Lupe Farkas

Dear rebels…

If there is one thing I learned during this last week, it is that the phrase “Content is king” — and its very accurate relative, “content is king, but distribution is queen” — is so fucking true.

Because what did I do?

I stopped.

Not stopped-stopped. I did not run away to Tuscany with a suitcase full of Coke Zero and abandon the internet forever. I simply had to spend more time doing the things that actually make money for my Coke Zero.

And the internet apparently took that personally.

I posted less.

The views dropped.

Rapidly.

Two Weeks of the Indie Author Experiment

The first week gave us big numbers. Really big numbers compared with where this experiment started. I was posting constantly, sharing everywhere, testing platforms, publishing the experiment every day and basically feeding the internet like it was a starving raccoon living behind my house.

Then Week Two happened.

Work happened. Books happened. Life happened. The amount of content I published slowed down — and visibility slowed down with it.

Now, before anyone starts dramatically pointing at the lower numbers like we have accidentally destroyed the entire experiment, there is something important happening inside them.

We started with a very large launch spike.

Then the numbers dropped sharply.

But they did not stay there.

I Started Posting Again. Guess What Happened?

During the weekend I read like there was no tomorrow. Today I started publishing reviews again because apparently I enjoy testing the limits of both my schedule and my remaining brain cells.

And then the little bars started moving upward again.

See that?

From very big numbers, we dropped rapidly.

Then I started publishing again.

And we started growing again.

Is one graph enough to announce that I have discovered the sacred formula of the internet and should immediately open a marketing university?

Obviously not.

But after two weeks of watching this experiment like a mildly unhinged lab technician, there is a pattern worth paying attention to:

Apparently We Also Learned Black Magic

The more interesting part is that discovery is still happening beyond the people who already know me.

Instagram continues to show a large portion of my content to non-followers, while LinkedIn reports that 81% of my recent impressions came from outside my existing network.

That matters.

Because this experiment was never just about making one graph look pretty.

It is about finding out whether an indie author can slowly become more discoverable through content, SEO, reviews, social media, community and stubborn persistence without pretending she has an enormous advertising budget hidden under the mattress.

And Did All This Sell Books?

So yes, rebels, we still have one very important problem to solve:

visibility is not automatically conversion.

People finding me, reading reviews, visiting the website and discovering the brand is one part of the machine.

Getting those people from “hello, weird woman on the internet” to “fine, I’ll buy your book” is another.

And that is exactly why this experiment is not finished.

So What Did Two Weeks Actually Teach Me?

So did I decide to give up on the only known method of funding my Coke Zero habit because Coca-Cola continues to ignore my existence?

No.

I simply decided that perhaps during the day I should drink Coke Zero and during the night I should drink Red Bull.

Sugar-free, obviously.

And sleep less.

Hello Red Bull. I’m here. Notice me.

Sorry. I disappeared for a second. I was imagining Coca-Cola and Red Bull fighting over who gets to sponsor this deeply professional media operation.

I’m back now.

Five Days.

Anyway, good night.

I’ll go sleep.

Just kidding.

I’m going to write. Then read. And maybe eventually sleep.

In the meantime, send Coke Zero, send Red Bull and go read today’s reviews because they are absolutely gorgeous.

Love you guys.