My year of visibility: On creativity and online exposure

Is it possible to show up on social media in a sustainable way?

Hi friend, Florencia here!

Welcome back to my newsletter, apartamento 710. A space where I write about living a creative life. Thanks so much for being here! As a subscriber, you’ll receive monthly essays, guides, and other resources created to help you unlock your most creative self.

I wrote this essay on a whim in my Notes app and it’s been sitting there collecting dust for weeks. I finally had time to edit it and illustrate it. I hope it resonates, ILY ⋆˚꩜｡ּ

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On creativity and online exposure

In January, I wrote in my journal that 2026 was going to be my year of visibility. After three years of cultivating this newsletter and staying away from TikTok and Instagram, using social media to occasionally share my work, I felt ready to use my voice to share my creations with a wider audience through short-form video.

I started with one Reel per month (which felt like a lot back then). I truly dreaded recording myself, listening to my own voice while editing, and then, of course, the most daunting part: actually posting it. What would my enemies think? People from high school? My coworkers? I posted the videos anyway, without really seeing any traction - I was just happy that I was following through on the goal.

From January to June, my Reels were mainly about me sharing Substack articles, inviting people to subscribe to apartamento 710, and posting some craft projects here and there. Lots of improvisation and zero strategy. I gained maybe 100 followers during those months? but I learned a lot about editing on the glitchy Edits app and CapCut, using a mic, and writing scripts for short form videos. I started dreading the process a little bit less every month. Even listening to my own voice became more tolerable and less cringey!!!!!!!!

Earlier this summer I went on an offline camping trip with friends in a remote area of Vancouver Island where we spent three days completely disconnected from the world. I scheduled one video to go out while I was away (I schedule all my posts so I’m not a slave to checking how they’re performing. They get posted, and I don’t have to think about it).

Back in the city on Sunday night, I opened Instagram to more than 5,000 new followers who came from that video. I’m talking about a video I had recorded at 11:00 p.m. the night before leaving on the camping trip, and one I almost didn’t post because I was getting self-conscious about my voice, my accent, and five other stupid things. The video currently sits at over half a million views.

In all my years on the internet, I had never experienced this level of exposure online. Dozens of comments, thousands connecting with my words in a new way, and people actually subscribing to my newsletter because of it.

For months, I knew I wanted to start showing up online this way and sharing my POV, creative resources, and inspiration, just as I do here in my newsletter. But there was a lot of resistance, mostly in the form of fear. Still…… I persisted, and the moment I decided to become more intentional about what I was sharing, improve with every video, and actually listen to the feedback was when I unlocked a new level of visibility.

I enrolled in a communication course, watched hours of YouTube videos from other creators, and asked friends who create short-form content for advice. I gathered feedback → implemented it → and kept showing up despite the silly voice in my head telling me I shouldn’t do it.

The main reason I’m sharing this with you today is because sometimes we see people’s audiences/careers/success online and assume it was built overnight, but that’s never the case.

Here’s what has worked for me to make showing up online feel sustainable and reach new levels of visibility:

The gurus don’t know you as well as you know yourself: You don’t have to post every day at the same time or follow every single piece of advice you hear online. You’re the one living your life, so you have to find a cadence that works for you. Especially if you want to consistently provide something meaningful to the humans that trust you and follow along.

Create a system so you don’t rely on motivation: I work a full-time marketing job and you know I’m a multi-passionate diva so I have to be very organized with my time. Showing up for myself and making space for the things I care about is what keeps me sane so I’ve created systems that make it easier to stay consistent even when I don’t feel inspired. For instance, I record my videos during the weekends, edit everything in batches, and on Sunday I schedule things to go out during the week.

Post and let go: Share your work and move on! Don’t get too attached to the results, even when they’re positive. This is where scheduling my posts has been a great tool for creating some distance between myself and the performance of my work online. Once it’s out there, I try to let it do its thing.

Don’t fall into the over-preparing loop: You can watch all the tutorials, buy the courses, and save all the advice, but none of it matters if you don’t implement what you’re learning. At some point, you have to stop preparing and start making. You’ll learn more by publishing ten imperfect videos than by spending that same time trying to figure out how to make the perfect one.

People want you to succeed: It’s so easy to imagine everyone will judge you when you put yourself out there and share your work, but what I’ve learned is that there are so many more people rooting for you than you think. There are people you haven’t met yet who might find something you make at exactly the right moment, and that’s the beauty of sharing your gifts with the world.

Being intentional about growing my audience has given me a new sense of empowerment. Beyond vanity, this is important to me because I get to build a space that is mine and create my own opportunities. I’m an artist first before anything else, and I plan to continue cultivating my corner of the internet the same way I have for the past few years: creating at my own pace, using my creativity to bring to life the things I wish existed in the world beyond algorithms, and collaborating with brands and people who align with my principles as a creator to fund this space.

My dream is dedicating all my hours to apartamento 710 at some point next year. Stay tuned for that.

Lastly, I having an audience carries responsibility, and I don’t take mine for granted. I’m so grateful for every single human who reads this blog and leaves an encouraging comment on one of my videos. (Around 23,000 humans are following along between this blog and the other apps as I’m writing this letter!) In this crazy world, it is a privilege to have a community like this one. Thanks so much for reading me and supporting me every step of the way!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Any advice as I enter this new chapter is much appreciated <3 Talk to you soon!

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