But First, I’d Like to Thank All of You
I can talk all day about strategy, marketing, branding, content and workflow (which I will below), but THE reason I got to almost 2000 subscribers and 100 paid subscribers in less than three months is because of all of you who make up this incredible community. It’s not just that you thought my work was deserving of your financial support, but also that you contribute in other important ways that support The Cosmic College.
All the comments, likes, restacks, deep contemplations and questions you bring to the conversation have an enormous impact. You are just as excited and passionate about my work as I am, constantly posing questions, criticisms and personal anecdotes that inspire me to improve on what I am already doing while also breaking into new areas of spirituality, philosophy and science.
So thank you. You are all so incredible. I’m not just saying it because this is what you are suppose to recite when you get “receive the award.” This is a genuine appreciation for all that you do. You make this place move and grow in ways you you might not be able to see from your end. You shape me into the better person I need to be, and you do that all the time. God Bless You All.
For Aspiring Creators
Even in my own community I see many potential creators. People who have something to say that will be helpful to others and add essential wisdom to a world in desperate need of it.
I see the next generation of thinkers that will add their mark in the scientific, spiritual and philosophical realms regarding the two primary concerns of those disciplines: Right and Righteous Action and Understanding the Supernatural Realm.
And even if those aren’t your realms of passion and expertise and you have a very different dream of what mark you will leave upon the world, this advice will translate, just as well.
The following is a tribute to all of you who have considered picking up that digital paintbrush. I will outline all the things I do, and have done, to hit the 100 paid subscriber mark at record speed. Understand that above all, it is the strength and support of your community that is at the heart of why these techniques convert to growth. Take care of them, and they will take care of you.
Considerations
I should mention the half-a-million (500,000) followers I have on Tik Tok. As well as the nearly 5000 followers from X, Instagram and Youtube (Combined). Though, (and this is what makes Substack so special) only 10% of my following came from people migrating from other platforms. Almost all of my growth has been organic, right here, from new people just now learning about what I do.
That is to say, it is anybody’s game and starting from scratch should not hinder you from dreaming the big dream. I walked away from all that clout I built up at those legacy medias because the companies seemed to be working against me more than they were working for me. They were actually making it harder to make a living in most situations. Substack is the opposite of those other social medias in every way that will matter to you if you want to make a living creating.
Using Substack as an alternative will make your life and work more productive, prosperous and fulfilling. If you’re reading this on your Substack account, you’re already one step ahead of everyone else that’s still praying that the other platforms will have some crisis of conscience, and start taking care of their creators.
Being an artist and builder is an art and a science. It takes time, effort, discipline, patience and an ability to deal with increased stress. But as you get a flow going, and you find your “Right Reasons” for creating content that matters, those principle qualities will begin to cultivate and grow within you, until they are just background and automatic behaviors.
At which point, you will simply be doing what you love, with little to no hassle or worry about “How quick I’m growing.” Pay little to no attention to how quickly it’s happening. Instead, pay attention to what works and what makes you happy (because those are the things that make the growth happen quick!) The rest comes easy once you stop worrying about it and dedicate that energy to the excitement of creations and improving your craft.
Workflow
Below I outline a day, week and month in the life and work of The Cosmic College. Understand that not everything will necessarily appeal to you. You may dread doing videos, or it might be the only type of content you want to do. What is most important is to find what you’re good at and get better at it all the time.
Though, I encourage you to branch out with your capabilities, experiment with new styles and modalities, and most importantly, have fun! Experimentation and play is what gets you to technical mastery. Linear thinking and a punching-numbers has its place, its very small place in what you do. Though creating and building is, more than anything, an elegant dance which is both enlightening and entertaining, for you and your audience.
Dailies: I think it’s important to have a daily routine. While you don’t want to get bogged down with everything being planned and ultimately over-structured, its good to have a method and protocol to fall back on, especially in those moments where you feel like you don’t know what to do next. When you’re not feeling that creative spark, its really beneficial to have a procedure to fall back on. Here’s what I do day to day to keep a stable, structured flow to my work.
Early Morning Engagement
Check notifications: Comment on, like and reply to restacks and replies
Messages: Touch base with my paid subscribers in direct messages and make any relevant announcements and replies in the paid group chat.
Take all the questions I receive from subscribers (from DMs and comments) and plan content that will answer their questions/discuss the topics/address their criticisms. The Cosmic Questions advice column lives off of answering people’s questions in DMs and comments. And people really tend to love listening to this short form podcast.
Go on Notes and Interact with the Community: Restack great articles and notes, leave relevant comments on the things I enjoy, promote other great creators and add to my recommendation list if I really like someone’s channel.
Late Morning Planning
Plan the day and the content that I’ll be working on. A typical day includes:
A Cosmic Question: (inspired by a question I found from early morning engagement.)
Make One or More Short Videos: (1 to 10 minutes) highlighting a specific idea. Could be a random inspiration or something related to the larger topic I am currently covering connected to the “Campaign” (See Weekly Campaigns below). Short videos can be a one-off from a repeat question in comments or something people are showing interest that is trending like “Five great activities and foods to open the pineal gland.”
Write, or Start Writing an Article: These usually take a few days to complete. One day to write the rough draft. One day for cleaning up the writing and working on the “poetry” and “brevity.” One day on grammatical and spelling.
Produce a Longer Video: These can be off-the-cuff, vibing and informal, or a well-produced video with a rough script and talking points. This will usually decide whether or not they are part of the free subscription or paid.
Body of the Day. Body of the Work
From about 9AM to 3PM I’m working. Writing, making videos, editing and publishing.
Late Day Recap
Late Night Crazies: I might write a few Notes in a “Twitter style” rant and ramble. Something funny, something poignant, something intimate and thoughtful or something thought-provoking. This is all organic. If I’m feeling it, and I think it’s relevant, I’ll post it in a couple hundred characters or less.
Daily Review & Cultivating Channel and Community: I’ll take some time to once again reply to some comments and follow back up with messages. To finish the day, I’ll review the work I’ve done by checking stats and community response and making notes on how my work can be improved while also paying attention to what performed well and keeping track of trends of success, always applying the 80/20 rule to everything I do.
Weekly Campaign
At the beginning of the week or on a biweekly basis, I decide on a larger topic I want to discuss, outline the beats or sections of the conversation I’d like to have and plan out the content that will best communicate the ideas. For instance, the next campaign coming up is on the spiritual and scientific ideas of “Possession.”
The focus in this campaign is to clear up the obscurity around the term and help to make it accessible to all people. It’s not just some spooky occurrence reminiscent of an exorcism movie. People can be “possessed” by all sorts of things like electromagnetic radiation, parasites and even ideas. All of which cause abnormal electrical firing in the body and mind.
So I make a plan and ask myself: What type of content will work best to communicate these ideas? What will be premium and what will be free?
In this specific campaign, I have created a hypothesis/theory that puts possession into 7 categories. Therefore, 7 short videos talking about each category is a great start to announce the campaign and attract listeners with easy to digest, low commitment content.
Later on I’ll make a longer video presentation explaining all 7 categories, diving deeply into the history, mythology, science and philosophy of the subject.
All video content usually has an element of “how to.” It’s not just educational and entertaining, its instructive, providing methods to overcome obstacles and achieve goals depending on the subject. I always try to include solution-based information in my videos so that people don’t spin in circles; that they’re always able to do something productive with the new information.
Another example of content might be a meditation I do that connects to the campaign idea. I will make a write-up of the meditation and a guided meditation in audio form.
Below are all the different types of content I make that act as tools in my toolbox. I think the best way to look at the different types of content (text, audio, video) is to see them as different tools that all have their own unique function and best uses. It’s about having multiple options in your communication toolbox so that you use the best format for the information you are trying to deliver.
Types of Content (Click the Orange Letters for Examples)
Long Format Books: 30+ pages of detailed analysis on a singular subject. Like my “Increasing IQ” or “Pineal Gland Protocol” Full length books.
Field Manuals and Survival Guides: Usually around 10-25 pages, these operate more as reference manuals that subscribers can read through quickly and go back to to reference various techniques, exercises, meditations, nutrition advice and more.
Long Video Presentations and Classes: 30 minutes to 3 hours, these are either long form monologues, conversations with a guest or a class format where I essentially, teach a class on a topic.
Audiobooks: Audio versions of my written content. It can cover a wide array of content. The long form books, field manuals, poems, short stories and more.
Full-length Podcast: Usually done once a week, these episodes are inspired by an idea that has been on my mind, that doesn’t have a specific objective besides “talking it out.” It could be on anything like comparing the Roman bread and circus to today’s entertainment and propaganda, for instance.
Cosmic Questions: A daily short podcast where I answer questions from followers and subscribers. They usually run anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes and are meant to touch on specific struggles or questions people have in relation to their own spiritual lives and often to relate to bigger ideas in spirituality.
Guided and Written Meditations: An original mediation technique, with step by step instructions and supplemental advice for nutrition, organization or your routine and much more.
Poems: These are created at random when I am feeling inspired. When I am called to write a poem, I write. I enjoy sharing this side of myself as it is less technical and isn’t about work or obstacles or goals. It’s art, it’s music, it’s relaxation.
Essays: These are short reads, usually a couple pages and focus intently on a very specific idea, like my recent “Fortean Realm Plasticity” where I discuss the theory that reality is literally like a dream and has the potential to be influenced by our thought. It isn’t just a dreamy contemplation, I discuss the literal possibility and dig in deep to how this might be the case.
Various other types of content that tap into audio, visual, text, image and anything else that communicates the ideas best to the audience.
Special Announcements: Informing people of upcoming events, important changes being made to the channel and other “Newsletter” type communications.
Publishing
When I publish, I will always post a note with a sample of the work or an original paragraphs that gives people an idea of what they will find in the post. Emails get sent to users and I will share the link if it was inspired by a specific person to let them know the post is up, (like with the Cosmic Questions that are always dedicated to a specific subscriber’s questions). I might additionally let people know in the group chat. I will also touch base with people in comments and DMs to see if the post landed and if there is anything I can do to improve in the future or other ideas I can compound on that I didn’t cover or didn’t explain well.
Monthly Meetings
Once a month I host a meeting with paid subscribers and do a full-length live class with Q&A.
This gives everyone a chance to connect with me and their fellow community members, take a class that brings the entire months ideas together in a structured way that helps to give a step by step process of learning and practice in their everyday life.
The “Order of Melchizedek” meeting is a more informal group setting where we all discuss various ideas, talk about what should come next on the channel and just take some time to shoot the breeze with each other.
Making it All Work
I know it might seem like a lot of work, and it can be. But start small. Do what you’re good at, spend time studying the ideas you want to communicate and make yourself absolutely comfortable talking and writing about them until you can turn the camera on and just launch off into a thought and make a great presentation.
Branch out slowly, but make sure you branch out. Get out of your comfort zone every now and then and try something new. You will fail 100 times before you produce something you really love in a new sphere, whether its a podcast or a long form piece of detailed writing. But you will get better, as long as you are putting time and effort in. Before you know it, you will have a Swiss-Army-Knife of expression at your fingertips.
What This Does for the Channel and the Community
The Cosmic College is about bringing obscure spiritual topics into the light of modern day. There is so much wisdom hidden in esoteric books, occult jargon and general misconception. To improve the life of an individual, providing them with the tools to understand wisdom, is to improve the world, step by step, person by person.
I not only want this to be a fully-functional school; I want my community members to feel like the builders of that school, because they are. I want them to feel like initiates, masters and alumni to a special moment in their lives where they opened those incredible doors to the mysteries of reality. And I want to inspire them to go on and share that wisdom. The goal has always been, saving the world, one word at a time.
Gain Access to a Vast Library
Consider upgrading to paid to gain access to an enormous and always expanding library of;
NEW Monthly Prize Package Giveaway
Monthly Class with Live Q&A
Monthly Live Community Meet-Ups
Full-Length Books
Manuals & Guides
Written & Guided Meditations
Two Podcast with Daily and Weekly Episodes
Hours-Long Video Courses
Essays, Prose & Poetry
& Much More.
Tell Me What You Think!
Treat this like any social media post, leaving comments, restacking (reposting), sharing and liking. In the comments, let me know about anything you’d like me to do in the future. This helps me to make better content for all of you.
Helping The Community
Subscribers are the engine that keeps this train running. If you enjoy my Substack, consider telling others about it. Share the Cosmic College page, share this post (with its free opening section), or share one of the fully free articles I release periodically.
If you get friends to sign up using the link below, Substack rewards you with free months of subscription depending on how many you bring in. In addition, I will be giving out free admissions for my upcoming classes for those who help grow the community
Peace, Love, Respect, & God Bless,
-The Cosmic Man
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