Nobody knows it exists

By the end of this track you will have

1. Step 1One written paragraph describing a single real person with a single real problem, and at least two named places that person already goes without you, with a third written in if it comes.
2. Step 2Joined three existing places from your list and left one genuinely useful reply to a real person in each of them, with no link to your own thing anywhere in the three.
3. Step 3Sent ten individually written messages to ten real people, each one logged with a date, and not one of them produced by a mail merge.
4. Step 4One named channel, one sentence you intend to repeat for months, twelve dated slots in a file, and the first two of those twelve already published.
5. Step 5A one-page file naming three numbers, saying exactly where each one is read from, and carrying this month's figure for all three, with any figure you could not verify marked unverified rather than guessed.

The steps

Each one ends with a check you run yourself. The box is yours to tick when it passes.

1. 1
   Step 1.Write down who it is actually for

   45 minutesOpen to everyone

   Done means

   who.md exists. Every field in the shape has something written under it. At least two places are named individually, each specific enough that somebody else could find it without asking you what you meant. A missing third is written down as missing rather than left blank. The not-for list has three entries. Nothing in the file says everyone, anyone, or people who.

   The check passed
2. 2
   Step 2.Go where they already are

   60 minutes

   Done means

   rooms.md exists and contains three named rooms, nine recurring questions, and three links to replies you have posted. Open each of the three replies and check them yourself. None of them mentions your thing, links to your thing, or ends with an offer. If one does, edit it now. The version that works starts with three replies that gave something away for nothing.

   The check passed
3. 3
   Step 3.Ten conversations beat a thousand impressions

   90 minutes

   Done means

   outreach.md contains ten names, ten links to the thing each person wrote, and ten send dates. Open your sent folder and read the ten messages back to back. Every one names something specific to that person. None of them is longer than eight lines and none of them contains a link to your thing. If two of them could be swapped without anybody noticing, rewrite one of the two.

   The check passed
4. 4
   Step 4.Say the same thing in the same place, repeatedly

   60 minutes

   Done means

   plan.md exists. It names one channel, carries one repeated sentence, and holds twelve dated slots tied to real questions somebody actually asked. Two of the twelve are published, with the links pasted beside their slots. Both carry the same closing sentence word for word. The twelfth date is written down, which is the part you will want to leave blank.

   The check passed
5. 5
   Step 5.Count the only three numbers that matter

   40 minutes

   Done means

   numbers.md has three headings, three named sources, three fall responses and three current figures. Every figure is a number you read today from the system named above it. Or it is the word unverified. The file has three numbers in it and not four. If you added a fourth, delete it now. Notice which one you could not let go of.

   The check passed