Welcome to Insights
Welcome to Insights
What to expect from my new section, exclusively for my paid subscribing community.
Welcome to Insights, my new Looking Sideways section, exclusively for my paid subscribing community.
It’s where you’ll find exclusive blogs, podcasts, video chats, guest posts and articles all geared towards answering those two fundamental questions:
“How can I spend more time doing the things I’m passionate about?”
“What does a ‘successful’ creative life actually look like?”
Why Insights?
Hands up if these two questions have ever crossed your mind.
They’ve been two key themes of the 250 + interviews I’ve conducted for my Looking Sideways podcast.
And they are something I've personally been preoccupied with in the 30 years I've managed to avoid getting a proper job.
And I’m not joking about that. My glib line when somebody asks me what I do is usually: ‘I piss about for a living’.
Which is kinda true. But equally true is the fact that I didn’t magically wake up one morning with a functioning marketing agency on hand, and a podcast kit waiting for me at the end of my bed.
Nope. What actually happened is that I’ve spent almost 30 years working on my own very bloody-minded terms: as a journalist, author, podcaster, business owner, mentor and public speaker.
Originally, this was because I wanted to go surfing and snowboarding as much as possible.
Eventually, it evolved into this weird little career.
Today, my main incomes streams are as co-founder and co-owner of
; and the work I do podcasting, mentoring and public speaking.I still occasionally work as a journalist, but these days usually only when I want to blag a free trip (Incoming: Insights article on how to blag a free trip, something I consider one of THE essential life skills).
And then there are the other serendipitous opportunities that come up when you consistently put yourself out there in this way (last winter: official media partner of the London Surf Film Festival. This summer: judging the Wilbur Smith Foundation Adventure Writing Awards. This coming autumn: a live Creative Exchange with Chris Burkard at the forthcoming Kendal Mountain Festival).
All in all, it’s been a long, strange trip.
And one thing it has given me is some (OK, I’m going to say it) unique and valuable insights into the reality of living this much sought-after ‘creative’ lifestyle. And a pretty good idea of what it takes to make it a reality on your own terms.
This is what Insights is going to explore.
How is it going to work?
Insights: a paid subscriber-only zone.
I am lucky enough to be one of Substack’s paid subscription ‘Bestsellers’, which means I get a special badge and am treated extra nicely by Substack (for example, Bestsellers have a dedicated support team, which is actually really helpful).
In my case, I came to Substack with a ready-made community - my lovely group of Looking Sideways podcast followers. And when I ‘went’ paid in January 2023, a lot of them came with me, which was brilliant.
Since then, my community on Substack has grown exponentially, to the point that there are now a few different communities following me:
The original Looking Sideways podcast gang
People who’ve discovered me through Substack’s excellent recommendations infrastructure, or the app (below - I wish I could change that godawful copy, but for some reason I can’t. Yet another way Substack can be incredibly clunky)
Others who just seem to like the cut of my sarky British jib as an independent media outlet, and want to support that. (These are the people who usually reply to all my Instagram Stories, and are as geeky about books as I am).
18 months in, now that I have a better idea of the make up of the Looking Sideways clan on here, I’m shifting things up, and making it really clear what unique - well - Insights I can offer to my paid subscribing community.
There’s clearly an appetite for it. So let’s see how it develops.
What you get as a Paid Subscriber:
1. Every Looking Sideways post, every Looking Sideways episode (every alternate Monday), and every 10 Things dispatch (every Friday). Oh, and all my book recommendations, which everybody seems to love.
2. Exclusive access to the Insights section of the site … which you can check out here. As you’ll see, there are already a LOT of resources up there, and I’ll be adding more each week. (All my Db Creative Exchange conversations, for example, are now Insights access only).
Insights posts will go up on a Wednesday, but because I don’t want to spam the bejesus out of people with three emails a week, I’ll post that week’s link as one of the weekly Ten Things every Friday.
Looking for a place to start? Try these:
3. Access to me Weird, right? Especially if you’re British, like I am. But I get a LOT of requests from people to check out this pitch, give them advice on a business idea, sense check this creative idea they’ve had, and so on.
Well, if you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll now access to my 30 years of knowledge as part of your subscription (and I’ll now have somewhere to direct all these unsolicited queries).
Try it using that big shiny button below. Helping people get their heads around their own challenges is absolutely one of many favourite things to do, as my co-owners at All Conditions Media will testify.
4. Access to the Looking Sideways community For me, the best part of the whole gig. As I discussed here, having a network is essential when it comes to any none-conventional career. And I’m lucky enough to have one of the most stacked contact books in the game.
Indeed, many of our industry’s key players are subscribers and listeners to Looking Sideways. Some of them have even become paid subscribers - with their own money/on their own business expense accounts! Imagine that.
Basically, there is an absolute hive mind of information and intelligence among the LS community - and together, we’re going to unleash it.
To start, I’ve created a Substack Chat thread for paid subscribers here. Tbh, the Chat feature is a bit hit-and-miss, but let’s give it a go.
5. Discounts on a mentoring course with me My four-session mentoring course usually costs £2k per head. Paid subscribers can sign up at a substantial discount. Interested in chatting to me about this? Noise me up using this here button once again:
6. Access to the forthcoming Announcement micro site Access to the what now? As I discussed below, I’ve spent the last 18 months working on a three-hour, three-part podcast documentary series about Patagonia’s decision to ‘make earth our only shareholder’. More below
The main series will be free to all, but the full set of interviews, insights from me, and guest recordings? That’ll be Insights access only.
So there you go. That’s the plan. To celebrate, I’ve updated my special offers and am now offering a 40% discount to anybody who subscribes for a year.
Paid subscribers: I want to hear from you.
Let me know what you think!
What stories do you want to hear?
What insights would be helpful?
Would a story about how to blag a free trip (I wasn't joking about that) be useful?
Let’s hear it by using the comment button below, and if you’re a paid subscriber then jump in and say hello.
Sign me up.
I’m here for the weird access…