to sales analyst role and my new manager is an accomplished, well-versed marketing lead in the industry who very excitedly talks of marketing pies, SEO/SEM, email retargeting and other mystical terms I had originally only heard from those so-called content creators who are really just selling you a course on how to make courses.
It’s also because I chanced upon a podcast episode by Creator Science about how you can plan for growth in 2025 where host Jay Clouse mirrors very similar terms.
It had gotten me thinking about, once again, because this always happens, on what purpose this newsletter serves.
Can it really stay as the 1) digital workspace for creativity where I can engage in any short-run interests I have via my long-run infatuation of writing while doubling as an online journal to inspire an intentional life or is it 2) engineered to one day become a monetised, content-churning platform to drive a helpful second income or location-independent primary income that eventually catapults me into working for myself?
I can’t answer that. I think I’m too afraid to, honestly.
But with this majestic and sudden inclination towards and sales and marketing and branding and distribution, that’s what we’ll be talking about today.
Numbers 📈
About a month ago, I attended my new company’s induction session which naturally included an icebreaker conversation with whoever sat next to you.
The prompt was simple: Your name, your role, how long you had been with the company, and what is something you had done this year (or going to do this year) that you’re really proud of (or looking forward to)?
“I’m Sav. I’m a senior sales analyst. I’ve been with the company for uh, two days. And as for something for the year…”
I mentioned writing. I mentioned this newsletter. I mentioned that I started a project, early this year, about documentation and retrospection and adding a unique flurry of words to my otherwise ordinary life. I mentioned that it came from a place of not wanting professional work to be the only interesting thing that I did (it’s not that interesting either) and that I needed a personal project that allowed my creativity to run rampant. I mentioned that my habit of writing had been very off-and-on throughout my life and other than that first stint when I was a kid — it’s not common for me to be consistent with this kind of thing.
I mentioned that I’ve followed my schedule for about three months now, more consistent than ever, and was very proud of it.
I mentioned that each post averaged about 8-10 views and that was 8-10 more than I expected — for it is numbers, not progress, which derives happiness.
Looking at it now, I’m averaging a solid 20-30 views.
Not a lot by any stretch but that’s literally a two-time improvement and is something that incites a bit of joy! It’s good, organic growth — and I like to attribute it not to rising skill or merry luck but the consistency of commitment and the rate at which I hit Post.
Though, there was the grumbly Bloomberg article which showed that Google searches for "Substack" surpassed "newsletter" for the first time ever in 2025 — which is honestly wild.
So alas, the numbers, albeit small, have been rising. I’m a stonks man after all and am very happy about that. It’s reaffirming. It’s supporting. It gives me confidence that I’m somewhat moving in the right direction.
Niches 🛸
Substack is home to a ton of different writers but the ones who tend to occupy my feed are what I like to call the tumblr-esque, thought-daughter, hopeless romantic (or romantic nihilist) archetype who make social commentary on media, generation z, relationships (both romantic and platonic), politics (typically more left-leaning) or why current lifestyle and culture is a recipe doomed to fail. Fashion and design occasionally find their way in here too and there’s always that one Tim Denning piece (or a Tim Denning wannabe piece regurgitated by ChatGPT) that squiggles in like an unwelcome bug.
It’s because my posts follow a similar pattern. We’re pawns of the algorithm after all — and I know exactly which of my posts do better than the others, say:
Posts that play into that VSCO-girl archetype with cryptically introspective titles (love cannot make up for being misunderstood, it’s never as bad as you think).
Posts that are far more actionable with a bit of that self-improvement twinge, though still maintaining a burst of originality and vulnerability (four lessons from my first job, challenging my scarcity mindset).
And well, anything that references recent topics with strong, definitive statements do pretty well too (a minecraft movie was one of the worst movies I’ve watched)
I haven’t isolated a niche to work on and honestly, unless I run for that Purpose Numero Duo — I don’t think I need to.
This newsletter is an extension of myself and I do not curate it for outward performance but inward enjoyment. It’s an online journal, after all, written almost entirely for me. Everyone else is just here for the ride.
Still, that won’t stop me from sharing a few other working titles:
Happy You’re Here - A phrase often used in Osher Gunsberg’s Better Than Yesterday podcast which I thought was so warm and charming.
Full of Light - My original blog was titled lightwood.blog, named after my Final Fantasy XIV character, and I just liked the expression of calling someone ‘full of light’.
Intentionally You - With intentionality being a central tenet to my life, this was a very obvious title. However, I decided that this name was better suited for those self-improvement or wellness channels, so I’ll keep it in the back pocket in case I ever venture into that.
Em dash - The em dash is the ‘—’ sign and outside of commas and full stops, it is probably my most commonly used (and thoroughly misused) piece of punctuation. My only problem with it is that em dash is a really ugly name.
Ad Hoc - I really like the term ad hoc, because I feel as if everything I do is ad hoc, which is uh, not the best habit and kinda in conflict with intentionality. Anyhow, I’m also a huge fan of borrowed terms like deja vu, avant-garde and ante meridiem — though if I were to pick a term from a different language, I’d certain look for an Indonesian one because I’m Indonesian (side note: my friend has a blog called hariinikita which translates to ‘today we’ the same way one would say ‘today we went shopping’ — and I think that’s such a clever name and wish I took it first).
Now 😎
That’s enough concepting about the future — let’s talk about now.
I was recently introduced to the idea of a Now page when I chanced upon Alvan’s Digital Garden while searching about Minecraft forever worlds.
An initiative pioneered by author and entrepreneur Derek Sivers, the now page is a snapshot of what a given person is interested about or focused on in their life right now — independent of an ‘About’ page which is more of an introductory background piece, and bigger picture than a social media account which is far too granular and full of noise. Derek collates now pages from across the world on nownownow.com.
I’ve added a now page on my Substack, in case you’re interested :)
What I’ve been reading this week:
20 short rules for better days at work by What Work Should Be 📁
when did you decide to stop liking something? by angel cake 🍰
‘This is how it feels to have an affair’ (Interview with an unfaithful friend) by The Pyjama Monologues ⛓️💥
I’m glad the rules resonated. And glad you’re writing! I enjoyed your notes.