I’ve put off writing a newsletter for a while, but now I think I’ve found a purpose for it. You probably know me from my writing on my main site or on Twitter, but on Substack, I want to take on a different avatar.
In a few months, I think I am going to begin to work on The Emissary full-time. Yes, that means letting go of a comfortable 9 to 5, stability, safety, and a reliable salary.
“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” — Nicholas Nassim Taleb
It’s admittedly daunting. I could just go on with doing The Emissary on the side, but a feeling, some instinct, is telling me to go all in. I’ve waited and delayed long enough. It’s time to build.
The purpose of this newsletter will be to track this “build.” I don’t really know what I am doing. I’m not a savvy startup dude in Tech or a graduate of an Ivy League MBA, I’m just a curious and increasingly driven guy. I think I can provide some unique perspectives on topics especially related to the India-sphere. Let’s see how it pans out.
Additionally, I want to use this newsletter to share things I learned this week. Some of it is related to the domain of usual Emissary topics - politics, history, economics, especially that related to India or the diaspora - but also I’ll touch upon random other interests of mine (soccer, dinosaurs, productivity, design, etc…).
One thing I’ve been focusing on recently is virality and expanding social media presence. Around the turn of the year, my Twitter was poppin’. Like banger after banger after banger would amass me more followers in a few months than I did years prior. But then Elon came in and screwed it all up. The algorithm encouraged LinkedIn-esque threadbois, rolling your face on the keyboard destroying the integral concept of brevity in tweets (or should we say posts - seriously WTF type of brand death is this), and just a general deterioration in the quality of tweets.
Yes, I am salty. I thought I was on the cusp of a breakthrough in my follower count, but my reach since February has dropped immensely. However, I’ve decided to stop crying and instead git gud. Bend the knee. I am a pragmatist at the end of the day. I did a bit of market research that I thought was interesting, here’s a snapshot of an analysis I did on Sahil Bloom:
Sahil Bloom
Twitter: Tweets 5-10 times a day; Usually headlined with a megathread or short 30 sec - 1 min video
Megathread has a lot of lists; again big emphasis on readability
He replies to the Megatweet at intervals of 30 minutes to 1 hour or across the day with new ideas; again readable (can be larger character limit, just make short sentences)
Sahil seems to reply to 7-10 people (mostly blue checks) a day
May combine Megatweet + short video for ultra engagement
Posts megatweets between 8-10 AM, erring towards 8 AM EST
Tweet Ex: https://twitter.com/SahilBloom/status/1692536762382340513
Instagram: Posts 1 reel a day: 30 sec - 1 min
Combination of talking + caption style with cuts of stock videos about his topic
Sometimes does a pure infographic-style video
Instagram Ex:
💡 Sahil focuses on a pop-consumable style and showy quality. Everything he puts out seems like it has a high budget. Is easily digestible. Also, everything he gives makes you feel like it will improve your life, perhaps because this is a consistent call-out in his content: improvement.
Here’s another deep dive on a new platform called FinFloww:
FinFloww
Twitter: Tweets a Megathread/tweet every MWF, RT’s quote tweets of said MT for the next few days
Megatweets consist of about 4 pictures spread between various 1-2 line paragraphs.
Use of bold in every few tweets
1st tweet/visible is always 4 separate sentences
No big paragraphs: use lists with emojis or interesting characters “→”
Uses bold emoji integrating headings to section off in megatweets
Megathreads are usually around 20 tweets, most tweets take up about 3/4 of the max character limit
All Megatweets are followed by 1 tweet for WhatsApp sign up, and another to subscribe to a newsletter
Sometimes puts memes toward the end
Simple 2-line bio saying 1. What they do; 2. What they deliver
Tweet Ex: https://twitter.com/FinFloww/status/1691801466061615615?s=20
Instagram: Posts 1 reel a week (1:05 min avg), 1 infographic a month (9 slides)
Consistent style of reel (Small phrase/sentence Call out in front; similar filming)
Small phrase/sentence call out in front
Similar filming style
Brand consistent captioning
Ex:
10-20 hashtags
Partners with other big accounts for double posts
Slides get a lot less likes than reels but are stylized very nicely
Ex:
💡 FinFloww uses brevity and consistent branding as its main advantage. It goes for quality over quantity and really zeroes in on being consumable. The WhatsApp angle is very innovative.
Anyway, I want to keep this brief. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and any tips for the plunge or anything else since I know many of you have more experience and are smarter than me! I aim to do this “Musings” series once a week.
Peace out. Wish me luck! Till, next time.
-Akshar
Rooting for you Akshar, good luck!