Hello and welcome!
This week I have some abrupt news. I think itās okay for me to do this, because I only have a handful of subscribers, and I hope youāll be kind and understanding.
I recently attended a panel at a local convention and had the pleasure of meeting with some established professionals that wear many different types of hats in entertainment, some of them podcasting. I had a great conversation with a man who has the only radio station of its kind, and has been for the past 20-something years. When I told him what I write about, his eyes furrowed with concern.
āYou need to narrow it down,ā he said.
I cannot recall how many times I have been told this in my adulthood, whenever I try to establish something new and put myself out into the world.
Niche down. Itās a constant phrase I try to keep hold of and remind myself every time I begin a process, but my mind has so many ideas that tumble forward and demand my attention.
āResearch holidays! The world needs to know why we really celebrate!ā
āStart a memoir! You donāt know thatās what it is yet, but you need to write it!ā
āMovie and TV reviews! Youāre watching all the things already anyway. You know you want to share your opinion and love for film and TV!ā
You would think that as a woman who likes to keep things simple, I would remember to niche it down and keep it that way. But itās hard when you have an ADHD of interests.
The kind man at the convention was right, though.
āYou need to pin down your one thing, so that when you make a home online, you can say, āThatās me! Thatās the space that I take up, and people will know what Iām about.āā
He also told me to piggy-back off of other peopleās success, which really meant to go be a guest on someone elseās platform that has a bigger following than I do. Since I donāt know how to do that, and it should come after I pin down my one thing anyway, Iāll figure that out later.
Why am I telling you this? Because Iāve decided to pause my podcast for a rebranding. I intentionally created Jitsie Jots so that I could be broad and write about anything, but Iām heeding the advice Iāve been given over and over again by multiple mentors (not just the nice radio station man from the convention), and I will narrow it down.
So, here is my unanticipated early finale of my first ever podcast. Itās been quite fun, and I will be back after the summer (I canāt record when my kids are home from school, running amokāloudly). And Iāll be back with a whole new look and brand, not just for the podcast, but for my Substack, too. Iāll do my best to make it something niched and something youāll like. I have the rest of spring and all of summer to work on it after all.
In the meantime, I will continue writing on my Substack with bi-weekly newsletters; one free and one paid. So if you havenāt already, you know what to do. Go to jitsie.Substack.com and subscribe. You can choose the free subscription, or you can opt for the paid one to up your content, and itās only $5 per month. Plus, it would really help jumpstart this newfound writerās career.
Thank you for reading, and Iāll see you in a fortnight, with lots of changes to come.
Until next time,
XOXOāJitsie