The Internet's Gift
Wassily Kandinsky, Several Circles
Feedback is the internet’s gift. When you make something and people like it, you know! The same is true when people don’t like it. When you make something and it gets no attention, there’s a problem with your product and/or a problem with your distribution. Either way, that’s feedback. One failure mode of internet creators is the belief in going harder when the feedback is pessimistic in hopes of hitting a future jackpot: “No one liked this, but if I make it better, if I sell it harder, then it’ll take off.” No. You get enough feedback from your early iterations to know whether the thing has traction. Double down on the winners, ditch the losers.
The above does not apply when you’re purely making things for yourself. If you don’t care about the thing reaching an audience beyond yourself, then sure, keep at it.
The cold start problem is an obstacle for newer entrants into internet creation. It’s not reasonable to publish into the void and hope that someone notices. There are ways you can help yourself at the start:
Be legible. No one has the time or desire to decipher your tea leaves. State who you are, what the thing is, and why it’s in people’s interest to click.
Send targeted 1-1 messages. Find people who are most likely to be interested in your thing: they work in the industry or they make similar stuff. Give a genuine compliment about their stuff, be concise, and make a simple request. Visa has solid advice here.
Build a body of quality work. “But this contradicts your earlier point!” No. It’s in your interest to find the intersection of quality and speed as you iterate on what has shown promise so that you’re more likely to attract others into your internet orbit. When someone sees one good thing from you, it’s random. When someone sees a few good things from you, it’s a lucky pattern. When someone sees many good things from you, it’s a follow and a share because that’s in their self-interest. “Check out this hidden gem I found!” Your efforts generate clout for them because you are a generous god.
Things get really fun when you are sufficiently known such that you can recruit allies and make collaborations and get shared with audiences beyond your current reach. But it starts with paying attention to the internet’s gift and acting accordingly.