I spent 30 years of my career working in museums.

I’ve seen all sorts of things displayed, much of which has been classed as art.

In my last piece, I challenged you to rethink the physical medium and look at Mail Art zines as a way to bust through the digital noise.

The response was fascinating. Half of you were ready to run out and buy a printing press, while the other half asked a very fair, slightly panicked question:

“Gary, I’m a marketer/copywriter/entrepreneur. I have a business to run. I’m not an artist. Why should I spend time making art?”

It’s a classic trap that we’ve been conditioned to believe that if an activity doesn’t have a direct line item in the quarterly budget, it’s a waste of time.

We treat creativity like a utility bill—something to be optimized, minimized, and kept strictly functional.

But today, I want to argue the exact opposite. If you want to survive the automated content apocalypse, you need to be making more art. Not less. And you need to start doing it now.

The Death of the “Good Enough” Content

Let’s look at the reality of the market.

Right now, the barrier to entry for creating acceptable content is exactly zero.

Anyone with an internet connection can push a button and generate a perfectly structured, grammatically correct, 800-word blog post about “5 Ways to Optimize Your SEO Strategy.”

Because of this, the internet is being flooded with a massive wave of homogenized, generic, soul-crushing mediocrity.

When efficiency is maximized, uniqueness becomes the only true currency.

If your content looks, and sounds, and feels like it was assembled by a committee of algorithms, your audience will treat it like background noise, which means hey will learn to tune you out.

This is where art comes in.

Art is, by definition, inefficient. It requires friction, personal risk, and an individual point of view. When you make art, you are forcing yourself to make choices that an algorithm never would—choosing a jarring color palette, writing an uncomfortable metaphor, or structuring a layout with an intentional, asymmetric rhythm.

The Creator’s Paradox: The more you focus on purely functional, “optimized” marketing, the more invisible you become. The closer your marketing looks to art, the more magnetic it becomes.

Three Reasons Making Art Makes You a Smarter Marketer

When I talk about making art, I’m not saying you need to quit your day job and move to a loft to paint abstract canvases (unless you want to, in which case, go for it). I’m talking about engaging in creative acts where the primary goal isn’t immediate commercial conversion, but expression.

Here is what happens to your professional brain when you start making more art:

1. You Reclaim Your Visual and Verbal Autonomy

When you spend all day analyzing data and performance metrics, your creative instincts get lazy. You start relying on templates and “best practices.” Making art—whether it’s sketching, photography, poetry, or manual collage—forces you to exercise your taste. It sharpens your eye for composition, texture, and emotional resonance. That taste directly carries over into how you design your next campaign or write your next headline.

2. It Teaches You to Embrace the Imperfect

Marketing frameworks hate mistakes. They want predictable, repeatable outcomes. But true inspiration is chaotic and elastic. Art forces you to work with constraints and happy accidents. When a smudge of ink ruins a perfect line, an artist doesn’t hit “Ctrl+Z”—they reframe the entire piece around the smudge. That adaptability is exactly what you need when a marketing campaign hits an unexpected snag in the real world.

3. It Deepens Your Empathy for the Audience

Art is an exchange of human emotion. When you create something raw and original, you feel a moment of vulnerability before you share it. Remembering what that feels like is the best antidote to writing clinical, disconnected marketing copy. It reminds you that on the other side of that screen or mailbox is a living, breathing human being who wants to feel something, not just be sold to.

The Art-to-Business Pipeline

The most successful brands right now don’t look like software companies; they look like media empires and design studios. They understand that consumers are starving for visual integrity, distinct voices, and a sense of genuine human presence.

Look at your current output. If everything you produce is a straight, transactional line from “Problem” to “Solution,” you are vulnerable to being automated out of existence.

Stop asking if a creative project will scale. Stop worrying if it fits neatly into your current funnel.

Give yourself permission to make something weird, beautiful, or totally non-commercial this week.

Write a short story.

Build a crazy mood board.

Design a poster you have no intention of selling.

Shake up your routine.

The muscle memory you build while making art might just save your business.

Over to you: When was the last time you made something just for the sake of making it?

Has the metric-driven grind put your creative instincts to sleep, or are you actively fighting back?

Let’s talk about it in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: When good design goes rogue …

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

In my last edition, I asked if I should shake things up and change direction.

I questioned whether my unfiltered takes on content creation were hitting the mark, or if I was just screaming into the digital void.

Well, the feedback was a wake-up call. It reminded me of why I started this newsletter: to challenge the status quo, rattle your understanding of how things are “supposed to be,” and look at the mechanics of attention a little differently.

So, instead of pivoting to something dull and expected, let’s lean right into the friction. Today, we’re looking at an old-school medium that is quietly mounting a rebellion against our hyper-automated, algorithmic existence.

Let’s talk about Mail Art zines. Are they really coming back?

We are drowning in a sea of frictionless content. AI-generated text blocks, automated social media feeds, and algorithmic engagement loops have turned the digital landscape into a smooth, predictable conveyor belt. It’s efficient, sure. But it’s also completely devoid of soul.

When every piece of content can be optimized, distributed, and forgotten in a millisecond, the saddest phrase in marketing becomes true: “We’ve always done it this way.” We have optimized ourselves into obscurity.

Enter Mail Art and the humble zine.

For the uninitiated, Mail Art (or “postal art”) started as an avant-garde movement in the mid-20th century. Artists used the international postal service to exchange handmade postcards, collages, and altered objects. It bypassed galleries, ignored curators, and was explicitly anti-commercial. Combined with the punk-rock, photocopied ethos of the independent zine, it represents the ultimate antithesis of a LinkedIn carousel.

And yes, it is absolutely staging a comeback. Not because it’s efficient, but precisely because it isn’t.

Why Mail Art Zines Matter Right Now

As an award-winning graphic designer who cut his teeth long before the internet became a series of corporate monopolies, I look at the aesthetic revival of the zine with a mix of nostalgia and immense professional respect. This isn’t just a hipster trend; it’s a masterclass in modern brand differentiation.

Three specific things make Mail Art zines a potent tool for creators looking to stand out right now:

1. Visual Integrity and Tactical Weight

A zine demands your hands. It utilizes textured paper stocks, deliberate imperfections, mismatched typography, and archival collage layouts that force a reader to slow down. You can’t skim a zine while scrolling past three other notifications. The physical weight translates to intellectual weight.

2. High Signal-to-Noise Ratio

On Substack or Medium, you are competing with thousands of voices for a fraction of a second of screen time. In a physical mailbox, a hand-addressed envelope containing a beautifully weird, limited-run zine isn’t noise—it’s an event. It converts a passive “consumer” into an active “custodian” of your work.

3. The Power of Intentional Curation

The digital world tells us to publish daily, chase the algorithm, and use automated workflows. Mail Art zines throw that out the window. They rely on the beauty of curation—forcing the creator to make hard choices about layout, spacing, and rhythm because paper and postage cost real money.

Shaking Up the Marketing Mix

Am I suggesting you abandon your digital funnels, stop using AI tools as brainstorming partners, and buy a warehouse full of stamps? Of course not.

That would be commercial suicide.

If your marketing strategy relies entirely on automated engagement, your brand is effectively invisible. True inspiration is elastic. It stretches across mediums. The most innovative creators this year won’t be the ones writing the most efficient prompts; they’ll be the ones blending high-tech scale with low-tech intimacy.

Think about a high-value campaign where your top 100 prospects don’t get another generic email sequence, but instead receive a limited-edition, vintage-inspired mini-zine that spells out your philosophy. It feels like a gift. It looks like art. It acts like a trojan horse for your ideas.

If you want to stand out, you have to be willing to reframe and retool what you think you know. Stop chasing frictionless engagement and start creating something memorable, noteworthy, and real.

Go drop something weird in the mail. Or leave something at your local coffee shop or independent bookstore (ask for permission first), and see what happens.

What do you think? Are you ready to trade a few pixels for paper, or is the pull of the digital feed too strong? Let me know in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Should you be making more art?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

This edition is late because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.

Last week I published nothing although really, I’m wondering if anyone noticed.

My main question is: should I change direction?

Should OI be writing about something other than content creation, sticking with it, and getting started? I’ve been wondering this because I’ve been writing online now as a regular thing for three years and I’ve made little progress.

I don’t think I’m practiving what I preach, which for me is something of a problem.

So, of my 300 subscribers, only 80 of whom read any of my stuff on a regular basis, what is it that I’m writing about at the moment that attracts you?

Is my stuff dull and uninspiring?

Am I wasting your time and mine?

Let me know in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Are ‘zines making a comeback?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Following up on my last piece about leaving the Substack Wild West, I’ve received a few emails ask: Gary, is it really just about the spell checker?

Not really. I mean, for what it is, Substack does a great job. It’s helped me make writing and publishing a regualr habit, and it’s helped me build a small though loyal group of regular readers.

While having basic 21st-century editing tools is a baseline requirement, my move to Beehiiv has been driven by a need for a platform that treats me as a creator like a business owner rather than just as a casual diarist.

If you’re serious about your digital footprint at garybloomer.com, you need a toolkit that scales with your ambition.

Here are the specific tools within the Hive that made this a no-brainer.

1. The growth engine (referrals that actually work)

Substack’s “recommendations” are fine, but they rely on other writers liking you. Beehiiv’s Referral Program is a different beast entirely.

It’s built-in, automated, and allows me to reward you—the readers—for sharing the newsletter.

Whether it’s exclusive content or physical swag, the system tracks everything without me needing to hire a developer to bridge three different apps together.

2. Precision analytics (going beyond the open rate)

In the old world, an “open rate” was the holy grail. Today, it’s a vanity metric.

Beehiiv provides 3D Analytics that show me exactly who is clicking what, where they’re located, and how they’re engaging over time.

For someone like me who values intentional communication, knowing which topics actually resonate allows me to stop guessing and start delivering more of what you actually want to read.

3. Native ad network and boosts

Let’s talk about the “B” word: Business. Beehiiv has a native Ad Network that connects quality newsletters with relevant sponsors.

No more “crypto bro” banners or sketchy links; it’s about curated, professional partnerships.

Additionally, their “Boosts” feature allows creators to get paid for recommending other high-quality newsletters. It’s a clean, transparent ecosystem that actually rewards quality over noise.

4. Advanced segmentation

Not every reader wants to hear about every topic I cover. With Beehiiv’s Audience Segmentation, I can tailor emails based on your interests.

If I’m diving deep into a specific design project, I can send that to the folks who care about the “how-to,” while keeping the high-level strategy pieces for the broader group.

It’s about respect for your inbox—something that’s sorely lacking in the current newsletter landscape.

5. Customization that doesn’t look like a template

Finally, there’s the aesthetic.

Substack has a “look,” and after a while, every newsletter starts to feel like a carbon copy of the next.

Beehiiv gives me the keys to the design lab. From custom headers to unique typography and layout structures, it allows the brand identity of garybloomer.com to shine through, rather than being buried under platform-specific formatting.

The bottom line

Transitioning platforms is a chore—there’s no way around it.

But staying on a platform that has plateaued is a risk I’m not willing to take.

Beehiiv feels like it was built for the next decade of digital publishing.

It’s fast, it’s professional, and yes... it even tells me when I’ve made a typo.

Welcome to the upgrade.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Is it smart to change direction?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

The digital neighborhood has changed in recent months.

When I first started sharing my thoughts on Substack back in the spring of 2023, it felt like a clean slate for independent creators—a place where the writing came first and the platform just… worked.

But lately, the vibe has shifted from a quiet workspace to a chaotic street corner I no longer want to stand on.

If you’ve been following garybloomer.com, you know I value a certain level of intentionality.

So, I’m making it official: I’m moving the newsletter to Beehiiv. Here’s why.

1. The company you keep

There is a difference between free speech and providing a megaphone and a monetization engine for the fringe.

Recently, and in my opinion, Substack has become a playground for a very specific, very loud demographic.

Between the radicalized and the relentless crypto-evangelists, and—most concerningly—factions that lean into the darkest parts of political extremism, the platform’s hands-off moderation policy has started to feel less like a principle and more like a liability.

I want my work to live in a place that prioritizes growth and professional communication, not a place where my articles sit adjacent to content that belongs in a digital fever dream.

2. Tools that actually help (like, say, a spell checker)

This is my biggest technical gripe. We are living in 2026, not the era of the Commodore 64.

I sat down to draft a post the other day and realized—not for the first time—that Substack’s editor lacks a basic, native spell checker in the post setup.

Why is this? I mean, come on! Seriously?

In an era of AI-driven productivity and sophisticated CMS tools, why am I still squinting at text, hoping a browser extension catches a typo? It’s a small detail and perhaps this is super petty … and yet, it’s an issue that speaks to a larger problem: a lack of focus on the actual craft of writing and publishing.

Beehiiv feels as if it’s been built by people who actually send newsletters for a living.

The interface is slick, the analytics are actually useful, and—shocker—the editing tools feel like they belong in this decade.

3. A better way to grow

Beyond the cultural shift, Beehiiv offers a suite of growth tools that Substack just hasn’t matched.

From custom referral programs to better audience segmentation, it allows me to treat my newsletter like the professional publication it is, rather than just a blog with an email attachment.

The transition is about more than just moving a mailing list. It’s about ensuring that the environment where you read my work reflects the quality and standards I aim for.

I’ll see you over at the new hive. Same insights, better neighborhood.

So, a move is coming. When, exactly? Soon.

The domain name remains the same and I’ve already migrated articles and subscribers to their new home. When will I make the switch? Soon.

Certainly by mid-June. Stay tuned.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Why Beehiiv is the upgrade you’ve been looking for.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Pssst!

Want to know a secret?

Your 50s, 60s, and 70s are your creative prime.

There. I’ve said it.

I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter lately—whispers of “Is it too late?” or “Have I missed the boat?” … and all sorts of other mind-numbing nonsense.

Usually, these questions come from people in their 50s, 60s, or 70s who feel like the world of content creation, marketing, and entrepreneurship has become a young person’s game. They see the 22-year-old TikTok stars and the “30 under 30” lists and feel like they’re running out of runway.

I’ve been thinking about this myself of late after being passed over for a job that I’m way over qualified for … and I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that the role will go to someone in their mid-thirties.

Such is life. Is it fair?

No.

But it’s the reality and the only way it’s going to change is by people like us (people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s) MAKING THE CHANGE.

Let’s get one thing straight: You aren’t “shifting gears” because you’re slowing down. You’re shifting gears because you’ve finally reached the terrain where your engine can actually perform.

If you’re reading this and feeling the itch to start something new—a Substack, a consultancy, a book, a brand—I want you to stop looking at the clock.

You aren’t late.

In fact, you’re right on time.

The myth of the early start

We’ve been sold a lie that innovation is the exclusive province of the youth. But here’s the reality: youth has energy, but it often lacks context.

When you’re in your 50s, 60s, and 70s, you possess something that no algorithm can replicate and no “growth hacker” can shortcut: earned scars. Those scars are your credentials. They represent decades of seeing patterns, surviving market cycles, and understanding the messy, beautiful complexity of human nature.

In today’s world of AI slop and surface-level content, your depth is your greatest competitive advantage.

While everyone else is going an inch deep and a mile wide, you have the capacity to go an inch wide and a mile deep.

That’s where the authority lives.

The confidence of “enough”

One of the most powerful things about “shifting gears” later in life is that you’re often operating from a different set of motives.

You’re likely done chasing the “money script” just for the sake of a bigger number.

You’ve reached, or are reaching, the point of “enough.”

When you aren’t desperate for validation or a quick buck, your work changes. It becomes more honest. It becomes more daring.

You stop asking for permission because you realize you never needed it in the first place. This is the decade of the Generalist with an edge—someone who can connect the dots because they’ve seen more of the map.

Why now is the perfect time

1. The Bar is Lower Than You Think: Don’t let the polished “influencers” fool you. Much of what is being produced today is stale and derivative. If you show up with a unique perspective and a genuine voice, you will stand out simply by being real.

2. Technology is a Partner, Not a Barrier: You don’t need to be a coder to build a digital empire. Tools like Substack, Loom, and even AI are there to amplify your wisdom, not replace it. Use them to do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the “Shaking the Tree” part—the thinking, the reframing, and the connecting.

3. Your Audience is Waiting: There is a massive, underserved audience of people exactly like you who are tired of being talked down to by creators who haven’t lived. They want to hear from someone who has been in the trenches.

Shaking the Tree

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to get moving, consider this it.

Don’t worry about being a digital native. Be a wisdom native. Your life experience is the ultimate secret weapon that the 20-somethings haven’t earned yet.

Stop looking back at what you should have done. Look at the 36 months in front of you.

They matter more than you can possibly imagine.

You have the pace, you have the perspective, and you finally have the permission—the permission you gave yourself.

You aren’t late to the party.

You’re the guest of honor, and the conversation is just getting interesting.

It’s time to crank up the volume.

And finally: for years I’ve thought I should write a book! and for one reason or another I’ve always put it off. But now, as I approach my 63rd birthday, I’m in the process of writing FIVE books: a fictional memoire, a work of fiction, and three non-fiction works.

And since the beginning of the year I’ve made progress on all five projects, three of which are in final editing, one of which is in final writing, and the rest of which are in in flux. So, if I can do this, so can you!

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Why I’m moving to Beehiiv …

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

There is a quiet threat in the workplace these days for anyone over the age of 50: the empty calendar

We spend a lot of time talking about burnout. We treat overwhelm and burnout like a modern plague, wearing our overstuffed inboxes and back-to-back Zoom calls like badges of exhausted honor. We think the greatest risk to our well-being is having too much to do.

But if age-wise you’ve crossed the half-century mark, I want to suggest a shift in perspective. Overwhelm is messy, yes. It’s loud. It’s tiring.

But overwhelm is a sign of life; it’s the friction of being in the game.

The real enemy—the one that actually erodes your edge and dims your spirit—is boredom.

Boredom isn’t just “having nothing to do.”

For the experienced professional, boredom is a slow-motion retreat from relevance. It is the decision to stop being curious because you think you’ve already seen the movie.

If you want to stay sharp, you have to stop fearing the fire and start fearing the frost. Here is why boredom is the true adversary and how to fight it.

1. Recognize that comfort is often a trap

We spend the first half of our lives striving for a plateau—a place where things are easy and predictable. But once you arrive, you realize the air is thin and nothing grows there. Boredom masquerades as peace of mind, but it’s actually the beginning of professional and mental atrophy. If you aren’t feeling a little bit of healthy pressure, you aren’t growing.

2. Distinguish between being busy and being engaged

You can be busy and still be bored to tears.

Rote tasks and repetitive meetings are just boredom in a suit.

Overwhelm usually comes from a diversity of challenges; boredom comes from a monotony of the soul.

Reclaim your time by ditching the repetitive and seeking out the novel problems that actually require your unique history to solve.

3. Seek out the friction of new technology

It is tempting to say, “I don’t need to learn that.” That sentence is the first nail in the coffin of your relevance.

The overwhelm of learning a new AI tool or a new social platform is exactly the stimulus your brain needs.

The friction of learning keeps the gears from seizing up.

Choose the frustration of the new over the safety of the known.

4. Audit your inner circle for “same-think”

If everyone you talk to has the same 30 years of experience as you, you are living in an echo chamber of boredom.

True vitality comes from intergenerational friction.

Find people who challenge your assumptions and force you to defend your proven methods.

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room—and you’re likely bored, even if you won’t admit it.

5. The best mindset youi can adobt is what if …?

The greatest casualty of experience is curiosity.

We think we know how the story ends, so we stop paying attention to the plot.

To fight boredom, you have to intentionally adopt a beginner’s mind.

Ask the questions a novice would ask.

You’ll be surprised how often our expert certainties are actually just habits that have outlived their usefulness.

6. Lean into the messy projects

Overwhelm often comes from high-stakes, high-uncertainty projects.

These are exactly the ones you should run toward.

Boredom lives in the sure thing.

Give me a project with a 50% chance of failure and a 100% chance of learning something new over a guaranteed, boring win any day of the week.

7. Reframe your stress as a sign of vitality

The next time you feel overwhelmed, take a breath and reframe it.

That racing heart? That’s your engine running.

That long to-do list? That’s a list of people who still need your perspective.

Stress is a byproduct of being meaningful. Boredom is the byproduct of being ignored. Choose the stress.

The bottom line: We don’t grow old because we do too much; we grow old because we do too little of what matters.

Overwhelm can be managed with a better calendar; boredom can only be managed with a better mindset.

Keep your hands on the wheel, keep the revs up, and for heaven’s sake, stay curious. The quiet life is for people who have nothing left to say.

And you? You’re just getting to the good part.

Does this focus on relevance over retirement hit the right note for your audience, or should we lean harder into the creative side of fighting boredom?

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Shifting gears in your 50s, 60s, and 70s

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

There is a good deal of value in your rearview mirror.

Why?

Because there is a pervasive myth in our digital-first economy that speed beats depth.

We are often told that the world belongs to the digital natives, but this overlooks a critical competitive advantage: context.

By the time you cross the 50-year mark, you haven’t just accumulated a CV; you’ve built a massive internal database of patterns, human behaviors, and hard-won resilience.

You can read minds and see around corners that others don’t even know exist.

If you are ready to stop being the veteran and start being the most valuable person in the room, here are seven simple ways to leverage your experience right now.

1. Focus on being a master of synthesis

While younger colleagues may be faster at learning a new software interface, you possess the ability to connect disparate ideas. Leverage your experience by looking at the big picture—take three separate departmental issues and synthesize them into one cohesive strategy. Your value lies in connecting the dots, not just collecting them.

2. Become the emotional anchor in the room

In a high-pressure corporate environment, anxiety is contagious. However, so is calm. Having seen this before—whether it’s a market crash, a failed product launch, or a leadership change—allows you to be the steady hand. Use your history to provide a sense of proportion and perspective when others are spiraling.

3. Translate complex jargon into human wisdom

The world is drowning in buzzwords. Use your decades of communication experience to strip away the fluff. Whether you’re writing a marketing plan or leading a meeting, your ability to articulate the wh” behind the what in plain, impactful language is a rare and highly billable skill.

4. Lean into the power of high-trust networking

Social media is about reach; experience is about depth. Leverage your long-term relationships by becoming a super-connector. You don’t need 10,000 followers when you have 10 people you can call who actually pick up the phone.

5. Mentor others to scale your own influence

Mentorship isn’t a charity project; it’s a force multiplier. By teaching the next generation the soft skills of negotiation, empathy, and ethics, you embed your methodology into the culture of your organization. It ensures your influence continues to grow even when you aren’t the one doing the tactical heavy lifting.

6. Curate information rather than just consuming it

Leverage your experience by becoming a filter for others. Instead of just passing along news, add your analysis: “This reminds me of the shift we saw in 1998, but with a twist.” Your curation saves others time, and in business, time is the only currency that matters.

7. Productize your “failures” into a roadmap

The most valuable thing you own is the list of things that didn’t work. People will pay a premium to avoid the mistakes you’ve already made. Whether through consulting, blogging, or internal leadership, turn your “scars” into a guided map for others. Preventative wisdom is often more valuable than curative effort.

The bottom line: Your age isn’t a shelf life; it’s a library. Stop trying to compete on the basis of raw, youthful energy and start winning on the basis of seasoned, surgical precision. The world has enough experts; what it needs are people who actually know what they’re talking about.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

The second mountain is higher—and the view is better

After three or four decades in the trenches, most people in their 50s and 60s are starting to look for the exit. Perhaps this is you.

By this time in your life the narrative says you should be winding down, playing more golf or tennis, or finally mastering the art of the afternoon nap.

But for those people who spent those years in roles that felt like ill-fitting suits, 50 and 60 isn’t the end of the book; it’s simply the point at which the plot finally gets interesting.

While retirement might seem attractive, so does doing something new. Starting again in your 50s and 60s isn’t about reckless reinvention; it’s about the strategic pivot.

You aren’t a beginner. You are an operator with 30 to 40 years of pattern recognition, a thick skin, and a Rolodex that actually means something.

The goal now is to align your output with your agency.

Here are seven ways to switch gears, find fulfillment, and ensure your second act is more profitable than the first.

1. Monetize the wisdom you take for granted

After 30 years or so of real world problem solving, you’ve forgotten more about your industry than a twenty-five-year-old MBA has ever learned. What feels like common sense to you is actually high-value intellectual property to someone else.

Stop selling your hands and start selling your head.

Consulting or high-level advisory work allows you to extract maximum value from your experience without the 60-hour work week.

2. Solve a problem for your younger self

The most fulfilling businesses are often born from personal friction.

Look back at the roadblocks you faced in your 30s and 40s—the tools that didn’t exist, the services that were poorly executed, or the advice you wish you’d had.

Building a solution for that past you ensures you have an immediate, deep understanding of your target market.

3. Lean into the sovereign creator economy

You don’t need a permission slip from a HR department to be heard anymore.

Whether it’s through a Substack newsletter, or via a specialized YouTube channel, or through a niche community, you can build a platform around your unique perspective.

At 50 or 60, you have the voice and the smarts that younger creators are still trying to find. Use these things to build an audience that values substance over hype.

4. Optimize for salience rather than just presence

In your earlier career, success was often about being there—showing up, clocking in, and being seen.

Now, success is about being salient.

You want to be the person who comes to mind immediately when a specific, difficult problem needs solving.

Narrow your focus until you are the undisputed expert in a tiny, profitable corner of the market.

5. Pivot to a portfolio career

The one job, one paycheck model is a relic. Fulfillment at this stage often comes from a portfolio of activities: maybe two days of consulting, a few hours of writing, and a small e-commerce project or investment.

This diversification doesn’t just protect your income; it keeps your brain engaged across multiple disciplines.

6. Trade your ego for agency

Many people over 50 get stuck because they are attached to their previous titles.

To start again, you’ve got to be willing to let go of the Senior VP badge if it means gaining total control over your Tuesday mornings.

Sovereignty—the ability to choose your work and your collaborators—is the ultimate currency. If a project doesn’t offer agency, it’s probably not worth the time you have left.

7. Focus on durable engineering in your business model

Build something that lasts.

Whether you are designing a physical product or a digital service, aim for the Dualit toaster standard: precision, durability, and classic design.

When people are surrounded by disposable hustles, there is a massive, underserved market for things—and people—that are built to work ten thousand times without complaint.

The world might tell you that you’re past it, but the reality is that you are finally ready.

You have the experience to see the pitfalls and the maturity to ignore the noise.

The second mountain is waiting.

Pack light, keep your eyes on the horizon, and start climbing.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

You may not know this but your ability to create hyper-local authority represents the the last stand against the pending wave of AI content.

If you’re concerned that AI is going to steal your content creator job: good. You should be concerned.

Because if most of your content is writing generic top 10 lists, you should be terrified. Well prompted AI systems are better, faster, and cheaper than you will ever be in terms of being general.

But fortunately, AI has a massive blind spot: the ground truth of community.

While AI can explain the mechanics of labor relations, or grocery shopping, or healthcare, what it can’t understand is the specific pulse of these things in your neighborhood or in your specialist niche.

It can’t replicate the localized impact, which, if you’re smart right now and in the coming months, creates an opportunity for you.

This is the moat of relevance.

By 2027, the most valuable creators won’t be the ones with the global reach, they’ll be the ones with the deepest local roots and the widest niche-based reach.

If you want to be “AI-proof,” stop trying to win the world and start trying to own your ZIP or post code.

Authority isn’t built in the cloud; it’s built through being authentic.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

The marketing playbook for the last decade has been obsessed with the frictionless transaction.

We’ve optimized every page view, tweaked every sales letter, and redesigned every button; we’ve tracked every pixel, and we’ve chased every buy now click and abandoned cart until the soul of the brand has been buried under a mountain of data, much of which never leads to meaningful change.

But here’s the reality: by 2027, the transaction as we know it will be starting to become a commodity.

If you’re just selling a product or a ticket to an event, you’re competing on price and convenience—this is a race to the bottom of the attention pool.

To survive and thrive you have to move toward shared mission.

Marketers and particularly nonprofits that don’t wrap their heads around this rish losing out.

Look at the work many businesses are not doing: they’re not cheering on their competitors because doing so is bad for business, right?

Not really.

I think the reponse to COVID gave a good look behing the curtain when brand after brand rolled out the same “in these torubled times” and “We’re all in this togeter” messaging. All of those some-old-same old messages meant little stood out.

Meanwhile, nonprofits are doing something different, particularly in their social media in terms of championing the causes of other nonprofits.

They aren’t just selling sponsorship packages; they’re championing the efforts of their partners as they solve real issues in their local area. It’s time to ditch the corporate bios and instead, it’s time to focus on positioning yourself as a trust asset.

In 2027, consumers won’t just ask “What do you sell?” They’ll ask “What do you stand for, and does it cost you anything to stand for it?”

If your brand doesn’t have a heartbeat, the algorithm will eventually stop it.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Well, this is awkward.

This post should have gone out last Friday. Whoopsie.

Anyway, and oddly, let’s talk about planning (oh, the irony).

And specifically, let’s talk about next year. Or, better yet, the next three years.

Yes, I get that we’re not even halfway through this year yet, but now’s the time to be getting your content ducks in a row, so to speak.

In the whirlwind of daily uploads, trending audios, and the relentless churn of the now, looking ahead just a few weeks feels less like strategy and more like science fiction. But three years? Yikes!

Here’s the thing though: if you’re waiting until December 2026 to figure out your 2027 roadmap, you’ve already lost the race.

As someone who obsesses over the intersection of technology, narrative, and brand longevity, I’m telling you that the creators who will thrive in 2027 and 2028 will be those creators who start planting their content seeds today.

Here is why the three year vision is the new survival metric for the modern creator.

1. The Ppost-algorithm era

By 2027, the recommendation engines we know today will have evolved from content matchmakers to personal curators. We are moving away from broad discovery toward hyper-niche, AI-synthesized feeds.

If your content is generic, AI will summarize it, and no one will click. To survive in 2027, you need to build Equity of Persona. That takes years, not weeks. You aren’t just planning topics; you are planning the evolution of a voice that an AI cannot replicate and a community won’t trade for a bot.

2. Hardware dictates form

We’re currently seeing the awkward teenage years of Spatial Computing. By 2027, wearable AR and refined VR ecosystems won’t just be for tech enthusiasts; they will be the primary way a massive segment of the Gen Alpha audience consumes presence.

The shift: moving from 2D rectangles to 3D environments.

The preparation: If you aren’t thinking about how your set or your story exists in a 360-degree space, you’ll be a silent film creator in a world that just discovered talkies.

3. The curation fatigue rebound

We are reaching peak saturation. By 2027, the pendulum will swing violently away from more and toward meaning. The creators who win won’t be those who covered 500 topics in 2026, but those who spent 2025 and 2026 positioning themselves as the definitive authority on one thing.

You need to decide now what you want to be the world’s leading expert in by 2027.

That authority isn’t granted; it’s built through a consistent archive of thought leadership.

The 2027 content audit

Ask yourself these three questions today:

Is my niche AI-proof?

If a LLM can generate your script, you are a commodity.

Am I building a platform or a community?

Platforms can vanish; communities (email lists, private hubs, direct-to-fan) are portable.

What is the “long Ttail” of my current work? Will what you post today still be a foundational pillar for your brand in 36 months?

My take is this: stop playing the weekly lottery of viral hits. Start playing the legacy game. 2027 isn’t a date on a calendar; it’s the destination of the bridge you’re building right now.

Are you building a bridge to nowhere, or are you building the destination?

How far out does your current content calendar actually stretch?

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

We are almost a third of the way through 2026.

A third! Already!

Heavens. How time flies.

So, where will you be six months from now, as we gaze into the headlights of 2027?

Will you be prepped and ready? Will you be on your way, with a plan and a goal and a vision? Or will you still be spinning your wheels?

The most dangerous lie you’ve been told is that there is a “waiting room” for success.

You’re waiting for a gatekeeper to nod; top tell you you’re in.

You’re waiting for a specific certification, or a certain follower count, or perhaps a metaphorical “tap on the shoulder” from an industry veteran to tell you that you’ve finally arrived.

You think you need a license to speak, a permit to lead, or an invitation to innovate.

I’m here to tell you: the door isn’t locked. In fact, there isn’t even a door.

The permission paradox

We spend years in a school system that trains us to raise our hands before we speak. We enter corporate environments where we wait for “buy-in” before we act.

By the time we decide to build something for ourselves—a brand, a business, a body of work—our default setting is to wait for a green light that is never coming.

If you wait for everyone to agree that you’re ready, you’ll be waiting in the terminal while the plane takes off without you.

Full steam ahead

There’s a famous naval command: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” It wasn’t a call to be reckless; it was a realization that the risk of sitting still in a minefield was far greater than the risk of charging through it.

In content creation and business, the “torpedoes” are the critics, the potential for a cringe post, or the fear of a technical glitch.

• The torpedoes of judgment? They only hit stationary targets.

• The torpedoes of perfectionism? They are disarmed by the momentum of “good enough.”

When you move with conviction, the noise of the skeptics becomes background static.

You don’t have time to worry about who is judging you when you’re too busy outrunning them.

Build your own table

Stop looking for a seat at the “established” table. If the industry leaders aren’t inviting you in, it’s because they’re afraid of the chair you’re about to build.

The internet has democratized authority.

You don’t need a publisher to be a writer. You don’t need a network to be a broadcaster. You don’t need a gallery to be an artist. You just need to start.

The “Permissionless” future

1. Stop asking “Is this OK?”: Start telling yourself that you’re taking action, and then follow through.

2. Embrace the messy Start: Your first few attempts will be clunky. Good. That’s the sound of the engine turning over.

3. Validate yourself: If you believe your knowledge has value, that is the only validation required to hit Publish.

The world is moving too fast for you to play “Mother May I.”

The “visibly less qualified” people we talked about last time?

They never asked for permission.

They just showed up and claimed the space while you were still looking for the application form.

Stop waiting. Start driving. Full steam ahead.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

You’ve seen them.

You know exactly who I’m talking about.

You know the type: big on volume, small on substance.

The social media influencer with 15 followers on Instagram.

The Facebook expert with no posts on Facebook.

The Linkedin guru with no profile image on Linkedin.

The social media management company with links to their social media on their website that don’t lead anywhere.

You’re scrolling through your feed, and you see someone in your niche—someone with half your experience and a quarter of your technical depth—commanding an audience of thousands.

They’re getting the clicks, the shares, and the “expert” labels, while you’re sitting on the sidelines, meticulously polishing a draft you’ve been too intimidated to publish for three weeks.

You think, “If that’s what it takes to be successful, I must be missing something fundamental.”

Actually, it’s the opposite. You’re overthinking the gatekeepers. Here’s the cold, hard truth: The bar for entry isn’t a high jump; it’s a hurdle that’s been knocked over.

There is a peculiar phenomenon in the digital age where people become successful in spite of themselves. They might have subpar lighting, questionable grammar, or—most frustratingly—information that is barely surface-level.

So why are they winning?

Because they showed up.

While you were researching the perfect $2,000 camera setup or worrying if your thesis was “academic” enough, they hit ‘Record’ on an iPhone 11 and just started talking.

They aren’t successful because they are better; they are successful because they are visible.

Your superior knowledge is a competitive edge

If you’re sitting there with deeper insights, better data, and more nuanced perspectives, you have a massive competitive advantage. But that advantage is currently worth exactly zero if it’s locked in your head or a private folder on your desktop.

The market is currently being fed a junk food diet of content because the gourmet creators (that’s you) are too afraid to open the kitchen.

• Accuracy vs. volume: You don’t need to match their volume, but you do need to enter the arena.

• The authority gap: Audiences are starving for substance. When someone who actually knows what they’re talking about enters a sea of mediocrity, the contrast is blinding.

Stop waiting for the “expert” permission slip

Many new creators suffer from a version of Imposter Syndrome that I call “Competence Paralysis.” You know enough to know how much you don’t know, so you stay quiet. Meanwhile, the person who knows nothing is unburdened by that self-awareness and shouts from the rooftops.

Don’t let their lack of quality be your excuse for lack of quantity.

The strategy for the “qualified” creator

1. Lower your production expectations, not your intellectual ones. Your value is in your brain, not your color grading.

2. Pick one “messy” platform. Whether it’s LinkedIn, a raw blog post, or a quick video, get the idea out while it’s fresh.

3. Compete on Value. Use your “superior knowledge” to debunk myths or provide the “why” that others are missing.

The digital world is not a meritocracy of talent; it is a meritocracy of action. If the bar is truly as low as you think it is, then stepping over it should be the easiest thing you do today.

Stop watching the less qualified win by default.

Start putting your work out there and give the audience a better choice.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

The power of the small win: why micro goals are your secret weapon

If you’re obsessed with “crushing it,” “scaling big,” and “10x-ing” everything you touch and you’re not seeing results, I urge you to slow down, stop, and take stock.

The truth that all the high performer don’t tell you in the high-performance seminars is that big goals are terrifying. In fact, they are often the very thing paralyzing your progress. When you stare at a mountain, your brain doesn’t see a path; it sees a reason to stay in the tent.

If you’re feeling stuck, it’s likely because your goals are too heavy to lift. It’s time to stop chasing the horizon and start looking at your feet. It’s time for the micro goal.

Understand that ambition can be an anchor

We’ve been conditioned to think that if a goal isn’t “BHAG” (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), it isn’t worth pursuing. But massive goals often lead to massive procrastination. When the gap between where you are and where you want to be is a canyon, your survival instinct kicks in and tells you to play it safe. Micro goals bridge that canyon. They turn a daunting marathon into a series of manageable sprints, removing the intimidation factor that keeps you glued to your chair.

Shrink the timeline to increase the urgency

A goal that needs to be finished by the end of the month is a goal that won’t get started until the 28th. A micro goal, however, lives in the “now.” Instead of saying, “I’m going to write a white paper this week,” try, “I’m going to outline the first three bullet points before I get my next cup of coffee.” By shrinking the timeline, you eliminate the luxury of “doing it later.” You create a sense of immediate consequence and, more importantly, immediate reward.

Focus on the dopamine of the done list

There is a profound psychological shift that happens when you cross something off a list. Every time you complete a task—no matter how small—your brain releases a hit of dopamine. This isn’t just about feeling good; it’s about fuel. When you set and hit five micro goals in an hour, you build a “success momentum” that makes the sixth task feel inevitable. You aren’t just working; you’re winning. And winning is addictive.

Lower the bar to get over the hump

If you’re struggling to start, your bar is too high. If you can’t write a page, write a paragraph. If you can’t write a paragraph, write a sentence. If you can’t write a sentence, open the document and type the title. The goal of a micro goal isn’t the output itself—it’s the act of overcoming inertia. Once you set up systems and processes to keep you on track, it become easier to keep moving forward.

The hardest part of any journey is the first six inches of movement.

The Gary Bloomer takeaway: Stop waiting for the “big break” or the “grand opening.” Success isn’t a singular event; it’s the accumulated interest on a thousand tiny, boring, well-executed moments.

What is one thing you can finish in the next ten minutes? Do that. Then do it again.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

We’ve all been there.

You’re pinned to the mat by a strategy that looked great on a whiteboard but is currently gasping for air in the real world.

You’ve followed the “proven” frameworks, you’ve invested the hours, and you’ve burned through the budget. Yet, the needle hasn’t just refused to move—it feels like it’s rusted in place.

It’s the moment you want to shout at the market, your desk, or the universe: “Let me up! I’ve had enough.”

Frustration isn’t a sign of failure; it’s a sign of friction. When you’re fed up with a lack of results, it usually means your output is high, but your impact is low. Here is how to stop wrestling with the plateau and start finding the floor again.

1. Kill the activity trap

We often mistake motion for progress. When results dry up, our instinct is to do more of what isn’t working, hoping that sheer volume will break the dam. It won’t.

If you’re digging a hole in the wrong spot, digging faster just gets you deeper into the wrong spot. Stop. Look at your calendar and your task list. If an activity doesn’t have a direct, measurable line to your primary goal, prune it ruthlessly.

2. Audit the last mile

Usually, the problem isn’t the entire engine; it’s the spark plug.

• Is your offer actually clear, or is it buried in jargon?

• Are you talking to the person who can say “Yes,” or just the person who likes to listen?

• Is there a “friction point” in your process—a broken link, a confusing checkout, or a slow response time—that is killing the conversion?

Sometimes, a 5% shift in where you focus your energy produces a 50% shift in the result.

3. Change the input

If you keep reading the same blogs, talking to the same mentors, and looking at the same data sets, you will keep arriving at the same dead ends. If you've only ever looked at things from one viewpoint, that viewpoint is all you will ever see.

Go outside your industry. Look at how a completely unrelated business handles a similar problem. Fresh eyes don’t just see new solutions; they see the “obvious” mistakes you’ve become blind to.

4. Reclaim your momentum

The “I’ve had enough” feeling comes from a sense of powerlessness. To fix it, you need a win—any win.

• Set a “micro-goal” that you can achieve in the next four hours.

• Close one small deal.

• Fix one tiny bug.

• Send one direct, honest email.

Success is a habit, but so is stagnation. Breaking the cycle requires a single, decisive movement.

The Bottom Line: Being fed up is a gift. It is the emotional catalyst required to stop doing the “comfortable” work that yields nothing and start doing the difficult work that yields everything.

Don’t just ask to be let up.

Stand up.

Evaluate the friction, simplify the mission, and move.

The results are waiting on the other side of your frustration.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Why I’ve stopped caring.

This is my 300th post here on Substack.

When I set myself the challenge of publishing a newsletter twice a week at the beginning of May, 2023 I thought “This is bonkers! You’ll never keep up with this. What are you doing?”

And yet here we are. There is a specific kind of madness that takes hold of a writer between article one and article one hundred. It’s a sort of frantic, sweaty-palmed desperation for relevance. You check your stats. You refresh your dashboard. You treat every unsubscribe like a personal character flaw and every “like” like a hit of cheap oxygen.

But something happens when you hit the 300-article mark on Substack. The gears shift. The engine stops whining. You don’t just find your voice; you find your “I don’t give a crap” voice.

The death of the “perfect” hook

Early on, you’re convinced that if the headline isn’t a masterpiece of psychological warfare, the world will stop spinning. By post 300, you realize the “perfect” hook is a myth told by marketing gurus to sell $997 courses.

Now? I write the truth as I see it. If it grabs you, fantastic. If it doesn’t, there’s another one coming on Thursday. When you have a body of work three hundred deep, no single piece of content has to carry the weight of your entire identity. It’s a mosaic, not a monolith.

The freedom of the unsubscribe

I used to mourn the departures. Now, I view a “User has unsubscribed” notification as a successful filtering process. Now, I think “Off you trot then. Bye!” At the 300-post mark you’ve likely pivoted, experimented, and annoyed a few people. That’s the point. If you aren’t occasionally clearing the room, you aren’t saying anything of substance. The 300-post threshold taught me that audience alignment is infinitely more valuable than audience size. I’d rather have 300 readers who “get” the brand of gasoline I’m selling than 3,000 who are just there for the free samples.

Quantity creates quality (eventually)

People worship at the altar of quality over quantity, but when they do that they forget that quality is a byproduct of repetition.

• Post 50: You’re mimicking your heroes.

• Post 150: You’re arguing with your critics.

• Post 300: You’re finally talking to yourself.

That’s where the fewer fucks mentality comes from. You’ve made every mistake. You’ve had the typos. You’ve had the posts that you thought were genius go absolutely nowhere, and the throwaway, garbage, off-the-cuff post that you didn’t give a second thought to go viral. You realize you have zero control over the outcome, so you might as well enjoy the process while you’re doing it.

The new metric

My success metric is no longer the open rate. It’s the clarity of the thought.

Publishing 300 times has stripped away the need for external validation. It’s turned my writing from a performance into a meditative practice. When you stop performing, the anxiety evaporates. You realize the Substack void is vast, and the only way to stay sane is to stop shouting for attention and to start speaking for the sake of the conversation.

If you’re at post 10 or post 50 and you’re still stressed by the process, stick with it. Do not quit. I know it’s tempting to throw in the towel but hang in there: keep going. The lobotomy of indifference is waiting for you at the finish line of number 300. And trust me, the view from here is much quieter.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Let me up! I’ve had enough …

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Last week, I was told I’m crazy. Well, maybe it was two weeks ago, but who’s counting?

The "diagnosis" came after I mentioned my current workflow to a friend: I’m currently writing a series of five books, three of which are already in the final editing stage.

To some, I’m sure this looks like a recipe for disaster and/or burnout (probably both), or it turns into a classic case of biting off more than I can chew. But here’s the truth: having massive plans—and actually sitting your ass down to execute them—doesn’t just make you productive.

It makes you a better writer.

Here’s why "thinking too big" is actually the most logical way to sharpen your craft.

1. The power of the macro-perspective

When you write a single book, you are focused on a single narrative arc. When you write a series of books you are forced into becoming an architect of populations and ecosystems. You begin to see how a minor character’s choice in Book One ripples into a catastrophe in Book Five. This macro-perspective forces a level of discipline that a standalone project never could. You aren't just writing sentences; you’re engineering a world and you’re crafting communities.

2. Cross-pollination of ideas

Editing three books while drafting two more creates a unique mental friction. While I’m tightening the prose in a final edit, my brain is looking at a hole in the manuscript I haven't even finished yet. The skills are transferable and simultaneous:

Editing teaches you what to avoid while drafting.
Drafting keeps your creative muscles limber so your edits don't become overly clinical.

3. Killing the "preciousness" trap

Many writers fail because they treat their one and only manuscript as if it’s a sacred relic. They over-polish every sentence because they have nowhere else for their energy to go. When you have five books on the stove, you don't have time to be precious. You have to be prolific. This volume forces you to trust your gut, to move quickly, and to let the narrative unfold as it breathes and grows.

Efficiency is the byproduct of necessity. When the plan is big, the work must be bold.

What was it the architect Danial Burnham said?

“Make no little plans
—they have no magic to stir men’s blood,
and probably will not themselves be realized.

“Make big plans
—aim high in hope and work,
remembering that a noble, logical diagram,
once recorded, will never die,
but, long after we are gone,
will be a living thing,
asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.

The verdict: Is it "crazy" to juggle five manuscripts?

Maybe to those who view writing as a hobby of convenience.

But for those of us who view it as a craft of commitment, big plans are the only things worth acting on.

Doing the "impossible" doesn't just result in more books on the shelf—it results in a sharper mind, a more resilient spirit, and a voice that knows exactly what it wants to say.

So, what big plans will you set in motion for the rest of the year?

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: It might get loud!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

We look at subscriber counts like high-score boards, assuming that if you haven’t hit five or six digits, you’re just shouting into a digital void. But if you’re sitting there with 47, 150, or 299 subscribers, I’m here to tell you: this is actually your greatest competitive advantage.

The “sub-300” phase isn’t a waiting room; it’s a laboratory. Here is why you need to keep pushing the record button.

1. The Freedom to Fail (Loudly and Often)

When you have 100,000 subscribers, you have a brand to protect. You have expectations to meet and a “format” you’re locked into. But at 200 subscribers? You are invisible enough to be experimental.

This is the time to find your voice. Try the weird editing style. Change your niche three times in a month. Talk about the obscure thing no one else is covering. You have the luxury of making “bad” content while you learn how to make “great” content, without the weight of a massive audience judging your evolution.

2. High-Octane Engagement

At 300 subscribers, you don’t have “fans”—you have a community. You can actually reply to every single comment. You can learn the names of your regulars.

The Reality: A creator with 200 subscribers who has a 50% engagement rate is infinitely more powerful than a creator with 100,000 subscribers and a 0.1% engagement rate.

That intimacy builds a foundation of “True Fans” that larger creators often lose as they scale. Use this time to build the culture of your channel.

3. Skill Acquisition is the Real ROI

The biggest mistake new creators make is measuring success by the sub count instead of the skill count. By the time you hit your first 300 subscribers, you have likely learned:

• Basic graphic design (thumbnails)

• Copywriting (titles and scripts)

• Video editing and pacing

• Data analysis (studying your retention)

Those 300 subscribers are the proof of your apprenticeship.

The “S-Curve” of Growth

Most creators quit right before the “snap.” Growth in content creation isn’t linear ($1+1=2$); it’s exponential. You spend a long time in the “trough of sorrow” where effort exceeds results, but that is where the muscle is built.

• 0–100 subs: Learning the tools.

• 100–300 subs: Finding the rhythm.

• 300+ subs: Refining the value proposition.

Final Thought

If you stop now, you’re leaving before the compound interest kicks in. Every video you make is a “lottery ticket” that stays in the draw forever. You aren’t “failing” to grow; you are currently “under construction.”

Don’t look at the 300. Look at the one person who commented that your video helped them. Then go make another one for them.

And another.

And so on.

Small steps.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Last week, I was told I’m crazy

Share Shaking the Tree

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

There’s a guy near my local train station who sells bananas. Not exotic fruits, not artisanal pastries—just bananas. He sets up a little table, lays out his bunches, and stands there calmly, waiting for customers. No stress, no complicated business model, no existential dread over quarterly projections. Just bananas.

I envy him.

Most of us are conditioned to believe that work should be hard, that if it doesn’t drain us, we’re not doing it right. We chase promotions, side hustles, and LinkedIn clout, convinced that exhaustion is the price of success. But what if the key to a good life isn’t grinding harder—but doing less, and doing it better?

### The Myth of the Hustle

The modern workforce runs on anxiety. We’re told to “dream bigger,” “hustle harder,” and “monetize our passions,” as if the only valid existence is one spent in a state of productive frenzy. But when did we decide that stress was a badge of honor? That burnout was inevitable?

The banana seller doesn’t care about scaling his business. He doesn’t lose sleep over branding or market saturation. He sells bananas because it’s simple, it pays his bills, and it doesn’t ruin his peace. And honestly? That sounds like a better definition of success than most corporate ladder-climbing.

### The Joy of Enough

There’s a quiet rebellion in choosing work that doesn’t destroy you. It doesn’t have to be bananas—maybe it’s freelance writing, fixing bikes, or tending bar three nights a week. The point isn’t the work itself, but the freedom it gives you to breathe.

We’ve been sold the idea that ambition must be relentless, that if we’re not constantly striving, we’re failing. But what if the real failure is spending your best years too stressed to enjoy them?

### A Radical Proposal

What if, instead of asking, *”How can I make more money?”* we asked, *”How can I make enough money without losing my mind?”* What if we valued time over trophies, peace over prestige?

The banana seller doesn’t need a TED Talk to explain his life choices. He just stands there, in no particular hurry, selling fruit to people who need it. No stress, no drama, no burnout.

Maybe we should all be selling bananas.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Gary

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn

P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.

Next time on Shaking the Tree: Keep going!

Share Shaking the Tree

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.