Many of you who received the newsletter over the past two weeks kindly informed me about a massive string of code set right in the middle of the email that cut the rest of it off.
Awesome.
And based on the open rates of those two emails, I can tell many of you didn’t even receive it at all, no doubt because it was sent to your spam folder as a result of the huge, scary block of code.
Even more awesome (but, also, good looking out Gmail).
While these setbacks haven’t been ideal, the experience has given me a bit of inspiration about why I’d rather do it this way and experience these failures in public rather than the other way around.
There are takeaways here, not just for writing emails, but for building any sort of musical or creative endeavor.
Fail on the small stage
This email list still isn’t huge, and right now, that’s a good thing.
At just under 500 subscribers, this group pales in comparison to the 4,750 followers I have on Instagram or the 22,800 subscribers I have on YouTube.
But, of course, none of those numbers hold a candle to artists and creators who have millions of devoted followers across platforms.
The point is this: we all have to start somewhere, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to share these inevitable hiccups with a core tribe of like-minded friends so that they, hopefully, don’t repeat themselves at a later date when the stakes are higher.
It is so much more beneficial to figure these things out now, in front of others, rather than to wait until everything is “ready” and then figure it out later.
So whether it’s music or a simple email, failures happen.
The sooner we get them out of the way, the better.
Stress test what works
One percent better every day is the goal.
I am constantly trying new things week after week.
New video editing ideas, new content options, new musical direction—these things help me to find my way as an artist and creator.
But this growth wouldn’t happen if I didn’t do it in public.
Building in public gives the advantage of instant feedback.
When a video doesn’t do well, I know there’s something that needs to be fixed.
When an email falls flat, I know it’s time to rethink that topic or idea.
And when a song doesn’t do well, I just cry myself to sleep because each one takes so much work and I feel like I just wasted hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Kidding. Sort of.
In all seriousness, when a song doesn’t do well, I know there is an opportunity to improve my craft.
But those opportunities wouldn’t come if I didn’t hit publish, share my work in public, and get instant feedback from my audience.
Finding community
The best part about sharing the journey in public is the people you connect with.
Like you.
I had so many people out there looking out for me with the past two weeks of emails that I had to put together a follow-up email to let others know I was aware of the problem.
Because you guys are kind. And helpful.
And you only get to build relationships with kind and helpful people by sharing the process in public and with complete transparency.
And the coolest part is that once you do that, you end up with a community that doesn’t laugh at your mistakes and failures.
Instead, whenever you don’t quite hit the mark, your community shows up.
When a video doesn’t get it right, helpful people show up in the comments with ideas.
When a song doesn’t get it right, people show up with encouragement and kindness.
So if you’re afraid of hitting publish for fear of failure or rejection, take it from me, it happens to all of us, but each failure or rejection is an opportunity to show up even stronger next time and to build your community of kind and helpful people.
That’s the power of building in public.
Many of you who received the newsletter over the past two weeks kindly informed me about a massive string of code set right in the middle of the email that cut the rest of it off.
Awesome.
And based on the open rates of those two emails, I can tell many of you didn’t even receive it at all, no doubt because it was sent to your spam folder as a result of the huge, scary block of code.
Even more awesome (but, also, good looking out Gmail).
While these setbacks haven’t been ideal, the experience has given me a bit of inspiration about why I’d rather do it this way and experience these failures in public rather than the other way around.
There are takeaways here, not just for writing emails, but for building any sort of musical or creative endeavor.
Fail on the small stage
This email list still isn’t huge, and right now, that’s a good thing.
At just under 500 subscribers, this group pales in comparison to the 4,750 followers I have on Instagram or the 22,800 subscribers I have on YouTube.
But, of course, none of those numbers hold a candle to artists and creators who have millions of devoted followers across platforms.
The point is this: we all have to start somewhere, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to share these inevitable hiccups with a core tribe of like-minded friends so that they, hopefully, don’t repeat themselves at a later date when the stakes are higher.
It is so much more beneficial to figure these things out now, in front of others, rather than to wait until everything is “ready” and then figure it out later.
So whether it’s music or a simple email, failures happen.
The sooner we get them out of the way, the better.
Stress test what works
One percent better every day is the goal.
I am constantly trying new things week after week.
New video editing ideas, new content options, new musical direction—these things help me to find my way as an artist and creator.
But this growth wouldn’t happen if I didn’t do it in public.
Building in public gives the advantage of instant feedback.
When a video doesn’t do well, I know there’s something that needs to be fixed.
When an email falls flat, I know it’s time to rethink that topic or idea.
And when a song doesn’t do well, I just cry myself to sleep because each one takes so much work and I feel like I just wasted hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Kidding. Sort of.
In all seriousness, when a song doesn’t do well, I know there is an opportunity to improve my craft.
But those opportunities wouldn’t come if I didn’t hit publish, share my work in public, and get instant feedback from my audience.
Finding community
The best part about sharing the journey in public is the people you connect with.
Like you.
I had so many people out there looking out for me with the past two weeks of emails that I had to put together a follow-up email to let others know I was aware of the problem.
Because you guys are kind. And helpful.
And you only get to build relationships with kind and helpful people by sharing the process in public and with complete transparency.
And the coolest part is that once you do that, you end up with a community that doesn’t laugh at your mistakes and failures.
Instead, whenever you don’t quite hit the mark, your community shows up.
When a video doesn’t get it right, helpful people show up in the comments with ideas.
When a song doesn’t get it right, people show up with encouragement and kindness.
So if you’re afraid of hitting publish for fear of failure or rejection, take it from me, it happens to all of us, but each failure or rejection is an opportunity to show up even stronger next time and to build your community of kind and helpful people.
That’s the power of building in public.
Many of you who received the newsletter over the past two weeks kindly informed me about a massive string of code set right in the middle of the email that cut the rest of it off.
Awesome.
And based on the open rates of those two emails, I can tell many of you didn’t even receive it at all, no doubt because it was sent to your spam folder as a result of the huge, scary block of code.
Even more awesome (but, also, good looking out Gmail).
While these setbacks haven’t been ideal, the experience has given me a bit of inspiration about why I’d rather do it this way and experience these failures in public rather than the other way around.
There are takeaways here, not just for writing emails, but for building any sort of musical or creative endeavor.
Fail on the small stage
This email list still isn’t huge, and right now, that’s a good thing.
At just under 500 subscribers, this group pales in comparison to the 4,750 followers I have on Instagram or the 22,800 subscribers I have on YouTube.
But, of course, none of those numbers hold a candle to artists and creators who have millions of devoted followers across platforms.
The point is this: we all have to start somewhere, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to share these inevitable hiccups with a core tribe of like-minded friends so that they, hopefully, don’t repeat themselves at a later date when the stakes are higher.
It is so much more beneficial to figure these things out now, in front of others, rather than to wait until everything is “ready” and then figure it out later.
So whether it’s music or a simple email, failures happen.
The sooner we get them out of the way, the better.
Stress test what works
One percent better every day is the goal.
I am constantly trying new things week after week.
New video editing ideas, new content options, new musical direction—these things help me to find my way as an artist and creator.
But this growth wouldn’t happen if I didn’t do it in public.
Building in public gives the advantage of instant feedback.
When a video doesn’t do well, I know there’s something that needs to be fixed.
When an email falls flat, I know it’s time to rethink that topic or idea.
And when a song doesn’t do well, I just cry myself to sleep because each one takes so much work and I feel like I just wasted hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Kidding. Sort of.
In all seriousness, when a song doesn’t do well, I know there is an opportunity to improve my craft.
But those opportunities wouldn’t come if I didn’t hit publish, share my work in public, and get instant feedback from my audience.
Finding community
The best part about sharing the journey in public is the people you connect with.
Like you.
I had so many people out there looking out for me with the past two weeks of emails that I had to put together a follow-up email to let others know I was aware of the problem.
Because you guys are kind. And helpful.
And you only get to build relationships with kind and helpful people by sharing the process in public and with complete transparency.
And the coolest part is that once you do that, you end up with a community that doesn’t laugh at your mistakes and failures.
Instead, whenever you don’t quite hit the mark, your community shows up.
When a video doesn’t get it right, helpful people show up in the comments with ideas.
When a song doesn’t get it right, people show up with encouragement and kindness.
So if you’re afraid of hitting publish for fear of failure or rejection, take it from me, it happens to all of us, but each failure or rejection is an opportunity to show up even stronger next time and to build your community of kind and helpful people.
That’s the power of building in public.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.