Go deeper, not wider

A year of depth.

In 2017, David Cain wrote about ​the idea of going deeper, not wider on his excellent blog Raptitude​. He suggested taking a whole year without starting anything new or acquiring any new stuff you don’t need. 

Instead, he advocated improving skills you already have; finishing projects you’ve started; consuming the media you’ve stockpiled. Using what you already have, rather than buying more.

The idea resonated, and taking a Depth Year became a trend. In a later post, Cain wrote about people making art again in their depth year, deepening friendships, re-reading books they’d loved, finally doing courses they’d bought, using exercise gear they already had and actually getting better at yoga, running or weight-training rather than moving on to the next fad.

Most found lasting peace, confidence and satisfaction in going deeper and actually finishing things rather than forever anxiously searching out the new. 

2026 will be a year of change for me.

As I get older, I no longer have the same energy. I often end the working day exhausted, and I don’t want to feel that way. So I’m thinking about how to still support this community of brilliant creative professionals while reducing my own hours. 

I can’t promise I’ll take a depth year in 2026. I already know we have some big purchases on the horizon, and some major lifestyle shifts. The changes I want to make to my business probably mean I’ll buy new courses and book some new coaches to work with. But I’m definitely swimming away from the shallows. 

I want to do less. 

But I still want to have an impact, and support my creative community.

For me, that’s about depth. About avoiding all the shiny new things – all the oughts, shoulds, musts – and focussing on the parts of my work that really helps people. Without draining me. 

I’m not sure what this will look like, just yet. But 2026 will be a year of experiments, and I’ll share them here as I go. 

I’ve had some lessons on depth this year.

In my marketing, especially. I decided to post on LinkedIn, five times a week. And I’ve done this pretty consistently for the whole of 2025. (My profile is here, if you want to look at what I’m doing.)

By most measures, this experiment looks like a total failure. My posts reach the same low numbers (about 2200 views a week), and my tiny following has increased by just 520 people. My following is still under 2000.

At first, I was disappointed. But then I realised that it’s not about the numbers. It’s about the real, lasting connections. 

Last week, I noticed I was falling short of my financial target for the quarter. This isn’t the end of the world: the target was ambitious. But it spurred me to reach out to a few people via LinkedIn. 

I did nothing fancy.

I sent DMs to several people who had interacted with my posts or messaged me privately, asking them what they needed support with most right now, and telling them I had space for some one-off coaching sessions in December. 

The result? £1000 of coaching booked immediately. A £3,000 package booked for January. And an opportunity to send everyone who replied a resource or article that might help them, further deepening our relationship. 

The difference from 2024? I wasn’t shouting at strangers. I was connecting with people who had read my posts and commented on them, shared their creative problems in DMs.

This made it easier for me, as I hate cold messaging people. But it also made them far more receptive, as we’d had some contact already. They already knew me a little, and were ready to go deeper. I just needed to ask.

So what might depth look like for you?

In recent years, lots of coaching clients have come to me for help juggling a SubStack, a website, a half-built online shop, a YouTube channel. Some also have an idea for a book and/or a podcast and a notion that they should be thinking more about TikTok. Or applying for a TED talk. 

All of this is in addition to their main creative work. It’s little wonder they feel overwhelmed by marketing and sharing what they do. They end up paralysed, doing no promotion at all. Or keeping so many plates spinning and spreading themselves so thinly that it has no impact.

You can do anything. But you can’t do everything. 

To be clear, none of this is your fault. The old maps to success in creative fields are outdated. The tech now changes with breath-taking speed. It’s built to be addictive, to enslave us to its algorithms. And we are flooded with courses, schemes, ideas for how to use it all better, how we should be marketing or selling our work. 

I say ignore them all. Trust yourself. Do less, but go deeper. Choose one way of marketing, selling, bringing in more work. Two at most. Choose something you like doing, if possible. That fits the work you make, or is a place where your ideal clients hang out. 

Run some experiments to see if it’s something you want to focus on, then if it is, do it well. Do some courses, get a coach, get it working for you. Then once it is working, make it as easy as possible.

Here are some ideas of what depth might look like, in marketing. But it’s not a to-do list. Do what resonates most, and adapt it to your own needs and skills. 

Depth on social media:

Don’t try to be everywhere at once. Choose a channel. See what works for you. Once you’ve settled on one, master it. Then make it as easy as possible by using templates, batch-posting using a social media scheduler like Buffer or Later, repeating popular content. 

Don’t fixate on the numbers. Don’t press for quick sales. Build real relationships instead. Help people. Have conversations in DMs, then move them onto your mailing list or into the real world. 

Once you have those relationships, offer something to the people who show they’re interested with messages, DMs, engagement. Invite them into your inner circle. Do this via private messaging; don’t offer it to everyone.The whole point is that it’s just for your most engaged followers. 

Let them be the first to hear your new song. Show them your writing or editing process. Explain the kit you use, the software, the tricks of the trade. Nothing too onerous. Keep it friendly, informal. You’re letting a small group of fans into your world, not creating products to sell to a wider audience.

If you get 10-20 people willing to pay £30 a month for this, that’s some basic bills paid. Add in some one-to-one mentoring for £500-£1000, and it might pay your rent or mortgage, too. Worth considering, no?

Depth in networking:

Find the rooms where your people are, and focus on them. This might mean travelling to industry events, conferences, professional meet-ups. Joining a trade association or professional body. Becoming an acknowledged expert in a specific interest group.

Then commit. Spend real time there. You’re not trying to win everyone over. Every event you attend, you’re looking for one ally, one new friend, one person you might be able to help. 

Depth in sales: 

Of course you might want to make products to sell via your website. But you’d make much more, in less time, if you approached a retailer and they choose to sell it for you. (Don’t know how? Read this.)

If you then build a deep, trusting relationship with that retailer, they’ll keep reordering – and give you valuable insight into what their customers want. 

Again, you’re not looking for a single sale. You’re looking to build lasting partnerships with retail outlets, galleries, venues so you can continue to make money together for years. 

Depth in audience-building:

You don’t have to do it all alone. Who already has a big audience of your ideal clients? Can you partner with them in some way? 

This might mean creating a guest post for their blog, newsletter or publication. Guesting on their podcast or YouTube channel. Offering a free workshop to their audience. Or a paid workshop where you give split the profit with your partner. 

Make sure that you have something of value to offer, in exchange for people joining your mailing list. This could be a free how-to video, PDF or checklist; a short story, song or visual they can download. Be generous, if you can. It helps build real connection.

All of this can be automated, for ease. 

But it doesn’t need to be, at first. Done is better than perfect.

Making some sales and proving that people want whatever you’ve created is so much better than spending hours, days, weeks constructing a perfect automated marketing funnel – then discovering that no one wants what you’re offering. 

Most of all, remember my golden rules: 

• Keep it simple (that means as easy as possible).
• Make it fun!
• Create habits and routines so you can do it on autopilot. 

So over to you.

What would going deeper mean for you, in the next year?