Hey Reader

 

Happy September. The light has changed, the garden has peaked, and I've spent the last fortnight quietly tidying things I'd been putting off for months.

Not the garden. The online stuff.

I made three small changes. None of them took more than an afternoon. All of them were overdue, and all of them come back to the same single reason.

I need to focus on what IS working for me. That's Instagram, Substack and of course this newsletter. It's where my people are.

Everything else was just noise I'd gotten used to. It just wasn’t serving me anymore, (and it might not be serving you either.)

Here's what I changed, and why 👇

 

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3 small changes, one simple reason

If you've been carrying a few of these yourself, this is your permission slip to do the same.

1. I changed my Instagram handle

I was @_louisebartlett for years. I'm now @thelouisebartlett.

Why? The underscore. Try saying it out loud to someone. "Underscore Louise Bartlett." It's easier to say "the" than "underscore", and the underscore confused people. I'd tell someone where to find me and watch them type it wrong. A name you have to explain is a name people give up on.

 

→ Try this: say your handle out loud to someone who has never seen it written down. If you have to explain a symbol, a number, or a spelling, it's quietly costing you followers. Change it. Your existing followers stay with you.

2. I left Facebook

Years of it, gone in a single click. I'd stopped posting there on purpose a long time ago. I was just keeping the lights on, and doing that still costs you energy. It’s a tab that stays open in your head. A place you feel vaguely guilty about, but don’t do anything about it.

My people are on Instagram, Substack, LinkedIn and in this inbox. So that's where I'm going to be, properly, rather than everywhere, thinly.

 

→ Try this: list every platform you have an account on. Next to each one, write the date you last posted there on purpose. Anything older than three months, ask yourself honestly: are my people here, or am I just keeping the lights on?

3. I made the "how I use AI" line permanent

You'll have seen the P.S. at the bottom of these emails for a few weeks now. It stays and moves to my email footer, and here's a good reason for you to add one too.

The EU AI Act transparency rules have been live since 2 August, and existing generative AI systems have to comply by 2 December 2026. AI-generated images, video and audio need visible and machine-readable labels. Platforms will push "made with AI" labels harder this autumn. Plan for it rather than fight against it.

Say how you use it before a label says it for you. In my experience, people don't mind that you use AI. They mind not knowing.

 

→ Try this: add a one-line "how I use AI" note to your about page or your newsletter footer. Mine is at the bottom of this email. Borrow the shape and make it true for you.

 

A name people can say. Fewer places, done properly. Honest about the tools. That's the whole tidy-up for this week really.

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2 things i'm loving

Two new Instagram features from this week's research that I'm actually going to use.

✦ A different caption on every carousel slide

Instagram now lets each slide in a carousel carry its own text, instead of one caption for the lot. Treat each slide caption like a mini hook, and keep the main caption for the ask. I'm rebuilding one of my tips carousels this way to see what it does to saves. If you're a carousel person, this is the one to try first.

✦ Change the audio on a post you've already published

No more delete and repost. If an older post's sound has been flagged, or it just sounds dated now, you can swap the audio and keep the post, the comments and the saves. Worth doing on your top few this week, because the music copyrights are always moving and stock or licensed audio is the only safe ground from here.

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1 affirmation