Lifelog

What if I prioritized only that which compounds? What if I only did things that has a compounding effect? What would happen if I ignored non-compounding work completely?

Wow today was on busy day on Twitter... what happened there??

• Twitter thread on production-first and distribution-first really hit a spot. I guess some degree of controversy really does help huh..
• 4am posts started getting more attn too...people seem to just vibe with it, not sure what to make of it
• sent out another thread on personal acc based on Lifelog post

Been learning a lot about rich vs poor money mindsets, and here’s some I’m working on right now:

• Make money work for me, not me working for money
• Buys time, not wastes time
• Multiple income streams instead of one
• Net worth-driven, not income-driven
• You can be rich and be ethical

What other important mindsets did I miss?

• tweeted a thread based off a Lifelog post on personal acc
• chatted with more folks about finding distribution channel
• organic engagement and sent out links to "making time to write" tweet via Lifelog acc
• review content strat

There’s a phrase going around on Twitter that I hear a lot. That first-time founders focus on product, second-time founders focus on distribution. I wonder if I’m going through that now, the hard way.

So what gives?

What if I went distribution-first for a product?

Find a growing market and a reliable and sustainable distribution channel first, before even making the product?

For an existing product, how about finding a distribution channel and then shaping the marketing and product around it instead?

What are the conditions that might favour a product-first approach? When should I use distribution-first approach instead?

I don’t know. I have more questions than answers now.

• Scheduled a tweet on Lifelog acc
• Tweeted out a thread of a Lifelog post on my personal acc
• Asked more qns on Twitter about finding the right distribution channel
• More thinking and plotting

How to say no:

"Great to hear from you. Taking a break from networking in person because I’m focusing time on new priorities. Sincerely wishing you the best on your new project."
- Simple. To the point. Asserting boundaries by giving an reason. Yet polite and positive.

Even better:
"Thanks for the invite. Apologies I’m not available for speaking at this event. All the best for your proceedings."
- Don't have to explain yourself or give a reason for saying no

Saying no is much easier than it feels.

• DMed some indie hacker folks to learn about how they manage personal vs brand Twitter accounts
• Scheduled tweets for Lifelog - reusing organic replies as standalone tweets scheduled for future publishing
• Trying out Naval-esque style tweets - just 1-2 lines, succinct, punchy, inspiring, useful
• Started another week of Twitter ad campaign, with improvements to key words and follower look-alikes
• Tweeted a thread from one of my Lifelog posts on personal acc

“There’s magic in what you did before 10 years of age.” ~ Scott Adams.

I'm constantly confused if I should use my personal acc to engage or the Lifelog one. When should I use what? Use Lifelog acc when promoting? Use personal when chatting?

What's the pros and cons over each?

Maybe I should have just stuck to personal since it's simpler, and I can accrue social capital via my personal brand rather than a faceless 'corporate' acc?

It’s always Day One at Amazon, said Jeff Bezos. That’s an aspiration for Amazon, that it will always act like a startup, no matter its size. To Bezos, Day Two is stasis, which leads to irrelevance and decline.

Always be in Day One, he said.

• My best tweets so far are the threads I wrote in April! It shouldn't be surprising, but I was. It didn't seem to do that well in April, but they are clearly in the front now with constant retweets and sharing. Makes complete sense.

• Ad audience were overwhelmingly majority from India - wuttt? Like, how, why? I always thought my target was US folks... I wonder if it's a one-off thing. Interesting insight.

More analysis to come...

There are only 3 strategies…
• Try again
• Try harder
• Try something else
~ @julia_saxena via @joshskaja

This really helps in clarifying my thinking, and making my approach to marketing for Lifelog a bit more methodical. I don’t think I’m at the stage of trying something else yet. Need more data. Let’s start from the top of the list, and go down in sequence.

I need to do something different. Organic engagement is great and all, but not working as well as I would like it.

What else can I do? The more automated the better.

• Trying Twitter ads now.
• More long form content?
• Posting site on directories?
• Engineering-as-marketing?
• Reddit?

BUT before throwing spaghetti on the wall, I need more real-world data. Which kinds of tweets are working, which ones isn't. Which platforms work better.

It’s unreasonable, this beauty of normalcy. You can’t reason with it, because it was dropped upon us and we were thrust into it, kicking and screaming. We didn’t want to have to appreciate such normalcy, but now we do.

If there’s any one lesson from 2020-21 that I’m learning, it is this. The things we all took for granted previously, the normal things, are actually the precious things.

I wished I didn’t have to learn this lesson, yet I can’t bargain or reason my way out of this situation. Aren’t we all?

This unreasonable beauty of normalcy.

"Focus on what you can control, not on what you cannot control.
Focus on the possibilities, not dead-ends.
Focus on what you can do, not on what you cannot do.
Focus on the present, not the past/future.
Focus on what you can contribute, not on what you can take."
~ @fatehshernu

Tiny steps:

• Tweeted thread on personal Tw acc, based on a Lifelog post
• Organic commenting via @golifelog acc
• Scheduled 1 tweet

So what gives?

Hustle hard, give it all, get to your goal, then relax?

Or just live the life you want already, and get to the goal in due time?

I’m guessing the answer is: It depends.

But I guess it’s an answer I’m not sure I’m too interested to find now anyway.

I’m already living it.

• Wrote #buildinpublic thread about Lifelog's content approach on personal acc
• Organic commenting and sharing using Lifelog acc

• Scheduled more tweets and a thread re: goals and writing towards goals
• Posted on personal account too about #buildinpublic

"When mind is weak, situation is a problem.
When mind is balanced, situation is a challenge.
When mind is strong, situation becomes an opportunity."

Our perspective of a situation is a more accurate reflection of the mind giving it than the situation receiving it.

What were the situations in the past where I felt were problems? Are those indicators that my mind is weak in those areas?

Where am I strong, where I constantly saw opportunities where others in similar situations might see them as problems/challenges?

It’s marketing week for Lifelog. A few things I’m rethinking, myths I’m busting:

• Not for literary writers
• Goals needs more prominence
• For creators & creatives
• Parallel worlds - other tangential topics related to Lifelog
• Consistency is important too

It’s funny how I’m still figuring these very fundamental things out even after more than half a year. But better late than never. What’s even funnier is how I’d been part of this community for years now, yet it’s not intuitive to me who and how I should market and engage. I guess it’s different when you’re a participant versus a maker/entrepreneur/community builder.

• Scheduled tweets
• Unfollowed romance/sci-fi/literary folks cos writers in general are no longer my focus (but it keeps showing up on my feed!)
• Training the algorithm to show makers and creators