Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?ย
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!ย
Today weโre gathering the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in a thread to answer writer questions for an hour.
If fresh ways to grow your subscriber base are on your mind, weโve got news: Our product team just shipped a new feature that gives writers control over how much of a post for paying subscribers they want to show to free readers. This also enables writers to send that preview to free readers alongside a call to subscribe.
You can see how to insert the flexible paywall using your post editor below, and find a step-by-step guide to using this new tool right here.
Drop your questions in the thread by leaving a comment, and weโll do our best to share knowledge and tips. Our team will be answering questions and sharing insights with you in the thread today from 10 a.m.โ11 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m.โ2 p.m. EDT.
Just here to share a win. This last week I gained 4 paying subscribers, all upgrades from free. ๐
It's a lesson for me, so I will share with others too - Sometimes you need to zoom out to see the benefits of something you tried. Don't expect instant results!
It would be fun if Substack could create a live homepage... maybe it already does that curates content and images that are clickable to the contributor's homepage and article and other content. A live "Page One" if you will. I"d love to see it!!!!! I'm super new to substack and have really enjoyed the two authors featured in emails this past week-- Polina Pompliano's essay (linked above) was inspiring to me and helpful. The bird guy from AZ touched my heart with his photos and love. Super cool content!!!!!
The new paywall designation feature is fantastic. I've been requesting that feature for months. And this is even better than anticipated. BRAVO and BRAVA to your team of engineers!
Hello Substack team! Thank you so much for all that you do. I write FIRES, a newsletter about wildland fire, land management, Indigenous rights, and climate change. My biggest hurdle is publishing regularly. I am working on a ten-part series right now, plus I have several amazing interviews I need to get out, but I am just...having a hard time making it happen because of the amount of work it takes and the amount of time I have. There is so much I have to do in my "regular" life and I don't have enough paying subscribers to be able to lessen my workload outside of my newsletter, but I also feel that I am on a precipice of success and if I can only publish consistently for a couple months then I'll be able to reach that goal. My posts require a lot of research, too. Thanks so much for any words of wisdom!
Thank you for introducing the flexible paywall. It's something we'd been wishing for -- and the way you folks have implemented it is almost exactly what we'd wanted.
We do have one comment about it. In our opinion, the ability to edit the paywall description (especially as it appears in emails) might do wonders. For example, we tend to call our paying subscribers "members" -- which currently isn't reflected in our paywall text. This branding clash might confuse some readers.
Another thing about customizable paywall text is that it would allow us to add a unique CTA in the middle of the article -- something that we don't have to bother our paying members with.
One example: linking our student discount right next to the paywall. We have the option of linking the student discount in the customizable header, but we feel that it's just not as persuasive as having it right next to the paywall. By the time they get there, readers may have gotten distracted and forgotten the discount.
Anyway, thank you all! We've used the flexible paywall a few times so far. It seems like a win so far!
I wonder how many Substackers use their blog rolls to promote other Substack newsletters? I have blogrolls on both of my newsletters. I love promoting other writers whose work I admire, but beyond that, it's an easy way for me to remember to check out their current stuff. I think it's a great feature!
Morning! I write stories from the trail -- some of my own, some interviews -- and apply this outdoor wisdom to day-to-day life. I'm thinking of creating a new "section" for harder news coverage. I don't want to inundate people who are only reading for the stories.
Would love to chat with other writers who use sections about how they work, and what your experiences have been with them!
Hi! Curious if there is a public roadmap for new features coming to Substack. Iโd love a more formal way to see whatโs coming, provide feedback, and also vote as to what should be prioritized.
Hey Substack team! Still working toward my paid launch and am creating new ways for readers to engage with PopPoetry. I'm thinking about recording "old" posts so folks can listen to an audio version, and I'm also interested in a straight-up podcast dimension for my work, too.
Have y'all considered hosting an audio workshop or info session of some kind? I'd love to get into the details of how to be successful in that area.
I love how your developers have started to release updates so much more frequently. Give the members of that team an extra cookie (the kind you eatโ not the ones that require GDRP compliance).
Hi again...just want to thank the commenters last week, the responses were very helpful. I'm still working my way around everything and will finally post my first story this Monday. I'm not anywhere near offering paid with my free subscriptions but wanted to know if anyone could share how they split their time between writing and promotion (and manage to stay sane). I'm ok marketing other people's work, but not my own. Thank you...hope you're all doing great.
One of my subscribers tells me she hasn't received my weekly newsletter in some time. When I look her up on my dashboard and click the Events link, I see "Dropped email" next to several recent editions (as opposed to "Opened email" or "Received email"). What does "Dropped" mean in this context?
I'm a book blogger, and I'm looking for a platform to post my content. I'm new and still deciding if I am going to go through with Substack. Other options are WordPress/Membership plugin or Youtube or Medium. My question is, why is Substack the best? Or is Substack a great compliment to any of the others?
Very cool!! I am still really new to Substack -- when I send out a post to ONLY paying subscribers, do the non-paying subscribers get a preview email? Or would I send that separately for posts I think maybe warrant a little extra attention?
And can I use this new feature on a post that's already live?
What do people think about substack creating a live homepage with teasers and links and photos and comics? Substack, like any online venture, is in a fight for survival and we all want substack to survive and thrive. So Substack investing in a landing page that features awesome content is a win win for substack and us. People are hungry for great content and this is the most creative approach to offering it that I've seen in a long, long time. We have truly witnessed the collapse of good paid journalism as advertising revenue has shifted online... Substack is incredibly hopeful and optimistic for writers/ content creators to share meaningful content and get paid. Substack is the turning of a time for content creators... I am so thankful it exists and want to participate in brainstorming on ideas that will make it a site people want to go to to discover excellence.
If anyone subscribes to my newsletter for free I'll immediately subscribe to yours back and try my best to read your material. We must look after each other!
Hi all. I write serialized YA fiction, dropping a new chapter every week. I'm experimenting with bonus content (haven't yet gone paid), and had an idea to create a Spotify playlist that's a sort of "soundtrack" to the first eight chapters. Has anyone done this before? If so, any tips?
I write about fifty years of American politics' observations from the POV of a foreigner turned American. However, started Substack with a short story about one of my own backgrounds tribulations just to understand the platform. Hope to be of interest.
Hi! I write a newsletter critiquing my favorite pop culture from about 20-25 years ago. I've been reviewing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I post my reviews in the Buffy Reddit forum. I tend to get a lot of views, but no sign ups. Any ideas on how to convert people to subscribers?
Glad to see this feature being introduced as I'm working primarily on free posts for now โ https://americauthentic.substack.com โ but there will definitely be posts I want to paywall, at least to some degree, further down the line.
Always looking to connect with other writers and maybe do some cross-promotion, so please hit me up if that's of interest to any of you :)
๐ My name is Christian. I write a newsletter about meditation, creativity, and everyday things about life. I'm based out of Chicago, Illinois, USA. You can subscribe here. https://beginnersmind.substack.com/
Hello. I am wondering the status of the functionality of sending a "teaser" to all those who are free subscribers that will encourage them to purchase the paid subscription. I saw that it was in the works - but it hasn't launched yet. I really feel this will be a great offering, rather than having to send two separate e-blasts. Thank you in advance.
What's the secret sauce behind getting featured in the "What to read" substack emailers?
I am happy to share that Hello Universe has been going out to readers every week for almost 30 weeks now, and it's really unique content in a really unique space of poetry!
If you know anyone who lives in or near Coppell, Texas, please send them a link to my newsletter. It's about current events in our town, so my potential audience is limited to our population of approximately 40,000. We had an election last year that drew 3,000 voters, so my goal is 3,000 paid subscribers. After 33 consecutive weeks of publication, I'm at 357 paid subscribers.
Hey guys, I write "Diving Deeper" where I make unapproachable topics approachable. specific to millenials who ponder the idea of marriage, friendship, work, spirituality and everything not taught in college. I help them navigate through their 20's and 30's with different ways of thinking .. hoping to shift them out of their own box.
I don't have social media so I am stuck as to how to reach my audience next. Perhaps social media? Anyone have any advice?
Hello everyone, it is great to be here and thank you for all your support. The timing of this tread is brilliant. I've been running a free newsletter with the aim to start a paid one next month where I'll be sharing weekly meditation audios and you tube unlisted video links. My question is when someone subscribes will they be able to access previous newsletters/emails and the relevant content? Thank you so much xx
I write a newsletter called 10+1 Things, where I curate and share 11 interesting stories for the generalists every week.
My question to the team is how do I grow as a curated newsletter writer? I see a lot of focus and attention from Substack to fiction and comic writers. Any plans on supporting creators addressing the curator economy?
Would love to hear from others.
Some info:
In the latest edition of my newsletter, I talk about A Toaster that was made entirely from Scratch, A guide on 'How to Eat Healthily', A Folding Microscope made from Paper and an interesting take on Remote Worship.
Hi! I was wondering how to use the feature I recall seeing recently but can't find now. It's where you can reply to someone else's Substack post in a post of your own. Was this feature disabled? Thanks! Dylan
Hi - I'm launching tomorrow and still have a few questions!
How do I remove the photo icon at the top of each newsletter and only use my name?
Also -- my newsletter is FREE to everyone, although I do offer a paid subscription option for anyone who would like to contribute to my considerable ongoing medical expenses. Q: how do I arrange for my free newsletter to require sign-up rather than just click and read in full?
Really like the new paywall preview feature! One question I had was whether there would be a way to embed an audio post behind the paywall? I would like to offer audio versions of my serialized novel for paid subscribers but as I understand it, by doing a podcast post, the audio player will appear at the top of the post.
Another idea would be if substack were allowed to send out emails with a variety of content to a big list... Like a dessert sampler. (not really a pot luck because they give me stomach aches). But dessert samplers are fun! People could subscribe to free content emails from substack to check out new contributors. I'd love that! I'd subscribe to that.
I am going to be writing a special issue of my newsletter about Thanksgiving, which will be posted that week. It will have tips for how to navigate difficult relationships on a day that is supposed to be special. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to promote it.
I'm glad I managed to catch this WOH session. Thanks for the platform, Substack Team. I'm really looking forward to writing on Substack for the long-term; and speaking for the younger writers, there's a lot of great word-of-mouth going around, and alongside thoughtful features and community support, the overall experience really makes Substack recommendable to everyone, because it's very versatile and well-built.
My question is whether there are any plans to expand the Discover Newsletters section, especially to more than 25 newsletter per category. It'd be great to find more newsletter from the Substack home page, even if it were to involve more effort on the part of one searching for them. Hopefully this might also shine light on less active newsletters, who still produce great pieces, albeit at slower rates.
Otherwise, I'm grateful for the platform and what it has allowed me to express and find out about myself. To anyone interested, I write https://thenostomodernreview.substack.com/ and I write about philosophy and modernism in the 21st Century.
When you click back in to read a previous post (because you're a perfectionist and reread your work to exhaustion) does it mess with your analytics? If so, is there a way to prevent that?
Paid subscription question - If I change (raise) the price of paid subscriptions, is there a way to keep my original subscribers at the price they originally signed up for?
I have a question about double opt-in for email signups. Some publications Iโve subscribed to requires readers to opt-in via a confirmation email before getting the welcome email. I see this option my my settings tab. Would you recommend doing this or not?
I just started so am still small (~220 free list subscribers) with an open rate of 40-45% but Iโm wondering if this opt in feature helps make sure the readers actually meant to subscribe?
Hey, folks. Thought this started at 1 PM? But maybe it was an hour ago? I'm confused...
Anyway, I'd love someone to remind me where to find the link for the Grow week specifically on growing your email list. I feel like I'm coming out from underwater after a few slow, distracting weeks and I need to review and get activated again around building my free list, under the assumption that it's the gateway drug to paid, so to speak.
I will say, on the upside, that I got three new email sign-ups last night following a very lively discussion and shout-out for my newsletter on Ask E Jean by Ms. E Jean herself. That was a thrill. I still find that engaging in substantive discussion on other people's newsletters is how I'm getting the most free sign-ups right now. And I'm at 40 paid subscribers, so that's a little over 10% conversion. I'm proud of that.
Twitter is yielding nothing and is against my temperament. Insta is it's own thing and my followers are growing there, but not converting. I've tapped out my Facebook following, which is where most of my 341 total email list folks have come from.
There is some scuttlebutt on Facebook that, because Facebook is starting its own newsletter service, Facebook algorithms are downplaying anything from substack. Iโm finding that may well be true because I get fewer likes and fewer referrals from Facebook, but it could also be because Iโve now been there posting for quite some time.
Hey all! Thank you showing up, helping one another, and provoking us with great ideas and questions.
Our team truly loves this hour of each week.
See you all next week!!!
Bailey & Rose & Jasmine & Nicole & Mary & Ben & Dan
Just here to share a win. This last week I gained 4 paying subscribers, all upgrades from free. ๐
It's a lesson for me, so I will share with others too - Sometimes you need to zoom out to see the benefits of something you tried. Don't expect instant results!
I'm going paid on Mon. Wish me well!
It would be fun if Substack could create a live homepage... maybe it already does that curates content and images that are clickable to the contributor's homepage and article and other content. A live "Page One" if you will. I"d love to see it!!!!! I'm super new to substack and have really enjoyed the two authors featured in emails this past week-- Polina Pompliano's essay (linked above) was inspiring to me and helpful. The bird guy from AZ touched my heart with his photos and love. Super cool content!!!!!
I just want to say thank you. This new feature is helpful for my very short posts that showed too much and my long posts that didn't show enough.
The new paywall designation feature is fantastic. I've been requesting that feature for months. And this is even better than anticipated. BRAVO and BRAVA to your team of engineers!
Hello Substack team! Thank you so much for all that you do. I write FIRES, a newsletter about wildland fire, land management, Indigenous rights, and climate change. My biggest hurdle is publishing regularly. I am working on a ten-part series right now, plus I have several amazing interviews I need to get out, but I am just...having a hard time making it happen because of the amount of work it takes and the amount of time I have. There is so much I have to do in my "regular" life and I don't have enough paying subscribers to be able to lessen my workload outside of my newsletter, but I also feel that I am on a precipice of success and if I can only publish consistently for a couple months then I'll be able to reach that goal. My posts require a lot of research, too. Thanks so much for any words of wisdom!
Hello again!
Thank you for introducing the flexible paywall. It's something we'd been wishing for -- and the way you folks have implemented it is almost exactly what we'd wanted.
We do have one comment about it. In our opinion, the ability to edit the paywall description (especially as it appears in emails) might do wonders. For example, we tend to call our paying subscribers "members" -- which currently isn't reflected in our paywall text. This branding clash might confuse some readers.
Another thing about customizable paywall text is that it would allow us to add a unique CTA in the middle of the article -- something that we don't have to bother our paying members with.
One example: linking our student discount right next to the paywall. We have the option of linking the student discount in the customizable header, but we feel that it's just not as persuasive as having it right next to the paywall. By the time they get there, readers may have gotten distracted and forgotten the discount.
Anyway, thank you all! We've used the flexible paywall a few times so far. It seems like a win so far!
I wonder how many Substackers use their blog rolls to promote other Substack newsletters? I have blogrolls on both of my newsletters. I love promoting other writers whose work I admire, but beyond that, it's an easy way for me to remember to check out their current stuff. I think it's a great feature!
Morning! I write stories from the trail -- some of my own, some interviews -- and apply this outdoor wisdom to day-to-day life. I'm thinking of creating a new "section" for harder news coverage. I don't want to inundate people who are only reading for the stories.
Would love to chat with other writers who use sections about how they work, and what your experiences have been with them!
Hi! Curious if there is a public roadmap for new features coming to Substack. Iโd love a more formal way to see whatโs coming, provide feedback, and also vote as to what should be prioritized.
Hey Substack team! Still working toward my paid launch and am creating new ways for readers to engage with PopPoetry. I'm thinking about recording "old" posts so folks can listen to an audio version, and I'm also interested in a straight-up podcast dimension for my work, too.
Have y'all considered hosting an audio workshop or info session of some kind? I'd love to get into the details of how to be successful in that area.
I love how your developers have started to release updates so much more frequently. Give the members of that team an extra cookie (the kind you eatโ not the ones that require GDRP compliance).
Iโm totally psyched on Substackโฆ
I have some open slots for cross promotion/shout outs, let me know if you are interested, happy to help each other grow.
Hi again...just want to thank the commenters last week, the responses were very helpful. I'm still working my way around everything and will finally post my first story this Monday. I'm not anywhere near offering paid with my free subscriptions but wanted to know if anyone could share how they split their time between writing and promotion (and manage to stay sane). I'm ok marketing other people's work, but not my own. Thank you...hope you're all doing great.
Hi everyone. Great to be here and many thanks to the Substack team as always. Just one question.
Is it possible to optimize the newsletters so that anybody searching for a similar topic can find it on the internet?
One of my subscribers tells me she hasn't received my weekly newsletter in some time. When I look her up on my dashboard and click the Events link, I see "Dropped email" next to several recent editions (as opposed to "Opened email" or "Received email"). What does "Dropped" mean in this context?
I'm a book blogger, and I'm looking for a platform to post my content. I'm new and still deciding if I am going to go through with Substack. Other options are WordPress/Membership plugin or Youtube or Medium. My question is, why is Substack the best? Or is Substack a great compliment to any of the others?
Very cool!! I am still really new to Substack -- when I send out a post to ONLY paying subscribers, do the non-paying subscribers get a preview email? Or would I send that separately for posts I think maybe warrant a little extra attention?
And can I use this new feature on a post that's already live?
Thanks so much!
What do people think about substack creating a live homepage with teasers and links and photos and comics? Substack, like any online venture, is in a fight for survival and we all want substack to survive and thrive. So Substack investing in a landing page that features awesome content is a win win for substack and us. People are hungry for great content and this is the most creative approach to offering it that I've seen in a long, long time. We have truly witnessed the collapse of good paid journalism as advertising revenue has shifted online... Substack is incredibly hopeful and optimistic for writers/ content creators to share meaningful content and get paid. Substack is the turning of a time for content creators... I am so thankful it exists and want to participate in brainstorming on ideas that will make it a site people want to go to to discover excellence.
If anyone subscribes to my newsletter for free I'll immediately subscribe to yours back and try my best to read your material. We must look after each other!
Hi all. I write serialized YA fiction, dropping a new chapter every week. I'm experimenting with bonus content (haven't yet gone paid), and had an idea to create a Spotify playlist that's a sort of "soundtrack" to the first eight chapters. Has anyone done this before? If so, any tips?
Just popping in to say hi, hope everybody is doing well :)
I write about fifty years of American politics' observations from the POV of a foreigner turned American. However, started Substack with a short story about one of my own backgrounds tribulations just to understand the platform. Hope to be of interest.
Hi! I write a newsletter critiquing my favorite pop culture from about 20-25 years ago. I've been reviewing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I post my reviews in the Buffy Reddit forum. I tend to get a lot of views, but no sign ups. Any ideas on how to convert people to subscribers?
Glad to see this feature being introduced as I'm working primarily on free posts for now โ https://americauthentic.substack.com โ but there will definitely be posts I want to paywall, at least to some degree, further down the line.
Always looking to connect with other writers and maybe do some cross-promotion, so please hit me up if that's of interest to any of you :)
๐ My name is Christian. I write a newsletter about meditation, creativity, and everyday things about life. I'm based out of Chicago, Illinois, USA. You can subscribe here. https://beginnersmind.substack.com/
I look forward to connecting with other writers.
I'm trying my best to think of a question, but all seems clear to me. Good job Substack team ๐
Hello. I am wondering the status of the functionality of sending a "teaser" to all those who are free subscribers that will encourage them to purchase the paid subscription. I saw that it was in the works - but it hasn't launched yet. I really feel this will be a great offering, rather than having to send two separate e-blasts. Thank you in advance.
Hey guys! Hello, I'm Punit and I write at https://hellouniverse.substack.com/
What's the secret sauce behind getting featured in the "What to read" substack emailers?
I am happy to share that Hello Universe has been going out to readers every week for almost 30 weeks now, and it's really unique content in a really unique space of poetry!
I'd love to submit it for the team to review.
Thank you :)
If you know anyone who lives in or near Coppell, Texas, please send them a link to my newsletter. It's about current events in our town, so my potential audience is limited to our population of approximately 40,000. We had an election last year that drew 3,000 voters, so my goal is 3,000 paid subscribers. After 33 consecutive weeks of publication, I'm at 357 paid subscribers.
Hey guys, I write "Diving Deeper" where I make unapproachable topics approachable. specific to millenials who ponder the idea of marriage, friendship, work, spirituality and everything not taught in college. I help them navigate through their 20's and 30's with different ways of thinking .. hoping to shift them out of their own box.
I don't have social media so I am stuck as to how to reach my audience next. Perhaps social media? Anyone have any advice?
Hello everyone, it is great to be here and thank you for all your support. The timing of this tread is brilliant. I've been running a free newsletter with the aim to start a paid one next month where I'll be sharing weekly meditation audios and you tube unlisted video links. My question is when someone subscribes will they be able to access previous newsletters/emails and the relevant content? Thank you so much xx
I've stagnated growth at just under 100 subs. Any advice for getting over this hump?
(So far, I've by posting in reddit/FB groups/twitter.)
Hey Substack Team!
I write a newsletter called 10+1 Things, where I curate and share 11 interesting stories for the generalists every week.
My question to the team is how do I grow as a curated newsletter writer? I see a lot of focus and attention from Substack to fiction and comic writers. Any plans on supporting creators addressing the curator economy?
Would love to hear from others.
Some info:
In the latest edition of my newsletter, I talk about A Toaster that was made entirely from Scratch, A guide on 'How to Eat Healthily', A Folding Microscope made from Paper and an interesting take on Remote Worship.
Read More:
https://rishikesh.substack.com/p/toaster-scratch-how-to-eat
Hi guys! Is it on your roadmap to allow readers to post things besides text in comments and threads โ images, GIFs, photos, etc.?
Hi! I was wondering how to use the feature I recall seeing recently but can't find now. It's where you can reply to someone else's Substack post in a post of your own. Was this feature disabled? Thanks! Dylan
https://vanderdos.substack.com/
Hi - I'm launching tomorrow and still have a few questions!
How do I remove the photo icon at the top of each newsletter and only use my name?
Also -- my newsletter is FREE to everyone, although I do offer a paid subscription option for anyone who would like to contribute to my considerable ongoing medical expenses. Q: how do I arrange for my free newsletter to require sign-up rather than just click and read in full?
Thank you!
What is process for dropping a video into the platform? Quick time move; mp4; .MOV
Really like the new paywall preview feature! One question I had was whether there would be a way to embed an audio post behind the paywall? I would like to offer audio versions of my serialized novel for paid subscribers but as I understand it, by doing a podcast post, the audio player will appear at the top of the post.
Another idea would be if substack were allowed to send out emails with a variety of content to a big list... Like a dessert sampler. (not really a pot luck because they give me stomach aches). But dessert samplers are fun! People could subscribe to free content emails from substack to check out new contributors. I'd love that! I'd subscribe to that.
I am going to be writing a special issue of my newsletter about Thanksgiving, which will be posted that week. It will have tips for how to navigate difficult relationships on a day that is supposed to be special. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to promote it.
I'm glad I managed to catch this WOH session. Thanks for the platform, Substack Team. I'm really looking forward to writing on Substack for the long-term; and speaking for the younger writers, there's a lot of great word-of-mouth going around, and alongside thoughtful features and community support, the overall experience really makes Substack recommendable to everyone, because it's very versatile and well-built.
My question is whether there are any plans to expand the Discover Newsletters section, especially to more than 25 newsletter per category. It'd be great to find more newsletter from the Substack home page, even if it were to involve more effort on the part of one searching for them. Hopefully this might also shine light on less active newsletters, who still produce great pieces, albeit at slower rates.
Otherwise, I'm grateful for the platform and what it has allowed me to express and find out about myself. To anyone interested, I write https://thenostomodernreview.substack.com/ and I write about philosophy and modernism in the 21st Century.
When you click back in to read a previous post (because you're a perfectionist and reread your work to exhaustion) does it mess with your analytics? If so, is there a way to prevent that?
Paid subscription question - If I change (raise) the price of paid subscriptions, is there a way to keep my original subscribers at the price they originally signed up for?
Hi Substack team and fellow writers!
I have a question about double opt-in for email signups. Some publications Iโve subscribed to requires readers to opt-in via a confirmation email before getting the welcome email. I see this option my my settings tab. Would you recommend doing this or not?
I just started so am still small (~220 free list subscribers) with an open rate of 40-45% but Iโm wondering if this opt in feature helps make sure the readers actually meant to subscribe?
Fellow writers please chime in!
Hey, folks. Thought this started at 1 PM? But maybe it was an hour ago? I'm confused...
Anyway, I'd love someone to remind me where to find the link for the Grow week specifically on growing your email list. I feel like I'm coming out from underwater after a few slow, distracting weeks and I need to review and get activated again around building my free list, under the assumption that it's the gateway drug to paid, so to speak.
I will say, on the upside, that I got three new email sign-ups last night following a very lively discussion and shout-out for my newsletter on Ask E Jean by Ms. E Jean herself. That was a thrill. I still find that engaging in substantive discussion on other people's newsletters is how I'm getting the most free sign-ups right now. And I'm at 40 paid subscribers, so that's a little over 10% conversion. I'm proud of that.
Twitter is yielding nothing and is against my temperament. Insta is it's own thing and my followers are growing there, but not converting. I've tapped out my Facebook following, which is where most of my 341 total email list folks have come from.
There is some scuttlebutt on Facebook that, because Facebook is starting its own newsletter service, Facebook algorithms are downplaying anything from substack. Iโm finding that may well be true because I get fewer likes and fewer referrals from Facebook, but it could also be because Iโve now been there posting for quite some time.
I write Mending Fractured Relationships, a newsletter about ideas that you can use to talk to someone when you have been having difficulty.