I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Should you work in public?
Hi Reader,
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know I’m fond of saying, “Teach what you know.”
A related principle is, “Work in public.”
What does it mean to work in public?
A common practice when working on a project is to hide away and work in private until you have something to show. Whenever you’re completely finished, then you tell the world.
But instead of keeping things under wraps until you’re done, working in public means showing the process and sharing the journey.
Let’s say you’re writing a book. Here are a few ways you could work in public:
- Record your screen while writing, speed it up, and share a timelapse at the end of each day on social media.
- Live stream a writing session. Write in silence and answer questions at the end.
- Share a draft publicly. This could be just one of the chapters or the whole book!
Maybe you’re working on an app:
- Write a post with screenshots of user interface designs that didn’t work out. Explain your thought process and how you improved things.
- Talk about how you’re prioritizing which features to include at launch vs defer to later versions.
- Show easter eggs and user experience details.
Even if you’re working at a company, there are ways to share:
- Post about a recent challenge you overcame and how you worked through it in your company’s Slack.
- Start a virtual coworking session and allow people to join.
- Share failures along with successes. We can learn from every experience.
While this is an understandable fear, it misses the bigger picture. Instead of worrying about what you might lose, think about what you can gain.
Those who copy will always be a step behind. But by working in public, you give others the chance to share ideas you might not have thought of. You're also going to build an audience when you work in public. This all works to establish your credibility.
You don’t have to do anything differently than you would have already done. All you have to do is share what you’re already doing.
The next time you sit down to work, ask yourself: “Could I work in public?”
Try it out and see what happens!
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Hope you have an awesome Tuesday!
—Nathan
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
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