2023 in hindsight - Making content is hard
To cap off the year we are taking a look at how 2023 has been from our perspetive, and share some cool news with you guys!
2023 has been one hell of a year, and after writing 19 newsletters on Substack, and the holidays taking most of people’s attention we thought we’d keep it simple today. Our 20th newsletter will be a reflection on how the last half of 2023 has been for us, a retrospective if you will, and why we got into the content game in the first place.
Before we dive into it I thought I would introduce myself, my name is Brede, I’m based in Oslo, and during the daytime, I’m a Data Science/AI consultant. I’ve always been interested in Finance, geopolitics and the markets. I run this Substack with my partner in crime, Michael who also lives in Oslo, and is a finance guy by training, and works with multiple startups.
Writing for fun and profit
This whole project was started in early August 2023, we had been talking about making content for some time, and discussed it was something we really wanted to do. Earlier this year I had an ambition of writing on Substack once every other week on my personal Substack. At the time, both of us were working in a start-up, so content creation wasn’t prioritized to any degree. I did write one story about how cobalt is mined in The Congo, which was very much inspired by the likes of Doomberg. Might give the post a little polish and put it up here as well, it’s a bit different from our usual style, but hopefully, you’ll find it interesting.
When summer rolled around the start-up we had founded and worked on for over two years came to an end (unsuccessfully I might add), and being somewhat masochistic we wanted to throw ourselves into the next thing straight away. The markets have always been an interest of mine that I haven’t been able to express fully, the same goes for Michael. We have invested here and there, made some bets, and done some analysis, but always wanted more.
This realization led us down the path of content creation, not just as a way to pay the bills (which it doesn’t) but as a way of expressing our views on the markets, and what’s going on in the world. Not only is creating content very fun but it is also filled with learning. The learning curve is quite steep, and you need to balance what you find interesting and what people actually care about.
After we had been doing the whole “Substack thing” for a while we saw that there were also great synergies with another platform widely used by people all around the world: YouTube. We took some of the same content we had made for Substack, and re-wrote it as video scripts. In realizing that video editing wasn’t something either Michael or I knew very well, we decided to outsource that process to a team of editors. If we hadn’t I don’t think our content schedule would have been very consistent. We are now at the point where we are publishing a new video once a week, with short-form content as well. It would be very cool if you checked our YouTube channel and gave it a subscribe and even some likes.
Reflections on content creation
I’ll try to keep this short and focus on what we’ve learned about making content for all the channels we mainly publish to — YouTube, Substack, and Instagram.
Writing forces you to learn
Getting into the habit of writing consistently is something that I’m very grateful for “discovering” because you need to understand what you write about, and that forces you to do research, and learn. The posts we have put up here vary from semiconductors, war, and ammunition to healthcare and weight loss — some of these topics we had a good grasp of already, but some of them required hours and hours of research. That process is incredibly valuable and as a consequence, I’ve learned more than ever.
The small stuff isn’t small
This might be especially apt for YouTube, but I think it applies for every content channel to some degree. You could be forgiven to think that if you make quality content it will spread. In our experience this is not the case. Of course it might be that we are making terrible content, but that we are on peak Dunning-Kruger levels, not being able to realize it. When posting to YouTube the most important things are the title and the thumbnail. Upon reflection it makes sense, because the thumbnail needs to captivate the watcher, and the title needs to be engaging; while perhaps sounding simple this is some the hardest things to get right. In addition the algorithm is ruthless; if you don’t post for a week you’ll get fewer views, if fewer people clicked your last video you’ll get fewer views, if people don’t engage… you get the point. All this to say, making quality content isn’t enough. But what is quality content? Is there an objective measure of what that is?
Realize that no one cares
That sounds bit harsh, and some think about you. In life, most people are thinking about themselves and their tribe (for good reason). When you walk into a room they don’t think about you, but rather how they themselves are perceived. Studies show that we think people think about us more than they do (The spotlight effect). When it comes to making content this becomes obvious quickly, while you are at the mercy of the algorithm your subscribers won’t notice if something is “late”. I have set artificial deadlines for myself, where every Monday at 13:00 the newsletter is released. The deadline helps me put pressure on myself, but I doubt anyone is waiting by their email counting down. Consistency is a really good thing though, and instead of getting discouraged by the content not reaching as many people as I’d like chalk it up as a learning opportunity.
You will have bad days
Sometimes you hate the stuff you’ve made. Most of the time it’s not like this, and you’ve produced something you are happy with, but sometimes you just have this sinking feeling of not making good enough content. This has gotten “worse” as my writing has improved and my standards have gotten higher. This is completely normal, but it’s important not to focus so much on it that you stop producing. I would also add that not every story/video script you write can be 10/10, but I focus on learning, and hopefully, you guys learn something as well. I think it’s much better to have some bad days instead of not trying or giving up.
Change s**t up
A couple of weeks ago I decided to change up what and how the newsletter was written. In the beginning, I tried to curate the most interesting things that happened in the market throughout the week and wrote three stories in one post. While that was fun, I felt at the mercy of the universe. I don’t control the news, so if one issue dominates the news cycle it’s difficult to find other things to write about. This change has probably not been the best in terms of audience, since after making that change the open rate has gone down, but I didn’t want to end up in a situation where I felt as though I was “forced” to write about current events.
Brevity is the soul of wit
I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead - Mark Twain
I’m quite verbose sometimes. I want to provide as much background as possible to ensure readers/watchers have the full context, but it has dawned on me more and more that this is a mistake. You as a reader probably have 20 minutes on your commute where you read newsletters like this, and spending that time reading about the history leading up to something is not optimal. I think this comes as a consequence of thinking as a writer, not a reader. Fear of being penalized for missing something is real, but if you didn’t have the full context you probably wouldn’t have noticed.
Remember to enjoy it
Some of these points seem a bit bleak, but I can promise you it isn’t, making content is something I’m very happy about having started doing. Although growing is hard, it is still rewarding. As a person who loves reading and learning, being able to do it so often and express your views is incredibly fun. Some of the best work I’ve done has been a random idea that I’ve just run with, for me that keeps the fun alive, because if it bores me it will probably bore you too.
What’s next for The Doji Gazette?
We will continue to write the newsletter, but since growth on Substack has been hard we might move it to its own website. The YouTube channel will get a lot more focus moving forward, not just because it’s harder (and more expensive), but because it has the biggest potential for growth. Up till now we’ve taken content from Substack and adapted it to YouTube, but moving forward it will probably be the other way around. I also think that we will start publishing more, but shorter in the future, not every story needs to be a 15-minute read.
We are also toying around with some new content to put out here like a monthly trade idea, investor profiles, annual shareholder letter review, and much more.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the content so far, thank you so much for reading, it means a lot. Enjoy the rest of your holidays, spend time with family and friends, and eat mountains of food and candy, I’ll see you in 2024!
