All I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t come back last week because I may not have had anything to talk about.

If you like stickers, pins, and keychains, I have a collection of ephemera in the studio collecting dust. Send me $10, and I’ll mail you a bunch (supplies are limited).

Anyway, we have a lot to talk about, so let’s get to it.

This edition is in partnership with… YOU, maybe. Keep reading. 😉

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The Road Ahead Is Straight as an Arrow

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a lot of time to think about you. Weird? Maybe, but it’s also important because you’re the reason things feel a little different here.

Over the break, I talked to many people, asked many questions, and pushed some proverbial buttons, all to understand better what creative people need more than anything right now because it’s not another social media app.

Between rising costs, dwindling sales, and a near-non-existent reach on social media, many people believe they need new algorithm hacks, new product lines, or even more creative work to flood the social feeds. Still, it’s doubtful any of that will work.

From my research, I’m confident you don’t need more time on social media but less. Instead of gaining more followers on those accounts, you need to find ways to lead your audience away from the rented attention of social media and into the owned attention of your website and email list.

Also, instead of constantly promoting your posts to other creatives on Instagram, find art lovers who appreciate your work, have discretionary income, and are willing to pay for your best work.

The Short Answer Is Strategy.

The extended answer is strategic marketing, good stories, and next-level attention toward customer relationships.

If, instead of making random, non-strategic moves in every direction, you made thoughtful and well-planned moves toward the exact right customers, you could be much further along in your journey. I know this is true because I started doing it with this newsletter, and amazing things happened once I did.

Instead of talking about art news, business news, side hustles, main hustles, social media, print-on-demand, and which platform is the best for each at any given moment, I decided to dedicate the focus of The Hungry toward those exact three things above:

1. Strategy
2. Storytelling
3. Customer Relationships

You’ll notice that the format hasn’t changed much from before, but the focus will be on those topics because I believe that’s how we win. That’s how we achieve the gnarly goals that have haunted us.

What Does This Look Like?

Instead of stories about how one creative made millions from t-shirts and stickers, we’ll focus on the strategy of how that happened. There will be many conversations about marketing and branding. Once you finish shaking off the icky shivers from those words being mentioned, we’ll discuss the unfair stigma and show strategies to ease your way into being a conscientious marketer of your work.

We also want to find successful strategies of others who use social media to attract their audience to their owned spaces.

Also, we need to discuss how to identify the customers we want for our business and then seek ways to find them.

In other words, The Hungry is changing but kinda the same. Same voice, same energy, new focus with sharper teeth.

Let’s eat!

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[Partner] Do you know what’s better than being a loyal reader of The Hungry? Inviting a friend to become a loyal reader so you can gossip about how great each edition is. Refer a friend today.​

Why did I drop an ad for my newsletter within my newsletter? Because The Hungry is now offering advertising slots for small, creative businesses like yours, your ad could be in that spot above or below (first come, first serve) as soon as the next edition.

Spots are limited, and the introductory rate is exceptionally low, but these slots aren’t for everyone before you jump at the chance. If you have your own shop, service, or newsletter you want to promote, and I feel it’s a good fit, we can be partners.

​Start Here for more information, and if you have any questions, reply to this message.

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Why I Closed my Shopify Account…

And why I’m leaning into ConvertKit Instead.

As far as strategies go, this one is not for everyone. It may be exclusive to me, but I’ve spent so much time in the past talking about how great Shopify is as a selling platform. For transparency, I felt it necessary to discuss why I shut the shop down.

Boredom, really.

But also focus.

Last year, I decided to retire from selling art and spend my time entirely on The Hungry because I was in love with the newsletter. Well, that was just about a year ago, and News Flash! I still love it here. I also haven’t made much art since. Because of that, my Shopify site sat dormant.

I had every intention to go back, but I just didn’t. If you want to know why I closed the doors and what I’m focusing my energy on now, [READ MORE].

Small Bites

Because of the new focus, there might be fewer of these in the future, but they’ll be meatier.

🎙️ - Gah, the unfortunate timing! The week after I announced I was taking a break, my potter friend Rebecca Ickes Carra [released an episode](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5d6RCzZK2v5zkrt881YGOh) of her podcast, The Maker’s Playbook, where we talked about saying no to things and getting real about shiny new platforms.

📢 - Not one to let a hot trend slip past, Google is testing ads for email newsletters. If you’re an Internet old-head like me, you’ll remember all the Google ads in the sidebars of blogs everywhere. This is like that, except for email, and before you roll your eyes at seeing ads in emails, if you’re a newsletter operator, this is a new way to help generate revenue for your efforts. Will The Hungry be using them? Probably not, because we have our process, but maybe I’ll test it and report back.

🤪 - In the future, artists everywhere will remember the Great Sticker Rebellion of 2024, where we stood up against fascist mules and ran into the arms of robots and giants. Always the opportunist and wanting to provide value for the readers, I wrote a list of five sticker company alternatives.'

📈 - Hey, this is what a Hungry Partner ad looks like in the Small Bites section, except instead of this cheese, it'll be a finely crafted sentiment by yours truly that will make you and your business shine. Find out more here! *

Dessert

When you feel the dark power of marketing knowledge surging through you.