You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
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Today's YATM newsletter is brought to you by...
Our after party pals with the DJ and patatas bravas, La Mias.
Hi YATMers, I’m Dominique van Werkhoven, a London-born website copywriter and content strategist, living in the Netherlands.
My husband and I are co-founders of our micro business, The Werks, where we support freelancers, small businesses and non-profits wanting to show up online with confidence and grow their impact via their website.
We’re also co-founders of three little people who call us ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.
This is a photo from our visit to Ikono – a pop up immersive experience, in Vienna (Austria) – where we lived for 4 years! Last summer we moved countries again, this time back to the Netherlands.
I’m enjoying discovering creators and newsletters over on Substack, There are so many great ones but one of my favourite’s is by Kazvare - a writer, illustrator and graphic designer.
Her publication Kazvare Made it serves a weekly dose of joy, inspiration and combines cultural references with a huge dash of playfulness, through her sassy and satirical sketches.
Getting people on your side makes it easier to grow and a more enriching experience.
You don’t have to play the continual tune of the algorithm. The constant pressure to post more, be consistent, and just keep up can become exhausting.
The anonymous audiences we aim to reach often aren't there when we need them most.
But if attention is everywhere, allegiance is rare.
Whether you’re building your brand, running a side project, or simply trying to gain traction for the work you care about, what truly matters isn’t reaching more people, it’s encouraging the right people to care and participate.
Let me unpack how to get people genuinely invested in what you do, not because you gamed the system, but because you created something worth standing alongside.
It Starts With Showing Up Where Other People Are
Before someone stands beside you, they have to know where you stand.
That’s why shared spaces matter more than ever in 2025. We’re flooded with content, but starved of connection.
People want real places where they can meet others, feel understood, and participate, not just scroll and “like.”
Introducing live events for people to come together has been pivotal for YATM. It’s a place to go to with other people that is away from a screen.
Over the years, the concept has evolved, becoming more thoughtfully curated. People are looking for experiences that validate their time away from work and make them feel like they belong.
My advice is you don’t need toaim for a conference. Start a meetup. Host a small dinner. Be consistent. Be available. Find ways to always be you.
Use Borrowed Trust To Build Belonging
There’s nothing wrong with being introduced through someone else’s audience. In fact, it’s how most meaningful relationships begin.
Call it borrowed trust: when someone credible shares their spotlight and brings others into it.
This could mean:
Being a guest on someone’s podcast
Collaborating on a newsletter
Speaking at an event
Even just being recommended in a WhatsApp group or a LinkedIn post
The point is this: people don’t trust strangers. But they do trust people they already believe in or someone who has said, ‘this person is great’. When you’re associated with someone respected, it lowers the risks.
When someone vouches for you, their audience listens. That’s not luck. That’s leverage.
Trust Is Built Through Pattern, Not Performance
Edelman’s Trust Barometer each year reveals a powerful truth: people trust people like themselves more than any brand, business, or media outlet.
Everyday we see and hear polished brand voices, AI-generated content, and curated personas, what cuts through is human consistency. People want to know who you are, what you stand for, and if you’re still around when the spotlight fades.
That’s why trust is built through patterns:
Do you show up?
Do you follow through?
Are you the same in private as in public?
No elaborate funnel or viral post can fake that.
Over the years, I have learned the hard way and the good way. This newsletter drops every Thursday at 6am, rain or shine (except for four weeks off per year). It’s a pattern people trust. That kind of reliability says more than any paid ad ever could.
What We’ve Built At YATM To Get People Onside
At You Are The Media, we’ve put this into practice for years.
Getting people on your side isn’t theoretical, it’s something we live and breathe.
From the weekly Thursday newsletter that’s gone out since 2013, to our Lunch Clubs and Creator Day, everything is rooted in participation, not performance.
Last week in London, we hosted our second YATM Lunch Club at FOUNDRY in Wandsworth. Hosted by Catherine Turner and Jon Burkhart, we brought together people for the theme on personal brand. What has happened is Lunch Club format can now progress into other locations. London was our way to prove it.
What made it work wasn’t a grand production. It was that people leaned in. They showed up. They listened. They shared. They got to know each other better. These are the kinds of spaces where you don’t just promote yourself, you become part of something others want to help shape.
Whether it’s through small gatherings, bigger moments to bring people together, or weekly ideas that respects the reader’s time, the goal is the same: make people feel like they belong, not just that they’re being marketed to.
Make Your Message About Them
If your message is “Here’s what I want,” it’s a tough sell. If your message is “Here’s what we could do,” people feel more compelled to join in.
Other people get on your side when they feel like your story reflects their own. That means your message has to make room for them, not just spotlight you.
Want to make it easier for people to care? Ask yourself:
Does this help them see a better version of themselves?
Does this invite participation?
Does this offer something that aligns with their values?
The messages that stick aren’t always the smartest. They’re the ones that hit home because they feel like home.
Don’t Chase Everyone. Find The People Already Looking
One of the greatest myths in marketing is that bigger is better.
Progress doesn’t start by constantly chasing large numbers. They started with tens. With a handful of people who saw something and said, “I’m in.”
Trying to win everyone makes you bland. Trying to serve the right people helps you figure out together.
At YATM, we’ve embraced this over the years. Today we are the home for marketing misfits. The goal isn’t mass appeal, it’s not for everyone. It’s about alignment. You don’t need tens of thousands of people to make a difference. You just need to connect with people who share your energy, your values, your belief in what’s possible.
Here’s the key: those people are already out there, you just need to head out and find them.
Then you give them a place to where they feel a part of and feel seen.
Let’s Round-Up
This isn’t about tactics. It’s about turning strangers into supporters, and supporters into participants.
Getting people on your side doesn’t mean convincing them. It means including them.
You don’t need to be louder. You need to be clearer.
You don’t need to be liked by everyone. You need to go deeper.
You don’t need everyone. You need the right few, moving in the same direction.
They’re far more likely to join you when you step out from behind the screen.
You don’t win people over by broadcasting louder, you build something they want to belong to, then open the door and let them walk in.
I recently finished Mark Schaefer's latest book, Audacious and in a good place to talk to Mark about standingapart and not fitting in.
Audacious challenges us not to compete with AI on efficiency or scale, but to beat it where machines fall short: in human creativity, emotion, and the power of unforgettable experiences.
If you haven't read the book yet, it's here and not just a survival guide for the future, it's how you figure it out and put your own stamp on the world.
What can we do today to future-proof our relevance, without becoming just another piece of content in someone’s scroll?
We have a live session with Mark, in YATM Club on Thurs 24th April at 2pm ET and 7pm BST. Book it in here.
If you haven't joined YATM Club yet and want to see how the Club looks before you join, book in time with me here over the next week.
Asking Others
If you are looking to introduce something new to your product offering, if you have built people around you, they can become the most important litmus test to help save time, reduce risk and you ploughing forward where it’s only you enthused.
You have to acknowledge others and the role that they play, there is a huge place for humility and empathy.
The relationships you grow and the trust you build helps immeasurably before you need something.
People Of YATM
"YATM is a community that thrives on core values, not “the rules”.
I’ve thrown out the rulebook as the co-founder of the Antisocial Socialites networking community and as the founder of my purpose-driven social media consultancy - PinkLeaf Social - because when your vision is centred on building relationships, you organically create space for growth.
YATM encourages progress over perfection. It feels like the natural talents of each member is their strength and trust among the marketers, entrepreneurs and founders is a team effort.
It can feel daunting, stepping up to the proverbial mic, quirks and all, but there’s something special about the shared ownership and community-driven leadership that exists within YATM.
Real people, on your side, helping you find your unique voice so you turn those small and big business ideas into reality."
You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
