What I'm Learning About Writing & Building in Public

I’m a little terrified at how fast 2025 is flying by. But here we are — one quarter down. And somehow, this one was full of growth, experiments, and some meaningful clarity.

• I finally got my UK visa and am officially calling London home!

• I launched Pub & Property as a passion project to write about all things real estate and travel (follow along here if that’s your jam!

• I’ve also held to my commitment to invest more in my personal brand — mostly through LinkedIn and this newsletter.

What was most exciting for me though was realizing last week that I had actually checked off most of my goals for the first part of the year. It was so encouraging to see how small consistent actions really do compound in big ways and I feel so motivated for the next few months.

This year I made a commitment to focus on writing in public, documenting my journey, and experimenting more in my business. So I wanted to to reflect more on what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what I’m doubling down on in Q2.

The Wins: What Worked in Q1

Writing consistently = clarity

I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to be known for. But writing about it forced me to articulate my expertise in a way that made it clearer—for both myself and my audience.

By posting regularly on LinkedIn and in my newsletter, I’ve refined my positioning in real time. Instead of just thinking about my expertise, I’m sharing it—and it’s made a tangible difference on how I view the business but also how others perceive the work I’m doing.

➡️ Result: My LinkedIn audience grew 23%, inbound leads increased, and I’ve seen clearer alignment between what I write and the opportunities I get.

Monetization is an experiment

In January, I launched Pub & Property, a digital publication covering UK countryside travel, real estate, and culture. It’s a passion project — but I’m also using it as a meta experiment in building a niche media brand from scratch. a UK travel & property newsletter, with the goal of testing how to build a media business from scratch.

Before I had things all tidy and ready to go, I was able to get my very first paid subscriber and almost 2,000 TikTok followers.

This is a huge lesson for me too, because I always struggle with wanting to have everything perfect before putting it out into the world. But people will pay for value, even if it’s still a work in progress.

➡️ Lesson: You don’t need a fully polished offer to start—you just need to put it out there and refine as you go.

Video is the next challenge.

I started posting more on TikTok this quarter and experimenting with short-form video. And while it’s still uncomfortable, I know that video will be a game-changer for my personal brand.

@cromwellcreativeco

At the beginning of this year I committed to sharing more about what I’m working on, things I’m learning, and experiments along the way. H... See more

I’m still figuring out the right content format and platform, but the goal for Q2 is simple: Get better at video by doing more of it.

➡️ Q2 Focus: Experiment with YouTube, refine my TikTok strategy, and get comfortable speaking on camera.

What Didn’t Work — and What I’m Adjusting

Client work still feels unstable.

I’m pretty sure every writer I know feels like this right now. The content world feels like the wild west now that companies are experimenting with AI. Some companies see the potential to create content more cheaply than ever — but I’ve actually seen just how valuable my expertise is to a company.

It’s not the ability to create content. It’s the ability to ask the right questions, get to the heart of a story, shape the story so the reader cares, and package it in a way that makes it easy to consume. All of these are skills of a great writer. So instead of positioning myself as a writer that works with X type of companies, this is how I’m positioning my expertise.

Stop waiting for things to be perfect.

When it comes to business ideas, I have almost a nonstop flow; it’s overwhelming. But my problem really is that I want the full vision fleshed out before I take the first step. Whether that’s my personal LinkedIn page, my TikTok account, or the travel newsletter, I always found the most success when I just start experiementing.

As I mentioned above, this gives me clarity along the way, but has also shown me that you don’t need to have it all figured out before starting.

My Plan for Q2

• 1️⃣ Double down on writing & thought leadership—this is where the biggest ROI is.

• 2️⃣ Experiment more with video content—especially short-form and YouTube.

• 3️⃣ Monetize more boldly—stop overthinking, start testing.

• 4️⃣ Streamline client work—focus on retainer partnerships.

Here’s how you can follow along:

1. Subscribe to Creator Diaries

2. Follow me on TikTok

3. Follow me on LinkedIn

4. Subscribe to Pub & Property

My Solopreneur Tech Stack

I recently shared what tools I’m using to run my business on LinkedIn — so I thought I’d share it here too.

When I first started freelancing, I avoided monthly costs like the plague. Unpredictable income made every expense feel like a risk.

But over time, I’ve selectively added tools to my tech stack that help me writer better, market my business, manage finances, and work with clients more efficiently. Now these are tools I couldn’t live without!

What I’m Listening To

I’ve written about Paul Millerd’s work previously — I’m such a huge fan. Essentially he writes about carving a different path when it comes to life and work and how we can redefine our own measures of success.

I loved this recent podcast episode he did with Blake Boles on extracting more freedom from life.

It made me think about my own goals and values and how I balance money, time, and purpose.

For me, time is my #1 priority.

→ I want the freedom to choose what I work on and how I spend my days.

→ I refuse to do soul-crushing work, no matter how well it pays.

Have a listen and let me know what you think!

Till next time,

Taylor