Welcome to the Garden, My Friend!
The Garden (which has an energy all its own) intends to be a refuge for human souls feeling battered by life's experiences. It is a space where you can rest and recharge for a while, gathering tools, techniques, and strategies for living more peacefully, abundantly, and joyfully throughout this human experience.
I’m honored and grateful you are here! And if you resonate with the work I do here, I invite you to become a subscriber. Either way, I’m glad you are here, my friend!
Good morning, my dear friend! I hope this finds you doing well.
It is a rainy one here, and I’m just coming off a “spinny” day.
See, essentially, Myrtle Beach is a swamp, and as such, many of us (my family included) are challenged with allergies. Not just “seasonal” ones, but year-round ones. Especially when they decide to tear things up to construct new housing, which IS ALL.THE.TIME around here.
Unfortunately, my sinuses don’t like to drain in a “proper” manner, which physically often leads to an inner ear infection. Spiritually and energetically? It often comes when my activities or energies are out of balance, which - apparently - they have been the past couple of days.
I’m on the mend, though, and back to doing what I love doing most. Connecting with you and other members of this wonderful community!
I recently had a behind-the-scenes discussion with one of our members. He asked me how I’m planning to grow my readership on Substack.
Here is a peek at my dashboard…
I’ve been on here (I think!) since early 2020. I was not consistent. Then, I started working a 9-to-5 job in 2021. Then, I was diagnosed with cancer in the autumn of 2022 and went through treatments in 2023. So… I’ve been a little busy the past few years. 😅
When I was laid off from the aforementioned day job at the beginning of this year, I really became serious about “growing” my “platform.”
Full Disclosure Here…
I do weed the Garden every six months. If someone hasn’t opened an email or interacted with me in that time, I do delete them, and here’s why.
As I told our friend this morning, I’m out to connect with “true fans,” as George Kao calls them.
Instead of “traffic”, what an authentic business really needs is:
To connect genuinely with the true fans that our business can best serve, the people who would be most grateful for our offerings.
To nurture relationships of reciprocity that allow everyone to thrive.
So, we go back to the original question…
How do I plan to “grow my readership on Substack?”
The truth of the matter is, I’m just winging it. I’m allowing my intuition and the energy of the Garden to lead me.
While the number of readers is a concern of my ego, my Heart/Spirit is less concerned about the number as It is concerned with the impact I’m making with what I hope will become my “true fans.”
They will resonate with my Heart, and truly?
That is what I’m offering here in the Garden…
My Heart.
Yes, numbers are AWESOME, and I would love an opportunity to have enough paid subscribers in the future that I no longer need a day job. But I also know that this isn’t going to happen overnight.
The Garden is not a “get rich quick” scheme.
I’m looking to make a real difference in the lives of those people I and It serves.
I’m also not putting all my eggs in one basket.
What I offer on Substack is not the entirety of the Garden.
The Garden is a growing community.
Does it look like my ego wants it to at the moment?
Not really.
But I also envision it as a “cottage garden.” Unplanned and unmanicured beauty.
I am in the process of “training” it, but that doesn’t even guarantee that it will conform to my nudgings.
The Garden is an idea that desires to be manifested in this world.
It is a thing of beauty, love, and compassion. It truly has an energy of its own. (That is not some airy-fairy statement that “sounds good” on my Hero Post.)
This is something that I’ve realized as of late.
I am not driving this train. 😅
I am truly only the “caretaker” and “host” of the Garden.
I’m along for the ride, as exciting, beautiful, and sometimes challenging as it may be.
My “Secret Sauce”
Many people here on Substack talk about their “secret sauce” for growing a following, and I’m SO glad that so many people are successful! 🥳 I’m cheering them along.
For me, though… There is no “secret sauce.”
I’m just showing up, following the Guidance that I’m given, and connecting with others, knowing that it will all work out in the end.
Things will take off when they’re meant to.
The “plans” I’m following are much more lofty than mere numbers can ever convey. The “metrics” I’m going by are the Hearts I’m touching along the way.
And that is how my core values are manifesting in the Garden. 😘
I do hope you got something out of this edition of the Trail Diaries, my friend.
Until next time, take care, and may you be well!
Sending you SO much love, light, and BIG squishy HUGS,
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