The Silent Slump

When you start growing a newsletter, it’s slow at first.

Some days it feels like you’re publishing to nobody.

Then, like magic, your consistency pays off and growth happens.

Your subscribers are engaged. All of your stats look more positive than ever.

You are on a rocket ship about to the moon.

Then it happens.

The silent slump

Your engagement stagnates.

Growth slows to a crawl.

The silent slump challenges you to your core and you start to think:

• “Have I become irrelevant?”
• “Should I change things up?”
• “Do people like the competition more than me?”

This is an inflection point. It’s the moment where the names you know chose to keep pushing forward.

The other 99% either pivot in a different direction – resetting their progress – or quit altogether.

Even worse, some get caught in this cycle. They grow, hit the silent slump, and keep starting over and over and over, thinking they must just not have it right yet.

Keep doing what works

Growth is never linear. It always has peaks and valleys.

If you’re in the silent slump, you’ve hit your first valley. What you decide to do in this moment will determine your future success.

It may not feel like it in the moment, but what worked when you were seeing growth will continue to work.

People talk a lot about consistency in the context of regularly publishing content. And while that’s certainly a key to finding success, so is consistently being true to what you’ve been publishing.

Think of the silent slump as a test. Will you continue to push forward or cave to the pressure?

Your next step

If you’re going through this right now:

• Please don’t quit.
• Look back on what has worked for you in the past and ​do more of that​.
• Try to find happiness in the process and messages you’re sharing, not the results.
• Don’t push through alone. Surround yourself with people who have your best interest in mind.

If you’re not going through this right now:

• Brace for impact.
• ​Take note of what works well​.
• Establish what you’re all about so you can hold future you accountable.

This issue of Creator Glue is a bit different than normal so thank you for reading.

I don’t claim to have successfully pushed through to find success, but I have let this “silent slump” moment get to me in the past. It cost me a lot and I don’t want the same for you.

In some ways, this is a note to myself.

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