H2 Wrapped: A note from Ray
And, just like that, half the year has flown by like the wish of a dandelion clock. Suddenly, we’re heading into the second half of the year wondering what those resolutions were and hoping that, by chance, we’ve hit them.
AI, once the new, mysterious, money-hungry cool kid on the block is being repeatedly shunned to the side of the playground for theft, forgery, or other petty crimes.
Across the UK, social media bans are being implemented for children under 16 — I say, good, they’ll thank us later. Mass lay-offs have been partnered with ludicrous recruitment processes, one trying to waltz while the other salsas and both stepping on each other's toes. And so many are on the sidelines thinking: do I really want to join that dance, or should I just leave this corporate ballroom altogether?
‘Forward-thinking’ companies have been trying to force feed us AI on a spoon, and, when we clamped our mouths shut, through an IV.
Yes, there’s been doom and its partner in crime Gloom. But, where there’s Gloom there’s Oddish and Vilepume either side and they’re super cute. Creative industries are fighting to tear themselves away from the source and are limping away with small victories here and there: AI-authors and AI-artists ( I can’t believe I’m saying those terms) being sniffed out and shunned. Creative contract clauses protecting intellectual property. Even UK Google is allowing publishers to opt out of AI-search without losing traditional search visibility. We’ll take the wins. They are certainly not trophies, but they are worth holding above our bruises nonetheless.
I know at times it can be hard to continue BAU with everything happening in the world. I’m writing this a few days after the quakes in Venezuela. My heart is aching for loved ones there. I’m currently running a fundraising effort in collaboration with someone I met through the world of SEO (and ended up working with for years, Arianna) as I type this.
I am cursing LinkedIn for penalising links in posts when I need them most. When the world needs them most. It pains me to know that I must still battle with algorithms to break news to those that otherwise won’t see it. But, I’m trying my best, and taking deep breaths.
It’s moments of crisis like these that are a fierce reminder of our priorities in life. When death is on our doorstep, we look around us and it is not our laptops, our degrees, our job titles that we reach for. It is our loved ones. Every person we work with, has their own collection of loved ones. Every person is going through their own pain behind their Slack status. And so, dear reader, I ask you to step into H2 with empathy above all else.
In times of disaster and crisis, which I am sure there will be many more of in the second half of the year, forget the titles and the office politics. Re-centre on your priorities: those people that mean the most to you, and those people that mean the most to others.
And so, we come to dslx, and our collection of people that I genuinely care about.
What have we done with the year so far? What did we plan on doing?
And, what’s still got an orange emoji next to its line item?
Here’s our half year in review.
What happened in H1 at dslx?
- We had our second team offsite: Muntanya Màgica. These offsites are a part of my job I never considered to be one of the most fulfilling parts. I truly adore bringing these people together and being able to give back and connect with them. What a good bunch of eggs.
- Sharan reached her two year (full-time) milestone. Shaz is our word warrior, and is one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. It’s a joy working with her, and I hope there are many years to come.
- We started communities: Creative Writers, Business Writers, and Content Managers. Split across Slack and LinkedIn. Although, this has proven to spread ourselves too thin, and we’re thinking of only keeping the business writers community in H2—we have around 140 people there!
- We increased scope across clients: all current clients got some sort of minor or major scope increase in H1. I remember speaking with a CEO of a service-based company last year who said the biggest goal for his company is to have his current clients send him more work. I get it.
- We had our first “refusal to pay”: This has never happened before! We had a ‘client’ refusing to pay their first bill. It truly shook me, and made me frustrated that I didn’t see them as a red flag sooner. I like to think I am tough-skinned, and am thankful dslx has enough in our pockets to cover the loss. But, it’s sad to think this happens to freelancers a lot, and they’re in a peor position que nosotros. I like to think we took one for the team (freelance community) with this one. Since the refusal to pay, I blocked them out of all documentation. I then received an email saying they realised they’re bound to pay by our contract and so they will. Let’s see. I’ll keep you posted.
- We won and lost projects: we won a project with a project-based client, it was affirming having them come back to us with more work. However, we lost a huge project with a SaaS finance company as they didn’t think we had enough design skills for a whitepaper project. That was a shame, I think we would have smashed it, but hey ho, on we go!
- We had contract extensions and terminations: We had a 6-month client renew for another 6-months, epic! And, again, very affirming. We had another client cancel with us after being with us for 1.3 years. This wasn’t a surprise. Their contact person was exceptionally hard to get a hold of and didn’t give us the time we needed to be successful in that service. I was fine seeing them go.
- We grew a new branch to the business: dslx sports! After one year of working with Volleyball World and creating some HUGE results for them on LinkedIn. We’re now feeling confident to grow this sector of the business and start managing LinkedIn for other challenger sports brands, their C-suite, and their rising star athletes. Shout out to Armin from the team who is heading this up!
- We built our own technology: a social media planner: Managing a social calendar on a Google Sheet wasn’t cutting it—no matter how well it was formatted. We shopped around and found there was no social media planning tool out there sub $40 per month. And all of these enterprises want large accounts or no account. And so, for the last 6 months, we’ve made our own social media calendar. None of the bells and whistles you won’t use, a $4 per month subscription, and zero onboarding necessary to get started. We’re investing in our own technology, how cool!
- We’re building our own creative writing platform: Talking of investing in ourselves. dslx is founded and run by a bunch of creative writers. Let’s be real, none of us turned to our folks at 6-years-old and said: “Ma, I wanna write for SaaS businesses when I grow up.” - and if you say you did then you’re lying. And so, we’re building a product I am so incredibly excited for and passionate about: a creative writer’s platform where people can write and read prompted short stories, and earn, win, and send cash to authors they enjoy. It should be ready by the end of the year.
- We added more courses to the academy: Our writer’s academy is an online training portal where business writers can upskill. It’s not a money maker, we’re actually losing money on it. But, we’re supporting the community in upskilling, especially freelancers who don’t get this type of opportunity working solo. As part of a paid membership, writers get a 30-minute feedback session with a dslx writer or editor. I think this is the most valuable part of it all — having a mentor through your career. It’s $14 a month, and we build the platform ourselves.
- We signed two new clients: Very happy and thankful to be entering H2 with 90% of a full house. I’d like one small client more, and then we’ll be complete. Bringing two more clients on the books in 2026 was exactly what we were ready for and they’ve been our smoothest onboardings to date. The team has got this so down.
Plans for H2?
You’ll have to wait for my H2 wrapped for the details of this, but here’s a sneak peek.
- dslx turns 5
- Ella will turn 5 with it!
- Stef will hit two years with us, bringing everyone to atleast two years in a five year company, which I’m very proud of.
- Armin will hit three years
- We’ll release our social media planner
- We’ll release our creative writing platform
- We’ll push investment in the sports side of the business
- We’ll keep doing what we love. And, finding more things we love along the way.
And that’s a wrap. I wish you all a glorious, prosperous H2. I wish that you and your families remain happy and healthy. And, in times of crisis, you grab what matters most to you and cling on to it with such force your knuckles turn white. Remember what we’re here for.
Now, please go and tell someone you love them.
Thank you for reading.
Ray x
