"Substack is bringing back the blogosphere" -- yes! This is the best part of it! (Well, maybe not the *best* part, but certainly pretty high up there.)
I love the advice to grow your free list -- I think it's so easy to get hyperfocused on paid subs, there's so much conversation about going paid, converting free to paid, etc., that one can forget the meat and potatoes, so to speak 😉
Focusing on building the free subscriber list has been my approach, but I'm not always clear on how to do that. Noah, did you have a strategy for building up the free list? Apart from creating good content, of course.
You know, it's kind of reassuring to know those are pretty much the two options. I just need to consistently hammer away at those two. I don't have to do anything more or invent something crazy. Although the latter might be fun!
I agree that conversations in the comments are generally high quality on substack, as compared to what the norm is on twitter and facebook, and that it feels like there is a community of bloggers who actually read each others long form works and engage collaboratively with commentary.
I used to read Noah's blog back when blogs were big - but only when I remembered. Now it's frictionlessly delivered to my inbox. Am frankly impressed by his output, and a few of his recent pieces resonated especially with me:
@noah, how did you start off with a couple thousand subscribers more or less instantly? Did you import a list from elsewhere? This seems to be a theme with other high subscriber count authors...
The requirement to be on other social media to grow is what killed SS for me. I came here precisely because I do not use social media at all. The world has became utterly dependent upon social media and I don't wish to live like that. I want my digital footprint to be as small as possible. Every one of these articles is always the same.....I use social media to get my subscribers. Yeah, no thanks.
I think you could grow your Substack without social media, the old-fashioned way if you will. It would require a different approach though- networking in person, speaking gigs, articles in papers, etc. I think it would be 100% doable, but it could take significantly longer.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to live my life pandering to people. I write what I write and if no-one else is interested well okay. I'm not going to compete with every other writer out there. I'm just plain tired of the way this world works. Fake authority, fake connection, posting fake life so others can find you 'relatable', I'm done with that. Although I appreciate your reaching out with other ideas and commenting.
I've never been a relatable, outgoing person and I'm not about to start pretending that for the sake of subs. For those that do, well good for them. But not for me.
I just jumped over to your publication and browsed a bit. You should definitely keep going! You have a breezy kind of writing, that just flows like a nice conversation.
This is how I look at it: I don’t have a a huge social media presence, and I don’t write about professional topics that will help someone on the job. But I can make people laugh, and think, and perhaps have just a few moments of enjoyment in an otherwise crazy world. I may never be in the bracket that has thousands, or even hundreds, of paid subscribers, but if a few people find a breath of fresh air, and I’m finding joy in the sharing, then it’s a worthwhile endeavor. You have wonderful stories to share and beautiful artwork. Keep sharing it.
This is not related directly to this author, but it is to growth. I just subscribed to his publication, and was reminded that you can share this publication as soon as you sign up, but the only place to share it to is Twitter. I’ve had a few subscribers mention to me that they would like to have other options. Any chance Substack will be adding more buttons to that page? (Facebook, Instagram, etc)
Feels like Noah (and any other author...) is allowed to interact with comments on his own posts however he wants to, even if that means not interacting at all. No one’s under an obligation to leave all comments up or talk to everybody.
I've only been writing on Substack for 3 months and keen to develop a base. Would I like paid subscribers? Of course. But first I need a critical mass. Thanks for the advice.
"Substack is bringing back the blogosphere" -- yes! This is the best part of it! (Well, maybe not the *best* part, but certainly pretty high up there.)
I love the advice to grow your free list -- I think it's so easy to get hyperfocused on paid subs, there's so much conversation about going paid, converting free to paid, etc., that one can forget the meat and potatoes, so to speak 😉
+1,000
Focusing on building the free subscriber list has been my approach, but I'm not always clear on how to do that. Noah, did you have a strategy for building up the free list? Apart from creating good content, of course.
Basically two strategies here!
1. Leveraging other social media such as Twitter
2. "Crossover" appeal via interviews, discussions, etc.
I think those are the main ways!
Thanks, Noah! I appreciate the response.
You know, it's kind of reassuring to know those are pretty much the two options. I just need to consistently hammer away at those two. I don't have to do anything more or invent something crazy. Although the latter might be fun!
Thanks Noah. The challenge for me is how to get that "critical mass" followership on Twitter. Any thoughts?
I agree that conversations in the comments are generally high quality on substack, as compared to what the norm is on twitter and facebook, and that it feels like there is a community of bloggers who actually read each others long form works and engage collaboratively with commentary.
Yes its been a wonderful aspect of writing on Substack that I did not expect!
+1000
I used to read Noah's blog back when blogs were big - but only when I remembered. Now it's frictionlessly delivered to my inbox. Am frankly impressed by his output, and a few of his recent pieces resonated especially with me:
https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/liberalism-is-resilient
https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/decade-of-the-battery
https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/dont-panic-europe-will-deal-with (yes, this is true: we will deal with it).
I became a paid subscriber recently - and was happy to.
Thanks!!
Great advice on the free posts as a marketing strategy. Thanks for that!
Great advice, and Noah is a GREAT one to follow. He really does somehow make complicated things seem super uncomplicated.
great read. Ty for bringing together your wisdom in one place so I too might learn and grow.
Noah Smith you are the best!
@noah, how did you start off with a couple thousand subscribers more or less instantly? Did you import a list from elsewhere? This seems to be a theme with other high subscriber count authors...
I didn't start out with a couple thousand paid subscribers -- only about 70, in fact!
I started out with a couple thousand free email list signups, because of my Twitter account! I just kept tweeting "Sign up for my free email list!".
Thanks! Make sense...
The requirement to be on other social media to grow is what killed SS for me. I came here precisely because I do not use social media at all. The world has became utterly dependent upon social media and I don't wish to live like that. I want my digital footprint to be as small as possible. Every one of these articles is always the same.....I use social media to get my subscribers. Yeah, no thanks.
I think you could grow your Substack without social media, the old-fashioned way if you will. It would require a different approach though- networking in person, speaking gigs, articles in papers, etc. I think it would be 100% doable, but it could take significantly longer.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to live my life pandering to people. I write what I write and if no-one else is interested well okay. I'm not going to compete with every other writer out there. I'm just plain tired of the way this world works. Fake authority, fake connection, posting fake life so others can find you 'relatable', I'm done with that. Although I appreciate your reaching out with other ideas and commenting.
I've never been a relatable, outgoing person and I'm not about to start pretending that for the sake of subs. For those that do, well good for them. But not for me.
I can respect that.
I just jumped over to your publication and browsed a bit. You should definitely keep going! You have a breezy kind of writing, that just flows like a nice conversation.
This is how I look at it: I don’t have a a huge social media presence, and I don’t write about professional topics that will help someone on the job. But I can make people laugh, and think, and perhaps have just a few moments of enjoyment in an otherwise crazy world. I may never be in the bracket that has thousands, or even hundreds, of paid subscribers, but if a few people find a breath of fresh air, and I’m finding joy in the sharing, then it’s a worthwhile endeavor. You have wonderful stories to share and beautiful artwork. Keep sharing it.
So happy to have found you. I join mew Substacks slowly. Glad I did
Great advice. It’s interesting on going paid from day one.
This is not related directly to this author, but it is to growth. I just subscribed to his publication, and was reminded that you can share this publication as soon as you sign up, but the only place to share it to is Twitter. I’ve had a few subscribers mention to me that they would like to have other options. Any chance Substack will be adding more buttons to that page? (Facebook, Instagram, etc)
Noah deletes comments he doesn’t like. You’d think a PhD “expert” economist would be more confident in defending his bad takes, but alas.
Feels like Noah (and any other author...) is allowed to interact with comments on his own posts however he wants to, even if that means not interacting at all. No one’s under an obligation to leave all comments up or talk to everybody.
Womp womp
Interesting! Thanks for the reminders. Always good to see how others do it.
I've only been writing on Substack for 3 months and keen to develop a base. Would I like paid subscribers? Of course. But first I need a critical mass. Thanks for the advice.