I watched the the "Zettelkasten Was NOT About Notetaking" video by the analog zettelkasten advocate. I was amazed how unprovessional he came across starting within just the first 15 seconds of the video. He is a marketer with a product so I expect him to promote those products which he certianly does. I also expect him to do so in a remotely professinoal manner which, unfortuntaely, he certainly does not.
I read his book on analog Zettelkasten knowing I was highly unlikely to ever do a analog zettelkasten. (For me, it isn't a particularly viable option.) My hope was that there would be some useful information I could aply or adapt to a digital one. His book both promotes the analog version while dismissing the digital approach as flawed. While I was diapponted in the book, I still had some hope for the author.
His videos seemed to have cranked that up a few levels to being excessively degrogatory to people doing digital zettelkastens. I wish the videos on his channel by other people were either clearly marked as such in the title or were on another channel. I'd like to get that other content but if I watch another SS video and it continues to be so unprofessional, I'll end up unsubscribing to the channel entirely. As it is, I've lost what respect I had for the author afte rwatching that video.
Anyone who thinks SS is a good model to follow for marketing need to find other examples to follow as just about any other example is likely to be a better one.
The comments in the book club about the analog zettelkasten advocate selling his marketing platform explained something I'd encountered this past week.
I'd heard about a book that I was interested in but couldn't find anywhere. I did find the author's website but it didn't have any information on the book at the time. (It does now). There was an option to sign up for an email list but the terminology around applying to join the group and being judged if was a fit made the whole thing seem rather elitist which was a little off-putting. I signed up for the email list anyway. It took a day but I made it past whatever nebulous vetting process there might have been and I was accepted into the membership for the newsletter. A few days later I got an email saying an email would be coming the next day about the book. I got an email then next day saying another email would be coming later that day with how to get the book. When I finally got the email with information about how to get the book, I discovered it was a "free" book but I had to pay shipping. I was interested enough in the "free" book to pay for the overpriced shipping. (Something I'm already feeling was probably a mistake.) I was then given the opportunity to get three more "free" items. All three of the items were something I wanted. However, to get them, I had to sign up for a print-only monthly newsletter that was be "free" for the first month but felt massively overpriced thereafter. And, of course, that first "free" month required the payment for more of the overpriced shipping (almost as much as the shipping cost for the physical book). Since I didn't want to pay for more overpriced shipping of another "free" item and I wasn't remotely going to sign up blindly to a print-only newsletter which may or may not actually interest me, I am not getting the three other "free" items that I was interested in. Those three "free" items went from being a perk to being something I consider to be a negative aspect of the overall deal. The whole bit about the newsletter surprised me given I was already approved and had gotten an email stating I was "officially a member of my newsletter".
The marketing methodology was a clear clone of the analog zettelkasten advocate's approach all the way down to having a quirky tagline at the end of the email. the transparent marketing aspect of the marketing approach rubbed me the wrong way. If I'd gotten the other three "free" items for free as a bonus forgetting the physical book then I would have been much happier with the overpriced shipping on the book. For that matter, I would have been even happier if I'd been able to get the book on Kindle for a nominal price ($2.99 or less) or "free" as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. A free (meaning no cost and no shipping cost) first issue of the newsletter would have gotten me to at least consider the newsletter. Realistically, given the print-only nature of the newsletter, I doubt I'd have subscribed to it. I prefer to read digitally. Unfortunately, the book is also print-only without the three "free" items for subscribing to the newsletter. If the intent had really been to give away the material then something like Kindle Unlimited would seem like it might fit that intent. Instead, the reality is that the "free" aspect was clearly a marketing gimmick and the material wasn't actually free.
There are several things about this process which have actively reduced the chances of me spending money on things from either individual in the future. The irony of all of this is that the marketing tactics which were attempting to make me a paying member of this community for an ongoing basis had exact opposite impact on me. The claims about "covering shipping costs" of "free" items rang false and has lowered my trust towards both individuals. This took someone I considered to be a promising individual to someone I feel has been tainted by an unfortunate mentorship and copying what I consider to be a transparent marketing approach focusing on making money rather than providing value. All of that is a shame since I do wish this individual success and started out wanting to support him. I'm much less likely to pay for any additional content from this person unless the "free" book is outstanding.
Not sure if you've seen/found it before, but as academia has been having bigger problems with granting tenure over the past 20 years, there's been a rise of discussion of alternate academia pathways, often under the term #AltAc in social media and other locations. Careers in writing in other spaces have certainly abounded here.
Just two cents from a sheep farmer, but I think you nailed it when you mentioned your Yale published book, when you write something which is good and resonates with regular people, it gets picked up and published and better yet, people read it and it gets appreciated. Your writing is really clear. I think you're a writer. Writers write. :)
I watched the the "Zettelkasten Was NOT About Notetaking" video by the analog zettelkasten advocate. I was amazed how unprovessional he came across starting within just the first 15 seconds of the video. He is a marketer with a product so I expect him to promote those products which he certianly does. I also expect him to do so in a remotely professinoal manner which, unfortuntaely, he certainly does not.
I read his book on analog Zettelkasten knowing I was highly unlikely to ever do a analog zettelkasten. (For me, it isn't a particularly viable option.) My hope was that there would be some useful information I could aply or adapt to a digital one. His book both promotes the analog version while dismissing the digital approach as flawed. While I was diapponted in the book, I still had some hope for the author.
His videos seemed to have cranked that up a few levels to being excessively degrogatory to people doing digital zettelkastens. I wish the videos on his channel by other people were either clearly marked as such in the title or were on another channel. I'd like to get that other content but if I watch another SS video and it continues to be so unprofessional, I'll end up unsubscribing to the channel entirely. As it is, I've lost what respect I had for the author afte rwatching that video.
Anyone who thinks SS is a good model to follow for marketing need to find other examples to follow as just about any other example is likely to be a better one.
The comments in the book club about the analog zettelkasten advocate selling his marketing platform explained something I'd encountered this past week.
I'd heard about a book that I was interested in but couldn't find anywhere. I did find the author's website but it didn't have any information on the book at the time. (It does now). There was an option to sign up for an email list but the terminology around applying to join the group and being judged if was a fit made the whole thing seem rather elitist which was a little off-putting. I signed up for the email list anyway. It took a day but I made it past whatever nebulous vetting process there might have been and I was accepted into the membership for the newsletter. A few days later I got an email saying an email would be coming the next day about the book. I got an email then next day saying another email would be coming later that day with how to get the book. When I finally got the email with information about how to get the book, I discovered it was a "free" book but I had to pay shipping. I was interested enough in the "free" book to pay for the overpriced shipping. (Something I'm already feeling was probably a mistake.) I was then given the opportunity to get three more "free" items. All three of the items were something I wanted. However, to get them, I had to sign up for a print-only monthly newsletter that was be "free" for the first month but felt massively overpriced thereafter. And, of course, that first "free" month required the payment for more of the overpriced shipping (almost as much as the shipping cost for the physical book). Since I didn't want to pay for more overpriced shipping of another "free" item and I wasn't remotely going to sign up blindly to a print-only newsletter which may or may not actually interest me, I am not getting the three other "free" items that I was interested in. Those three "free" items went from being a perk to being something I consider to be a negative aspect of the overall deal. The whole bit about the newsletter surprised me given I was already approved and had gotten an email stating I was "officially a member of my newsletter".
The marketing methodology was a clear clone of the analog zettelkasten advocate's approach all the way down to having a quirky tagline at the end of the email. the transparent marketing aspect of the marketing approach rubbed me the wrong way. If I'd gotten the other three "free" items for free as a bonus forgetting the physical book then I would have been much happier with the overpriced shipping on the book. For that matter, I would have been even happier if I'd been able to get the book on Kindle for a nominal price ($2.99 or less) or "free" as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. A free (meaning no cost and no shipping cost) first issue of the newsletter would have gotten me to at least consider the newsletter. Realistically, given the print-only nature of the newsletter, I doubt I'd have subscribed to it. I prefer to read digitally. Unfortunately, the book is also print-only without the three "free" items for subscribing to the newsletter. If the intent had really been to give away the material then something like Kindle Unlimited would seem like it might fit that intent. Instead, the reality is that the "free" aspect was clearly a marketing gimmick and the material wasn't actually free.
There are several things about this process which have actively reduced the chances of me spending money on things from either individual in the future. The irony of all of this is that the marketing tactics which were attempting to make me a paying member of this community for an ongoing basis had exact opposite impact on me. The claims about "covering shipping costs" of "free" items rang false and has lowered my trust towards both individuals. This took someone I considered to be a promising individual to someone I feel has been tainted by an unfortunate mentorship and copying what I consider to be a transparent marketing approach focusing on making money rather than providing value. All of that is a shame since I do wish this individual success and started out wanting to support him. I'm much less likely to pay for any additional content from this person unless the "free" book is outstanding.
Not sure if you've seen/found it before, but as academia has been having bigger problems with granting tenure over the past 20 years, there's been a rise of discussion of alternate academia pathways, often under the term #AltAc in social media and other locations. Careers in writing in other spaces have certainly abounded here.
Just two cents from a sheep farmer, but I think you nailed it when you mentioned your Yale published book, when you write something which is good and resonates with regular people, it gets picked up and published and better yet, people read it and it gets appreciated. Your writing is really clear. I think you're a writer. Writers write. :)