I need to write daily. Because writing is thinking.
But a daily newsletter is too much for most people. So I have decided to start this new Daily Blog on Substack that I don’t mail out.
It’s a place for me to do the thinking, and you can read it if you want, and if anything good comes out of this Ugly Work, I’ll be sure to tell the readers about it in the Newsletter.
Ugly Work is inspired by this newsletter with the same title.
ps. I might cuss in this one.
I mean I don’t cuss much in real life, but in this early draft stage of things, it just flows better when there is that level of uncensoredness.
I don’t have to cuss right now tho, I’ll save it for when I really need it.
I‘ve spent months trying to refine the offering of my newsletter. And I think I’ve settled on a bunch of things I’m happy with. This is a screenshot of what that looks like on the subscription page.
This button is real if you actually do want to subscribe, I worked out the pricing so there’s really something for everyone.
About the Offering
Archives: Learn How to Land Your Next Illustration Project
The big question is what am I offering people who pay and the truth is it’s not about how often the emails go out or what’s in them, it’s really what value do they ultimately get. And I figured Landing a 5-figure illustration gig might be a good deal.
And as someone who has done that 10 time in 2 years, I can at least share how I go about it. I’ve already written 700 posts with everything I know.
But to make it valuable, my job is to organise that, put it all in one place and make that the focus of why someone might pay.
20+ Hours of Videos, Workshop and Discussion
This is a bonus and ties into the core offering helping make the price a no-brainer, again the exercise here is making everything easy to access as I continue to build up the library.
Instead of taking on the pressure of making workshops and doing interviews regularly, positioning this as a bonus, works for my working style as well as the readers.
Exclusive Group Chat
Founding the
Has given me some valuable experience in community building, and I’m looking to leverage that in this underused Substack feature. It’s a premium value that I can offer easily and gives everybody a sense of affiliation!Creative Career Coaching
I love doing it, and I’m very confident with my outcomes having talked to many individuals and watching their success. This is a personalised version of the 700+ written posts, and seeks to complement the writing rather than replace it.
This substack is a business now, so starting with what the customer gets is the main thing. As for the Free weekly Newsletter and Blog, I’m adding the feature to automatically paywall these posts after 2 weeks, making it free for a limited time.
And turning the daily work into a way of incrementally improving the paid offering while offering value to free subscribers.
It took months to get clarity on how to structure and plan the newsletter, but I’m happy with this outcome.
And now I’m onto the Ugly Work of stringing together the content under this new umbrella of helping people get their next 5 figure picture-book illustration deal.
Thanks for Reading. See you in the chat!