The unconventional goal-setting hack that skyrocketed my startup's growth

Hey Reader—

What if I told you that you could grow your business without doing things you’re not good at?

My weakness is video, and over the past two years, I have tried my hardest to overcome this weakness.

In that time, I’ve gone from truly awful to just passably okay, spending hundreds of hours on practice and thousands of dollars in equipment, not to mention the sleepless nights before grueling recording days.

I asked a very close friend of mine to help me figure out the best way to incorporate video into my strategy to grow Glow Social in 2025.

Instead of giving me advice, my friend told me not to do video at all. To treat my YouTube channel as a place to go to learn tutorials on how to use Glow Social, but nothing else.

“It takes about an hour per minute to turn a recording into something that has the potential to go viral, and for you that means a 20-minute video will take you about half a week to polish it and make it ready to post on YouTube.” He looked at me. “You don’t have that kind of time. Writing comes so much more naturally to you.”

“Remember, you’re a writer. That’s where your skill is. It takes some people 20 hours to create a 1000-word story. How long do you think it would take you?”

I knew what he was getting at. I am a writer. I don’t often identify as one (and have never introduced myself as one) but the vast majority of what I do in my work is writing. Sales pages. Home pages. Emails. Instructions to my audience. Product announcements to my users. Slide decks and one-sheeters for my affiliates.

It’s all written content. And yet, for some reason, I’ve resisted claiming that identity. Perhaps because it feels too simple, too easy. Surely growth requires struggle and sacrifice, venturing outside my comfort zone to expand my skills?

My friend’s words sparked a profound mindset shift. What if, instead of fixating on improving my weaknesses, I focused on leveraging my strengths to the fullest? Could I accelerate my startup’s growth not by being a jack-of-all-trades, but by sharing some of what I’m going through in writing?

So instead of trying to get better at video, I’m going to start writing again.

Every week, I’ll be publishing insights I’m learning as I build, then launch, my no-code SaaS solution. I’ll be sharing the tools I’m using to build and launch, strategies that I’ll be implementing to grow my user base (wins and losses), and things I’m picking up along the way. Affiliate links included.

It’s a full-circle moment of sorts. I started out online simply writing whatever came to mind, hitting publish, then hoping for the best.

That was a long time ago (especially considering how fast things move online, and faster now with generative AI), and along the way, we all stopped writing.

And we lost track of each other.

So I’m going to get back to it.

This piece is taking me longer than my writing used to take.

But that’s okay.

I’ve set aside one day per week as a dedicated writing day.

On writing day, I’ll write my articles and my emails.

I’ll connect with my users, my affiliates, and my subscribers.

I’ll create sales collateral and slide decks.

I’ll hit publish and hope for the best.

I hope you’ll join me.

3 things I’m doing to get back into the habit of writing

1. Morning pages. Every morning, I’m writing 3 pages, by hand, of whatever comes to mind. I’m detaching myself from the idea that morning pages have to be good, and that’s been a real help. If this idea intrigues you but you need a bit more in the way of direction, I highly recommend (and have bought for friends) The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Of course, I write with a fancy fountain pen, fancy ink, and a notebook I love (must lay flat, be large, and have paper that can handle the ink).
2. Blocking off one day per week as “writing day” and keeping my butt in the chair until my writing is done. This (I hope) will get easier as the weeks go on, and the habit becomes much more routine, but at the very least it’s a block on my calendar that doesn’t allow anyone to book time with me.
3. Organizing my notes and documents into one dedicated space. I’m testing mem.ai (free right now, v2 is in beta) and I really like it so far. I want to get away from having things all over the place (and not just because subscription fatigue is a very real thing) and now that I’ve shifted my business model away from a public-facing coach, I can work with tools that work for me instead of trying to fight my way through tools that are better for public-facing consumption.

Are you blocking off a day each week to get your creative work done?

Let me know, and I’ll help amplify anything you’re sharing on social media! I know how much impact a ‘like’ can have in the first few minutes of publishing something, especially on LinkedIn.

If we’re not connected yet on LinkedIn, let’s remedy that.

Featured resources

If you want to dive deeper into building a consistent writing habit and unleashing your creativity, check out these helpful resources:

• ​The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: This classic book introduces the powerful practice of Morning Pages - writing 3 pages longhand each morning to clear your mind and tap into your creativity. Highly recommended if you need guidance and inspiration to start your own morning writing ritual.
• ​Mem.ai: The note-taking tool I’m currently using to organize all my ideas, notes and documents in one place. It’s free while in beta, so give it a try to see if it helps streamline your own writing process.
• ​Terri Trespicio’s Studio: Join Terri Trespicio, an award-winning writer and certified Gateless Writing instructor, for live virtual writing sessions that provide a safe, supportive space to unleash your creativity. With multiple sessions per week and a vibrant community of writers, the Studio offers the accountability and inspiration you need to make writing a joyful, regular practice.

I hope these resources provide some additional guidance and motivation as you commit to your own regular writing practice. Remember, the key is consistency - showing up regularly is more important than getting it perfect. Happy writing!

-Kathleen