Out There
I hear all the time from clients:
“How do I get my stuff out there?”
Out There
What does Out There even mean?
In 2016, I started my first venture
It was a blog and podcast called mellowtunein
I was 23 and grinding it out as a case manager in the NYC public mental health world
This was an attempt to create a space
A space to talk about mental health and my experiences as I was learning them
Finding a way to blend the personal and professional, and somehow make it interesting
I did a bunch of blogging and poetry on Wordpress
Never got around to the podcasting 😅
This site slowly turned into a vehicle for my dark, moody, difficult-to-decipher poetry
I always felt, If there was anything I could do and get paid for it, it was writing.
So I tried
Until I decided my time was better used elsewhere - like work, grad school, and moving across the country …
But I kept adding to my poetry portfolio over the next couple years
In 2019, I launched Declan Patrick Writing and published my book of poetry
The book is entitled WWW. Welcome Weird World.
(Still available on Amazon)
This all felt so cool and interesting to me
And I wanted everyone to know about my insides
Kind of
I guess I wanted the right people to know
I wanted to broadcast it
But not in a cheap way
There’s just something so alluring about a crowd of people finding you interesting
I’m still navigating my attachment to that
—
Here’s an example of what I was writing:
Has connecting with so many strangers prevented me from connecting with myself?
I'm asking for a friend.
Has this all afforded me
A comfort and a social pillow protector
From the guise of myself
And the sighs from the shelf
Where my imagination
Lies to itself?
Question marks nothing new
There is no beginning nor end.
Connecting Incessantly (2019)
—
Over analyzing my connection to others, vying for their attention and affection
Which led me further away from the relationship I needed to nurture most
The one with myself
Out There Can Mean A Lot Of Things
From a marketing perspective,
Out There can literally mean “on my website.”
Out There can mean hitting a target of social media views and engagements defined by a well-researched and accurately benchmarked KPI.
Out There can mean national and international virality.
Out There can be a well sourced metric based on marketing expectations.
Out There can be an intangible state.
On the aggregate, I’m willing to wager that most people refer to Out There as a feeling.
There is a computational approach to defining Out There in a business case:
Calculating your marketing budget
Reverse engineering a realistic revenue projection
Devising an outreach plan that directly and tangibly supports this growth
But rarely do I believe people mean this.
Getting my stuff Out There means being seen.
Being known.
Being understood.
Our society has always equated fame with moral good. Famous people are desired. Wealthy people have easier lives. To be recognized and successful is to be understood. To be followed is to be loved. Despite the cautionary tales.
There have been more reasons than ever to question if being Out There is even worth it.
There is the obvious corrupt post-capitalist virality chasing era most of us can identify as morally questionable at best, cheap and shallow at worst.
Even still, most of us, on some level, crave a sense of belonging that comes from a sense of wide acceptance.
Social media and technology networks have created mini, segment specific viralities in spaces on TikTok, LinkedIn, and others. Virality does not equate to being mainstream anymore. Technology has allowed virality to be supported in many, separated siloes of viewers. TikTok-famous or LinkedIn-Influencers are examples here.
Smart, talented folks who expand my knowledge and ignite my passion are certainly net positives for our culture and industries.
In this acquisition process, I try to find my own balance between personal expansion and ego obsession.
I think that is the challenge of a lifetime.