Keeping Tabs #21: Substack updates, phony awards and the magic of woodworking
A weekly dose of news, views and things I’ve learned
It was suggested this week that my Keeping Tabs roundups might run a little long (this doesn’t surprise me as I tend to over-write), so I’m making an effort this week to keep it more concise.
In the interest in saving your time (and maintaining your attention), let’s make it snappy.
📣 Subscriber wins
🍽️
has launched a Substack called Once Upon a Table in Dubai! Nice one – I’d love it if more of you launched your own newsletters, please.🏅
, founder of NikNak PR, has been shortlisted for Inc. Arabia’s Women of Influence 2025 awards. Good luck, Anika!In other news…
🛠️ I’ve been working on yet another new project this week – this time it’s a mini course to help people get their first Substack newsletter off the ground. It’s not one of those promising viral successes from the outset or anything like that – more of a three- to four-hour hand-holding exercise for people who want to launch one but don’t know where to start. Does that sound interesting to you?
🖋️ Speaking of Substack, they’ve started rolling out new features since the massive investment they just received. This week that included A/B title testing, which is pretty cool, so you can test a variety of headlines and see what works best with your readers. There are also more options to customise your profile now, too.
📅 This Thursday, join the Desert Prose network for another virtual workshop, this time with fractional operations director Evelyn Kimani, who will be sharing more about her seven-step Amini Method and why freelancers should treat their solo career more like a business. This event is only open to paid subscribers - if you’d like to join, let me know and I’ll send you the RSVP link.
🪵 I probably shouldn’t admit this on such a public forum, but I’ve discovered the magic of woodworking videos this week. That’s right – I watch someone chip away at a hunk of wood until it looks like a really cool piece of art. It’s a bit like watching a potter in action (if you haven’t done this, I recommend it – it’s very soothing).
💡 This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rola Diab, an Arab-American behavioural and business strategist. I wasn’t expecting to be so impressed, but she’s such an inspiring lady. Her confidence and conviction, her energy and outlook on life, drew me in instantly. I’ll be writing up her interview for Madame Arabia – so keep your eyes peeled!
🏆 There are legit awards in the world (like the one Anika has been nominated for), then phony ones like the one I was invited to be a part of this week (go figure). GulfArticles.com asked me to be in the “Gulf’s 10 Visionary Professionals to Follow in 2025” piece for the very reasonable price of $199 (“your story will be permanently featured on our platform!” – yes, I know how the internet works, thank you). What an honour!
Thanks for the shout out 💜