Your total email list is valuable because it represents people who explicitly opt into receiving your posts by email. Today, we invite writers to share their best strategies for growing their email list on Substack.
I'm currently writing Fintech R&R, a Fintech Product newsletter covering all sorts of Fintech topics from a Product development and strategy angle.
I publish every two weeks and getting steady growth some weeks and stagnant growth other weeks. As this is very much an evenings and weekends thing for me I'm curious to know of anyone has any strategies for making the publishing process and also using notes more efficient?
Just for context, I publish on Substack every fortnight on Friday, then the following Monday I'll paste the content into LinkedIn as an article and put the subscribe link in the comments. I'll sometimes post to notes a couple of days after that as well but wondering if there's a more efficient way of doing all this without spreading it across 5 days...
I like to write my newsletters in advance. I've crated a simple content calendar where I note down what I want to talk about, then track the publication date and when it needs to be written by. I then use the scheduling tool in Substack to arrange for publication on my schedule. You can also start on drafts and save them so you don't lose your ideas.
Great tips Paul. I think I can certainly write and schedule a few days in advance but as I usually link my topics to some news that occurred that week I can't schedule it too far ahead. The content calendar for ideas and concepts is a great suggestion though. Thanks :-)
Hi Jas, I use a combo of spreadsheets and Google Docs before pulling it over to Substack, with monthly topics planned out a year in advance to help with the research effort. And I split the month between writing & outreach (we all have the marketing responsibilities, like it or not).
I see your reference to strategy a couple of times. My focus is strategy - happy to collaborate.
✏️ 🧠 have kept a blog for years (now defunct), written for newspapers, etc; but I can't quite figure out how to just *get started*: like, do I just write something & send it out with a big "HOWDY"...? Question: strategies for getting started?
I think they should put together an easy-to-find (top level) manual on how to start the fully and optimally set-up substack site with the steps in the best order. I had to dodge all around between FAQs piecemeal to figure it out, and I'm still confused.
I think they should organize it in sections. The first would be what are all the basic things you should do to set up your substack page in a way that is best for the future. Once all those are done and your site is percolating along, the nest phase should be what are all the things you do to get basic promotions going and use the site optimally. The final section for after all that is running smoothly should be what are the most effect promotional tools to expand it. Each section should give every STEP you need to take to make the happen with words that are current to links and buttons the site actually employed (as some do not seem to be any longer). It should give you all the essential basics and then, where necessary have links to other article that explore that more deeply; but should be able to be confident you've done all the essentials in the best way possible. I, for example, still don't fully get how to easily integrate notes with other sites when I am reading their articles and want to mention something related on my site or how to integrate them within my own artcicle's pastes so readers will be inclined to use them. They just sit there off on the side. Unless I write emails to readers to actively promote them (which I don't want to do), there doesn't seem a natural path for readers to explore them after reading an article. I am probably just missing the obvious, but that is the point regarding the tutorial.
I suggest just starting. It's really no different than blogging. Decide how often you want to post, what day(s) so you can add that to your About and newsletter description and then have fun. Substack gives you prompts for the first post that I sort of found helpful. That gives readers a chance to understand who you are, where you're coming from and what you plan to write about. If you can, import the emails from your blog, or send a personal email to those readers and friends/family to let them know they can find you on Substack. I only started in March, but I've truly enjoyed the community and talent here. It's a fun place to be. Just don't overthink it. Yes, you want to find subscribers, but that will come with good work. xo
That's all I did for my very first post. I shared it with a few close friends and then started interacting with the Substack community by reader other people's posts, commenting on their pages, subscribing to those Substacks I most enjoyed. Then I set myself a weekly posting cadence and have just kept all of the above it and it's been lovely.
I think once you have a certain number of posts it's a good strategy to have a central pinned post that serves as a sort of "Welcome new readers" type post. I've seen a few do that and I only recently introduced one myself.
The other thing about that one was that I didn't send it out to my subscribers, which means it's actually quite useful to track the stats of. I know that any clicks come from true website clicks, rather than clicks from emails. (It'd be possible to subtract those from total views if I had mailed it out of course, but it's easier this way haha). Not that I look at stats at all ... 🤣
As for cadence, not sure if that is even the right term, but I just mean I got into a regular sequence of scheduling my next post to come out (more or less) at the same time each week. I think that can be useful for some subscribers. I subscribe to several Subs that post exactly the same time each week and I always look forward to it, knowing when that email is going to pop up. A nice bit of anticipation.
Important part is to choose a niche that you resonate with and a newsletter name that people can easily find. The important step is just to start and you can learn as you go and optimize and test and evolve. The learning curve isn't especially steep and it's all rather rewarding.
My suggestion is the same as Sandra's: just start writing. If you're looking for a catchy headline or title, that can come later like osmosis. Then edit, edit, edit, so that the title and the body of your writing match. I find the essence of an article emerges during this creative process.
Just start. I'm quite new too but it doesn't take long to find your way around and people are very friendly and helpful. I've edited and updated my About page and my welcome email a few times since starting, as I've made tweaks to how often I can post and when I do what. Just go for it. The FAQs and hints on the site are a good place to look if you want to be a bit more genned up before you hit the keyboard. Good luck!
I would echo what Sandra said: just start. Like you, I came from a blogging background and have found that just starting (small and quietly) helped me to hone my voice and find my focus. You may find it helpful to read my journey from the beginning (January 2023) and would encourage you to lean in and go! ⛷️
Over here slinging #poems and #illustrations at typaphobe. I'm just curious to meet other poets and try to understand growth a bit more. I started from scratch this year and growth has been somewhat slow. I'm no @austinkleon , but I'd like to do this full-time!
Hope y'all are all well. I love what you're doing @substack. Thank you.
🧠 Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Anything worth doing is worth doing scared and unprepared. Do you feel like a fraud? Good! Do you worry that you don't know enough? Excellent! Are you anxious about getting everything perfect? You're in good company!
The truth is that no matter how talented or successful of a writer you are, you'll always go through times of uncertainty. But the only wrong answer is to quit. Write scared! Post scared! Share scared! Authenticity and consistency are the name of the game. And your readers will love you for being YOU, confident or not.
Most importantly: keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
I’ve started writing more personal and vulnerable substacks and they are the ones that resonate the most. I recently wrote about how I am fixing my relationship to love and it was very well received.
Not only validating to tell my truth, but feels good knowing other people resonate and can be helped by my truth.
My more vulnerable posts tend to have higher engagement as well, mostly by people I know reaching out directly. I agree that it feels so good when the work (and life, by extension) resonates with other people and opens up new ways for readers to think about stuff.
Isn't it amazing (and a little weird) to get a direct email or in-person comment about something you wrote? I take it as confirmation that I'm doing what God wants me to do. :)
Almost every issue of my newsletter (and many of my Medium articles) is personal and vulnerable. I agree it feels great to know others resonate with my words and find them helpful! It also helps me feel less shame and reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Some of my best posts have been the hardest to write, not because I got stuck on the words, but because I was at my most vulnerable. This post about my daughter getting into a traumatic car accident that almost killed her was one of my best posts ever: https://www.maureengil.com/p/changing-my-perspective
I received dozens of emails from my subscribers, wishing her well or telling me their own stories. It was amazing.
Agree, I've written a bunch of posts about my journey to net-zero, but I think far more interesting to folks is the quirky self-effacing stuff like what it means to be the child of hoarders...(also way easier and more fun to write!)
I'm also finding that posts I don't expect to be "hits," as it were, turn out to resonate with people much more than I would have imagined. A good example is my recent post about what I remembered about my hometown on a recent drive home from the auto mechanic. It started as a stream of thoughts in my head that I wasn't going to write down and turned into a one-off personal essay that's gotten more comments, online and off, than any of my other posts so far.
Sounds fascinating - I will check it out. I always write personal and vulnerable - it's just my way. I'm only just starting out on Substack as have been focusing on Medium for a while, but also am an indie author of two memoirs (Well, one is part memoir, part qualitative research). It's so great when people resonate and receive our work well.
I’ve heard some buzz about medium but I chose substack over it since I have some favorite authors on here. What’s your take on navigating between the two? I find that substack is great for facilitating the connecting and finding of other artists (like this thread right now!)
Well, Medium is more like a Facebook for writers .... whereas Substack is an email-driven platform. So I like both for different reasons. I love the interactivity of Medium, so it's good to hear Substack also has an element of that, but what drew me to Substack is the quality of the writing (I follow some great writers here) and the fact you can build up an email list and paid subscribers (while Medium is more about gaining followers, like social media followers). I have found it quite easy to quickly build up a reasonable following on Medium (once I started writing regularly) so we'll see how it goes on Substack... These threads here are awesome!
I think this is the best, and safest, spot for my personal essays to land right now. I thought about publishing them with a magazine, but some of the topics are so raw that I don’t want them to be axed at the cutting board by a third party editor looking to carve a certain “story” for clickbait.
I think posting scared is also a sign you're daring to take risks. Taking risks is what creates quality writing, in my opinion. I also write stories, and more than once have said 'if I'm not trying new things and taking risks, then what's the point of writing a story?'.
I get the same feeling and I think we can call it a risk. We are not sitting on our couch, surfing, scarfing Doritos...we are putting ourselves out there.
MY view is that even if I write cr*p (which I don't!), at least I put myself forward and didn't just sit on the sidelines criticising and pontificating.
It's funny, in a weird kinda way. When I put up a story, I don't feel too nervous about it. I put up stories, and now I'm also putting up a serial novel. There's no plot for that, and I'm just as curious to see where it's going as the reader is (or I hope is.) The thing that makes me nervous is when I put out little pieces of what it was like working in a sawmill. It was the only job I ever had, and only now do I realize that what happened there, wasn't the norm. It was all drinking on the job; smoking dope, and even visits from hookers. Those stories make me nervous.
I'm putting a little blurb out tomorrow on my "Scribbles." It's the story of how I got my earring, of all things. Yeah, I'm that old guy that still walks around with an earring, but getting it, well, that was quite different. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
I don't know why, but I get excited and scared at the same time when I post. Maybe it's because I feel posting is permanent in a way, even though I can delete it at any time.
Perhaps, quite possibly. I think it's something different for everyone. Maybe we are afraid of spoiling something or embarrassing ourselves. Sometimes we forget that an article can be edited. To correct mistakes. But at the same time, we worry a lot. The main thing is to overcome those fears!
You nailed it Marcus, I think living between fear & excitement is the sweet spot for growth as a human. Sure, we can't live there all the time but if we don't demand more of ourselves to get to that place we end up living a life in autopilot.
*What if that fear is actually a sign it's good enough?*
A lot of times when I've published something feeling smugly confident that it will do well, it didn't. Reason probably being: I was smugly confident, not slightly nervous. Being nervous is a sign you've gone hard and really put an important piece of yourself into this thing - to the point that it feels creatively risky. Creative risks - the good ones - move us forwards.
So maybe feeling scared and unprepared is a message, saying "yup, this is now worth publishing" - so we should always write until we're a bit scared of publishing it?
I like that you emphasize "putting an important piece of yourself" into writing. That's a great measure of whether the writing itself matters. Vulnerability is good sometimes, but it's a dangerous default mode that can lead to oversharing and burnout. Sometimes a good piece of writing is something well-researched and science based, something you write because it deeply interests you. The "important part" of yourself that goes into those pieces is your passion and expertise, which is just as valuable as emotion and insight.
This perspective is helpful. Thanks Mike. I often get caught in the loop of feeling disappointed when something I feel 'proud' of flops. I'm going to experiment with flipping this based on this wisdom. Notice the smugness and check myself. Celebrate the nervousness a little more.
So true. Felt this confidence about one of my latest pieces only to get absolutely flamed on Reddit for it. Working on something now that makes me nervous. Excited!
Mike, your insight is fully supported by science! Our brains are extremely primitive. The brain is always on the lookout for what's wrong. It's a bad sign when the brain isn't on high alert and warning us of danger; that's when over-confidence creeps in. I like a mix of "I'm going to throw up" and "I put my all into this and it's solid." Then I post. (BTW, I'm feeling 'wrong' as I type this.)
Do you think that there is a balance between making vulnerable work, being nervous about your work, and anonymity? Some of my most well received work has been either a research deep dive into a niche topic (which I was terribly nervous about) or a somewhat vulnerable discussion about my personal cultural rituals.
Wow, I have never thought about it like. And truth be told, most of my work where i feel vulnerable and nervous to post always does well than when I feel confident. This is so insightful thanks for sharing
Love this. I agree that maybe sometimes, the move is to just reframe the way you think about fear and nervousness. The one thing I've learned about writing for an audience is that you never really know how it will be received. So, just be done with the fear and hit publish??
That's a good point. I've come to realize that I could edit one piece indefinitely. At some point, I have to Publish.
That said, there've definitely been times when I made a few extra edits after posting, and it bothers me a bit that email recipients have an immortalized version of the piece that I don't think represents my best work.
We are always our harshest critics and it may seem never enough. My advice for everyone and for myself is that: let's hit publish when it's good enough.
Editing is an eternal task but eventually, I find, it becomes just word swapping. At that point the piece needs to rest or be published. Often times published.
I have done that a handful of times and I hope the email recipients click 'read in app.'
So true. I literally had this issue today before posting. Told myself I would send it out at a specific time then I felt like I wanted to edit and read over the entire post one more time. I'm sure as the writers we're obsessed over certain details the audience doesn't even notice.
I've taken to scheduling posts for early in the moment when I'm in danger of tinkering too much. I go to bed and by the time I get up it's gone and out there!
Sometimes a piece needs a little extra tinkering but often I find it is, as S. E. Reid said above, being scared to post rather than a need to edit more.
I am certain of that too. I have written stories where I focussed on X and the readers focussed on Y or the readers have read something in there I didn't intentionally place.
One might ask, do I provide value? Or more importantly, how can I provide more value? That's where YOU come in. I would love to hear feedback. Feedback Reggae, let the good vibes get a lot stronger. Feedback... we needs it.
I have a writer friend who talks about how feedback can either be feeding us, nourishing us, or it can be that screechy guitar feedback sound, and it's up to us to take the nourishing food feedback and ignore the screechy discordant feedback.
The thing I don't understand is when no one gives you feedback. I look at the stats, and they say, Yep, people are reading it. But as for comments...crickets most of the time.
Commenting takes time, thought, and effort beyond clicking "like," but no comments doesn't mean no impact. When I was still on social media, my posts rarely got good engagement. But more than one person (who had never even clicked "like!") told me on calls or through email that they liked and appreciated what I posted.
Giving feedback is not something people are comfortable with and if not practised, are even less likely to do so and then there is the time aspect. Time and effort. Which is why feedback is a precious gift.
I just published a piece about feedback and how important it is. But in truth, I get little to no feedback or comments on my articles, except some personal notes from friends and colleagues. I just got such a constructive note, which with a bit of pressure, got him to send in a comment, as it contributed so much to the article. Mostly I blame myself for not being relevant, writing well enough, being too academic, and so on. Anyway, it is a challenge, and I hope to improve my craft and learn better about who my audience is. https://www.inmindwise.com/p/relationships-for-sustenance-and
For me, providing value means putting myself in the shoes of my audience and thinking "what do they want to hear about?" With all of the concerns facing content creators nowadays, it's helpful for me to identify the top ones, and then write content addressing various methods to build resilience. It's worked well so far.
If you are writing fiction then the process may be a little trickier than that. Which is why I alternate between craft/theory and fiction posts. Then again, there are a gazillion resources out there for fiction theory. Tricky, tricky!
I ask this question everyday.What is the value of what I am writing? I joined this community thinking¨this is the best community you can join now ¨. I am not a perfect writer or I never wanted to be a writer but I have an important message to share.I am writing about ¨truth¨,wisdom,real meaning of life. What is the value of ¨truth¨today in the world?
I was talking to a friend of mine about my substack recently and she basically said that she was impressed I posted at all because she would actively run away from doing anything like this. She's not a writer so that makes sense to me BUT it was such a good reminder that posting at all is a win and has value that other people see and pick up on. No matter the amount of subscribers, someone will get something out of what you write and post.
Often times the effect of the work is unseen by us as writers but just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. It probably has more of a ripple effect than we know.
"Someone will get something out of what you write and post"
I agree completely Samantha! For each article I've published so far, there have been at least 2-3 people who've remarked that they've learned something or they relate to what I'm talking about. You never know. The story you're hesitating to write might just change someone else's life. 🤗
Writing about polarizing topics gives me this exact feeling of anxiety, knowing that someone might disagree with my opinion and that I might be wrong. Got to do it anyway though!
I agree. Most people are afraid to put themselves out there because it can be a little daunting at first, but there's always an audience for the content we write.
Mine's a different kind of scared right now! I'm losing steam and fodder to write about so I've announced in a random post earlier this week that I may be stepping away from public writing for a bit. I feel like the weekly updates are stagnant and repetitive so I'm gonna do off to heal and live life so I have more to write about without feeling under pressure each week and coming up short or empty handed.
Just took a break from writing the final (for now) post in my weekly Friday Reflections to pop in to Office Hours. I HAD to write it; it will complete my 2nd full month of writing them and I had to complete that milestone haha.
Thank you for this advice! I'll keep it in mind when I'm more clear-headed and have returned. I'll always remember: "do it scared!"
Proud of you, Cierra! I think we need to normalize stepping away from always being "on" or engaged in social media. It can feel like it's expected and required to acheive success but it's just not sustainable.
I want to build a community and society where we celebrate the need to retreat, recover, and reset. Where we give ourselves and each other permission to hibernate, meditate, rest, and re-fill our well!
Good for you and I hope you feel supported and cared for while you take this time for yourself.
Thank you! YES, it's a hard thing to rewire in me but I'm learning and would also like more people to embrace rest. I hear so often how helpful it is to just take a break--whether from work, joyful practices, or even mindless scrolling.
Giving yourself that type of breather truly rejuvenates you (and the ideas and excitement tends to flow forth too!).
Yes! I'll be sure to rest and constantly remind myself to chiiiill ooout, and let what comes, come! It's not the end of the world, just part of the process (note to self, haha).
I can't produce high quality, deep insights on a schedule. Sometimes I have 5 or even 10 posts that are truly meaningful and inspired and then I need to just stop. Best thing ever is to just stop trying to produce. Maybe consistency is not your thing either. I wish you well in your rest and rejuvenation.
I REALLY really think this is me. I think I've created this narrative in my mind where I HAVE to show up at least once per week! Especially since I have my first paid subscriber and people that engage with my writings. But I'm seeing SO much more often that there are plenty of people who don't play by those imaginary rules of consistency.
And they're confident, doing well, and showing up with the best work *because* they wait for it to come rather than trying to hop on the consistency train.
Or, at least the way we look at consistency as a society. I think from now on I'll look at consistency--specifically for my Substack--as being consistency in the QUALITY of my writing.
I like the word "commitment." I'm committed to creating pieces I'm proud of and am excited to send to my community
It's not that you're losing steam, it's that the grieving process is actually working. I will probably be grieving for the rest of my life, but I can accept that. (My circumstances are probably different from anyone else's. Industrial accidents are different.) You can find it on my page. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
It can be so wildly subtle at times. Not always emotional, but definitely jarring when trying to put the pieces back together and trying to create a life in your now, "after."
I'll check ya out! I'm catching up on replies and see you've left a few, so I shall return!
I'm following a similar serializing a novel path (love the intermission idea by the way). Did you have a large following to start with or did it grow as you released the work? What did you do to market/advertise/broadcast what you were doing??
Thanks for that, really helpful. I have already noticed that just publishing chapters leaves the substack looking 'unloved'. I don't want to commit to a newsletter a week so might invent a weekly snippets type approach - see what happens.
I absolutely love this and and how you structured time for productivity and time to rest and recharge. A beautiful example, and I'll take your word for it as I step away for a bit as well.
Also like the permission to, hey, possibly write something while on break! So long as there's no pressure to produce.
I do care about my audience. I want them to like my stories. But I've gotten to the point in my life where I can accept that if they don't like my writing, that's not me, that's the reader. Not everything you read you're going to like, and not everything you write is going to be liked. As long as you like it, though...
Omg, my last article had me feeling very nervous. You can’t really discount a personal experience but when you’re writing about real things that require citations and evidence… 😱
I still hit publish and got great feedback and conversation from it.
I am four subscribers away from 300, which feels small compared to some and makes a goal of 500 by the end of the year feel even more daunting, but the last two weeks of meaningful interaction on Notes has been a game changer. I've been sharing my work, reading the work of some amazing writers, and have found a whole new writers workshop of sharing ideas and inspiration. I would say that if you treat Notes as a place to grow personally and professionally, then there will be natural grown on your Newsletter subscribers as well.
Questions I have: Has anyone figured out how to get people to come over here from IG? How the hell does anyone effectively use LinkedIn without allowing it to become another unproductive time suck?
I pulled people over from Instagram just this week by reminding them that I have a newsletter and I was very intentional about making sure they knew precisely (and concisely) what it is I talk about in my writing.
This made me think about my imposter syndrome and how hard it is for me to tell people precisely and concisely what I write about. I reject myself before they *potentially* reject me. I'm learning to be comfortable, grounded, and confident in what I produce, and let people decide for themselves if they like it or not. All I can do is be intentional.
good reminder Dave. I refuse to get sucked into IG Stories, so this has been reasonably productive for me -- just an old fashioned reminder and CTA to followers.
I post occasionally, but the standard graphics that Substack gives us feel disconnected from my normal posts (my art and creative projects). I think sometimes though, talking about Substack without the context of what my whole newsletter is about caused a disconnect with people, at least for my community.
Instagram has been a challenge for me. It just seems like there’s so many steps people have to go through before they get to the subscribe button - especially because you can’t put links in the post and have to use something like Linktree instead!
I’m taking a break from the churn of creating IG content for now - Substack and Notes has shown far better conversion rates for me anyway so I’m going to double-down here for now.
I find it's easier if I put a question box (in stories) and have people put in their email, so I can add them without them having to do anything extra!
Neat idea that would have never occurred to me. I didn't even know about this feature since so far I've avoided posting any stories. There's a question box? All good to know!
Agree, regular Insta does nothing for me. Need more boobs/filters which isn't exactly my Substack style.
there's a feature in instagram stories called a question box. It's in the same area as polls, gifs, links, etc. And then you can add that box and tell people to put their email address if they want to join your list. They enter it through your story and then you can add each manually to your substack. Hope that helps!
I share this sentiment – I had an influencer with 81K followers and some serious target audience overlap share my IG post promoting my Substack on her public story, and only received a few likes on my post, no new subscribers, probably a reader or two. Anyone interested would have to click her story, go to my post, see that they had to go to my link in bio to actually read. Too many steps! Going to try the question box story idea!
ugh that's really frustrating! i;m sorry. I also recently had a few pubs with big visibility that I was hopeful would bring more subscribers to my substack but it wasn't really the case...
I'm right there with you. I tossed in the IG and Facebook towel for the most part. Their algorithms bury you under other content. Plus you're right about the steps to get to your newsletter. Meta designed it that way to trap users on the platform and limit outbound traffic because they are more about selling users and their data to advertisers than in building a truly interactive social platform.
I deleted IG in 2016 and remade it last month to cross-post for Substack, of course, it's pointless. Might as well save that time to do something useful!
I have a minor 940 followers on Twitter, and I'm lucky if 3 people respond to any tweet and even luckier if one person visits my site because of my tweet, and I'VE BEEN POSTING THERE SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK FOR YEARS. Not a lot of benefit for the time. I suspect most tweets get buried in people's timelines and never seen.
I just noticed that they changed the profile link and scrambled it into a short url so it doesn't even display as my alexanderipfelkofer.substack.com link anymore! They JUST did that now! And the videos stopped playing. Anyone else? WTH is going on with Twitter... 😂
I know Elon said he felt Substack copyied Twitter with its Notes, and the advent of Notes is when Twitter changed with respect to Substack because Elon didn't think it right that Twitter was being exploited to draw people from Twitter to its new competition from Substack Notes. He didn't see Twitter existing for the purpose of feeding subcribers to its new competition. Whether his view is fully fair or whether I expressed it right, I'm not sure; but I know if people were just coming to my website to post comments to get my readers to go to their own similar site, I'd probably pull the comments.
Yeah, my email got compromised and I couldn't get back into IG because I had to change my email. I haven't bothered starting over again because I could never figure out how to make it work for me. Maybe I should revisit it?
It doesn't take much time to post the media asset, which is all I do, so that's another reason IG doesn't do anything because I spend 1 minute on it twice a week for posting substack media...
I'm with you on the IG slog. I find it so much effort with very little payoff. Plus, I often think--isn't the best audience really on Substack anyway? IG is more for silly videos and is more like a happy hour medium than anything I can take too seriously.
I post a brief blurb on IG, and have a direct link posted in stories. I think that it works sometimes? It's kinda awful that you cannot put links in IG posts that will actually open in a browser
Agree; I do the same and just spend a small amount of time posting a media asset or blurb about my article on different social media, including, IG, LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter.
I have this same goal, but am scraping by at 237 subscribers ATM. I've tried Notes a bit but so far no real direct engagement. I'm trying to just be happy with the amazing audience I already have, but it's a challenge!
Keep writing, giving up is not a good tactic. And try to actively communicate with people at these Office Hours, have dialogues, and you will get noticed, even if it's just one person. Share your opinions, your doubts, and your questions. It's a very welcoming and positive community, and it will help you.
Def not alone. I am enjoying reading and responding to not her peoples notes which is helping a bit with subscriber growth but it still feels a bit odd writing them when I know that it is unlikely anyone will see them (I literally starting from 0 with no pre existing audience from elsewhere so it is going to take some time to build the numbers). On the plus side it is a bit easier to experiment and write without fear of saying something wrong whilst I know my audience is still small 😂
I can relate to this, I started my newsletter a month ago and wanted to reach at least 20 subscribers before the end of the months. I was able to reach the number , but they are just my family which is not a bad thing, I having trying to promote my writings on note but no progress on the subscriber number, but the views are pretty decent
I feel you. I think I initially had a big dopamine rush from family and some friend subscribing, but now my subscriber count slowed way down.
I find that if you just write content you personally enjoy or make it something useful for you then it matters a bit less. A lot of musicians make the music they want to hear for example!
We're in the same vein here. I'm at your level, no real hits here. It's tough won! Just keep posting and focus on the good writing...or so I'm told... ;)
I'm staying away from Notes -- can't handle another place to scroll online! i know i'm probably missing out on potential subscribers, but i also gotta do what works for me and my mental health.
Have to agree with this, Notes can be a lovely space and it definitely rocketed my subscriber count up faster than beforehand. Also I think 300 subscribers on Substack is like 1000 on other platforms, it feels so much more engaged here!
Because it's a dull as a resume and most people are there to show themselves off as a potential employee/hire or to promote themselves in some other way, not to read articles.
I noticed the other day that Linkedin wasn't showing the social previews on my post. Wasn't sure if this was an error or some new limiting feature on Linkedin. Anyone else experience this?
There was a stacker here last week who gained 400 subscriptions from LinkedIn. I think he wrote professional-related newsletters and shared others on his LI.
It's quiet all over, but I find LinkedIn I actually get a few more likes than I do on the silent FB/Insta. The algorithms elsewhere are not my friend. But LinkedIn doesn't seem to play that game as much.
I have received the majority of my subscribers from my Instagram. I’ve been making unique assets for each new post and posting on stories/ on the grid. And asking people to subscribe bc I’m not really on Instagram that often anymore other than to promote my Substack. I think it comes down to your own personal audience and how they interact there. Each social media app is so different on how the users behave.
Did you end up creating a new instagram for your newsletter and its promotion or used your personal IG for it? I feel weird "spamming" my friends and acquaintances on my personal IG but maybe I am overthinking it
I use the same Instagram I’ve always had. I don’t spam them. I just post when I publish a new newsletter. If they are following me, they are interested in what I am doing, I get great feedback and they repost my substack on their stories. Which has also helped my subscriber count.
"If they are following me, they are interested in what I am doing"
This! I like how you frame this. I write once a week so technically it won't be spamming. I should reframe how I think about my IG. Thank you for sharing your approach, Jenovia. :)
This is a good reminder. I struggle because I feel I am being pushy, self promoting salesy...but you are right. If they are interested in what I am doing they will come over to SS and if not that's cool too.
As writers we HAVE to self promote...as weird as that feels especially for introverts. Think about how you would feel if your best friend posted something they were working on? I'm sure you would be supportive and enthusiastic. The more you do it, the less it will feel sales-y.❤️ When you believe in your work, others will too.
It also depends on your content Sarah. Some writers get more engagement on IG, others LinkedIn or Twitter. So if you're hitting a dead end, maybe focus a different platform for a few weeks?
If I'm going to do an platform besides Substack, at this point, I think it's IG. It's just been a rough two weeks to be able to post anything, even on stories!
I've obviously got too much time on my hands. If I were still working, I wouldn't be here right now. So I'm on NOTES at all different times of the day. I can't say there's a "right" time. I'm on the West coast (or the Left Coast like the cool cats say--oh wait, I'm the only one who says that.) But if someone sitting in New York posts at 10:00 am, I'm getting it at 6:00 am. I don't have a problem with that since I'm up anyway.
Sarah, I just slap my article links up on LI. If they so deem, they'll direct me to another group onto which they can attach it. It takes me all of 30 seconds, and do I get any clicks? I don't know, but from LI, if I get any, it's a click from LI I would never get if I never posted the link! Same for the other SocMedia sites. It's like the lottery: I'll never win, but I have a better chance than if I never bought a card.
Likely, no one's clicking on me from LI or Twitter, or Reddit, but if I just get ONE click from all three, total, that's one that never would've clicked on that article otherwise.
I'm not interested in playing the algorithm games, seeing as how the "rules" are so arbitrary, anyway, i.e. "you're supposed to engage to boost your visibility," etc.....but no one ever tells us just how many engagements is enough!
Yes! All of this. And yeah, I just keep posting and hoping someone eventually clicks. FB has proven to be useless, but I keep posting there as well. It's can't hurt, right?
I messed around with reels yesterday, in efforts to play the Facebook game, and it was pretty easy to use. I can tell it will be time consuming, but if I want more engagement than I need to try.
Ignore the pitches. It's not like LI is the only place on the 'Net that incessantly tries to sell you things....................................is it? Welcome to the internet!
The question is, though, whether that is the best use of your time. One or two is about what I usually see, but I don't have enough time in my entire life to get anywhere with my writing spending that time to get one or two clicks and zero subscribers.
That's the question we ALL have to answer, each for ourselves. When I publish an article (about 3 a week), I spend the morning (a leisurely 2-3 hours, maybe, all while sipping coffee, it should be noted) putting a link to the article up on social media sites.
I, apparently, HAVE enough time in my entire life (Lord willin' and the crick don't rise) to get plenty of places with my writing (why, just see for yourself: https://bradkyle.substack.com/), AND to slap article links up on on social media sites for those two clicks and zero subscribers!
Can you be specific on how Notes is drawing more subscribers to your newsletter? Like, can you walk me through your step-by-step process for doing this? Thank you!
Try to log in two to three times a day and read and respond to other people's work. I post three to four times a day, sometimes old material, sometimes new, somethings just thoughts that I'm working through. It's like I'm temporarily back in the good old days of social media, when it was about being social and networking.
Yeah, that's the part I have trouble with. I never think that anything I might have to say is of any interest to anyone. I don't do politics because I'm not interested; I don't do finance; current affairs? Not up on that either. I live in my own fantasy world (it has dragons.) Usually I answer a string someone has going already. I really should try to apply myself.
I have one dragon story, and it's very unique. It follows the last surviving Knight of King Arthur. It's on my page. IN DAYS OF VAST DARING https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
Growth can come in insane spikes. I went from stagnant, to a 130 subscriber bump over a random guide I threw together in half an hour. Eventually the right person will look at something…
Patience is a big thing. We've been trained to believe that constant growth = success and that numbers are everything. When really, when it comes to both IG and Substack, I want meaningful engagement and I want people who will read what I write, respond if they feel called to respond, and share my work with others.
The number of subscribers is still very important, but much more important and enjoyable for the author himself if these subscribers are not just a number, namely active users, with whom you can have feedback. It is better to have 300 live subscribers than 500 bots.
I agree with you, when I started substack, initially I didn't want to share it with my friend and family because I felt like they will subscribe just because it was me. But moving forward the numbers was so depressing lol 😂, so I shared and I think that was a good thing I did because they help me share my work and through that the numbers increased and people who where genuinely interested in my work subscribed
Being active in office hours helps new writers show off, try to connect more with people and people will notice you and someone is bound to like what you do.
I love this advice, as Notes had gotten me down earlier this week. When I return, I'll create this new intention behind it.
Okay so for IG, before I left it over a month ago (tried to deactivate it but couldn't, but glad I couldn't because someone I admire became my first paid subscriber from IG while I've been gone!)... I was taking my favorite quips from pieces, copying and pasting it to my notes app, screenshot them, and made them into carousel posts with Substack and writing hashtags and they've been my best performing posts (by my feed's standards) in months. Also I think sharing about what you're writing in stories could help. BTS of your process and what's to come and give them the link in stories to sign up and have it be the only link in your profile.
You'll get noticed. Put links to your page up on Notes. Put links to your page here. People here are really helpful. We were all new here once upon a time. I've only been here ten month and only have 150 subscribers. But this last month has been my best. Don't give up on yourself.
As notes only shows you posts from people you are subscribed to and people they recommend it is unlikely that what you write is going to get a huge amount of notice until you have a reasonably high number of subscribers (unless someone with a bigger account sees and restacks). Best use of notes for those of us with low subscriber numbers seems to be responding to other peoples posts and just being an active part of the community to put your name in front of people who may then go look at your posts and decide to subscribe. It is also much more interesting and less soul destroying than just trying to think up content that isn’t going to be seen easily.
Thanks Sarah, I’ve not looked at Notes yet, so will definitely do that.
I share screenshots of my Substack posts in IG stories & highlights with links to read it.
Re LinkedIn, I highly recommend Helen Pritchard’s free 5 day LinkedIn challenge. The content pillars she teachers makes it super simple to come up with content and you won’t need to spend much time over there to see results.
Recommendations are crucial to growing your free list. Recommend as many Substacks as you see fit, and don’t be shy about asking writers you know to recommend you.
How does one go about asking other writers to recommend you? Maybe I've missed it, but I don't see a DM button here on substack and its sort of embarrassing to ask so publicly! Thank you:)
Every writer on substack has a substack email address. It's [personalized URL] @ Substack . com So my URL for the podcast is unrulyfigures.substack.com and my Substack email is unrulyfigures@substack.com If you send them an email there, it should forward to whatever email address they originally registered with.
Try writing to them personally or start recommending them, and they might start recommending you. As an option, why not? You have nothing to lose from that.
Sometimes, you can also subscribe to the newsletter and reply. I wish Substack had a DM button, though, to help with collaboration. :) Also, you might want to check out https://eoconnors.substack.com/ as she also does travel stuff. Might be a good connection for recommendations!
Yes I wish there was a DM button! The other day I wanted to come back to something a writer replied to my comment under their post, and I didn't know that apparently there's a substack email I could've sent it to, so i had to go back to the post and comment again. Which is okay, but its a little public, no? Like, I was asking for permission to use what they said in their reply to me in a personal essay because I was inspired by it - it'll be embarrassing if they say no! (ofc all credit for the idea goes to the writer, what they said was more like the extra push of inspiration i needed to start a draft of smth i've been wanting to talk about for a while anyway). Not to mention, I think in-app/website DMs would be a good way to connect with specific writers and make friends, and also a better way to talk about a specific topic that not everyone who reads a post would need to know about:p lol
great reminder on the recommendations -- and @Substack, I'd love to have more control over the list of my recommendations and how they are displayed (number, order, location etc).
It's good to keep in mind that recommendations are a double edged sword. While it's nice to have them and receive subs via them, it's crucial to ask yourself if they are actual interested readers or did they just follow the prompts and hit the prominent button?
I mention this because I have received a good number of subs via recommendations, but some of the people never open the email or interact. It makes me wonder if they just hit the big default buttons without thinking much about it.
I don’t necessarily agree with your last point. I’ve found that I get more subscribers from recommendations from Substacks which don’t recommend many others. It seems like the more recommendations there are, the less likely a reader is to scroll through them. And recommending lots of stacks also makes it seem less valuable somehow.
I have to 1) love their writing and 2) see it as relevant to my audience. It's time for me to trade out a few of mine. I would love to be recommended by more people, but it feels pushy to ask. Plus, I'm over the tit-for-tat game that can become.
Same! I recommend newsletters if I love their writing and the content is applicable to my readers. I feel uncomfortable asking as well, but I've gotten a couple of organic recommendations that I appreciated.
It makes me feel all warm and gushy when I see someone recommend me. I don't alway recommend them back though. But you're right, I have to like the writing, and it has to be relevant to my own page. I mean, I write fiction, and that's it. How can I justify recommending some Right-wing blurb about something I have no interest in? (Or left-wing for that matter?)
I only recommend publications I like and that relate to what I write about. All the publications I've recommended have gained dozens of subscribers even though I don't even have 100 subscribers yet. That tells me that my readers are also interested in what they write 🙂
Recommendations do seem to drive subscriptions, which is a nice surprise.
And I think you're right that recommendations that align with your own topic and point to something you truly enjoy are more likely to drive subscriptions to others. The days of link swapping are over—organic community is where it's at. :)
I consider if their work is relevant to my audience and if I love their writing. I don't want the Recommendations feature to become pointless, so I try to contribute to keeping it meaningful that way.
My main considerations are (a) is their writing interesting; (b) do they write well. In my experience, if the answer to those Qs are 'yes' then I'm bound to enjoy reading their work whatever the subject(s), and if that's the case I can usually find a way to 'sell' their 'stack to my subscribers. But then I do write about anything and everything!
Heh, that sounds familiar, writing about anything and everything.
I have been doing it the same way. However, I think substack only shows a limited number of recommendation to your readers, correct me if I'm wrong, and I haven't been able to figure out how to rearrange them in a different order.
EDIT: so apparently substack cycles these, glad I know that now!
They only allow three on the front page, and to get a different three you have to unpublish existing ones. I'm going to copy and paste them on to a separate page, when I can find them again. The list seems to be elusive, or I have become inept with age
Hm yes , I also noticed today that there is an option to add a custom page to your substack (pretty sure that's new). Maybe that could be a 'recommendations' page.
Given that any publication I recommend will end up in the notes feed of my subscribers I think it is really important to make sure that it is something I genuinely feel will be of interest to those who have chosen to follow my publication. I really hope that recommendations stay genuine. I have seen a few of the bigger names offering to add you to their recommends if you become a founding member (I.e. pay a lot of money) which I really don’t like as it feels like a really murky way of monetising the platform
yikes, that feels wrong. I mean, sure you could see it as advertising, but it's not transparent to your readers at all, not to mention the fact that they are recommending someone to their readers only because they are being paid to do it..
Yeah agree with others. I feel weird about the people who just subscribe to anyone. Maybe that helps them but they clearly aren't reading it or being discriminating, just playing the game. I'd rather actually care and keep it small.
As someone who writes about a very specific topic (crochet) but subscribes to a wide range of different newsletters (politics, tech, food, photography, art, poetry etc) I am in favour of subscribing to and reading a lot of different accounts. As a human my range of interests is huge and varied. But saying that, people who have subscribed to my publication have followed me for a reason, so I will only add accounts to my recommended list if I think they will be relevant and interesting to them as I don’t want to clog their notes feed with things that are nothing to do with why they hit subscribe on my page (even if I find them interesting).
That's how I feel too Kelly. I subscribe to different things because that's what I love about Substack, that I can easily widen my perspective by learning from these great writers. A recommendation though needs to be more specific to my audience.
I totally agree with you, but I in particular try to recommend exactly what I think is interesting. Mutual recommendations help a lot in promoting channels.
You know what? I just thought about it last night but I'm gonna spend time today writing recommendations for the writers I enjoy! Don't know yet how to ask for recommendations because I forget they exist haha, but great points!
🧠 - Being active on the Substack platform has been great for getting new subscribers. Also, showing genuine interest in others, learning from each other, having discussions, etc. are also things that , first of all, I really enjoy and that enrich my own thoughts / life, but that also give you new subscribers. Being visible and authentic, and of course putting effort into quality writing, basically.
Same here, although not "exponentially" yet. However, I am seeing my subscriber count tick up bit by bit as I read and comment on others' newsletters. I find that building community organically is the best approach. Cultivating real relationships makes the experience much more enjoyable than, say, pounding the social media pavement and trying to crack the algorithms in an attempt to force massive growth.
I agree. I've pretty well given up on Twitter and plan to delete my account. Nobody following me there has subscribed. Facebook isn't much better. I've probably picked up 90% of my subscriptions through Substack.
I'm a little confused because I have more subs (mostly free) since Notes started, but only a few of them are identified as coming "via Notes" in the notifications. Maybe the ones coming "via Notes" are coming in some very direct way? Insight, Substack? 🟧
I don't. Maybe it's a coincidence? Just seems to be a spike, and it's all coming from substack.com, some from the app. I don't seem to have new recommendations.
I find a lot of this a bit mysterious. For example I get new subscribers 'direct', but have no idea where they're actually coming from (Google Analytics doesn't show me much yet)
I dunno what I need to do but I seem to constantly see the same big Substackers with a smaaaall sprinkling of the lesser known. I definitely think my feed could look more varied than it does, but maybe I don't hop on enough! Maybe that's the problem.
100% - it's all about building connections with others. So much stuff we do is automated and overwhelmed by technology. Being able to communicate with others on a friendly and human level is a vital part of creating mutually supportive audiences and communities.
I agree with that whole-heartedly, but still, even if it's good writing, you still have to get noticed. That's the part that gets everyone down I suppose...or maybe I'm not as good as I hope I am? See? Second guessing myself already.
It becomes a matter of prioritisation and time though, with multiple ongoing projects I already feel guilty not having read some of the last posts of sub stacks I am subscribed to! Mea culpa.
That's right, actively participating in discussions helps to gain an audience, especially if people see that you're not squeezing those posts out but writing sincerely. And it's not just about that, it's also about the quality of your writing, the authenticity of your thoughts, and, of course, your articles.
Still observing / gathering data on the Notes effect (not the immediate 'hockey stick' that others experienced). My instincts tell me there are benefits from contributing regularly to Notes.
There are definitely benefits if you speak up and connect with people. Since I started using Notes I probably picked up 20-30 subscribers. Not huge, but gradual, which works for me. I'm averaging 1/day so far this month which is more than I've ever had. I told them I was seven short of 150 last week, and now I'm sitting at 153.
Yes, AND, from a reader perspective, I really don't like when I sign up for one substack, I go through multiple pages asking if I wan't to sign up for these others that I've never heard of. I imagine other people don't like that either.
From a writer perspective, I really only want people to sign up if they're interested in what I have to say. I'm not interested in empty subscribes. I think because I don't have that I have a high open rate and very few unsubscribes.
I know I've found my people when of course, we wanna grow... but when I read words like "If you take the time to thoughtfully find, interact with, and recommend writers..." I'm like, "pffft! Of COURSE!"
I love that we want strategy and answers, but that it doesn't fuel us to show up for other writers and genuinely enjoy their content!
Exactly! I did a little research and found the average writer recommends only 6 publications. I’m at around 18 now and want to get to 30 by end of May. There’s lots of great work out there and no reason not to help them along
Absolutely! I was just saying in another comment how I just thought about recommendations late last night, and will sit down today to start writing them! I'm gonna get on your level eventually, ahaha!
Thank you so much, Ben! It's bittersweet that it resonated. I really did think Spring was the last resort to keep her alive. I feel a bit guilty now on my walks with dad because I get to enjoy the long, warm, sunny days, but it's without her.
I really thought if she could just hold on... the longer, brighter days would be the life vest she needed to keep living.
🧠 - One of the best ways I've found of growing my free list is collaborating with other writers. I host interviews on both my 'stacks, Collected Rejections and Unruly Figures. Whenever they come out, the interviewee usually shares the post, which brings a new set of eyes onto my 'stacks. And it sends my readers to them, so it's a win-win. It's also just a great way of connecting with the community and getting to know more folks. If you haven't participated in an interview before, I highly recommend it. (And if you're a writer or historian, I'd love to interview you! Comment below!)
You have a very clever idea here, especially because the collaboration requires investment and clearly benefits both parties. It's an active exchange instead of a passive one.
I would be interested in talking with you. I'm a fibre artist and potter with a love of effective design.
I've just started doing this - I have my first "collaboration chat" with another Substack writer this weekend, and I'm excited to see what we both come up with.
Check out my stack as a potential interview. I’m not a historian but include a lot of nostalgia in my work. I write humor. How was that pitch? Fab? Meh?
Brilliant way to connect and get to know more people, Valorie! And I would love to be interviewed by you! In addition to my Substack, I've written about 150 articles for various publications on Medium and even been paid to write a few for independent online media.
I'm doing a featured artist interview on a monthly basis and have played around with making it a paid newsletter. Any tips/advice? My other question is around compensation. I've thought about inviting others to co-host a live event/workshop that I only offer to paid subscribers or charge an event fee. How do you then share whatever profit you make from the event? Especially if it's a paid sub offer rather than an event fee.
How do others approach fair compensation for collaboration? Is it just on a cross promotional basis?
Hi Mariah! I think this is a great question! I'd love to get to the point where I'm compensating interviewees for their time, but I'm just not there yet. I think you can just tell people that's where their money goes when they buy a subscription or a ticket. People appreciate honesty.
I'm interested in talking with you during an interview. Contact me at oicherua@substack.com
Regarding compensation: This is something that you and your collaborators should agree to ahead of time, preferably written down and signed as a document (a contract). It also requires transparency and honesty between both parties.
I agree with you, recommendations are definitely a good way to promote, and like you said, it's also a good way to get to know other authors. Interviews? Could you clarify what you mean by that?
Another great way to collaborate is by writing letters to each other and posting to your newsletter, this way both audiences can get to know the authors and they can develop a relationship by exchanging multiple letters.
I am very interested in this and will look into it a little more. I got this idea from Terry Freedman & Rebecca Holden. If anyone is interested in collaborating this way, and our audiences jive, please let me know.
I've been writing for forty years with ups and downs, but still struggle to build an audience. After six months here on Substack, I make only about $1,000/yr, and that was the low-hanging fruit, easiest for me to get. My writing on my own site has brought in Patreon support of about $600/mo , which has barely changed in many years of being on Patreon. Seems attrition rate is always about equal to new signups.
🧠 If you want to grow your free list - try to make lots of people go WOW over something you're interested in.
What's a thing that you're really, really nerdily fascinated with, that you figure other people might enjoy learning about as well, if you managed to get them interested in it? Okay. How about teaching it to them, in a way that directly or indirectly promotes your newsletter?
I did this on Twitter a while back: https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1491080740586782720 It's about an ancient flood I enjoyed learning about, and I tried to capture that my-mind-is-blown reaction in the way I wrote it up.
I'd tried this technique before with other threads, but this one really blew up. 9 million views led to 6,000 free subscribers in less than a week, plus around a hundred paid. By far, the biggest success I've had with anything in & around my Substack.
Since then, a lot has changed. Twitter is now either blocking or suppressing Substack links, depending on what day of the week it is, and sadly, what I did back then won't work in the way I did it. But the principle? Yes. That's evergreen. If you teach someone a really amazing thing in a way that makes them FEEL the excitement of it, they will see what else you've got. This has been a principle of good science writing since days of yore. (And, you know, of a lot of annoying clickbait. Don't tease them without delivering a good story!)
A bonus: teaching someone else is also a terrific way of learning that thing yourself: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/how-to-be-brilliant/201206/the-protege-effect So if you're feeling like "aaaargh, I can't do that, I'm not an expert on this thing," well, don't be an expert. Be an *amateur*. An enthusiast! (One who makes sure they've got their facts right!)
That's the best thing I know about growing a free list.
Yes. We have to try something a bit different now, a bit more indirect. But if you really get people's attention with something on Twitter, maybe there's another way to guide them towards a newsletter? I bet lots of folk will be trying stuff right now. But - this doesn't just apply to Twitter. It'll work anywhere where you can get people really excited by teaching them something. I've seen people have great success with it on Hacker News, reddit, all over the place.
I put up a video with the link displayed and direct to my profile where the substack is linked. Can't use direct links. The conversion rate dropped to 0%. If I log out of Twitter and search for my latest tweet with the substack link, it does not show up, it doesn't exist but for me. Only I can see it... 😂
I suspect you can still get round this with a thread, by having the first 4/5/6 tweets in a thread *not* linking anywhere, and then you put the link to your Substack in tweet 7 or whatever - so the engagement you get from the earlier tweets will drive people towards the link in the later tweet, even though that tweet might individually be getting suppressed by the Twitter algorithm?
I need to test this to be sure, but - if Twitter is suppressing *threads* that have Substack links in them, not just tweets, that would be spectacularly crappy.
This was my other big Twitter thread win: https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1466763517487370246 Got me 600 free signups. No link until the twelfth tweet! I think this approach will still work, and get around the whole "Mr Musk seems to hate Substack these days" thing...
Yes. This is how one of my pieces was successful. I did a deep dive into how I believe that the knitting pattern that we know as "the garter stitch" developed. It was super fun, and while I wasn't certain if my conclusions were true, they were accurate based off of my sources from the 1800s.
This is fantastic. Your passion and commitment shone through on that and I’m sure since then you’ve give those folks a reason to stay. I’m getting on the cusp of that will an article to come but there’s definitely more in the arsenal.
Hopefully I can be more than a "one hit wonder". 😆 We shall see. But so far, that's my big win, and I'm still keen to see if I can make something like that happen again...
I'm never logical. It's all smoke and mirrors and anxiety and uncontrollable screaming when deadlines approach. I'm amazed my own family reads my stuff, let alone anyone else!
That's a very good idea, I'll try to implement it sometime. I was thinking that people would be much more interested in reading/hearing about something from someone who is 100% passionate about it and who is so interested in the topic that they are willing to talk about it for hours. You have inspired me, thank you! 🧡
Probably not the right place to mention this but my newsletter's first anniversary is next Wednesday (May 3). Hard to believe it's almost been one year!
This is so interesting to know. I have picked up subscribers via recommendations but I haven't looked that closely at what portion of them are coming from there.
That's a multi-faceted question to attempt to answer in a comment. There are a number of things that Substack does to promote authors but mostly it's to provide a platform and a few tools to help you spread the word. Plus the existing community of Substack users to network with. They do feature a weekly Substack Reads post where they feature newsletters, often those recommended by Substack Readers. I haven't been featured in it but I know a few people who have and I think it's helped them a lot. Best to check the resources in on.substack.com
I'm wondering Mike- how do you balance the advice given to every artist- make art for the sake of making art- while also intentionally trying to grow your readership/audience? I'm finding it a bit of a double-edged sword. Is it realistic to create without the audience in mind? Maybe I'm just more self-conscious than others?
I watched the Avett Brothers documentary lately (highly recommend), and while it was a beautiful film from one of my favorite bands, they said something similar about just making music to make music. Yet...I have to wonder if they would have achieved the level of success they have if they weren't also treating it like a business? Or maybe it's really true that because they tuned everything else out success came to them?
I agree that it's two different hats! I just posted about this this week, after realizing that I really have no control over how many people buy my books (or subscribe to my newsletter): https://juliefalatko.substack.com/p/dtw-q-and-a-016. There was a great essay in the NY Times by Yiyun Li this past weekend about Ambition, and in it she says:
"So ambition has little to do with the intrinsic values of an artist’s work. An artist, if ambitious, must canvas like a politician: striving, soliciting and winning popularity; seeking (and demanding, appropriately in the case of West) external acknowledgment and approval. Some artists are good at cultivating art, others at cultivating ambition, and those who are ambidextrous deserve all our respect."
Oh wow, yeah, that's a really good question indeed. And it is SO HARD to negotiate with yourself about this stuff, so it's where it's very easy to feel self-doubting and insecure
Stephen King has an analogy too: you write with the door closed, and you edit with the door open. Two processes. And I guess you also do your marketing with the door open too! But doing both jobs is a huge learning curve, and very confusing on the days where you're trying to do one and your brain is all NOPE I WANNA DO THE OTHER THING.
But the reality is: we need to make something that fits the world. Where it fits the world is where we create an audience and where we get financially compensated so we can keep going. So I'm not a fan of the folk that say "I write for nobody except myself". They're either kidding themselves, or they're forgetting that great writing is collaborative, because it only becomes "great" when it leaves the writer and goes out and changes the wider world in some way and other people fall in love with it. Those people help make it great (so, you know, we owe them at least half of all our thanks, for their kindness and generosity and support.) That's the reality we have to work with.
Thank you for this insight! I think it's Julia Cameron that said something like the difference between successful artists and "shadow artists" is not necessarily talent but audacity. I like to think part of that audacity is believing in yourself so much others begin to believe, too.
I am just starting to see how to use content to make more content. I had always thought I would do voiceover or podcasts of posts but still haven't gotten to it. I'm very motivated after making the realization that podcast clips can become reels/stories. Etc. This seems so basic now that I'm putting it in words, but it's hard to see how it all comes together.
I love this reminder. "Try new things" Making videos about what your posting in substack on other media may also help turn "followers" into "subscribers"! Great idea.
I do weekly video posts and they get the most engagement by far. When you say you do videos of your monthly posts, do you mean a video of you talking it out? That sounds cool. (I do the voiceover, but not a video of it.)
i'm working on a podcast to go along with my substack but audio editing is a huge learnign curve for me and extremely time consuming. i can only imagine video editing!
Yeah, it's... a lot. I post at the end of the month (next word comes out tomorrow, for example) and the last few days get really hectic. Long nights tweaking shots and colour grading is not exactly fun!
But each time it gets a little faster, and I learn more about video exposure, audio, editing. So hopefully after a few more it'll be less stressful.
I use Davinci Resolve for editing! But if you're just starting out, Capcut is a great option. Both are free.
This was so well done and inspiring. It was also painful as I thought of all the videos I’ve taken of my children. I took video of my son when he was one day old. It feels tangible and real like I’m holding it but really it’s because I’m calling back to something very deep. More to ponder on this. Definite subscribe and restack. This broke and mended my heart.
Thank you Chevanne. It's hard to articulate how much it means to me when someone takes the time to tell me how something I made affected them.
Video, especially from our past, has so much power. I'm trying to incorporate all these old tapes into the One Words, and it feels as if I'm keeping the memory of the dead alive.
Maybe your children will use the videos you took one day, too.
i might steal this idea... i like the idea of speaking to my readers in a sort of low-key way... maybe it'll feel more authentic than making videos on tiktok, which i tried for a while (ugh)
Yeah, honestly it came from Instagram stories. I used to do videos in stories when I was walking my dog in the morning, and then when I mostly quit Instagram, some people said they missed it. I think people do like to see you talking right to them. There's the authenticity, or maybe it's just that people feel like they know you better if they can see how you look and sound when you talk.
I use my phone or my webcam. I do have video editing software that I use for book trailers or for an online class I just made, but for the weekly videos I don't typically edit them. I do add subtitles (I use an online site for that called Happy Scribe).
I agree Taegan! You can't grow without progress. You won't see progress unless you're willing to try new things. Though I've had pretty good feedback on my newsletter since starting in March, I'm planning to complement it with an interview podcast. So far my newsletter is hyperfocused on my travels, but I want to create a way for my audience to experience other travelers' stories as well. Hence, the podcast. The learning curve is steep as a wall, but my guts tell me this is the right direction, so...geronimo!
It will enhance you and your guests audio to make it sounds studio-quality. It works about 90% of the time and takes a lot of the effort out of trying to equalize your audio.
I wanted the Shure (had one from by Band days) but didn't want to spend all the extra $$ for additional equipment, so I went with the RODE, love it so far. Need to treat the room though... too noisy here.
Another great idea that I never would have thought of. It scares me to think about making videos, but that's probably a good reason to give it a try! Do you post those videos on YT or other platforms?
Moving forward however I'm going to post it on Substack first, using their native video player. YouTube ads really bother me. I'll post on YouTube the day after.
Once I have 3-4 videos on YouTube, I'll push some shorts and other strategies. Not much point until you have a decent chunk of content for people to dig into and want to subscribe.
I don't worry about the day very much. Mostly focus on trying to post in the morning (8am) and during a weekday (Mon-Fri). I also make a point to post at the end of the month, and a big swath of my subscribers keep an eye out for that time period.
I am in GMT+1 so 8am here is not so great for PST etc. I think I need to switch up the time though. Because my 8am is definitely too early... (I think)
Thanks for the good idea. I was thinking about recording the voice tracks in the future and posting them in addition to the article so people can listen to it on the road or somewhere else. I think that's a good idea.
🧠 One of the ideas I heard here last month (unfortunately, I don't recall the author)... They made business cards promoting their substack, with a QR code that took folks to their page. They said they left them on bulletin boards, and...basically... just around (in menus at restaurants, etc.). I loved this idea. Congratulate me — I ordered cards and they should arrive any day. :)
My newsletter is targeted primarily (not exclusively) to a professional niche. I look forward to having the cards at conferences and other meetings where I can tell someone what I'm doing and hand them a card — if I'm feeling confident, maybe even say, "You can subscribe right now" — rather than ask them to remember the url https://heighho.substack.com. Heck, I know that even Heigh Ho isn't easily remembered.
I thank whoever posted the idea (in absentia). I'll let y'all know how it goes.
I don't know if these cards will be helpful, but I like the idea of having an offline arrow in my quiver.
Since that thread (I was there too), I have been thinking about getting business cards as well, with qr codes, it saves me having to spell out my last name!
Where did you get them? Or is that a secret that I will hate you for, like in American Psycho.. (I always laugh out loud when seeing Christian Bale's reaction to that business card dropped on the table)
I haven't seen that fillum. I'm going to have to now. I got them from an English mail order company called Vista Print https://www.vistaprint.co.uk/business-cards They were really cheap, high quality and amazingly fast. However, I ordered so many (to reduce the per unit price) that they will outlive me. Hence my reluctance to acquire even more, even though Brad is right. I'm trying to reduce the amount of paper I have (I know that they're made of card, but it's the same principkle)
Hey Bob! I've had a similar idea as well, except instead of business cards, I'm thinking of ordering stickers with my logo and a QR. Personally, I think stickers have a more aesthetic appeal than business cards. People can use it to decorate their laptop case, water bottle, or notebook cover, etc. Anybody have thoughts on this idea?
I can see a place for both, Macy. Personally, I don't use stickers, but I do read bulletin boards. (I might guess that some of the difference is generational.)
But, to your point, now that I have the QR code, I don't necessarily plan on limiting it to business cards. We'll see what works. :)
I think business cards have a more business-like appearance than stickers. Of course, it all depends on what they will be. I think stickers with kitties are a 100% option, I love kitties.
I love that idea. Don’t an actually leave the house enough to make it worthwhile getting them. But, def one to make a not of in case my knees ever do let me get out more :-)
I took that persons advice and have been handing out my card and leaving it at communal places. Don’t know if I have new subscribers from doing this but I like the professionalism of it.
I've thought about doing the same thing and leaving the cards around cafes in Berlin. I reckon there's a fine line between establishing a complementary analog presence and littering.
I really like this perspective. As long as the cards are intentionally placed, and are not freely floating about the streets, then I think that it is okay
I’m just now starting to share my poetry on my substack! Here’s my last share (and oddly one of my most liked posts!) with my poem about how raw and vulnerable the writing process can be
I usually share my poetry as a bonus paid sub offer. I've said ahead of time that they are rough drafts or even unedited versions, which I feel like takes the pressure off for them to be perfect/polished. I'll always share some inspiration behind them, too.
One of my favorite, kind of silly ones was about the forgetfulness of squirrels. :)
Poetry (and short plays) tend to be bonus content for paid subs as well. It is definitely a good place to workshop things. My paid subscriber edition is also a good place to experiment with content and/or format. I do experiment across my newsletter since my content overall is personal stories/memoir, funny stories, and so on and that takes all sorts of different forms, but I feel like I can step out further with my paid subscribers.
I think the best way to grow my free list has been interacting sincerely with fellow Substackers. Crossposts have also been useful. Using services like Meco and The Sample have also been a huge push!
It is as effective as you want it to be. Engage with other high quality writers who may have a similar audience to yours. Be professional and prompt with your timelines and communication with them. Deliver the content that you promise them and be clear with them in terms of how you want your content presented. Finally, once their post highlighting your work goes live, be present in their comments section and engage with the other commenters to increase chances of getting subscribers.
I agree, Punit! Sincere interaction and genuine vulnerable writing is what brings value and what people want to see. I hadn’t heard of Meco before, so I’ll give it a look!
🧠 Don't discount the power of SEO and organic growth through search. Set your publication up in Google Search Console, make sure you're optimizing metadata using Substack's built-in SEO tools, and learn some SEO basics. You don't need to write like a robot to rank on Google -- in fact, the more human you sound, the better! But some basic understanding of how to structure your posts can help a ton in your rankings.
Next steps: get a custom domain and start getting backlinks. As you move up the Google ranks, you'll start seeing subscribers come in based on the power of your archive. And all for free!
Once you've set up your publication on Search Console, you can add your Substack RSS feed as a Sitemap. This means Google will learn about each new post as you make it, which may speed up your search indexing.
Once you have Search Console setup, go to "SItemaps" and paste in the word "feed" into the form there. For example, for mine it looks like the following: https://ironcladcreative.substack.com/ "Enter Sitemap URL" and I just paste the word "Feed" and click submit.
And once you get going, Substack will start generating a sitemap for you at YOURURL.substack.com/sitemap.xml -- submit both the sitemap and your RSS feed for optimal coverage!
Bookmarking this to come back to later - I didn’t know you could even set up your Substack in there as it’s technically not your domain, but will give it a try!
It's definitely more straightforward with a custom domain -- and to be frank, I think it's kind of a waste to attempt to build any kind of search ranking on a domain you don't control, but I understand some people don't want to deal with custom domains.
If you want to stick with the Substack subdomain, set up a Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager account. You can verify your site in Search Console using both of those methods. (I suggest GTM -- as you can include GA in your tag, as well as other analytics tools!)
I haven't really looked into the custom domain option. Do you happen to know if I can make this work if I have a pre-existing domain? I have one for my consulting business, which is relevant to my Substack. Would I set up the newsletter as a subdomain of my existing domain, and would that be worth it?
You won't necessarily get an SEO boost from using a subdomain -- Google tends to treat subdomains as unique domains for the purposes of reputation. (This is also why you don't necessarily get a boost for using a Substack subdomain.)
I set up a custom domain when I first started with Substack for my Mind Wise. I couldn't get a URL for mindwise as already popular, but I added "in" and ended up with www.inmindwise.com. I still have my professional WordPress site, and I send all my subscribers to my Substack Mind Wise to sign up with their emails. It seems to work well, and I am glad I set up the custom domain.
Interesting advice. It's a thorny forest for me, but since you make it so easy, I think I can figure it out (at least on a basic level) if I try hard enough. Thank you!
About 10% of my current subscriber base have come from search. My conversion rate is pretty low, but I also write on eclectic pop culture topics, so your mileage will vary depending on the service/content you provide. I wrote a bit more about my SEO performance last year here: https://www.nightwater.email/i/104121150/search-engine-optimization
I just hit a small free subscriber milestone on my Substack this week, I am still so happy people enjoy what I am writing about! I think having a consistent schedule is definitely key and being up front about how often you'll be posting (for me: 1-2 times per month).
Grats on your small free subscriber milestone!! I love this too. I committed to writing 2 e-letters a week and this "schedule" has kept me writing, and my subscribers get to know me better too.
I'm of the same opinion, having a clear schedule for articles helps us gather our thoughts. We clearly understand that we have to do so much in this month, if more, then cool, but you can't do less.
I still have a lot of conflict about "growth" and especially "growing," as if it's an active verb that we can "do." Nothing against Substack at all on this score; this is an artifact of the online hustle mentality.
My take is that I can't "grow" my list. I can write, and I can connect and engage with other people when and how I want to—which is often a lot. I like the "social" in social media, just not the advertising-driven endless scroll of older social platforms, and so Notes has been great for me. It can be a distraction, but it's also fun, I've met a lot of other writers, and I know it's helped a lot of new readers find my work.
Collaborating with other writers keeps showing up in my mind as a thing that could be interesting and productive, but when it comes down to actually finding ways to do that that are doable, work for both parties, and keep us both in integrity, it's a lot harder than it sounds. I'd love to hear more examples from folks who have actually done this sort of collab here and had it work out well -- and I'm open to collaborating, in particular with other writers of memoir, personal essay and autofiction.
As for bringing followers over from other social platforms, I do cross-post my Substack posts on Insta, FB, LinkedIn (and sometimes Twitter), and I only see the very smallest number of people coming across. Discouraging, really, but I don't care to fiddle much with that more, vs writing and engaging here on Substack.
AN ORDINARY DISASTER
A serialized book-length memoir of a man thrashing against—
and then learning to live with the fact that we are _all_ alone.
finding collaborators is trial and error , just sending a message here and there when you think it might be worth exploring. A few will message you back, but it also should make sense for both of your newsletters I think. Example of a successful collab I did a few weeks back, somewhat by accident. I was writing about HG Wells' the Time Machine and what lessons we as a society can draw from its themes, when I stumbled on a fellow Substacker's recently published article about eugenics, which happens to be relevant to the plot of the Time Machine. Contacted her, and she was kind enough to look into the topic and add her thoughts! Hope to do those kinds of collaborations more often.
Collabs are great. I am doing one now with a car designer, designing futuristic maglev vehicles for my novel project. Off Substack though, he doesn't have one (yet). But I will post about it soon! Also, open for collabs on anything spec fiction!
I think it's really important to grow on your own terms. Frankly, I really dislike the ultra-caffeinated, go-go-go, hustler mentality. We do not have to optimize every aspect of our lives. I'd much rather write what I want and publish to a comfortable schedule, rather than focus too much on "crushing it" (what a terrible phrase...)
I agree with you, and one major reason I'm not earning much as a writer is that I'm so turned off by the sleazy marketing tactics many people use I know I don't want to do anything like that. I'm also not consistently active on any social media platform because I'm an introvert and it's so easy to get sucked into scrolling and waste a lot of time. I suck at networking because I have no patience for small talk and superficial conversations.
Integrity is more important to me than anything else, even though I desperately need more income. I'm open to collaborating with other mental health and personal essay writers, but hesitant to initiate conversations about it because my subscriber base is so small and I'm so picky about who and what I'm willing to have my name associated with.
It's nice to hear you and others talk about how great Notes is. I haven't spent much time there, partly because I've heard other writers criticize it and tell horror stories of being harassed by right wing haters. I also read the transcript of an interview Substack's CEO did (thanks to Justin Cox for including the link in his newsletter) that was very disturbing. He clearly has no desire to do any content moderation whatsoever, and since anyone can comment on Notes it seems likely that it will become just as bad as Twitter.
I'm focusing on doing an artist interview once a month on my newsletter to show the "behind-the-scenes" creative process that I think is kind of mysterious/intimidating for a lot of people. My first one was with Tamzin, who just happens to be on Substack! But I plan on opening up to everyone, whether they're on Substack or not.
Asking them to cross-promote it among their channels/audience is sure to draw more readers and increase everyone's visibility. At least that's the hope! As well as offering inspiring and authentic "artist journey" stories we can learn from.
I resonate with a lot you say. I struggle with how much time and effort I want to devote to other efforts outside of my art and writing, as that consumes so much of my time and energy.
I'm 2 subscribers away from 100! My goal when I started my newsletter was to get to 100 subscribers by the end of the year/the 1 year mark of my publication. I can't believe I'm so close to hitting that goal already! 😳
I'm wondering how I can continue to get more subscribers though. A lot of the subscribers I got were from my other social media accounts. How do I expand to reach more people?
Hope you hit 100 today. I am 20 away from 100! just started mixing my life coaching wisdom with things that happen in real life and I have a lovely group of people following. Would also like to expand my reach. Just started at the end of January so still in the learning curve.
Hey! I’ve also just hit 100 subscribers two weeks or so ago. What worked for me were mostly recommendations (other substacks recommending mine), as well as mentions and interacting on Office Hours every week. I haven’t been as consistent with the latter as I’d like lately, but I am planning a return to form! And also, perhaps most importantly: publish consistently! Choose a schedule and stick with it.
I've seen you several times on this watch, keep sharing your opinion in the office watch. Try to connect with people here and have discussions on topics that interest you. Be sincere, and people will visit your channel, and if they like what you write, they will subscribe to you.
Just subscribed. Keep coming out to this forum, and commenting, and answering questions. People will subscribe if they find value in your writing. Congrats on 100!
✏️ Hello everyone. I think it would be really cool if we shared some pieces that we're proud of! Even if you just started your newsletter, I'd be happy to see what you guys out there are writing. I saw Sue Deagle do it on last week's office hours, so if you're here today: thanks for the inspo and sorry if I took your idea.
I just published a piece on avoiding burnout - something that feels pretty important when the "hustle culture" insists that we're always "on," My reaction to that - Nope! You have to protect your energy, and that means saying no to stuff.
A lot of readers enjoyed my essay “Auditioning to be a Mom,” about a cringe-worthy interview my husband and I had during the process of becoming approved as adoptive parents:
This is one of my faves, an interview with an entrepreneur during the onset of the pandemic lockdown who repurposed his startup team to design a new inexpensive ventilator...
Thanks for the invitation! This one was a pretty vulnerable one for me and something I'm actively still wrestling with. I know I'm not alone and I'd love to hear from anyone who has learned to better boundaries around "fixing" people/things. (Any other Enneagram 2's out there)? :)
I think I also shared a post in that thread that I am really proud of, but don't mind sharing it again (still proud of it after all!). Wrote about the lessons for our society and humanity's future that we can draw from HG Wells' the Time Machine, asked a fellow substack writer to chime in on the topic as well. https://roberturbaschek.substack.com/p/where-were-going-we-dont-need-roads
I will share a second post here, that I am also still proud of, it is a series of posts I did just after the Ukraine war started, where I interviewed the 21-year-old trans woman xenia, who had to flee Kharkiv through the subway: https://roberturbaschek.substack.com/p/russian-invasion-of-ukraine-part . I was extremely worried (still am, to be honest) about the war and where it was going, and it felt incredibly useful and cathartic to put all my energy in journalism.
🟧 There are so many substack writers to love, but my heart sinks when I see my mailbox crammed with notifications. It gets overwhelming, especially since some people in the fields that interest me write several / many emails per day. [Do others feel like this too?]
Would it be possible for READERS to have an option to get one big email from substack per day, within which are links to that day's subscribed newsletter emails? Then I could go there when I am in reading mode.
Thanks for your prompt reply, But I just don't do apps on my laptop. They make me feel like my private space is being colonised. Maybe that is just a personal weirdness, or maybe others feel like that too.
I make a Gmail filter for every newsletter and put it in a "newsletter" label, so that I can read and peruse when I feel like it, not when the newsletter sends out. It also shows up on my Substack page on my laptop.
As I understand you, these tons of letters just make me depressed. But if there is one big letter, it will be many times easier, at least for the mental part of me.
I don't think that there is, though I'm not a staff member so how would I truly know. However, i think that if a reader has the app they can choose to get only app notifs and not emails, which i think is what happened to me lol. I don't get emails from who im subscribed to anymore but I do get all of their posts in the inbox on the substack app. Which I prefer, because I can just open it when I want to read, and I don't feel overwhelmed by having the newsletters mix with my other emails. Plus, you can always turn the little red numbers for the app notifs off, so you don't need to see how many posts you've got waiting - if that helps?
🧠 I've found that the pieces I've been more nervous about publishing are often my most popular, the more vulnerable, the more people relate. I know we know this already, but then often we don't apply it because it's easier to continue posting 'safer' things. If you have something to say but you're afraid of the reaction, this is your sign to do it. Test the water, see what comes back!
If you want to grow, I think it's essential to go outside of Substack. I use Inbox Reads and The Sample, and both have worked decently. I'm registered in a couple of others, also, but those two have been the best so far.
Both have free and paid options. With Inbox reads, the paid option puts your announcement at the top for the time you pay for. Regardless of clicks or subscribes.
With paid option on The Sample, you only pay if someone actually subscribes.
I am of the same opinion, but to me, it sounds like something very complicated and incomprehensible. Sometimes I wish someone would enlighten me about it, because I don't have time to figure it out at all, unfortunately.
I had a long, leisurely, in-person (yes!) coffee meeting with a professional PR person who has seen it all here in Silicon Valley. She strongly suggested that I write excellent content related to my newsletter, then offer it for free to the leading media outlets relevant to my work. Cold call submissions, over and over again, just like freelance writers have done forever. It just takes one acceptance to get your work (and a reference to your newsletter) in front of a huge audience.
Best thing I've seen was the business cards thing. Put a QR Code on it and leave it where your target audience would be. I haven't tried this but as I grow and mature on the platform it's something i'm considering!
✏️ I find engaging with other writers on Substack, particularly by restacking quotes from their work on Notes with my own commentary added, is really helpful! Plus it’s a great way of scrapbooking both for myself and others the things I find genuinely interesting or inspiring.
Of course, we can’t all just write to and for each other — and in trying to reach outside of the Substack community I’ve found some difficulty.
Subreddits can be pretty brutal about self promotion (understandably) and HackerNews even more so. Any advice for sharing work (in good faith, that you genuinely think is valuable) outside of Substack would be great! Particularly for writers like myself who don’t have an audience elsewhere to promote to.
You're right, interaction with authors and audiences within Substack helps a lot to promote and build your name on this site, and it is also very interesting because there is such a welcoming community. But still, outside of Substack, there is a large audience. And how do we attract it to authors like us who have no external sources of audience? That's a good question.
🧠I've been on Substack a little over 6 months and I'm definitely still figuring out how I want to be on here. I came on with 500 Mailchimp subscribers, and now am almost at 900, which is kind of mind blowing (thanks Substack! most of the new subscribers come from inside Substack).
I write about getting creative work done, and a huge part of what I write about is how social media broke my creative process for years, in that I would go to the quick fix of tweeting for validation, rather than the long slow process of writing a book. I'm now almost entirely off social media, and one thing that I find is that I want to replace that quick-fix with Substack stats. (Similarly, I think Notes is awesome and I absolutely cannot handle something like that -- I'll stare at it all day long trying to be witty for strangers rather than writing.) (Ha, I'm realizing now I don't know if this is advice 🧠 or a question ✏️).
The way I'm doing this is treating Substack like a part time job (because it is!) and also being mindful of writing what's interesting to me and what I'm thinking about, because I know as soon as I start trying to write to make other people happy, I'm losing the thread of my creative intuition. (Also, happily, when I write about what's interesting to me right now, people seem to respond more positively and say they relate.)
This is all to say: if you also sometimes struggle with how social media and the internet have messed with your desire for praise, I see you, and I'm with you. I really appreciate Substack for giving me a place where I can control more of what's coming at me, and where I can actually get paid for writing (vs., like, Twitter, where it felt like getting spiky dirt balls thrown at me all day, and I for sure did not get paid to tweet).
You're all awesome! I think it's so cool how much we're all writing.
Very nice words, all in fact. Social media distracts me so much at times that I can't concentrate on writing, and I try to be very thorough in my writing. Maybe you have some tips you can give me. I would be very grateful.
My tips would be to take a break from social media. Have you read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport? He's got good tips in there about how to take a break -- mostly it's that you need to decide ahead of time what you want to do with your time instead of being on social media. It sounds like for you that's writing. Delete it from your phone, and change your passwords to something complicated, and then make sure your computer doesn't remember your passwords, so every time you log in (after you take a month at least off) on your computer, you have to look up your password and manually put it in.
I will also say that it's hard. Breaking up with social media (and the pull of the internet) is hard. There are times where I'm writing and I really feel like "Oh! I should check my email!" and to sit there and NOT check my email is sometimes physically uncomfortable. But the more I'm able to do it, to sit there in the discomfort, the easier it gets.
The other thing I'll say is that the fact that you're a writer means that you have something to say, and something worth hearing, and it's annoying that these tech companies are getting in the way of your ability to be creative and tell your story with writing. The world needs to read your writing!
I'm going to check out your newsletter - seems like we're writing about similar topics of distractions of modern life. My newsletter about staying sane in a digital world.
Yes I completely agree with you about Notes! I cannot handle another scrolling apparatus in my life and similarly, I would spend all my brain energy trying to come up with witty things to say! I wrote about my reaction to Notes in my newsletter, Scroll Sanity https://carmellaguiol.substack.com/p/i-didnt-come-here-to-scroll
Yeah, I was startled by how my immediate reaction was, "oh noooo, nope nope nope." I am also aware that other people can handle it just fine. But I for sure know that I cannot.
This! Feeling completely seen and comforted by this share. Congratulations on almost 900 subscribers! I just started my Substack this month with no email list crossover, this is inspiring!
I would really recommend using the recommendations feature here on Substack. It's brought me over a 100 subs. I'd also say share the brilliance of Substack as a concept and a platform with your lists and social media followers elsewhere as sometimes folks just need some encouragement and as we know those platforms can be really distracting.
I’m yet to write my first recommendation. I’m interested in what you say in your recommendations, When you write yours do you use a pattern or formula?
🖍️May I just say that the responses y’all post here are super helpful? I doubt many of you are my target audience (those approaching and in the early days of retirement), but I love the way y’all help each other.
I was excited about this chance to write, but had no idea I would learn so much. Thank you!
✏️ Hi all! Sorry if this has already been asked but I’m lost in the thread! Quite a few have said they find notes to be a great way of finding readers. Can I ask how? I have barely posted on notes mainly as it feels like posting into an abyss… all I see are large accounts with many readers already posting. Seems a bit intimidating. Not sure how anyone will find a tiny stack like mine!
Hi Priya. I use notes to try to reach new people who wouldn't otherwise see my newsletter. I'd recommend to keep it up. And try to write to the best of your ability every time. Some say consistency is key, and it is important. But quality beats quantity.
Just keep posting everywhere, and linking back to your best articles. Good luck!
I was extremely pleased with one of my notes in which I tried to get a discussion going about free speech. Just tried out whether that would work on that platform, I guess with some anxieties left over from my Twitter days, but was positively surprised by the several people that took the time to share their thoughts and engage in a nuanced discussion! This was the note: https://substack.com/profile/47938040-robert-urbaschek/note/c-14893989
I mean, if only one person stumbles on your post and engages with it, that's a win in my book.
I have the same problem: other big writers gets lots of traction, and my posts on Notes get none/little. I think what helps is to have a network of other writers that already are subscribed to you, and maybe subscribe back if their work interest you, because then its more guaranteed that your note actually gets seen. I think an extremely small percentage of non-writers are on notes, and i think its built specifically for writers to connect if im not mistaken. So my best tip, for another writer struggling with the same, is to perhaps be lucky and find a "lets introduce ourselves in the comments" note, or to interact with (restack, comment, etc) on the notes of the writers you already follow. Maybe they'll check you out and restack your latest post and you'll gain some traction?
🟧 Hey! I’ve got the same problem. Would love to know how the Notes algorithm actually works, so I might adapt to it. Is post frequency what determines the visibility of one’s Notes on the wiser network, or the number of subscribers? Would love the @Substack team’s take on this.
Thoughtfully engaging with others writing, in the comments and with restacks, will help you get in front of new audiences.
As a reminder, there are three tabs in Notes:
The Subscribed view shows notes and activity from writers you have subscribed to directly.
The Home view shows notes from writers you are subscribed to and writers they recommend, making up your extended network.
The My Subscribers view is where writers will see posts from people who subscribe to you. We’re experimenting to see if this tab can help writers and their readers build stronger connections through Notes. In addition to their notes and activity, very soon you’ll see indications of their subscriber status (for example, free or paid).
Notes is great because you can think of it like areas of overlap. "Home" shows you who you subscribe to, and who those people recommend. "Subscribed" shows you just those who you subscribe to. "My subscribers" shows the people who subscribe to you.
If you are just starting out, it might look sparse. As you follow and discover more newsletters, it will grow. Don't be shy about chiming in on a conversation you can see on Notes, the community is very friendly and loves the engagement. Lots of curious clickers no matter what, so you may get tons of subscribers just by showing up!
But start small, and start in a way that is comfortable to you. Notes is a low pressure environment, and you can work at your own pace and make it what works for you.
Fear not, keep writing, whoever needs to know will notice you. If you write with your soul, people will notice you sooner or later. The most important thing is to keep writing, persistence is what we need.
🧠 Hello everyone! I'm a small substack with just over 10 subs, and I'm looking to grow my newsletter. I've been active on Notes, but my own posts there get extremely low traction because I'm not really being seen by anyone except the one or two fellow writers. But I comment on others' notes and posts, and try to interact with other writers on here.
I don't think there are many people in my personal life or on my social media that are really interested in what I do, though some of my friends and family are subscribed to my newsletter. What I'm looking for is a way to grow my audience that I can do from substack, or that isnt telling everyone I meet on the street about it. I don't mind that it takes time to grow, I knew that when I started, but if I could hit 50 subs by the end of the year I'd be super happy. Maybe 100 if I'm lucky!:)
Hi all! I’ve experienced some growth in my list recently by collaborating and cross-posting with other writers - it can be daunting but I’d never say no to working with someone else now. You get to meet awesome new people and produce and share work you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to!
Incidentally if there’s anyone out there writing about parenting (particularly young kids) then hit me up!
I don't write specifically about parenting but I am planning a "Life lessons from my 9 month old" post in the next week or so. Being a new mom, parenting just sort of filters into my newsletters because it's a lot of what my daily experience is.
Beyond collaborating on posts etc., I'd love to start an accountability group for new parents who are also writers and trying to balance the two! Sometimes I feel like it's an impossible task but I know others are also doing it! <3
Awesome! Just checked out your newsletter, there's some great stuff there! I'd be interested in cross-posting and forming a parent/writer's accountability group if that seems helpful for others. Send me an email -thebarefootbeat@substack.com.
You should check out my substack, I publish a weekly newsletter on parenting strategies targeted towards academic readiness from 0-5. The information is all from The Basics which is a nonprofit that started at the Harvard Achievement Gap Institute. I am partnered with organizations in my community and also have the Substack!
Something I learned (or re-learned) this week is to not take for granted that people from you social media accounts, assuming they all know that you publish a newsletter. I put out a reminder to people on Instagram this week because I'm stepping up my writing, and I asked people to join the newsletter so they could witness the changes. I got a bunch of new subscribers that had no idea I even had a newsletter just from that single update.
By simple interactions I mean interactions wherever they are possible to whomever they are possible. This includes both readers and writers.
For instance, if you have a reader comment on your post, a like and a follow up comment goes a long way. It has the possibility of becoming another topic to write about or commented on by more than the original reader.
And as far as writers, checking Notes here and there and commenting on what they put out, or commenting on their long form writings as well.
Even commenting or replying to comments other writers have received if you have input yourself.
All of it, including what you have done here, shows you're interested in more than typing up a few things and hoping people subscribe. It shows you're interested in fostering and interacting with a community.
And community is what is attractive here. Community makes Substack and other media platforms run. It's what makes them thrive.
Thank you for outlining what you meant by simple interactions. I always feel the pressure to be doing some grand sharing campaign of my posts on all social media platforms, but I think you're right about just interacting with others.
We forget about the power of just being human and being interested. A small community is stronger than a bunch of drones who don't care about what you have to say.
🧠 Hey guys! One thing that’s worked for me consistently have been collaborations with other writers. The recommendation feature is a big factor in my growth, and though I don’t have that many subscribers yet (118, with a goal of reaching 500 bu the end of the year), I’ve seen steady growth from this, along with mentions from other newsletters with more subscribers. Word-of-mouth, that’s what’s responsible for steady growth. Interacting on Office Hours has also been important, as I get a few subscribers every week from these threads (by the way, if you want to read some vulnerable personal essays and memoir, come check out Practice Space!)
Great advice, in addition to your words, I would like to add. Do not forget that the number of recommendations is not limited, you can recommend everyone you like who has a similar theme, and someone is sure to start recommending in return.
Well collaborate can mean anything involving two writers. It can be recommending each other’s newsletters, cross-posting each other’s posts, or mentioning each other in our own posts. That’s what I’ve tried so far, and it’s worked. There’s also writing a guest post for another publication, which I haven’t done yet, but I’d love to.
Hi! Usually they’re people whose writing I like, whom I get in touch with asking them to read my stuff. If they like it, I then go further and ask them if they want to collaborate with me.
Needing some clarification around recommendations- are people saying their Substack grows when THEY recommend other writers? Or when other writers recommend them? I've kept my recommendations to just three or so newsletters but interested in how maybe I should shift my strategy here.
🧠 One thing I am currently trying is to create a "Series" of themed posts that interlink with one another. That way, if someone comes across one part of the series, they can read the others and be tempted to subscribe. So far, I have series running on task management for creators and freelancers, and how to communicate better with clients.
I have a slightly more organic approach as well. I have a high-level idea of the areas I want to cover, but that does get altered a bit through the writing process.
The topic "how to communicate better with clients" sounds interesting, I'll have to read it at my leisure. And the idea of a series of thematic posts is very intriguing, I will take note of it.
I've done something similar recently, and I wrote a bunch of content related to some recent legal events. I'm starting a running post (that I will eventually pin to the top of my substack) that will kind of be like a year-in-review of legal issues, with links to whatever I wrote.
I find that the best thing about Substack is when I genuinely esteem another writer for their posts and they genuinely esteem me for mine -- and we have great dialogues in both of our comments sections. You can't force it, although you can make a good effort every day, reaching out to our peers, our fellow writers. But when it happens and it's genuine, it's pure Sustack magic.
More than once, I've noticed authors actively communicating with each other on their channels, and it seems so friendly. I understand that these people communicate with each other sincerely, they are interested in each other's work, which is fascinating.
Recommendations have been a huge help, but marketing, promotion, sharing, cross promoting, investing in yourself and ultimately being a good writer with great content is what drives free sign ups. Paid sign ups are another story...
Hi writers! I am looking to connect with other Substackers who joined the platform in connection with or in preparation for a book on the same topic. Hoping to find people in all stages of the book process!
My Substack, Non-State Actress, is focused on making national security and defense relevant, interesting, and accessible for non-experts. I am writing a book (with a companion digital resource) with the same name and concept and use SubStack as a way to share abbreviated chapters and get feedback between deadlines and such. Prior to publishing here, I hadn’t published anything in my own name…*ever* and it’s been a REALLY helpful on-ramp. I would love to learn from others who started on Substack for similar reasons, or ended up on the book route after starting on Substack!
Maggie, good to meet you. I specifically joined Substack to nudge me to write my next manuscript - very effective, am almost there. I self-published my first book on IngramSpark. Am now looking at hybrid options for the next one.
✏️ 🟧I am a complete newbie. I have participated in the OpEd Project at the University where I teach. 1. How do you decide to write for 'yourself' i.e. Substack vs writing an OpEd or the like for publication somewhere?
2. I write essays on 'life' as I imagine most of us do. Why would I think that anyone would be interested in what I have to say?
3. I have published academically for years but this is a whole new thing. It's 'easy' (not at all lol) to publish in a research format but the essay is a whole 'nother thing. Any pointers? Thanks
1- Write what makes you happy. Honestly, if you wrote an OpEd style newsletter that might be cool, I haven't seen anything like that. But if you write personal essays, that would be great too and I know people would love it!
2- People are interested in what you have to say because nobody else is you! You have experiences and wisdom and stories that nobody else on earth could replicate if they tried. Don't let the comparison game stop you--you have something that nobody else has, and that is YOUR story!
3- There's no science to newsletter writing, in my opinion. You can write it like a letter, like a note to self, like an OpEd. The important thing is to just write. You will find your voice, in time. It took me two or three years of blogging to realize what I was about and what style I like. I'm a slow learner, so it probably takes most people less time to figure it out!
Ruth, I was going to reply to your questions, but after reading Scoot's response I couldn't say it any better and agree 💯 with that advice.
The only thing I would add, since you're used to publishing academically, is that online writing is different. I had to learn to write much shorter sentences and paragraphs online than I was used to. Single sentence paragraphs are fine in digital articles.
Also, I had to learn to use simpler words; my vocabulary is more extensive than the average reader's.
Finally, adequate white space is an important part of correctly formatting an online article. Many people read on their cell phones, so what seems like a short paragraph is long when read on a small screen. Blocks of text should be short, and it helps to use headings, subheadings, and quotes to separate those blocks into manageable chunks.
Hope this helps, and remember to write first and foremost for yourself. So what if no one reads your words at first? Eventually, people who resonate with your writing will discover it and want to read more.
Great advice on the formatting and adequate white space! I still have a hard time forcing myself to have paragraphs less than 3-4 sentences but it really IS all about the look, too.
Hi and welcome! I honestly think it's just the unknown that feels intimidating as I've only ever written personally essays but writing an OpEd sounds super scary.
I just listened to a podcast with the poet Maggie Smith as a guest and she said "specificity is sticky." Her takeaway, after writing a memoir was that people can weirdly relate to the more specific stuff you share about your life that you actually think no one will care about or understand.
And I think she's right!
My other advice is just try it out and see what resonates. If it resonates with you, first, it's more likely to resonate for others. Good luck!
I identify with your journey. I'm a recovering academic and educative writer primarily related to my professional work in mental health. My grounding for all my early years was pursuing everything spiritual, holistic, and enlightening. I've brought more of my personal story into my writing; those that give me honest feedback feel I might need a ways to go. My last article only had 3 or 4 references, which is a positive step for me.
🧠I have had my Substack for one month, and have committed to posting twice per week -- 630 am my time zone, which appears to be helpful. I am getting about 70% open rate, and much of that is within the first few hours as people are getting going in their day. I have also begun scheduling posts, so that I am not always "on deadline". I am also intentionally NOT marketing too aggressively. I share via my LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter channels, and when I think a certain post is of particular interest to someone in my life, I'll send the link to them by text or e-mail. My goal is to build slowly and steadily, so that I can "work out the kinks" as I learn what's best.
Thanks, Matt; It is interesting that I haven't seen anyone else talk about really personal connecting. I do this when I write something I value and want to share it with a close friend or colleague. I send the URL of my article by email or message. I get my most and sometimes only trusted and honest feedback from doing this.
And it's true that chasing numbers as fast as possible is not always a good idea. I like your approach of slowly gaining a solid and good audience by sticking to the term "work out the kinks". That said, you put out as many as two posts a week, that's some serious persistence and should be commended.
"Put simply, Pascal’s Pensées is more silhouette than portrait.
Nevertheless, it is both striking and brilliant. Much like Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, it stands tall, remains incomplete, and inspires awe. All in all, it’s quite a metaphor for that brief flash we call life, no?
I mention all the above because Substack—the platform upon which I write and send this newsletter—has launched something of a digital pensées in the form of its Notes app.
Substack Notes is a new Twitter-like service for Substack’s writers and readers to “share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more.” Its stated purpose is “[to create] a space where every reader … can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things [they are] reading on Substack and beyond.”2
It represents another front in Substack’s noble war to pry social media from the cold dead hands of advertisers and into the warm embrace of artists the world over. Indeed the launch of Notes further solidifies Substack’s pivot from newsletter network to a new “economic engine for culture.” I, for one, am cheering loudly from the peanut gallery (yet I may already be in Teddy Roosevelt’s arena given my three years writing White Noise)."
Hello everyone! I’m still learning because it’s barely two months since I started here but I think growing your email list is also about growing your community and a reciprocal interest in each other is vital. I know I’m already writing better just for writing in community.
🧠 If you're having trouble writing content for your newsletter, here is one simple thing I found that helped:
- Write content that's enjoyable or useful to YOU.
I've heard many musicians say that they create the music they want to hear. If you find enjoyment or use in your writing then it will be easier to keep going!
100%. Putting yourself in the shoes of your audience and approaching things from their perspective is one of the best ways to ensure your content is useful and relatable.
🧠I wouldn't go so far as to call this a "strategy", but Recommendations from fellow Substack writers certainly seem to propel free subscriptions. What do you all think?
✏️ Any fellow international news/politics writers? Perusing the site I observed that substack is still mainly dominated by US news, or at most global news from the US angle. Just want to reach out and see if there's a possibility of forming a small cadre of writers focusing on international political news from multiple countries' perspectives.
I would say that I write from my own perspective, in which the U.S. can definitely play a larger role due to its outsized influence on global events, also sometimes from a Dutch perspective, but I think most of all, from a human perspective, which, frankly, is missing from most contemporary discourse. I don't do current event news, however, I choose topics that I think are important and do deep dives, hear out all sides, and try to get to the truth of the matter.
Likewise, I try to write about areas of interest where a holistic and human perspective is missing. Though as a great reader of contemporary discourse and journalism, I find pieces that stimulate me to delve deeper and explore at least an aspect of the topic in a more enlightening way.
🟧I love the idea of Notes, but concerningly feel like the resource to run it isn't sustainable for current substack business model. I am not sure we are profitable before notes where there were just us writers and newsletters readers and now the substack team has to run a total new social network. Weirdly, I, a no-name writer who loves the idea of substack and wants to thrive on it, just want some reassurance that Notes can last in its current form without bringing in algorithm and ads in the future.
Yes! This! I'm still extremely new here, as in joined this month new and I genuinely enjoy the current state of Substack, how it works, the intimate feel. And would love to see Notes remain without algorithm or ads as well.
Thoughtfully engaging with others writing, in the comments and with restacks, will help you get in front of new audiences.
As a reminder, there are three tabs in Notes:
The Subscribed view shows notes and activity from writers you have subscribed to directly.
The Home view shows notes from writers you are subscribed to and writers they recommend, making up your extended network.
The My Subscribers view is where writers will see posts from people who subscribe to you. We’re experimenting to see if this tab can help writers and their readers build stronger connections through Notes. In addition to their notes and activity, very soon you’ll see indications of their subscriber status (for example, free or paid).
I am not worried about my own growth but Notes' longevity in its current form. I know it's off topic, sorry for that, ... but at least can I get someone in substack saying that running Notes isn't a liability financially and will change substack into what we don't like in the long run?
🟧 - First time in one of these Office Hours. Thanks for doing this.
I have been researching (and reviewing your posts on the subject) regarding conversion to paid options. I have two questions:
1. Is it within guidelines to offer benefits outside of substack, such as merch and/or other prizes?
2. If the Founding Member price is higher than the annual membership, is it okay for that to be a one-time fee; or is that automatically an annual fee?
Welcome! I think for 1 you are free to do what you like, just like you can leave substack and take your subscribers with you. you are in charge of your substack, is how they have consistently said it. For 2, it is annual. or you would have to do it through Stripe/paypal/ko-fi instead and then gift them the subscription in exchange.
This is all new to me, I have never written before and I started posted for my first time yesterday. I am working on personal journeys, mainly health and loss related, to inspire people and give them hope. I have to set up Social Media but I mainly need to learn all things Substack, I haven't even figured out how to update my name to match my brand yet I am that knew. It is a little scary but I figured if I don't dive in head first it will never happen. So I am here to learn.
Hello! It's great to have you here:) I'm relatively new here too, though I've been on here for a couple weeks by now. I'm glad you're getting into writing - it can be quite fun! I hope you enjoy it here!
We're going to try something new this week! Start your comment with an emoji to signal who you are looking to talk with at Office Hours.
✏️ - when asking questions or seeking feedback from fellow writers
🧠 - when sharing strategy or advice for fellow writers
🟧 - when asking a question you hope the Substack team can help answer
Use your emoji keyboard or simply copy and paste the emoji at the beginning of your comment.
✏️ - Hello fellow Substackers!
I'm currently writing Fintech R&R, a Fintech Product newsletter covering all sorts of Fintech topics from a Product development and strategy angle.
I publish every two weeks and getting steady growth some weeks and stagnant growth other weeks. As this is very much an evenings and weekends thing for me I'm curious to know of anyone has any strategies for making the publishing process and also using notes more efficient?
Just for context, I publish on Substack every fortnight on Friday, then the following Monday I'll paste the content into LinkedIn as an article and put the subscribe link in the comments. I'll sometimes post to notes a couple of days after that as well but wondering if there's a more efficient way of doing all this without spreading it across 5 days...
Thanks in advanced :-)
I like to write my newsletters in advance. I've crated a simple content calendar where I note down what I want to talk about, then track the publication date and when it needs to be written by. I then use the scheduling tool in Substack to arrange for publication on my schedule. You can also start on drafts and save them so you don't lose your ideas.
Blimey, you sound organised! I use a spreadsheet myself: https://terryfreedman.substack.com/p/article-planner
This looks like some good stuff!
Thanks, Paul. Download it, it's free. There's a Google Sheets version and an Excel version.
Great tips Paul. I think I can certainly write and schedule a few days in advance but as I usually link my topics to some news that occurred that week I can't schedule it too far ahead. The content calendar for ideas and concepts is a great suggestion though. Thanks :-)
Hi Jas, I use a combo of spreadsheets and Google Docs before pulling it over to Substack, with monthly topics planned out a year in advance to help with the research effort. And I split the month between writing & outreach (we all have the marketing responsibilities, like it or not).
I see your reference to strategy a couple of times. My focus is strategy - happy to collaborate.
George
Hey George! Awesome tips :-). I'm not going to plan that far ahead but planning a month or so in advance would make the process quicker.
Thanks for the tips and yeah I'd love to collaborate. I'll message you
Subbed! Sounds like good content! 🫡🙌
Thank you Taylor :-)
Great idea! That makes it easy to visually sort comments.
Yes! I'm digging all the organization improvements to office hours. It's made a big difference!
Agreed!
🟧On my MacStudio, the emoji's wouldn't work when I clicked on them. I had to cut and paste them.
I am love the Substack world thank you
I meant to write i am loving multi tasking over here ; ) currently on book tour ; )
✏️ 🧠 have kept a blog for years (now defunct), written for newspapers, etc; but I can't quite figure out how to just *get started*: like, do I just write something & send it out with a big "HOWDY"...? Question: strategies for getting started?
I think they should put together an easy-to-find (top level) manual on how to start the fully and optimally set-up substack site with the steps in the best order. I had to dodge all around between FAQs piecemeal to figure it out, and I'm still confused.
I think they should organize it in sections. The first would be what are all the basic things you should do to set up your substack page in a way that is best for the future. Once all those are done and your site is percolating along, the nest phase should be what are all the things you do to get basic promotions going and use the site optimally. The final section for after all that is running smoothly should be what are the most effect promotional tools to expand it. Each section should give every STEP you need to take to make the happen with words that are current to links and buttons the site actually employed (as some do not seem to be any longer). It should give you all the essential basics and then, where necessary have links to other article that explore that more deeply; but should be able to be confident you've done all the essentials in the best way possible. I, for example, still don't fully get how to easily integrate notes with other sites when I am reading their articles and want to mention something related on my site or how to integrate them within my own artcicle's pastes so readers will be inclined to use them. They just sit there off on the side. Unless I write emails to readers to actively promote them (which I don't want to do), there doesn't seem a natural path for readers to explore them after reading an article. I am probably just missing the obvious, but that is the point regarding the tutorial.
I suggest just starting. It's really no different than blogging. Decide how often you want to post, what day(s) so you can add that to your About and newsletter description and then have fun. Substack gives you prompts for the first post that I sort of found helpful. That gives readers a chance to understand who you are, where you're coming from and what you plan to write about. If you can, import the emails from your blog, or send a personal email to those readers and friends/family to let them know they can find you on Substack. I only started in March, but I've truly enjoyed the community and talent here. It's a fun place to be. Just don't overthink it. Yes, you want to find subscribers, but that will come with good work. xo
(A very tentative 🧠)
That's all I did for my very first post. I shared it with a few close friends and then started interacting with the Substack community by reader other people's posts, commenting on their pages, subscribing to those Substacks I most enjoyed. Then I set myself a weekly posting cadence and have just kept all of the above it and it's been lovely.
I think once you have a certain number of posts it's a good strategy to have a central pinned post that serves as a sort of "Welcome new readers" type post. I've seen a few do that and I only recently introduced one myself.
Posting Cadence and 'Intro for new readers' interesting Nathan ☺️ tell me more
😄
I pinned this post (https://slake.substack.com/p/im-new-here-where-do-i-start) at the top, so it looks like this if you happen to click through: https://slake.substack.com/
The other thing about that one was that I didn't send it out to my subscribers, which means it's actually quite useful to track the stats of. I know that any clicks come from true website clicks, rather than clicks from emails. (It'd be possible to subtract those from total views if I had mailed it out of course, but it's easier this way haha). Not that I look at stats at all ... 🤣
As for cadence, not sure if that is even the right term, but I just mean I got into a regular sequence of scheduling my next post to come out (more or less) at the same time each week. I think that can be useful for some subscribers. I subscribe to several Subs that post exactly the same time each week and I always look forward to it, knowing when that email is going to pop up. A nice bit of anticipation.
Cheers Nathan. The idea of pinning a post sounds like worth a go.
Important part is to choose a niche that you resonate with and a newsletter name that people can easily find. The important step is just to start and you can learn as you go and optimize and test and evolve. The learning curve isn't especially steep and it's all rather rewarding.
I found these articles very helpful to get started
Paul has good info here as well as other articles & suggestions https://pau1.substack.com/p/start
Ramona writes about many different things but has a whole tab/series for suggestions for how to get started https://writereverlasting.substack.com/s/substack-for-newbies
Hope this helps!
mannahattamamma, I right with you. I just need to get started but I can't even decide on a name much less a starting point.
You can always change the name. Maybe start just by commenting on others' posts until something clicks?
My suggestion is the same as Sandra's: just start writing. If you're looking for a catchy headline or title, that can come later like osmosis. Then edit, edit, edit, so that the title and the body of your writing match. I find the essence of an article emerges during this creative process.
Just start. I'm quite new too but it doesn't take long to find your way around and people are very friendly and helpful. I've edited and updated my About page and my welcome email a few times since starting, as I've made tweaks to how often I can post and when I do what. Just go for it. The FAQs and hints on the site are a good place to look if you want to be a bit more genned up before you hit the keyboard. Good luck!
I would echo what Sandra said: just start. Like you, I came from a blogging background and have found that just starting (small and quietly) helped me to hone my voice and find my focus. You may find it helpful to read my journey from the beginning (January 2023) and would encourage you to lean in and go! ⛷️
Love this idea!!
Very well, good.
✨
Over here slinging #poems and #illustrations at typaphobe. I'm just curious to meet other poets and try to understand growth a bit more. I started from scratch this year and growth has been somewhat slow. I'm no @austinkleon , but I'd like to do this full-time!
Hope y'all are all well. I love what you're doing @substack. Thank you.
https://fosterious.substack.com
Love the emojis
Hey everyone,
The Substack team is signing off for today. We encourage you to stick around and continue the conversation with fellow writers.
Next week we'll return for Shoutout thread. We hope you'll join us: https://lu.ma/shoutout
See you soon,
Katie, Bailey, Sam, Zoe, Dayne, Seth, Jonathan, and Bruno
🧠 Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Anything worth doing is worth doing scared and unprepared. Do you feel like a fraud? Good! Do you worry that you don't know enough? Excellent! Are you anxious about getting everything perfect? You're in good company!
The truth is that no matter how talented or successful of a writer you are, you'll always go through times of uncertainty. But the only wrong answer is to quit. Write scared! Post scared! Share scared! Authenticity and consistency are the name of the game. And your readers will love you for being YOU, confident or not.
Most importantly: keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
I’ve started writing more personal and vulnerable substacks and they are the ones that resonate the most. I recently wrote about how I am fixing my relationship to love and it was very well received.
Not only validating to tell my truth, but feels good knowing other people resonate and can be helped by my truth.
Check it out!
https://denisemasiel.substack.com/p/fixing-my-relationship-to-love?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
My more vulnerable posts tend to have higher engagement as well, mostly by people I know reaching out directly. I agree that it feels so good when the work (and life, by extension) resonates with other people and opens up new ways for readers to think about stuff.
Isn't it amazing (and a little weird) to get a direct email or in-person comment about something you wrote? I take it as confirmation that I'm doing what God wants me to do. :)
yes, I love these moments and it keeps me writing!
For sure! I’m a huge memoir reader and it’s nice to have that style translate to my substack.
Almost every issue of my newsletter (and many of my Medium articles) is personal and vulnerable. I agree it feels great to know others resonate with my words and find them helpful! It also helps me feel less shame and reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Some of my best posts have been the hardest to write, not because I got stuck on the words, but because I was at my most vulnerable. This post about my daughter getting into a traumatic car accident that almost killed her was one of my best posts ever: https://www.maureengil.com/p/changing-my-perspective
I received dozens of emails from my subscribers, wishing her well or telling me their own stories. It was amazing.
Agree, I've written a bunch of posts about my journey to net-zero, but I think far more interesting to folks is the quirky self-effacing stuff like what it means to be the child of hoarders...(also way easier and more fun to write!)
I'm also finding that posts I don't expect to be "hits," as it were, turn out to resonate with people much more than I would have imagined. A good example is my recent post about what I remembered about my hometown on a recent drive home from the auto mechanic. It started as a stream of thoughts in my head that I wasn't going to write down and turned into a one-off personal essay that's gotten more comments, online and off, than any of my other posts so far.
https://continuedjourney.substack.com/p/a-drive-through-the-town-that-was
I wrote by how good feelings transfer in my last article Theresa
I feel like substack is raising my LiveJournal from the dead. Definitely writing much more personal stuff here.
Sounds fascinating - I will check it out. I always write personal and vulnerable - it's just my way. I'm only just starting out on Substack as have been focusing on Medium for a while, but also am an indie author of two memoirs (Well, one is part memoir, part qualitative research). It's so great when people resonate and receive our work well.
I’ve heard some buzz about medium but I chose substack over it since I have some favorite authors on here. What’s your take on navigating between the two? I find that substack is great for facilitating the connecting and finding of other artists (like this thread right now!)
Well, Medium is more like a Facebook for writers .... whereas Substack is an email-driven platform. So I like both for different reasons. I love the interactivity of Medium, so it's good to hear Substack also has an element of that, but what drew me to Substack is the quality of the writing (I follow some great writers here) and the fact you can build up an email list and paid subscribers (while Medium is more about gaining followers, like social media followers). I have found it quite easy to quickly build up a reasonable following on Medium (once I started writing regularly) so we'll see how it goes on Substack... These threads here are awesome!
Thanks for sharing this! I write personal essays as well and was beginning to feel like I might be in the wrong spot.
I think this is the best, and safest, spot for my personal essays to land right now. I thought about publishing them with a magazine, but some of the topics are so raw that I don’t want them to be axed at the cutting board by a third party editor looking to carve a certain “story” for clickbait.
This is a very serious step, worthy of respect. You did a great job!
Thanks Sabrina!
I think posting scared is also a sign you're daring to take risks. Taking risks is what creates quality writing, in my opinion. I also write stories, and more than once have said 'if I'm not trying new things and taking risks, then what's the point of writing a story?'.
I've been being published for years, and I STILL get anxious every time I hit Publish
Every time I publish a post or edit it, I get excited, can I call it a risk? I think so.
I get the same feeling and I think we can call it a risk. We are not sitting on our couch, surfing, scarfing Doritos...we are putting ourselves out there.
Exactly. I wrote about this last October: https://terryfreedman.substack.com/p/want-to-be-a-writer
MY view is that even if I write cr*p (which I don't!), at least I put myself forward and didn't just sit on the sidelines criticising and pontificating.
It's funny, in a weird kinda way. When I put up a story, I don't feel too nervous about it. I put up stories, and now I'm also putting up a serial novel. There's no plot for that, and I'm just as curious to see where it's going as the reader is (or I hope is.) The thing that makes me nervous is when I put out little pieces of what it was like working in a sawmill. It was the only job I ever had, and only now do I realize that what happened there, wasn't the norm. It was all drinking on the job; smoking dope, and even visits from hookers. Those stories make me nervous.
Perhaps you feel more vulnerable because it's actually what happened to you, therefore more personal than fiction. Sounds pretty interesting!
I'm putting a little blurb out tomorrow on my "Scribbles." It's the story of how I got my earring, of all things. Yeah, I'm that old guy that still walks around with an earring, but getting it, well, that was quite different. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
yup, every single time.
Donna, I am of the same opinion. 🧡
I don't know why, but I get excited and scared at the same time when I post. Maybe it's because I feel posting is permanent in a way, even though I can delete it at any time.
Perhaps, quite possibly. I think it's something different for everyone. Maybe we are afraid of spoiling something or embarrassing ourselves. Sometimes we forget that an article can be edited. To correct mistakes. But at the same time, we worry a lot. The main thing is to overcome those fears!
You nailed it Marcus, I think living between fear & excitement is the sweet spot for growth as a human. Sure, we can't live there all the time but if we don't demand more of ourselves to get to that place we end up living a life in autopilot.
yes !
I write Unpopular Psychology. My entire blog is a risk :)
The topic sounds really interesting to me. You have a new subscriber!
Thank you!
I'll add:
*What if that fear is actually a sign it's good enough?*
A lot of times when I've published something feeling smugly confident that it will do well, it didn't. Reason probably being: I was smugly confident, not slightly nervous. Being nervous is a sign you've gone hard and really put an important piece of yourself into this thing - to the point that it feels creatively risky. Creative risks - the good ones - move us forwards.
So maybe feeling scared and unprepared is a message, saying "yup, this is now worth publishing" - so we should always write until we're a bit scared of publishing it?
I like that you emphasize "putting an important piece of yourself" into writing. That's a great measure of whether the writing itself matters. Vulnerability is good sometimes, but it's a dangerous default mode that can lead to oversharing and burnout. Sometimes a good piece of writing is something well-researched and science based, something you write because it deeply interests you. The "important part" of yourself that goes into those pieces is your passion and expertise, which is just as valuable as emotion and insight.
This is a key insight. Thank you for sharing!
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” Robert Frost
This perspective is helpful. Thanks Mike. I often get caught in the loop of feeling disappointed when something I feel 'proud' of flops. I'm going to experiment with flipping this based on this wisdom. Notice the smugness and check myself. Celebrate the nervousness a little more.
"Celebrate the nervousness" should be on a t-shirt.
So should the name of your newsletter, 'This'll Have to Do', it's brilliant!
*takes a bow*
Agreed! What a permission slip!
Totally!
So true. Felt this confidence about one of my latest pieces only to get absolutely flamed on Reddit for it. Working on something now that makes me nervous. Excited!
update lol wrote the piece i was nervous about -- got absolutely flamed + doxxed on reddit. that being said, proud of it!
Mike, your insight is fully supported by science! Our brains are extremely primitive. The brain is always on the lookout for what's wrong. It's a bad sign when the brain isn't on high alert and warning us of danger; that's when over-confidence creeps in. I like a mix of "I'm going to throw up" and "I put my all into this and it's solid." Then I post. (BTW, I'm feeling 'wrong' as I type this.)
Reminds me of a quote "Remind yourself: Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer." Do you know where that is from?
I don't, but I like it.
Out of all unlikely candidates, it's from Darkest Dungeon, a rogue-like video game. The quote also has a excellent follow up, "Hesitation is defeat."
SCIENCE FOR THE WIN. 👏 Thanks so much for this reply, Sarah.
Do you think that there is a balance between making vulnerable work, being nervous about your work, and anonymity? Some of my most well received work has been either a research deep dive into a niche topic (which I was terribly nervous about) or a somewhat vulnerable discussion about my personal cultural rituals.
That's a good question. And I have no idea about how to answer - except I suspect that if there *is* a balance, it's different for everyone!
But it sounds like you're seeing where that balance is in your work, and you're calibrating yourself against it, which is smart and wise.
Wow, I have never thought about it like. And truth be told, most of my work where i feel vulnerable and nervous to post always does well than when I feel confident. This is so insightful thanks for sharing
Love this. I agree that maybe sometimes, the move is to just reframe the way you think about fear and nervousness. The one thing I've learned about writing for an audience is that you never really know how it will be received. So, just be done with the fear and hit publish??
And don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Edit as much as you can and hit POST. Don't get trapped in editing.
That's a good point. I've come to realize that I could edit one piece indefinitely. At some point, I have to Publish.
That said, there've definitely been times when I made a few extra edits after posting, and it bothers me a bit that email recipients have an immortalized version of the piece that I don't think represents my best work.
We are always our harshest critics and it may seem never enough. My advice for everyone and for myself is that: let's hit publish when it's good enough.
I feel the same. I wish the email could somehow refresh like the web/app does with updated content.
Editing is an eternal task but eventually, I find, it becomes just word swapping. At that point the piece needs to rest or be published. Often times published.
I have done that a handful of times and I hope the email recipients click 'read in app.'
I needed to read this today. You've just saved me five hours 😂
Now to find something to do with the time! 😂
Indeed! 😂
So true. I literally had this issue today before posting. Told myself I would send it out at a specific time then I felt like I wanted to edit and read over the entire post one more time. I'm sure as the writers we're obsessed over certain details the audience doesn't even notice.
I've taken to scheduling posts for early in the moment when I'm in danger of tinkering too much. I go to bed and by the time I get up it's gone and out there!
Sometimes a piece needs a little extra tinkering but often I find it is, as S. E. Reid said above, being scared to post rather than a need to edit more.
I am certain of that too. I have written stories where I focussed on X and the readers focussed on Y or the readers have read something in there I didn't intentionally place.
What, is editing on your mind today? 😂
A little. x)
One might ask, do I provide value? Or more importantly, how can I provide more value? That's where YOU come in. I would love to hear feedback. Feedback Reggae, let the good vibes get a lot stronger. Feedback... we needs it.
Feedback feels like a four letter word sometimes. It's like the scariest, yet most useful, thing of all. Feedback Reggae, good plan!
I have a writer friend who talks about how feedback can either be feeding us, nourishing us, or it can be that screechy guitar feedback sound, and it's up to us to take the nourishing food feedback and ignore the screechy discordant feedback.
I agree with you, it depends on the person and how he will perceive it. You said it right.
Take feedback as a gift, always. What you do with the gift is up to you...
The thing I don't understand is when no one gives you feedback. I look at the stats, and they say, Yep, people are reading it. But as for comments...crickets most of the time.
Commenting takes time, thought, and effort beyond clicking "like," but no comments doesn't mean no impact. When I was still on social media, my posts rarely got good engagement. But more than one person (who had never even clicked "like!") told me on calls or through email that they liked and appreciated what I posted.
So don't be discouraged. :)
Giving feedback is not something people are comfortable with and if not practised, are even less likely to do so and then there is the time aspect. Time and effort. Which is why feedback is a precious gift.
Good to know I am not the only one who rarely gets feedback.
I just published a piece about feedback and how important it is. But in truth, I get little to no feedback or comments on my articles, except some personal notes from friends and colleagues. I just got such a constructive note, which with a bit of pressure, got him to send in a comment, as it contributed so much to the article. Mostly I blame myself for not being relevant, writing well enough, being too academic, and so on. Anyway, it is a challenge, and I hope to improve my craft and learn better about who my audience is. https://www.inmindwise.com/p/relationships-for-sustenance-and
I will have a look at it. Feedback is something that has been bothering me as well
For me, providing value means putting myself in the shoes of my audience and thinking "what do they want to hear about?" With all of the concerns facing content creators nowadays, it's helpful for me to identify the top ones, and then write content addressing various methods to build resilience. It's worked well so far.
If you are writing fiction then the process may be a little trickier than that. Which is why I alternate between craft/theory and fiction posts. Then again, there are a gazillion resources out there for fiction theory. Tricky, tricky!
I ask this question everyday.What is the value of what I am writing? I joined this community thinking¨this is the best community you can join now ¨. I am not a perfect writer or I never wanted to be a writer but I have an important message to share.I am writing about ¨truth¨,wisdom,real meaning of life. What is the value of ¨truth¨today in the world?
Veritas Omnia Vincit. A motto that may have lost its meaning in today's media landscape.
I would say ¨Truth is lost but definitely not dead¨.
I was talking to a friend of mine about my substack recently and she basically said that she was impressed I posted at all because she would actively run away from doing anything like this. She's not a writer so that makes sense to me BUT it was such a good reminder that posting at all is a win and has value that other people see and pick up on. No matter the amount of subscribers, someone will get something out of what you write and post.
Often times the effect of the work is unseen by us as writers but just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. It probably has more of a ripple effect than we know.
This is a great reminder for all of us who are not full time, professional writers that just showing up is a win.
I'm reminded of a stat I heard a long time ago in the early days of the web that went something like this:
90% will consume
10% will comment
1-2% will create
I'm not sure the exact numbers matter so much as the larger point.
"Someone will get something out of what you write and post"
I agree completely Samantha! For each article I've published so far, there have been at least 2-3 people who've remarked that they've learned something or they relate to what I'm talking about. You never know. The story you're hesitating to write might just change someone else's life. 🤗
I agree and have a similar experience so far.
Writing about polarizing topics gives me this exact feeling of anxiety, knowing that someone might disagree with my opinion and that I might be wrong. Got to do it anyway though!
I agree. Most people are afraid to put themselves out there because it can be a little daunting at first, but there's always an audience for the content we write.
Mine's a different kind of scared right now! I'm losing steam and fodder to write about so I've announced in a random post earlier this week that I may be stepping away from public writing for a bit. I feel like the weekly updates are stagnant and repetitive so I'm gonna do off to heal and live life so I have more to write about without feeling under pressure each week and coming up short or empty handed.
Just took a break from writing the final (for now) post in my weekly Friday Reflections to pop in to Office Hours. I HAD to write it; it will complete my 2nd full month of writing them and I had to complete that milestone haha.
Thank you for this advice! I'll keep it in mind when I'm more clear-headed and have returned. I'll always remember: "do it scared!"
Proud of you, Cierra! I think we need to normalize stepping away from always being "on" or engaged in social media. It can feel like it's expected and required to acheive success but it's just not sustainable.
I want to build a community and society where we celebrate the need to retreat, recover, and reset. Where we give ourselves and each other permission to hibernate, meditate, rest, and re-fill our well!
Good for you and I hope you feel supported and cared for while you take this time for yourself.
Thank you! YES, it's a hard thing to rewire in me but I'm learning and would also like more people to embrace rest. I hear so often how helpful it is to just take a break--whether from work, joyful practices, or even mindless scrolling.
Giving yourself that type of breather truly rejuvenates you (and the ideas and excitement tends to flow forth too!).
Of course, a good option would be to rest, so-called charging with motivation and ideas!
Yes! I'll be sure to rest and constantly remind myself to chiiiill ooout, and let what comes, come! It's not the end of the world, just part of the process (note to self, haha).
That's a great attitude! We need less negativity and more positivity in such difficult times.
Thank you!
I can't produce high quality, deep insights on a schedule. Sometimes I have 5 or even 10 posts that are truly meaningful and inspired and then I need to just stop. Best thing ever is to just stop trying to produce. Maybe consistency is not your thing either. I wish you well in your rest and rejuvenation.
I REALLY really think this is me. I think I've created this narrative in my mind where I HAVE to show up at least once per week! Especially since I have my first paid subscriber and people that engage with my writings. But I'm seeing SO much more often that there are plenty of people who don't play by those imaginary rules of consistency.
And they're confident, doing well, and showing up with the best work *because* they wait for it to come rather than trying to hop on the consistency train.
Or, at least the way we look at consistency as a society. I think from now on I'll look at consistency--specifically for my Substack--as being consistency in the QUALITY of my writing.
I like the word "commitment." I'm committed to creating pieces I'm proud of and am excited to send to my community
YES!!! Creativity can't flow into novel ideas when we are forcing ourselves. Welcome to the world of ART.
😭😭😭 Yaaaaas!! 🙌🏽
Haha, thank you!
It's not that you're losing steam, it's that the grieving process is actually working. I will probably be grieving for the rest of my life, but I can accept that. (My circumstances are probably different from anyone else's. Industrial accidents are different.) You can find it on my page. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
It can be so wildly subtle at times. Not always emotional, but definitely jarring when trying to put the pieces back together and trying to create a life in your now, "after."
I'll check ya out! I'm catching up on replies and see you've left a few, so I shall return!
I had similar doubts and was on the verge of quitting at one point, but have somehow stayed afloat
I'm following a similar serializing a novel path (love the intermission idea by the way). Did you have a large following to start with or did it grow as you released the work? What did you do to market/advertise/broadcast what you were doing??
Thanks for that, really helpful. I have already noticed that just publishing chapters leaves the substack looking 'unloved'. I don't want to commit to a newsletter a week so might invent a weekly snippets type approach - see what happens.
Thanks again....
I absolutely love this and and how you structured time for productivity and time to rest and recharge. A beautiful example, and I'll take your word for it as I step away for a bit as well.
Also like the permission to, hey, possibly write something while on break! So long as there's no pressure to produce.
GK Chesterton: "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly"
Thanks as always, SE!
Scared can mean you care. You want this essay to be the best ever. You care about your work, your audience.
I do care about my audience. I want them to like my stories. But I've gotten to the point in my life where I can accept that if they don't like my writing, that's not me, that's the reader. Not everything you read you're going to like, and not everything you write is going to be liked. As long as you like it, though...
Well said!
Omg, my last article had me feeling very nervous. You can’t really discount a personal experience but when you’re writing about real things that require citations and evidence… 😱
I still hit publish and got great feedback and conversation from it.
I love that you are our weekly cheerleader!
I love your weekly pep talks!!! Thank you! You're such a joy to see in these threads.
Lucky for me I suffer from anxiety, so being scared (all the time about everything!) is my JAM :)
Good motivational speech! 👍
You're so good at these. :)
Perfect advice.
I am four subscribers away from 300, which feels small compared to some and makes a goal of 500 by the end of the year feel even more daunting, but the last two weeks of meaningful interaction on Notes has been a game changer. I've been sharing my work, reading the work of some amazing writers, and have found a whole new writers workshop of sharing ideas and inspiration. I would say that if you treat Notes as a place to grow personally and professionally, then there will be natural grown on your Newsletter subscribers as well.
Questions I have: Has anyone figured out how to get people to come over here from IG? How the hell does anyone effectively use LinkedIn without allowing it to become another unproductive time suck?
I pulled people over from Instagram just this week by reminding them that I have a newsletter and I was very intentional about making sure they knew precisely (and concisely) what it is I talk about in my writing.
This made me think about my imposter syndrome and how hard it is for me to tell people precisely and concisely what I write about. I reject myself before they *potentially* reject me. I'm learning to be comfortable, grounded, and confident in what I produce, and let people decide for themselves if they like it or not. All I can do is be intentional.
What does thrill you? We write at our best when we're connected to our why and the energy it conveys. ;)
I approve of this advice, thank you <3
Oooh, I like this! (And agree). Well said.
Mehret this is very impactful, thank you. Rejecting ones self before I can be rejected, not putting myself out there. Yes and yes.
I continually remind myself to stay grounded in what I am writing and why (for myself) and it will land with folks who are interested.
I think a lot of folks can relate to this idea, myself included. Thanks for sharing that.
good reminder Dave. I refuse to get sucked into IG Stories, so this has been reasonably productive for me -- just an old fashioned reminder and CTA to followers.
exactly
Did you use a reel, stories, or a post? I'm looking at where I need to put my energy for both of my Substack accounts.
I always post a story on IG when i post with a link to the piece.. Not sure how effective it is tbh
Yeah, I'm not sure either, but I'm trying to be consistent with it. Now I've gotten a few ideas from people here and I plan to try those.
I post occasionally, but the standard graphics that Substack gives us feel disconnected from my normal posts (my art and creative projects). I think sometimes though, talking about Substack without the context of what my whole newsletter is about caused a disconnect with people, at least for my community.
I used a Reel and then shared in my stories.
that's a good idea
Going to go check out who you are on insta & what you said that was helpful to people!
Glad to have you.
Instagram has been a challenge for me. It just seems like there’s so many steps people have to go through before they get to the subscribe button - especially because you can’t put links in the post and have to use something like Linktree instead!
I’m taking a break from the churn of creating IG content for now - Substack and Notes has shown far better conversion rates for me anyway so I’m going to double-down here for now.
I find it's easier if I put a question box (in stories) and have people put in their email, so I can add them without them having to do anything extra!
When I first started my newsletter, I did this as well and got about 30 subscribers off the bat.
This is a brill idea! Thank you for sharing
Neat idea that would have never occurred to me. I didn't even know about this feature since so far I've avoided posting any stories. There's a question box? All good to know!
Agree, regular Insta does nothing for me. Need more boobs/filters which isn't exactly my Substack style.
Where do you put the box?
I use the question box feature on IG stories
xo
https://www.tailwindapp.com/blog/10-instagram-questions-ideas-sticker-how-to
Perfect! Thx. ❤️
I love this! Thank you!!!
This is a smart idea! I assume you're doing this in IG stories, correct?
Yep! I will sometimes put the link AND a question box so people can just do it right there. It seems to work well!
That is brilliant! I will have to do that this afternoon!
Can you elaborate please
Sure, what do you need me to elaborate on?
The question box part
there's a feature in instagram stories called a question box. It's in the same area as polls, gifs, links, etc. And then you can add that box and tell people to put their email address if they want to join your list. They enter it through your story and then you can add each manually to your substack. Hope that helps!
I share this sentiment – I had an influencer with 81K followers and some serious target audience overlap share my IG post promoting my Substack on her public story, and only received a few likes on my post, no new subscribers, probably a reader or two. Anyone interested would have to click her story, go to my post, see that they had to go to my link in bio to actually read. Too many steps! Going to try the question box story idea!
ugh that's really frustrating! i;m sorry. I also recently had a few pubs with big visibility that I was hopeful would bring more subscribers to my substack but it wasn't really the case...
I'm right there with you. I tossed in the IG and Facebook towel for the most part. Their algorithms bury you under other content. Plus you're right about the steps to get to your newsletter. Meta designed it that way to trap users on the platform and limit outbound traffic because they are more about selling users and their data to advertisers than in building a truly interactive social platform.
I deleted IG in 2016 and remade it last month to cross-post for Substack, of course, it's pointless. Might as well save that time to do something useful!
I have a minor 940 followers on Twitter, and I'm lucky if 3 people respond to any tweet and even luckier if one person visits my site because of my tweet, and I'VE BEEN POSTING THERE SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK FOR YEARS. Not a lot of benefit for the time. I suspect most tweets get buried in people's timelines and never seen.
I just noticed that they changed the profile link and scrambled it into a short url so it doesn't even display as my alexanderipfelkofer.substack.com link anymore! They JUST did that now! And the videos stopped playing. Anyone else? WTH is going on with Twitter... 😂
I know Elon said he felt Substack copyied Twitter with its Notes, and the advent of Notes is when Twitter changed with respect to Substack because Elon didn't think it right that Twitter was being exploited to draw people from Twitter to its new competition from Substack Notes. He didn't see Twitter existing for the purpose of feeding subcribers to its new competition. Whether his view is fully fair or whether I expressed it right, I'm not sure; but I know if people were just coming to my website to post comments to get my readers to go to their own similar site, I'd probably pull the comments.
Yeah, my email got compromised and I couldn't get back into IG because I had to change my email. I haven't bothered starting over again because I could never figure out how to make it work for me. Maybe I should revisit it?
It doesn't take much time to post the media asset, which is all I do, so that's another reason IG doesn't do anything because I spend 1 minute on it twice a week for posting substack media...
exactly.. it's not like a billboard that ppl drive by. you have to be such an active user to get anything out of it. same with twitter.
yep, and when are we going to write
I'm with you on the IG slog. I find it so much effort with very little payoff. Plus, I often think--isn't the best audience really on Substack anyway? IG is more for silly videos and is more like a happy hour medium than anything I can take too seriously.
I post a brief blurb on IG, and have a direct link posted in stories. I think that it works sometimes? It's kinda awful that you cannot put links in IG posts that will actually open in a browser
Totally agree! Substack is straightforward while IG gives me a technology headache
Agree; I do the same and just spend a small amount of time posting a media asset or blurb about my article on different social media, including, IG, LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter.
I have this same goal, but am scraping by at 237 subscribers ATM. I've tried Notes a bit but so far no real direct engagement. I'm trying to just be happy with the amazing audience I already have, but it's a challenge!
Keep writing, giving up is not a good tactic. And try to actively communicate with people at these Office Hours, have dialogues, and you will get noticed, even if it's just one person. Share your opinions, your doubts, and your questions. It's a very welcoming and positive community, and it will help you.
Hear hear - I've found SS Office Hours to be one of the best methods to grow my own list.
Def not alone. I am enjoying reading and responding to not her peoples notes which is helping a bit with subscriber growth but it still feels a bit odd writing them when I know that it is unlikely anyone will see them (I literally starting from 0 with no pre existing audience from elsewhere so it is going to take some time to build the numbers). On the plus side it is a bit easier to experiment and write without fear of saying something wrong whilst I know my audience is still small 😂
I can relate to this, I started my newsletter a month ago and wanted to reach at least 20 subscribers before the end of the months. I was able to reach the number , but they are just my family which is not a bad thing, I having trying to promote my writings on note but no progress on the subscriber number, but the views are pretty decent
I feel you. I think I initially had a big dopamine rush from family and some friend subscribing, but now my subscriber count slowed way down.
I find that if you just write content you personally enjoy or make it something useful for you then it matters a bit less. A lot of musicians make the music they want to hear for example!
We're in the same vein here. I'm at your level, no real hits here. It's tough won! Just keep posting and focus on the good writing...or so I'm told... ;)
I'm staying away from Notes -- can't handle another place to scroll online! i know i'm probably missing out on potential subscribers, but i also gotta do what works for me and my mental health.
Same here. Seems like there will always be some new feature to try to get more subscribers... a rabbit hole, too dangerous for my mental health too.
I hear you!! Don't need another thing to deplete one's quality of life.
Indeed. One can get bogged down in all kinds of social, promotional efforts that yield almost no gain for the large amount of time spent.
You're not alone! I'm not sure what the secret sauce is for Notes yet but here to learn from people who are surfing that wave!
Have to agree with this, Notes can be a lovely space and it definitely rocketed my subscriber count up faster than beforehand. Also I think 300 subscribers on Substack is like 1000 on other platforms, it feels so much more engaged here!
I guess I just haven't figure out how to capture interest there yet.
Love this encouragement!
I agree with you, it feels like Substack subscribers are actively involved in the life of the channel and Substack itself.
very much engagement on subsatck, I agree
Usually better interaction than Office Hours, TBH.
I've had no joy at all with my LinkedIn contacts....don't know why.
you're not alone
Because it's a dull as a resume and most people are there to show themselves off as a potential employee/hire or to promote themselves in some other way, not to read articles.
I noticed the other day that Linkedin wasn't showing the social previews on my post. Wasn't sure if this was an error or some new limiting feature on Linkedin. Anyone else experience this?
LinkedIn conversion rate is abysmal. Even when you get 1k impressions which is a lot for me, you get 0% subs. 👻
This is helpful to know. I haven't posted my Substack to LinkedIn yet but have been thinking about it..
There was a stacker here last week who gained 400 subscriptions from LinkedIn. I think he wrote professional-related newsletters and shared others on his LI.
or so he says! of course, it is possible. I get views from LinkedIn, zeros subs though.
It's quiet all over, but I find LinkedIn I actually get a few more likes than I do on the silent FB/Insta. The algorithms elsewhere are not my friend. But LinkedIn doesn't seem to play that game as much.
Me too. They’re a tough crowd.
Got locked out of there too, when I changed my email. Definitely a tough crowd.
I have received the majority of my subscribers from my Instagram. I’ve been making unique assets for each new post and posting on stories/ on the grid. And asking people to subscribe bc I’m not really on Instagram that often anymore other than to promote my Substack. I think it comes down to your own personal audience and how they interact there. Each social media app is so different on how the users behave.
Ah! Interesting.
Did you end up creating a new instagram for your newsletter and its promotion or used your personal IG for it? I feel weird "spamming" my friends and acquaintances on my personal IG but maybe I am overthinking it
I use the same Instagram I’ve always had. I don’t spam them. I just post when I publish a new newsletter. If they are following me, they are interested in what I am doing, I get great feedback and they repost my substack on their stories. Which has also helped my subscriber count.
"If they are following me, they are interested in what I am doing"
This! I like how you frame this. I write once a week so technically it won't be spamming. I should reframe how I think about my IG. Thank you for sharing your approach, Jenovia. :)
My pleasure! I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how genuinely interested they will be!!! They are there for YOU.
This is a good reminder. I struggle because I feel I am being pushy, self promoting salesy...but you are right. If they are interested in what I am doing they will come over to SS and if not that's cool too.
As writers we HAVE to self promote...as weird as that feels especially for introverts. Think about how you would feel if your best friend posted something they were working on? I'm sure you would be supportive and enthusiastic. The more you do it, the less it will feel sales-y.❤️ When you believe in your work, others will too.
Thanks!
It also depends on your content Sarah. Some writers get more engagement on IG, others LinkedIn or Twitter. So if you're hitting a dead end, maybe focus a different platform for a few weeks?
+1
If I'm going to do an platform besides Substack, at this point, I think it's IG. It's just been a rough two weeks to be able to post anything, even on stories!
Congrats! Advice please— is there a good time of day to be on Notes? Do you start with a question or jump on to someone else’s feed? Thx.
When I'm eating breakfast. When I'm standing in the hallway. When I'm making dinner :-)
Haha. Thx.
I've obviously got too much time on my hands. If I were still working, I wouldn't be here right now. So I'm on NOTES at all different times of the day. I can't say there's a "right" time. I'm on the West coast (or the Left Coast like the cool cats say--oh wait, I'm the only one who says that.) But if someone sitting in New York posts at 10:00 am, I'm getting it at 6:00 am. I don't have a problem with that since I'm up anyway.
My sister calls it the Best coast. Hehehe. I’m still partial to the east. I love history.
I believe note can be a very nice place to get more interactions to your post but, I am not seeing any growths. What do you guys note about?
Sarah, I just slap my article links up on LI. If they so deem, they'll direct me to another group onto which they can attach it. It takes me all of 30 seconds, and do I get any clicks? I don't know, but from LI, if I get any, it's a click from LI I would never get if I never posted the link! Same for the other SocMedia sites. It's like the lottery: I'll never win, but I have a better chance than if I never bought a card.
Likely, no one's clicking on me from LI or Twitter, or Reddit, but if I just get ONE click from all three, total, that's one that never would've clicked on that article otherwise.
I'm not interested in playing the algorithm games, seeing as how the "rules" are so arbitrary, anyway, i.e. "you're supposed to engage to boost your visibility," etc.....but no one ever tells us just how many engagements is enough!
Yes! All of this. And yeah, I just keep posting and hoping someone eventually clicks. FB has proven to be useless, but I keep posting there as well. It's can't hurt, right?
I messed around with reels yesterday, in efforts to play the Facebook game, and it was pretty easy to use. I can tell it will be time consuming, but if I want more engagement than I need to try.
I keep meaning to be more active on LI but I get sick of people trying to sell me stuff on there all the time
Ignore the pitches. It's not like LI is the only place on the 'Net that incessantly tries to sell you things....................................is it? Welcome to the internet!
I do ignore them. I just get sick of them, especially when I've accepted an invitation to connect in good faith
Community on LinkedIn is in the comments more so than the messages (where lots of people are way too sales-y).
The question is, though, whether that is the best use of your time. One or two is about what I usually see, but I don't have enough time in my entire life to get anywhere with my writing spending that time to get one or two clicks and zero subscribers.
That's the question we ALL have to answer, each for ourselves. When I publish an article (about 3 a week), I spend the morning (a leisurely 2-3 hours, maybe, all while sipping coffee, it should be noted) putting a link to the article up on social media sites.
I, apparently, HAVE enough time in my entire life (Lord willin' and the crick don't rise) to get plenty of places with my writing (why, just see for yourself: https://bradkyle.substack.com/), AND to slap article links up on on social media sites for those two clicks and zero subscribers!
Can you be specific on how Notes is drawing more subscribers to your newsletter? Like, can you walk me through your step-by-step process for doing this? Thank you!
Try to log in two to three times a day and read and respond to other people's work. I post three to four times a day, sometimes old material, sometimes new, somethings just thoughts that I'm working through. It's like I'm temporarily back in the good old days of social media, when it was about being social and networking.
Yeah, that's the part I have trouble with. I never think that anything I might have to say is of any interest to anyone. I don't do politics because I'm not interested; I don't do finance; current affairs? Not up on that either. I live in my own fantasy world (it has dragons.) Usually I answer a string someone has going already. I really should try to apply myself.
We would probably like some information about dragons...maybe share that. It's pretty unique.
I have one dragon story, and it's very unique. It follows the last surviving Knight of King Arthur. It's on my page. IN DAYS OF VAST DARING https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
You'll find your people. Start with those you subscribe to or your subscribers first. They'll probably be interested in those conversations 😊
Amazing to hear this about your Notes experience, Sarah!
Maybe you've already read our guide on "Bringing your Instagram followers to Substack" but if not, it's probably worth a peruse - https://on.substack.com/p/bringing-followers-from-instagram
Growth can come in insane spikes. I went from stagnant, to a 130 subscriber bump over a random guide I threw together in half an hour. Eventually the right person will look at something…
Patience is a big thing. We've been trained to believe that constant growth = success and that numbers are everything. When really, when it comes to both IG and Substack, I want meaningful engagement and I want people who will read what I write, respond if they feel called to respond, and share my work with others.
The number of subscribers is still very important, but much more important and enjoyable for the author himself if these subscribers are not just a number, namely active users, with whom you can have feedback. It is better to have 300 live subscribers than 500 bots.
Yes and yes. And the bots are an issue on IG lately.
I completely agree with you.
I agree with you, when I started substack, initially I didn't want to share it with my friend and family because I felt like they will subscribe just because it was me. But moving forward the numbers was so depressing lol 😂, so I shared and I think that was a good thing I did because they help me share my work and through that the numbers increased and people who where genuinely interested in my work subscribed
Being active in office hours helps new writers show off, try to connect more with people and people will notice you and someone is bound to like what you do.
It's truly been great for that. I've made so many important connections which have made my Notes interaction that much more meaningful.
That's great!❤ As you said, patience, and patience again - we will need it.
Sarah! Congratulations!
I love this advice, as Notes had gotten me down earlier this week. When I return, I'll create this new intention behind it.
Okay so for IG, before I left it over a month ago (tried to deactivate it but couldn't, but glad I couldn't because someone I admire became my first paid subscriber from IG while I've been gone!)... I was taking my favorite quips from pieces, copying and pasting it to my notes app, screenshot them, and made them into carousel posts with Substack and writing hashtags and they've been my best performing posts (by my feed's standards) in months. Also I think sharing about what you're writing in stories could help. BTS of your process and what's to come and give them the link in stories to sign up and have it be the only link in your profile.
Here's one of my posts for context: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpjPK45uPh0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Love this! And now I need to follow you on IG!
Thank you! And I'll be back... EVENTUALLY!
I did share on notes but it hardly gets noticed, new to substach
You'll get noticed. Put links to your page up on Notes. Put links to your page here. People here are really helpful. We were all new here once upon a time. I've only been here ten month and only have 150 subscribers. But this last month has been my best. Don't give up on yourself.
https://open.substack.com/pub/nishalsharon/p/keep-it-burning?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
Thanks Ben for the encouragement and the advice , Indeed, I can say people are good here
Be patient. It SO hard, but growth and interaction doesn't happen overnight. You have to be in it for the long haul.
Thanks for those words of encouragement, I appreciate it
❤️
As notes only shows you posts from people you are subscribed to and people they recommend it is unlikely that what you write is going to get a huge amount of notice until you have a reasonably high number of subscribers (unless someone with a bigger account sees and restacks). Best use of notes for those of us with low subscriber numbers seems to be responding to other peoples posts and just being an active part of the community to put your name in front of people who may then go look at your posts and decide to subscribe. It is also much more interesting and less soul destroying than just trying to think up content that isn’t going to be seen easily.
Your right, I'll take your advice, Thanks a lot
same!
Thanks Sarah, I’ve not looked at Notes yet, so will definitely do that.
I share screenshots of my Substack posts in IG stories & highlights with links to read it.
Re LinkedIn, I highly recommend Helen Pritchard’s free 5 day LinkedIn challenge. The content pillars she teachers makes it super simple to come up with content and you won’t need to spend much time over there to see results.
I do the same with IG, just need to be more intentional.
Recommendations are crucial to growing your free list. Recommend as many Substacks as you see fit, and don’t be shy about asking writers you know to recommend you.
How does one go about asking other writers to recommend you? Maybe I've missed it, but I don't see a DM button here on substack and its sort of embarrassing to ask so publicly! Thank you:)
Every writer on substack has a substack email address. It's [personalized URL] @ Substack . com So my URL for the podcast is unrulyfigures.substack.com and my Substack email is unrulyfigures@substack.com If you send them an email there, it should forward to whatever email address they originally registered with.
ah lightbulb! I did not know how to contact anyone, thanks!!
Thanks Valorie, I didn't know this either.
Oh, thanks.
ooo amazing! thanks
you can email any writer by constructing an email address like this:
https://bowendwelle.substack.com → bowendwelle@substack.com
See? You really do learn something every day...and, more importantly, you can teach and old dog like me, new tricks. (Just don't tell my wife.)
Super handy to know! Thanks.
oh! Thank you so much, the both of you:) that's good to know
Try writing to them personally or start recommending them, and they might start recommending you. As an option, why not? You have nothing to lose from that.
you're right, thats a good idea. Thank you Sabrina:)
Sometimes, you can also subscribe to the newsletter and reply. I wish Substack had a DM button, though, to help with collaboration. :) Also, you might want to check out https://eoconnors.substack.com/ as she also does travel stuff. Might be a good connection for recommendations!
Yes I wish there was a DM button! The other day I wanted to come back to something a writer replied to my comment under their post, and I didn't know that apparently there's a substack email I could've sent it to, so i had to go back to the post and comment again. Which is okay, but its a little public, no? Like, I was asking for permission to use what they said in their reply to me in a personal essay because I was inspired by it - it'll be embarrassing if they say no! (ofc all credit for the idea goes to the writer, what they said was more like the extra push of inspiration i needed to start a draft of smth i've been wanting to talk about for a while anyway). Not to mention, I think in-app/website DMs would be a good way to connect with specific writers and make friends, and also a better way to talk about a specific topic that not everyone who reads a post would need to know about:p lol
great reminder on the recommendations -- and @Substack, I'd love to have more control over the list of my recommendations and how they are displayed (number, order, location etc).
I second that! I would love more control over my recommendations!
It's good to keep in mind that recommendations are a double edged sword. While it's nice to have them and receive subs via them, it's crucial to ask yourself if they are actual interested readers or did they just follow the prompts and hit the prominent button?
I mention this because I have received a good number of subs via recommendations, but some of the people never open the email or interact. It makes me wonder if they just hit the big default buttons without thinking much about it.
I don’t necessarily agree with your last point. I’ve found that I get more subscribers from recommendations from Substacks which don’t recommend many others. It seems like the more recommendations there are, the less likely a reader is to scroll through them. And recommending lots of stacks also makes it seem less valuable somehow.
I was wondering the same thing. Although I did find out today that substack cycles the ones visible on your page.
That's super helpful to know.
that makes sense
Being genuine here is critical.
Question, do you always recommend those back that recommend you? Or do you consider how relevant their substack is to your own audience?
I have to 1) love their writing and 2) see it as relevant to my audience. It's time for me to trade out a few of mine. I would love to be recommended by more people, but it feels pushy to ask. Plus, I'm over the tit-for-tat game that can become.
Same! I recommend newsletters if I love their writing and the content is applicable to my readers. I feel uncomfortable asking as well, but I've gotten a couple of organic recommendations that I appreciated.
Same. I love being surprised when I look to see who is recommending me!
It makes me feel all warm and gushy when I see someone recommend me. I don't alway recommend them back though. But you're right, I have to like the writing, and it has to be relevant to my own page. I mean, I write fiction, and that's it. How can I justify recommending some Right-wing blurb about something I have no interest in? (Or left-wing for that matter?)
I only recommend publications I like and that relate to what I write about. All the publications I've recommended have gained dozens of subscribers even though I don't even have 100 subscribers yet. That tells me that my readers are also interested in what they write 🙂
Recommendations do seem to drive subscriptions, which is a nice surprise.
And I think you're right that recommendations that align with your own topic and point to something you truly enjoy are more likely to drive subscriptions to others. The days of link swapping are over—organic community is where it's at. :)
I only recommend if I actually enjoy their writing.
And I have to add...I don't want people recommending me unless they also truly enjoy what I write.
I agree!
I consider if their work is relevant to my audience and if I love their writing. I don't want the Recommendations feature to become pointless, so I try to contribute to keeping it meaningful that way.
I was subscribing back but have slowed down. While I love supporting other writers I now have too much to read and less time spent on my own writing.
That is so true! I don't know how some of these people have 70-90 sites they're following, and still have time for their own writing.
I just got a Direct free subscriber who read 296 stacks. Huh?
Just like Twitterbirds who follow 10,000 people but never read them, hoping some of the 10,000 will follow them back.
Reads. This is why I need to reread and/or have an edit function.
My main considerations are (a) is their writing interesting; (b) do they write well. In my experience, if the answer to those Qs are 'yes' then I'm bound to enjoy reading their work whatever the subject(s), and if that's the case I can usually find a way to 'sell' their 'stack to my subscribers. But then I do write about anything and everything!
Heh, that sounds familiar, writing about anything and everything.
I have been doing it the same way. However, I think substack only shows a limited number of recommendation to your readers, correct me if I'm wrong, and I haven't been able to figure out how to rearrange them in a different order.
EDIT: so apparently substack cycles these, glad I know that now!
They only allow three on the front page, and to get a different three you have to unpublish existing ones. I'm going to copy and paste them on to a separate page, when I can find them again. The list seems to be elusive, or I have become inept with age
Hm yes , I also noticed today that there is an option to add a custom page to your substack (pretty sure that's new). Maybe that could be a 'recommendations' page.
Yes. I've created one, and now I just have to stick the recommendations on too: https://terryfreedman.substack.com/p/testimonials
Given that any publication I recommend will end up in the notes feed of my subscribers I think it is really important to make sure that it is something I genuinely feel will be of interest to those who have chosen to follow my publication. I really hope that recommendations stay genuine. I have seen a few of the bigger names offering to add you to their recommends if you become a founding member (I.e. pay a lot of money) which I really don’t like as it feels like a really murky way of monetising the platform
yikes, that feels wrong. I mean, sure you could see it as advertising, but it's not transparent to your readers at all, not to mention the fact that they are recommending someone to their readers only because they are being paid to do it..
Yeah agree with others. I feel weird about the people who just subscribe to anyone. Maybe that helps them but they clearly aren't reading it or being discriminating, just playing the game. I'd rather actually care and keep it small.
As someone who writes about a very specific topic (crochet) but subscribes to a wide range of different newsletters (politics, tech, food, photography, art, poetry etc) I am in favour of subscribing to and reading a lot of different accounts. As a human my range of interests is huge and varied. But saying that, people who have subscribed to my publication have followed me for a reason, so I will only add accounts to my recommended list if I think they will be relevant and interesting to them as I don’t want to clog their notes feed with things that are nothing to do with why they hit subscribe on my page (even if I find them interesting).
That's how I feel too Kelly. I subscribe to different things because that's what I love about Substack, that I can easily widen my perspective by learning from these great writers. A recommendation though needs to be more specific to my audience.
I totally agree with you, but I in particular try to recommend exactly what I think is interesting. Mutual recommendations help a lot in promoting channels.
You know what? I just thought about it last night but I'm gonna spend time today writing recommendations for the writers I enjoy! Don't know yet how to ask for recommendations because I forget they exist haha, but great points!
Here! Recommend me! But read it first and see if you like it. It's a fiction page. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
Is there a button for that? I need to start recommending!
Thank you!!
🧠 - Being active on the Substack platform has been great for getting new subscribers. Also, showing genuine interest in others, learning from each other, having discussions, etc. are also things that , first of all, I really enjoy and that enrich my own thoughts / life, but that also give you new subscribers. Being visible and authentic, and of course putting effort into quality writing, basically.
Exactly this. Once I started commenting and participating in discussions my views and subscribers increased exponentially.
Same here, although not "exponentially" yet. However, I am seeing my subscriber count tick up bit by bit as I read and comment on others' newsletters. I find that building community organically is the best approach. Cultivating real relationships makes the experience much more enjoyable than, say, pounding the social media pavement and trying to crack the algorithms in an attempt to force massive growth.
I agree. I've pretty well given up on Twitter and plan to delete my account. Nobody following me there has subscribed. Facebook isn't much better. I've probably picked up 90% of my subscriptions through Substack.
Go for it! I left social media in October 2022 and haven't looked back. :)
I'm the same as you. I get my subscribers up a little bit when participating, but not in droves like other authors. But every subscriber is awesome!
Agreed! And frankly, I don't think fast growth is always valuable. It doesn't always equate to a quality list.
do you know of other places where newer substack writers can hang out with peers that might share the same interests?
There's a Substack Discord you could check out! https://discord.gg/GHGBJKJP
thanks, didn't know this was a thing. Just joined.
Same.
Just joined – ty for the link!
Of course! Enjoy!
do u find it any good, Valorie. Whenever I look there's nothing going on but the rent
! So cool!
Thanks Valorie! Will give it a look
Notes has been HUGE for me in this regard. It's how I found you!
I've only had a few extra subs via Notes
I'm a little confused because I have more subs (mostly free) since Notes started, but only a few of them are identified as coming "via Notes" in the notifications. Maybe the ones coming "via Notes" are coming in some very direct way? Insight, Substack? 🟧
how do u know they're from Notes then, just out of interest?
I don't. Maybe it's a coincidence? Just seems to be a spike, and it's all coming from substack.com, some from the app. I don't seem to have new recommendations.
I find a lot of this a bit mysterious. For example I get new subscribers 'direct', but have no idea where they're actually coming from (Google Analytics doesn't show me much yet)
Really? To date I had not seen any subscribers that I knew came from notes, only 'substack network', so thanks for telling me that :)
I came across Robert in Office Hours a week or so ago. Like Woody Allen said: 80% of success is showing up
And he's here on Substack. Obviously not taking care of it himself.
I dunno what I need to do but I seem to constantly see the same big Substackers with a smaaaall sprinkling of the lesser known. I definitely think my feed could look more varied than it does, but maybe I don't hop on enough! Maybe that's the problem.
100% - it's all about building connections with others. So much stuff we do is automated and overwhelmed by technology. Being able to communicate with others on a friendly and human level is a vital part of creating mutually supportive audiences and communities.
quality writing: that's the key IMO
I agree with that whole-heartedly, but still, even if it's good writing, you still have to get noticed. That's the part that gets everyone down I suppose...or maybe I'm not as good as I hope I am? See? Second guessing myself already.
No I agree. It's an uphill slog, especially if one doesn't relish self-promotion
It becomes a matter of prioritisation and time though, with multiple ongoing projects I already feel guilty not having read some of the last posts of sub stacks I am subscribed to! Mea culpa.
These are all great points!
That's right, actively participating in discussions helps to gain an audience, especially if people see that you're not squeezing those posts out but writing sincerely. And it's not just about that, it's also about the quality of your writing, the authenticity of your thoughts, and, of course, your articles.
Still observing / gathering data on the Notes effect (not the immediate 'hockey stick' that others experienced). My instincts tell me there are benefits from contributing regularly to Notes.
There are definitely benefits if you speak up and connect with people. Since I started using Notes I probably picked up 20-30 subscribers. Not huge, but gradual, which works for me. I'm averaging 1/day so far this month which is more than I've ever had. I told them I was seven short of 150 last week, and now I'm sitting at 153.
🧠 If I could think of one thing to help grow your free subscriber list it's this:
Recommend more Substack Writers! 🧠
If you take the time to thoughtfully find, interact with, and recommend writers, you'll be shocked how many will recommend you back.
It won't be right away. So be patient. Once a few of your readers start subscribing to your recommended list, you'll get a recommendation back.
So be kind out there and take that first step and recommend more writers!
I need more subscribers to feed my addiction to getting subscribers
The only thing better than a new subscriber is ten new subscribers!
Excellent! 🧠 It's so easy to make someone's day. One click.
Recommendations, recommendations and recommendations again!
Yes, AND, from a reader perspective, I really don't like when I sign up for one substack, I go through multiple pages asking if I wan't to sign up for these others that I've never heard of. I imagine other people don't like that either.
From a writer perspective, I really only want people to sign up if they're interested in what I have to say. I'm not interested in empty subscribes. I think because I don't have that I have a high open rate and very few unsubscribes.
I know I've found my people when of course, we wanna grow... but when I read words like "If you take the time to thoughtfully find, interact with, and recommend writers..." I'm like, "pffft! Of COURSE!"
I love that we want strategy and answers, but that it doesn't fuel us to show up for other writers and genuinely enjoy their content!
Exactly! I did a little research and found the average writer recommends only 6 publications. I’m at around 18 now and want to get to 30 by end of May. There’s lots of great work out there and no reason not to help them along
Interesting. Does Substack just show 5 of these 18.in mew subscription workflow?
Great Q Bryce.
I'm not sure. It must choose them based on some data, but I haven't been able to figure out what exactly.
Absolutely! I was just saying in another comment how I just thought about recommendations late last night, and will sit down today to start writing them! I'm gonna get on your level eventually, ahaha!
I just subscribed to you. I read the poem you wrote, and it definitely resonated with me.
Thank you so much, Ben! It's bittersweet that it resonated. I really did think Spring was the last resort to keep her alive. I feel a bit guilty now on my walks with dad because I get to enjoy the long, warm, sunny days, but it's without her.
I really thought if she could just hold on... the longer, brighter days would be the life vest she needed to keep living.
Yes. I remember you mentioned this last time and here we are! Deja Vu! I am going to. Now.
🧠 - One of the best ways I've found of growing my free list is collaborating with other writers. I host interviews on both my 'stacks, Collected Rejections and Unruly Figures. Whenever they come out, the interviewee usually shares the post, which brings a new set of eyes onto my 'stacks. And it sends my readers to them, so it's a win-win. It's also just a great way of connecting with the community and getting to know more folks. If you haven't participated in an interview before, I highly recommend it. (And if you're a writer or historian, I'd love to interview you! Comment below!)
You have a very clever idea here, especially because the collaboration requires investment and clearly benefits both parties. It's an active exchange instead of a passive one.
I would be interested in talking with you. I'm a fibre artist and potter with a love of effective design.
Right now I'm only interviewing writers and historians, but thank you for raising your hand! :)
I've just started doing this - I have my first "collaboration chat" with another Substack writer this weekend, and I'm excited to see what we both come up with.
That's so fun! I hope it goes well!
Thanks!
Check out my stack as a potential interview. I’m not a historian but include a lot of nostalgia in my work. I write humor. How was that pitch? Fab? Meh?
If anyone wants an interview I recommend CK, and if anyone wants to laugh their head off you should check out her recent piece based on an interview she did, you'll be glad you did! https://csteefel.substack.com/p/this-story-was-too-good-to-pass-up
Thx so much. ❤️
This is great advice!
Brilliant way to connect and get to know more people, Valorie! And I would love to be interviewed by you! In addition to my Substack, I've written about 150 articles for various publications on Medium and even been paid to write a few for independent online media.
I sense a possible kindred spirit, Valerie! I'll search for your stacks ...
Thanks Joy! You can check them out here:
http://unrulyfigures.substack.com
http://valorieclark.substack.com
I'm doing a featured artist interview on a monthly basis and have played around with making it a paid newsletter. Any tips/advice? My other question is around compensation. I've thought about inviting others to co-host a live event/workshop that I only offer to paid subscribers or charge an event fee. How do you then share whatever profit you make from the event? Especially if it's a paid sub offer rather than an event fee.
How do others approach fair compensation for collaboration? Is it just on a cross promotional basis?
Hi Mariah! I think this is a great question! I'd love to get to the point where I'm compensating interviewees for their time, but I'm just not there yet. I think you can just tell people that's where their money goes when they buy a subscription or a ticket. People appreciate honesty.
I'm interested in talking with you during an interview. Contact me at oicherua@substack.com
Regarding compensation: This is something that you and your collaborators should agree to ahead of time, preferably written down and signed as a document (a contract). It also requires transparency and honesty between both parties.
Agreed that interviews/collaborations with other writers have been good for me too and I also just really like the community it builds :)
Yes! It's a great way to build community!
Hey Valorie! I’d love to be interviewed. Let me know if you’re interested!
Hi Andrei! Absolutely! Email me at valorieclark@substack.com Thanks for reaching out!
I LOVE Collected Rejections. It's always so nice to have that perspective and reminder while being in the field.
Aww, thank you Samantha!
I agree with you, recommendations are definitely a good way to promote, and like you said, it's also a good way to get to know other authors. Interviews? Could you clarify what you mean by that?
Another great way to collaborate is by writing letters to each other and posting to your newsletter, this way both audiences can get to know the authors and they can develop a relationship by exchanging multiple letters.
I am very interested in this and will look into it a little more. I got this idea from Terry Freedman & Rebecca Holden. If anyone is interested in collaborating this way, and our audiences jive, please let me know.
https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/winter-2022-01-dear-terry?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
I've been writing for forty years with ups and downs, but still struggle to build an audience. After six months here on Substack, I make only about $1,000/yr, and that was the low-hanging fruit, easiest for me to get. My writing on my own site has brought in Patreon support of about $600/mo , which has barely changed in many years of being on Patreon. Seems attrition rate is always about equal to new signups.
Thx for advice. How long is the editing process? Is it tough to learn?
🧠 If you want to grow your free list - try to make lots of people go WOW over something you're interested in.
What's a thing that you're really, really nerdily fascinated with, that you figure other people might enjoy learning about as well, if you managed to get them interested in it? Okay. How about teaching it to them, in a way that directly or indirectly promotes your newsletter?
I did this on Twitter a while back: https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1491080740586782720 It's about an ancient flood I enjoyed learning about, and I tried to capture that my-mind-is-blown reaction in the way I wrote it up.
I'd tried this technique before with other threads, but this one really blew up. 9 million views led to 6,000 free subscribers in less than a week, plus around a hundred paid. By far, the biggest success I've had with anything in & around my Substack.
Since then, a lot has changed. Twitter is now either blocking or suppressing Substack links, depending on what day of the week it is, and sadly, what I did back then won't work in the way I did it. But the principle? Yes. That's evergreen. If you teach someone a really amazing thing in a way that makes them FEEL the excitement of it, they will see what else you've got. This has been a principle of good science writing since days of yore. (And, you know, of a lot of annoying clickbait. Don't tease them without delivering a good story!)
A bonus: teaching someone else is also a terrific way of learning that thing yourself: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/how-to-be-brilliant/201206/the-protege-effect So if you're feeling like "aaaargh, I can't do that, I'm not an expert on this thing," well, don't be an expert. Be an *amateur*. An enthusiast! (One who makes sure they've got their facts right!)
That's the best thing I know about growing a free list.
Twitter... I posted my latest link on Twitter. I doubt it even shows up. As you said, Twitter won't work...
Yes. We have to try something a bit different now, a bit more indirect. But if you really get people's attention with something on Twitter, maybe there's another way to guide them towards a newsletter? I bet lots of folk will be trying stuff right now. But - this doesn't just apply to Twitter. It'll work anywhere where you can get people really excited by teaching them something. I've seen people have great success with it on Hacker News, reddit, all over the place.
I put up a video with the link displayed and direct to my profile where the substack is linked. Can't use direct links. The conversion rate dropped to 0%. If I log out of Twitter and search for my latest tweet with the substack link, it does not show up, it doesn't exist but for me. Only I can see it... 😂
I suspect you can still get round this with a thread, by having the first 4/5/6 tweets in a thread *not* linking anywhere, and then you put the link to your Substack in tweet 7 or whatever - so the engagement you get from the earlier tweets will drive people towards the link in the later tweet, even though that tweet might individually be getting suppressed by the Twitter algorithm?
I need to test this to be sure, but - if Twitter is suppressing *threads* that have Substack links in them, not just tweets, that would be spectacularly crappy.
huh! replying to myself! talking to myself! on twitter... what twit thing... 😂 it could work, then again... it probably won't: Occam's Razor.
This was my other big Twitter thread win: https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1466763517487370246 Got me 600 free signups. No link until the twelfth tweet! I think this approach will still work, and get around the whole "Mr Musk seems to hate Substack these days" thing...
Yes. This is how one of my pieces was successful. I did a deep dive into how I believe that the knitting pattern that we know as "the garter stitch" developed. It was super fun, and while I wasn't certain if my conclusions were true, they were accurate based off of my sources from the 1800s.
This is fantastic. Your passion and commitment shone through on that and I’m sure since then you’ve give those folks a reason to stay. I’m getting on the cusp of that will an article to come but there’s definitely more in the arsenal.
ooo, I really love this idea. Thank you for sharing. Taking notes. I can do this!
I have been sharing that story with people ever since your post, you know :)
Thank you, Robert! That means a lot.
Hopefully I can be more than a "one hit wonder". 😆 We shall see. But so far, that's my big win, and I'm still keen to see if I can make something like that happen again...
There you go being logical again, Mike. :)
I'm never logical. It's all smoke and mirrors and anxiety and uncontrollable screaming when deadlines approach. I'm amazed my own family reads my stuff, let alone anyone else!
*realises this is a public comment*
Uh, I mean - thanks, Mark! Thanks.
Thank you for saying what some of us were afraid to say! :) Er, I mean, NOT SAYING.
That's a very good idea, I'll try to implement it sometime. I was thinking that people would be much more interested in reading/hearing about something from someone who is 100% passionate about it and who is so interested in the topic that they are willing to talk about it for hours. You have inspired me, thank you! 🧡
You're inspiring me, Mike! Much appreciation!
For reference, I'm closing in on 1000 subscribers and more than half of those came from Substack Recommendations.
Probably not the right place to mention this but my newsletter's first anniversary is next Wednesday (May 3). Hard to believe it's almost been one year!
We must have started roughly at the same time. Mine will be at the end of the month. feels good!
Congratulations Mark! That is fantastic! Keep going!
Congratulations Mark!
Congrats, Mark! April is anniversary month here as well! Nicely coincides with spring in the northern hemisphere.
This is so interesting to know. I have picked up subscribers via recommendations but I haven't looked that closely at what portion of them are coming from there.
Congrats! Great to know.
Same, I think a large percentage of my followers are coming from Substack recommendations.
It's motivating to see all the positive experiences with recommendations. Definitely going to add to mine.
Wow, congratulations! I still have a long way to go to the 1000 subscriber mark, but how much Substack does to promote authors, both new and old.
That's a multi-faceted question to attempt to answer in a comment. There are a number of things that Substack does to promote authors but mostly it's to provide a platform and a few tools to help you spread the word. Plus the existing community of Substack users to network with. They do feature a weekly Substack Reads post where they feature newsletters, often those recommended by Substack Readers. I haven't been featured in it but I know a few people who have and I think it's helped them a lot. Best to check the resources in on.substack.com
Thank you so much! I'll be sure to check it out.
What is your email open rate?
40% - 50%
🧠 Another great tip to grow your audience is to TRY NEW THINGS 🧠
I started making videos of my monthly posts, and the feedback from that experience has been incredible.
So if you feel stuck, think about how you can incorporate different media into your work. Whether it's photos you take, or Notes you made -- whatever.
This is probably the best tip of all, yes. Good call, Taegan!
EXPERIMENT WILDLY. BE WEIRD. DO STUFF THAT MAKES PEOPLE THINK "YOU'RE NUTS".
This is the growth path of every great artist ever, on every creative platform ever.
I'm wondering Mike- how do you balance the advice given to every artist- make art for the sake of making art- while also intentionally trying to grow your readership/audience? I'm finding it a bit of a double-edged sword. Is it realistic to create without the audience in mind? Maybe I'm just more self-conscious than others?
I watched the Avett Brothers documentary lately (highly recommend), and while it was a beautiful film from one of my favorite bands, they said something similar about just making music to make music. Yet...I have to wonder if they would have achieved the level of success they have if they weren't also treating it like a business? Or maybe it's really true that because they tuned everything else out success came to them?
There's the art or creative act, and then there's the product.
So I put on two different hats, depending where I am. Lots of great artists were terrible at selling their product. Others are fantastic at both.
I agree that it's two different hats! I just posted about this this week, after realizing that I really have no control over how many people buy my books (or subscribe to my newsletter): https://juliefalatko.substack.com/p/dtw-q-and-a-016. There was a great essay in the NY Times by Yiyun Li this past weekend about Ambition, and in it she says:
"So ambition has little to do with the intrinsic values of an artist’s work. An artist, if ambitious, must canvas like a politician: striving, soliciting and winning popularity; seeking (and demanding, appropriately in the case of West) external acknowledgment and approval. Some artists are good at cultivating art, others at cultivating ambition, and those who are ambidextrous deserve all our respect."
That's a good point, Taegan!
the sell, network, promote, advertise, the endless cycle, the artist's bane.
Oh wow, yeah, that's a really good question indeed. And it is SO HARD to negotiate with yourself about this stuff, so it's where it's very easy to feel self-doubting and insecure
Mason Currey is the person to pay attention to here - his latest was on the different roles that writers have to play in order to do the work and get paid for it: https://masoncurrey.substack.com/p/why-its-hard-for-writers-to-ask-for-money Really amazing post with lots of useful wisdom.
Stephen King has an analogy too: you write with the door closed, and you edit with the door open. Two processes. And I guess you also do your marketing with the door open too! But doing both jobs is a huge learning curve, and very confusing on the days where you're trying to do one and your brain is all NOPE I WANNA DO THE OTHER THING.
But the reality is: we need to make something that fits the world. Where it fits the world is where we create an audience and where we get financially compensated so we can keep going. So I'm not a fan of the folk that say "I write for nobody except myself". They're either kidding themselves, or they're forgetting that great writing is collaborative, because it only becomes "great" when it leaves the writer and goes out and changes the wider world in some way and other people fall in love with it. Those people help make it great (so, you know, we owe them at least half of all our thanks, for their kindness and generosity and support.) That's the reality we have to work with.
Thank you for this insight! I think it's Julia Cameron that said something like the difference between successful artists and "shadow artists" is not necessarily talent but audacity. I like to think part of that audacity is believing in yourself so much others begin to believe, too.
Excellent advice! ...and ironically describes my life. :)
Words to live by 🙌
So true. Thanks Mike!
Also, huge apologies for my name typo, Taegan (THANKS AUTOCORRECT). Now amended!
No worries it happens all the time. But you're a champ for correcting it
Words of gold.👏
I am just starting to see how to use content to make more content. I had always thought I would do voiceover or podcasts of posts but still haven't gotten to it. I'm very motivated after making the realization that podcast clips can become reels/stories. Etc. This seems so basic now that I'm putting it in words, but it's hard to see how it all comes together.
Make sure to use easy software to streamline the process. Capcut is great for video and audio, and it's free.
Thank you for the rec!
I love this reminder. "Try new things" Making videos about what your posting in substack on other media may also help turn "followers" into "subscribers"! Great idea.
Writing is powerful but video grabs attention much faster and easier right now. It’s worth leveraging!
I do weekly video posts and they get the most engagement by far. When you say you do videos of your monthly posts, do you mean a video of you talking it out? That sounds cool. (I do the voiceover, but not a video of it.)
It’s a video version shot more in a documentary style!
https://open.substack.com/pub/1wordnewsletter/p/video?r=is0td&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
wow that video is amazing! it must have taken a while to put together..
i'm working on a podcast to go along with my substack but audio editing is a huge learnign curve for me and extremely time consuming. i can only imagine video editing!
Yeah, it's... a lot. I post at the end of the month (next word comes out tomorrow, for example) and the last few days get really hectic. Long nights tweaking shots and colour grading is not exactly fun!
But each time it gets a little faster, and I learn more about video exposure, audio, editing. So hopefully after a few more it'll be less stressful.
I use Davinci Resolve for editing! But if you're just starting out, Capcut is a great option. Both are free.
I don’t feel like crying right now so I will bookmark this for later.
Thanks Chevanne. I have another video out tomorrow am. (I post one word, once a month.)
This was so well done and inspiring. It was also painful as I thought of all the videos I’ve taken of my children. I took video of my son when he was one day old. It feels tangible and real like I’m holding it but really it’s because I’m calling back to something very deep. More to ponder on this. Definite subscribe and restack. This broke and mended my heart.
Thank you Chevanne. It's hard to articulate how much it means to me when someone takes the time to tell me how something I made affected them.
Video, especially from our past, has so much power. I'm trying to incorporate all these old tapes into the One Words, and it feels as if I'm keeping the memory of the dead alive.
Maybe your children will use the videos you took one day, too.
HOLY COW that is very cool and also I want to know if that mini Jaws tv is a real thing.
Haha thanks and it IS a real thing. Stumbled on it at a toys r us
Well thanks to you I know what I'm getting my teenager for her birthday. (Also I like that it seems like you grew up with a dozen or so dogs.)
We did, haha. My mom was a dog groomer my whole life. Still is actually.
Shared, replied, wow! I could tell you put heart into your video! Also loved the content within it.
Tell me more about your video posts! And how do they connect with the content of the post?
My video posts are typically about something that I'm thinking about related to creativity or living a creative life, but something that's not long enough for a full post. Or sometimes it's more like a pep talk. The one last week was about being surprised and delighted by some crude sidewalk chalk drawings I saw (https://juliefalatko.substack.com/p/the-hilarious-delight-of-a-driveway) or a recent pep talk one was about being in love with your own creativity even when you're feeling blocked (https://juliefalatko.substack.com/p/be-wildly-in-love-with-your-own-creativity).
i might steal this idea... i like the idea of speaking to my readers in a sort of low-key way... maybe it'll feel more authentic than making videos on tiktok, which i tried for a while (ugh)
Yeah, honestly it came from Instagram stories. I used to do videos in stories when I was walking my dog in the morning, and then when I mostly quit Instagram, some people said they missed it. I think people do like to see you talking right to them. There's the authenticity, or maybe it's just that people feel like they know you better if they can see how you look and sound when you talk.
also what do you use to record and edit your videos?
I use my phone or my webcam. I do have video editing software that I use for book trailers or for an online class I just made, but for the weekly videos I don't typically edit them. I do add subtitles (I use an online site for that called Happy Scribe).
I agree Taegan! You can't grow without progress. You won't see progress unless you're willing to try new things. Though I've had pretty good feedback on my newsletter since starting in March, I'm planning to complement it with an interview podcast. So far my newsletter is hyperfocused on my travels, but I want to create a way for my audience to experience other travelers' stories as well. Hence, the podcast. The learning curve is steep as a wall, but my guts tell me this is the right direction, so...geronimo!
Interview podcast would be a fantastic idea!
Also, I recommend checking out this tool: https://podcast.adobe.com/enhance
It will enhance you and your guests audio to make it sounds studio-quality. It works about 90% of the time and takes a lot of the effort out of trying to equalize your audio.
Awesome! I'm currently researching tools, so this is just look what I'm looking for. Thanks, Taegan!
No prob!
That tool, plus Audacity and a basic wired earbud mic and you're good to go.
I experimented in my latest post and narrated part of the teaser. Took my new RODE NT-USB+ for a spin... 🎤
Yes the Rode NT! I'm looking forward to diving into your substack this weekend!
I've been using a Comica VM 20 shotgun mic and loving it.
I wanted the Shure (had one from by Band days) but didn't want to spend all the extra $$ for additional equipment, so I went with the RODE, love it so far. Need to treat the room though... too noisy here.
Another great idea that I never would have thought of. It scares me to think about making videos, but that's probably a good reason to give it a try! Do you post those videos on YT or other platforms?
I do!
Moving forward however I'm going to post it on Substack first, using their native video player. YouTube ads really bother me. I'll post on YouTube the day after.
Once I have 3-4 videos on YouTube, I'll push some shorts and other strategies. Not much point until you have a decent chunk of content for people to dig into and want to subscribe.
That video is fantastic Taegan.
Thanks so much Alexander. Means a lot coming from a fellow Jungian.
Next One Word comes out tomorrow am!
Awesome. Fridays a good day? Thinking of changing my schedule from Monday to another weekday...
I don't worry about the day very much. Mostly focus on trying to post in the morning (8am) and during a weekday (Mon-Fri). I also make a point to post at the end of the month, and a big swath of my subscribers keep an eye out for that time period.
I am in GMT+1 so 8am here is not so great for PST etc. I think I need to switch up the time though. Because my 8am is definitely too early... (I think)
Hmm, true. I find mornings before work during the week for your primary subscriber area is the best bet for releasing posts.
Thanks for the good idea. I was thinking about recording the voice tracks in the future and posting them in addition to the article so people can listen to it on the road or somewhere else. I think that's a good idea.
🧠 One of the ideas I heard here last month (unfortunately, I don't recall the author)... They made business cards promoting their substack, with a QR code that took folks to their page. They said they left them on bulletin boards, and...basically... just around (in menus at restaurants, etc.). I loved this idea. Congratulate me — I ordered cards and they should arrive any day. :)
My newsletter is targeted primarily (not exclusively) to a professional niche. I look forward to having the cards at conferences and other meetings where I can tell someone what I'm doing and hand them a card — if I'm feeling confident, maybe even say, "You can subscribe right now" — rather than ask them to remember the url https://heighho.substack.com. Heck, I know that even Heigh Ho isn't easily remembered.
I thank whoever posted the idea (in absentia). I'll let y'all know how it goes.
I don't know if these cards will be helpful, but I like the idea of having an offline arrow in my quiver.
Since that thread (I was there too), I have been thinking about getting business cards as well, with qr codes, it saves me having to spell out my last name!
Don't forget about a tiny URL for folks who don't have QR scanners!
I think I'll just add the full link instead, tinyurls tend to expire. But good reminder, thanks!
I've got a load of business cards from years ago that are in pristine condition
Where did you get them? Or is that a secret that I will hate you for, like in American Psycho.. (I always laugh out loud when seeing Christian Bale's reaction to that business card dropped on the table)
I also used VistaPrint. Super easy. Handing them out at IRL meet ups.
I haven't seen that fillum. I'm going to have to now. I got them from an English mail order company called Vista Print https://www.vistaprint.co.uk/business-cards They were really cheap, high quality and amazingly fast. However, I ordered so many (to reduce the per unit price) that they will outlive me. Hence my reluctance to acquire even more, even though Brad is right. I'm trying to reduce the amount of paper I have (I know that they're made of card, but it's the same principkle)
Thanks. And here is a GIF of it, right as his colleague gives him that business card, which has some sort of ultra-rare font or something else ridiculous: http://www.reddit.com/r/HighQualityGifs/comments/1rtkme/oh_my_god_it_even_has_a_watermark/
LOL Thanks. I enjoyed that.
That piece of wisdom was from Brad Kyle. He writes Front Row and Backstage. He is at https://bradkyle.substack.com/
He is awesome 😀
+1 for Brad
Oh, wow. Good to know. Thank you! I'll reach out to him.
Hey Bob! I've had a similar idea as well, except instead of business cards, I'm thinking of ordering stickers with my logo and a QR. Personally, I think stickers have a more aesthetic appeal than business cards. People can use it to decorate their laptop case, water bottle, or notebook cover, etc. Anybody have thoughts on this idea?
I can see a place for both, Macy. Personally, I don't use stickers, but I do read bulletin boards. (I might guess that some of the difference is generational.)
But, to your point, now that I have the QR code, I don't necessarily plan on limiting it to business cards. We'll see what works. :)
Branding. I like it.
I ordered some custom.stickers last year for another purpose. Still blows my mind you can make custom stickers for some reason.
If you do this, would be curious to hear what vendor you choose and how they are received.
I was planning to use someone on Etsy. I found someone who sells I think 50 for just $7. Something in that range.
I think business cards have a more business-like appearance than stickers. Of course, it all depends on what they will be. I think stickers with kitties are a 100% option, I love kitties.
I love that idea. Don’t an actually leave the house enough to make it worthwhile getting them. But, def one to make a not of in case my knees ever do let me get out more :-)
I agree with you, I think this option is more suitable for those who often go out of the house. But it can always be kept in mind.
I also saw that and it is on my to do list. I'm going on a long RV trip this summer and am excited to spread the word!!
Good idea!
I took that persons advice and have been handing out my card and leaving it at communal places. Don’t know if I have new subscribers from doing this but I like the professionalism of it.
Wow, whoever told you this is a genius. The best idea I've read today.
P.S. I put "promotional strategies" in my notebook.
I've thought about doing this but never got around to doing it cause I feel I haven't got my structured sea legs with my newsletter yet!
Another idea I thought of this week is adding a quip and your newsletter to the back of your car with a QR code.
This is a great idea, now I need business cards with a QR code!
I've thought about doing the same thing and leaving the cards around cafes in Berlin. I reckon there's a fine line between establishing a complementary analog presence and littering.
I really like this perspective. As long as the cards are intentionally placed, and are not freely floating about the streets, then I think that it is okay
Interesting idea! Will definitely be looking into that one!
Shoutout to all the writers - and the poets I see on Substack these days!
I’m just now starting to share my poetry on my substack! Here’s my last share (and oddly one of my most liked posts!) with my poem about how raw and vulnerable the writing process can be
https://denisemasiel.substack.com/p/oh-also-im-a-poet?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
Make poetry great again.
Oddly enough, wrote a haiku this morning.
https://literaryalchemy.substack.com/p/drop-a-haiku-vol-1/comments
I really like what I've read of your horror story!
Which one?
Sharing a poem on my Substack was honestly so scary for me! I keep planning to put time aside for more but the old imposter syndrome sneaks up. https://sarahlaverty.substack.com/p/and-now-for-something-completely
I usually share my poetry as a bonus paid sub offer. I've said ahead of time that they are rough drafts or even unedited versions, which I feel like takes the pressure off for them to be perfect/polished. I'll always share some inspiration behind them, too.
One of my favorite, kind of silly ones was about the forgetfulness of squirrels. :)
Poetry (and short plays) tend to be bonus content for paid subs as well. It is definitely a good place to workshop things. My paid subscriber edition is also a good place to experiment with content and/or format. I do experiment across my newsletter since my content overall is personal stories/memoir, funny stories, and so on and that takes all sorts of different forms, but I feel like I can step out further with my paid subscribers.
"Some poets explore the limits of language, seeking to say that which is unsayable in everyday speech." - letter to the editor, Physics Today 🧑🏽💻
For any poetry lovers or people just curious enough to click on a link, here is my Poetry Substack!
https://sams375w.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile
I think the best way to grow my free list has been interacting sincerely with fellow Substackers. Crossposts have also been useful. Using services like Meco and The Sample have also been a huge push!
I've read about Crossposts many times, but I'm still not quite sure of their usefulness. How effective is it, could you tell me?
It is as effective as you want it to be. Engage with other high quality writers who may have a similar audience to yours. Be professional and prompt with your timelines and communication with them. Deliver the content that you promise them and be clear with them in terms of how you want your content presented. Finally, once their post highlighting your work goes live, be present in their comments section and engage with the other commenters to increase chances of getting subscribers.
Thank you for clarifying it for me.
I can't figure out how cross-posts work. Anyone can direct me to "Cross-posts for dummies"? Thanks!
You can also cross post with someone who does art or music. Think outside the box!
Yes! He speaks the truth. Art comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Oh, the possibilities.
Hi Alexander! You can read more about cross-posting here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/10522003894932-How-can-I-share-another-publication-s-post-with-my-subscribers-
My playbook is:
1) Reach out to someone who you read and pitch a crosspost to them - tell them what you write about and to what kind of audience
2) Think of what you would do in a crosspost. How would you best highlight their writing and help them highlight yours?
3) Be prompt in your communication and professional in your approach.
I agree, Punit! Sincere interaction and genuine vulnerable writing is what brings value and what people want to see. I hadn’t heard of Meco before, so I’ll give it a look!
Been using The Sample with decent success but never heard of Meco - will check it out!
🧠 Don't discount the power of SEO and organic growth through search. Set your publication up in Google Search Console, make sure you're optimizing metadata using Substack's built-in SEO tools, and learn some SEO basics. You don't need to write like a robot to rank on Google -- in fact, the more human you sound, the better! But some basic understanding of how to structure your posts can help a ton in your rankings.
Next steps: get a custom domain and start getting backlinks. As you move up the Google ranks, you'll start seeing subscribers come in based on the power of your archive. And all for free!
Once you've set up your publication on Search Console, you can add your Substack RSS feed as a Sitemap. This means Google will learn about each new post as you make it, which may speed up your search indexing.
Once you have Search Console setup, go to "SItemaps" and paste in the word "feed" into the form there. For example, for mine it looks like the following: https://ironcladcreative.substack.com/ "Enter Sitemap URL" and I just paste the word "Feed" and click submit.
And once you get going, Substack will start generating a sitemap for you at YOURURL.substack.com/sitemap.xml -- submit both the sitemap and your RSS feed for optimal coverage!
If anyone is curious, we have a nice "guide to SEO on Substack" here - https://on.substack.com/p/substack-seo-guide
Thank you. SEO is one of my big knowledge gaps, this looks really helpful!
Thanks for the guide. :)
Bookmarking this to come back to later - I didn’t know you could even set up your Substack in there as it’s technically not your domain, but will give it a try!
It's definitely more straightforward with a custom domain -- and to be frank, I think it's kind of a waste to attempt to build any kind of search ranking on a domain you don't control, but I understand some people don't want to deal with custom domains.
If you want to stick with the Substack subdomain, set up a Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager account. You can verify your site in Search Console using both of those methods. (I suggest GTM -- as you can include GA in your tag, as well as other analytics tools!)
I haven't really looked into the custom domain option. Do you happen to know if I can make this work if I have a pre-existing domain? I have one for my consulting business, which is relevant to my Substack. Would I set up the newsletter as a subdomain of my existing domain, and would that be worth it?
Yup, you can use a subdomain of your existing URL: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051222691-Does-my-Substack-URL-have-to-include-www-
You won't necessarily get an SEO boost from using a subdomain -- Google tends to treat subdomains as unique domains for the purposes of reputation. (This is also why you don't necessarily get a boost for using a Substack subdomain.)
I set up a custom domain when I first started with Substack for my Mind Wise. I couldn't get a URL for mindwise as already popular, but I added "in" and ended up with www.inmindwise.com. I still have my professional WordPress site, and I send all my subscribers to my Substack Mind Wise to sign up with their emails. It seems to work well, and I am glad I set up the custom domain.
Interesting advice. It's a thorny forest for me, but since you make it so easy, I think I can figure it out (at least on a basic level) if I try hard enough. Thank you!
so i can have my substack posts show up on my custom domain?
Yup, like I have here: https://www.nightwater.email/
How many subscribers have you gotten from Google? I have just started writing some SEO posts, and I have gotten traffic. But no conversions yet.
About 10% of my current subscriber base have come from search. My conversion rate is pretty low, but I also write on eclectic pop culture topics, so your mileage will vary depending on the service/content you provide. I wrote a bit more about my SEO performance last year here: https://www.nightwater.email/i/104121150/search-engine-optimization
Thanks so much ... I will check out your post. This is amazing! Also, your newsletter is fun.
I always change it before posting and try to put in an interesting line without giving away anything.
Does anyone have any tips for a good free SEO course? I've been meaning to do one for ages...
Honestly, you won't get much better than WTF is SEO? right here on Substack: https://wtfseo.substack.com/
Thank you for this. Will give this a try also.
Can we please have a SEA AI fill those boxes with optimised text?
I just hit a small free subscriber milestone on my Substack this week, I am still so happy people enjoy what I am writing about! I think having a consistent schedule is definitely key and being up front about how often you'll be posting (for me: 1-2 times per month).
Grats on your small free subscriber milestone!! I love this too. I committed to writing 2 e-letters a week and this "schedule" has kept me writing, and my subscribers get to know me better too.
I'm of the same opinion, having a clear schedule for articles helps us gather our thoughts. We clearly understand that we have to do so much in this month, if more, then cool, but you can't do less.
I still have a lot of conflict about "growth" and especially "growing," as if it's an active verb that we can "do." Nothing against Substack at all on this score; this is an artifact of the online hustle mentality.
My take is that I can't "grow" my list. I can write, and I can connect and engage with other people when and how I want to—which is often a lot. I like the "social" in social media, just not the advertising-driven endless scroll of older social platforms, and so Notes has been great for me. It can be a distraction, but it's also fun, I've met a lot of other writers, and I know it's helped a lot of new readers find my work.
Collaborating with other writers keeps showing up in my mind as a thing that could be interesting and productive, but when it comes down to actually finding ways to do that that are doable, work for both parties, and keep us both in integrity, it's a lot harder than it sounds. I'd love to hear more examples from folks who have actually done this sort of collab here and had it work out well -- and I'm open to collaborating, in particular with other writers of memoir, personal essay and autofiction.
As for bringing followers over from other social platforms, I do cross-post my Substack posts on Insta, FB, LinkedIn (and sometimes Twitter), and I only see the very smallest number of people coming across. Discouraging, really, but I don't care to fiddle much with that more, vs writing and engaging here on Substack.
AN ORDINARY DISASTER
A serialized book-length memoir of a man thrashing against—
and then learning to live with the fact that we are _all_ alone.
https://bowendwelle.substack.com/s/memoir
finding collaborators is trial and error , just sending a message here and there when you think it might be worth exploring. A few will message you back, but it also should make sense for both of your newsletters I think. Example of a successful collab I did a few weeks back, somewhat by accident. I was writing about HG Wells' the Time Machine and what lessons we as a society can draw from its themes, when I stumbled on a fellow Substacker's recently published article about eugenics, which happens to be relevant to the plot of the Time Machine. Contacted her, and she was kind enough to look into the topic and add her thoughts! Hope to do those kinds of collaborations more often.
I've saved that article to read and comment on because I love SF, and I enjoy time travel stories very much.
At the moment I collaborate on letter-writing with Rebecca Holden. A lot of people enjoy the correspondence.
Collabs are great. I am doing one now with a car designer, designing futuristic maglev vehicles for my novel project. Off Substack though, he doesn't have one (yet). But I will post about it soon! Also, open for collabs on anything spec fiction!
I think it's really important to grow on your own terms. Frankly, I really dislike the ultra-caffeinated, go-go-go, hustler mentality. We do not have to optimize every aspect of our lives. I'd much rather write what I want and publish to a comfortable schedule, rather than focus too much on "crushing it" (what a terrible phrase...)
I agree with you, and one major reason I'm not earning much as a writer is that I'm so turned off by the sleazy marketing tactics many people use I know I don't want to do anything like that. I'm also not consistently active on any social media platform because I'm an introvert and it's so easy to get sucked into scrolling and waste a lot of time. I suck at networking because I have no patience for small talk and superficial conversations.
Integrity is more important to me than anything else, even though I desperately need more income. I'm open to collaborating with other mental health and personal essay writers, but hesitant to initiate conversations about it because my subscriber base is so small and I'm so picky about who and what I'm willing to have my name associated with.
It's nice to hear you and others talk about how great Notes is. I haven't spent much time there, partly because I've heard other writers criticize it and tell horror stories of being harassed by right wing haters. I also read the transcript of an interview Substack's CEO did (thanks to Justin Cox for including the link in his newsletter) that was very disturbing. He clearly has no desire to do any content moderation whatsoever, and since anyone can comment on Notes it seems likely that it will become just as bad as Twitter.
I really appreciate what you said here Bowen!!
I'm focusing on doing an artist interview once a month on my newsletter to show the "behind-the-scenes" creative process that I think is kind of mysterious/intimidating for a lot of people. My first one was with Tamzin, who just happens to be on Substack! But I plan on opening up to everyone, whether they're on Substack or not.
Asking them to cross-promote it among their channels/audience is sure to draw more readers and increase everyone's visibility. At least that's the hope! As well as offering inspiring and authentic "artist journey" stories we can learn from.
Here's the first interview with Tamzin! (Check her out, she's genuinely amazing). https://thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/pathfinders-diving-deep-to-resurface
I resonate with a lot you say. I struggle with how much time and effort I want to devote to other efforts outside of my art and writing, as that consumes so much of my time and energy.
I'm 2 subscribers away from 100! My goal when I started my newsletter was to get to 100 subscribers by the end of the year/the 1 year mark of my publication. I can't believe I'm so close to hitting that goal already! 😳
I'm wondering how I can continue to get more subscribers though. A lot of the subscribers I got were from my other social media accounts. How do I expand to reach more people?
Hope you hit 100 today. I am 20 away from 100! just started mixing my life coaching wisdom with things that happen in real life and I have a lovely group of people following. Would also like to expand my reach. Just started at the end of January so still in the learning curve.
Interesting. I just subscribed :)
I just subscribed and I hope you hit 100 soon!
I hit 100 a few mintues ago!
Hey! I’ve also just hit 100 subscribers two weeks or so ago. What worked for me were mostly recommendations (other substacks recommending mine), as well as mentions and interacting on Office Hours every week. I haven’t been as consistent with the latter as I’d like lately, but I am planning a return to form! And also, perhaps most importantly: publish consistently! Choose a schedule and stick with it.
Those are all good suggestions. I've been sticking to a schedule since I started and I think it's going well. Congrats on hitting 100!
Thank you!
I think I might've made you hit the mark! Congrats! I love languages so much and I'm excited to follow your newsletter:)
I did hit 100 subscribers! Thank you for subscribing.
No problem! I'm excited to follow you:)
I've seen you several times on this watch, keep sharing your opinion in the office watch. Try to connect with people here and have discussions on topics that interest you. Be sincere, and people will visit your channel, and if they like what you write, they will subscribe to you.
Thanks for the tips, Sabrina!
Hi Victoria! Have you checked our guide to growing your list yet?: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4
I believe I have but skimming through it again has given me more motivation to find new ways to grow my list! :)
Congrats on reaching 100! That's my next goal :) As a former language student your substack looks fascinating!
Sometimes I wish I had studied languages in school haha but I suppose you don't need school to learn languages! Hope you reach 100 soon!
Just subscribed. Keep coming out to this forum, and commenting, and answering questions. People will subscribe if they find value in your writing. Congrats on 100!
Thank you! This forum as been helpful for sure.
Well you're +1 from this comment alone. I enjoy languages so now you're one closer!
Thank you so much for subscribing!!
Quality over Quantity.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
✏️ Hello everyone. I think it would be really cool if we shared some pieces that we're proud of! Even if you just started your newsletter, I'd be happy to see what you guys out there are writing. I saw Sue Deagle do it on last week's office hours, so if you're here today: thanks for the inspo and sorry if I took your idea.
I'll start, with my latest post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/kodeworldofthearts/p/what-is-literary-quality?r=1hp10d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I just published a piece on avoiding burnout - something that feels pretty important when the "hustle culture" insists that we're always "on," My reaction to that - Nope! You have to protect your energy, and that means saying no to stuff.
https://ironcladcreative.substack.com/p/avoid-burnout-work-for-five-hours
A lot of readers enjoyed my essay “Auditioning to be a Mom,” about a cringe-worthy interview my husband and I had during the process of becoming approved as adoptive parents:
https://www.lizexplores.com/p/auditioning-to-be-a-mom
This is one of my faves, an interview with an entrepreneur during the onset of the pandemic lockdown who repurposed his startup team to design a new inexpensive ventilator...
https://thestrategytoolkit.substack.com/p/designing-a-new-ventilator-in-a-time
Thanks for the invitation! This one was a pretty vulnerable one for me and something I'm actively still wrestling with. I know I'm not alone and I'd love to hear from anyone who has learned to better boundaries around "fixing" people/things. (Any other Enneagram 2's out there)? :)
https://thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/confessions-of-a-fixer
This is one from the archives that I love. Very proud to have written some audacious poetry.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theflare/p/a-body-at-work?utm_source=direct&r=nnkuq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thank you for the great thread. Here's mine: https://www.maureengil.com/p/the-naughty-or-nice-list
It's not particularly legal-ish, but many people have found it funny. So that's something.
That's a great idea. I posted a story about my time on stage with the Rolling Stones, which happened literally out of the blue: https://themuse.substack.com/p/no-mixed-emotions-about-the-rolling.
It was a while ago, when I was a teenager. They were the most respectful gentlemen, not a single inappropriate look. A memory to treasure for sure.
I think I also shared a post in that thread that I am really proud of, but don't mind sharing it again (still proud of it after all!). Wrote about the lessons for our society and humanity's future that we can draw from HG Wells' the Time Machine, asked a fellow substack writer to chime in on the topic as well. https://roberturbaschek.substack.com/p/where-were-going-we-dont-need-roads
I will share a second post here, that I am also still proud of, it is a series of posts I did just after the Ukraine war started, where I interviewed the 21-year-old trans woman xenia, who had to flee Kharkiv through the subway: https://roberturbaschek.substack.com/p/russian-invasion-of-ukraine-part . I was extremely worried (still am, to be honest) about the war and where it was going, and it felt incredibly useful and cathartic to put all my energy in journalism.
Thank you for sharing (again)! I'll definitely check both posts out, they sound very interesting :)
🟧 There are so many substack writers to love, but my heart sinks when I see my mailbox crammed with notifications. It gets overwhelming, especially since some people in the fields that interest me write several / many emails per day. [Do others feel like this too?]
Would it be possible for READERS to have an option to get one big email from substack per day, within which are links to that day's subscribed newsletter emails? Then I could go there when I am in reading mode.
That is a great idea! Something you might consider is getting the Substack app and turning on "Smart Notifications." This means you will no longer get Substacks in your email inbox, and rather just see them in the Substack app inbox. https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4530171220500-Will-I-still-get-emails-if-I-have-the-Substack-iOS-app-
Thanks for your prompt reply, But I just don't do apps on my laptop. They make me feel like my private space is being colonised. Maybe that is just a personal weirdness, or maybe others feel like that too.
I make a Gmail filter for every newsletter and put it in a "newsletter" label, so that I can read and peruse when I feel like it, not when the newsletter sends out. It also shows up on my Substack page on my laptop.
As I understand you, these tons of letters just make me depressed. But if there is one big letter, it will be many times easier, at least for the mental part of me.
I don't think that there is, though I'm not a staff member so how would I truly know. However, i think that if a reader has the app they can choose to get only app notifs and not emails, which i think is what happened to me lol. I don't get emails from who im subscribed to anymore but I do get all of their posts in the inbox on the substack app. Which I prefer, because I can just open it when I want to read, and I don't feel overwhelmed by having the newsletters mix with my other emails. Plus, you can always turn the little red numbers for the app notifs off, so you don't need to see how many posts you've got waiting - if that helps?
🧠 I've found that the pieces I've been more nervous about publishing are often my most popular, the more vulnerable, the more people relate. I know we know this already, but then often we don't apply it because it's easier to continue posting 'safer' things. If you have something to say but you're afraid of the reaction, this is your sign to do it. Test the water, see what comes back!
Great advice. Every time I shake my hands before posting, I realize that this post will probably get more reactions from people than I can imagine.
Very true! It’s a signal to keep writing what scares you!
✏️ So earning more Substack writers as subscribers is nice, but how do all of your pull readers outside of the platform?
There's millions of potential readers out there, but going beyond the Substack platform can seem daunting.
Any suggestions that have worked for you?
If you want to grow, I think it's essential to go outside of Substack. I use Inbox Reads and The Sample, and both have worked decently. I'm registered in a couple of others, also, but those two have been the best so far.
I’ll look into those options. Is it a paid media sort of engagement? And if so what’re the prices like?
Both have free and paid options. With Inbox reads, the paid option puts your announcement at the top for the time you pay for. Regardless of clicks or subscribes.
With paid option on The Sample, you only pay if someone actually subscribes.
Thanks for the tip Victor. I'll try both of these out free first and then see from there. This is a big help!
I am of the same opinion, but to me, it sounds like something very complicated and incomprehensible. Sometimes I wish someone would enlighten me about it, because I don't have time to figure it out at all, unfortunately.
I had a long, leisurely, in-person (yes!) coffee meeting with a professional PR person who has seen it all here in Silicon Valley. She strongly suggested that I write excellent content related to my newsletter, then offer it for free to the leading media outlets relevant to my work. Cold call submissions, over and over again, just like freelance writers have done forever. It just takes one acceptance to get your work (and a reference to your newsletter) in front of a huge audience.
Wish me luck.
Good luck!
Best thing I've seen was the business cards thing. Put a QR Code on it and leave it where your target audience would be. I haven't tried this but as I grow and mature on the platform it's something i'm considering!
Nice I’ll try this in May and report back
✏️ I find engaging with other writers on Substack, particularly by restacking quotes from their work on Notes with my own commentary added, is really helpful! Plus it’s a great way of scrapbooking both for myself and others the things I find genuinely interesting or inspiring.
Of course, we can’t all just write to and for each other — and in trying to reach outside of the Substack community I’ve found some difficulty.
Subreddits can be pretty brutal about self promotion (understandably) and HackerNews even more so. Any advice for sharing work (in good faith, that you genuinely think is valuable) outside of Substack would be great! Particularly for writers like myself who don’t have an audience elsewhere to promote to.
Thanks!
You're right, interaction with authors and audiences within Substack helps a lot to promote and build your name on this site, and it is also very interesting because there is such a welcoming community. But still, outside of Substack, there is a large audience. And how do we attract it to authors like us who have no external sources of audience? That's a good question.
restack my quotes by all means!
https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
🧠I've been on Substack a little over 6 months and I'm definitely still figuring out how I want to be on here. I came on with 500 Mailchimp subscribers, and now am almost at 900, which is kind of mind blowing (thanks Substack! most of the new subscribers come from inside Substack).
I write about getting creative work done, and a huge part of what I write about is how social media broke my creative process for years, in that I would go to the quick fix of tweeting for validation, rather than the long slow process of writing a book. I'm now almost entirely off social media, and one thing that I find is that I want to replace that quick-fix with Substack stats. (Similarly, I think Notes is awesome and I absolutely cannot handle something like that -- I'll stare at it all day long trying to be witty for strangers rather than writing.) (Ha, I'm realizing now I don't know if this is advice 🧠 or a question ✏️).
The way I'm doing this is treating Substack like a part time job (because it is!) and also being mindful of writing what's interesting to me and what I'm thinking about, because I know as soon as I start trying to write to make other people happy, I'm losing the thread of my creative intuition. (Also, happily, when I write about what's interesting to me right now, people seem to respond more positively and say they relate.)
This is all to say: if you also sometimes struggle with how social media and the internet have messed with your desire for praise, I see you, and I'm with you. I really appreciate Substack for giving me a place where I can control more of what's coming at me, and where I can actually get paid for writing (vs., like, Twitter, where it felt like getting spiky dirt balls thrown at me all day, and I for sure did not get paid to tweet).
You're all awesome! I think it's so cool how much we're all writing.
Very nice words, all in fact. Social media distracts me so much at times that I can't concentrate on writing, and I try to be very thorough in my writing. Maybe you have some tips you can give me. I would be very grateful.
My tips would be to take a break from social media. Have you read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport? He's got good tips in there about how to take a break -- mostly it's that you need to decide ahead of time what you want to do with your time instead of being on social media. It sounds like for you that's writing. Delete it from your phone, and change your passwords to something complicated, and then make sure your computer doesn't remember your passwords, so every time you log in (after you take a month at least off) on your computer, you have to look up your password and manually put it in.
I will also say that it's hard. Breaking up with social media (and the pull of the internet) is hard. There are times where I'm writing and I really feel like "Oh! I should check my email!" and to sit there and NOT check my email is sometimes physically uncomfortable. But the more I'm able to do it, to sit there in the discomfort, the easier it gets.
The other thing I'll say is that the fact that you're a writer means that you have something to say, and something worth hearing, and it's annoying that these tech companies are getting in the way of your ability to be creative and tell your story with writing. The world needs to read your writing!
I'm going to check out your newsletter - seems like we're writing about similar topics of distractions of modern life. My newsletter about staying sane in a digital world.
I'm going to check out your newsletter too!
thank you!
Yes I completely agree with you about Notes! I cannot handle another scrolling apparatus in my life and similarly, I would spend all my brain energy trying to come up with witty things to say! I wrote about my reaction to Notes in my newsletter, Scroll Sanity https://carmellaguiol.substack.com/p/i-didnt-come-here-to-scroll
Yeah, I was startled by how my immediate reaction was, "oh noooo, nope nope nope." I am also aware that other people can handle it just fine. But I for sure know that I cannot.
Thanks for this Julie, subscribing to you now!
Thank you, Danielle!
This! Feeling completely seen and comforted by this share. Congratulations on almost 900 subscribers! I just started my Substack this month with no email list crossover, this is inspiring!
Congratulations on your new Substack!
Thank you so much!
I would really recommend using the recommendations feature here on Substack. It's brought me over a 100 subs. I'd also say share the brilliance of Substack as a concept and a platform with your lists and social media followers elsewhere as sometimes folks just need some encouragement and as we know those platforms can be really distracting.
Hi Claire,
I’m yet to write my first recommendation. I’m interested in what you say in your recommendations, When you write yours do you use a pattern or formula?
I just write from the heart - I’ve been here a year so there are lots of Substacks that genuinely make my day and writers I feel connected to. ✨
100 subscribers, is that in one day? What staggering numbers!
Oh no just it tells me how many recommendations have brought me. I’ve been here a year.
Got it, thanks for answering.🧡
🖍️May I just say that the responses y’all post here are super helpful? I doubt many of you are my target audience (those approaching and in the early days of retirement), but I love the way y’all help each other.
I was excited about this chance to write, but had no idea I would learn so much. Thank you!
Thank you for such kind words.🧡🙏
I see your crayon, Nana, and I love it! You made me smile. 😄
✏️ Hi all! Sorry if this has already been asked but I’m lost in the thread! Quite a few have said they find notes to be a great way of finding readers. Can I ask how? I have barely posted on notes mainly as it feels like posting into an abyss… all I see are large accounts with many readers already posting. Seems a bit intimidating. Not sure how anyone will find a tiny stack like mine!
Hi Priya. I use notes to try to reach new people who wouldn't otherwise see my newsletter. I'd recommend to keep it up. And try to write to the best of your ability every time. Some say consistency is key, and it is important. But quality beats quantity.
Just keep posting everywhere, and linking back to your best articles. Good luck!
Photos and questions/ chats seem to do well and reach more people on Notes.
I was extremely pleased with one of my notes in which I tried to get a discussion going about free speech. Just tried out whether that would work on that platform, I guess with some anxieties left over from my Twitter days, but was positively surprised by the several people that took the time to share their thoughts and engage in a nuanced discussion! This was the note: https://substack.com/profile/47938040-robert-urbaschek/note/c-14893989
I mean, if only one person stumbles on your post and engages with it, that's a win in my book.
I have the same problem: other big writers gets lots of traction, and my posts on Notes get none/little. I think what helps is to have a network of other writers that already are subscribed to you, and maybe subscribe back if their work interest you, because then its more guaranteed that your note actually gets seen. I think an extremely small percentage of non-writers are on notes, and i think its built specifically for writers to connect if im not mistaken. So my best tip, for another writer struggling with the same, is to perhaps be lucky and find a "lets introduce ourselves in the comments" note, or to interact with (restack, comment, etc) on the notes of the writers you already follow. Maybe they'll check you out and restack your latest post and you'll gain some traction?
🟧 Hey! I’ve got the same problem. Would love to know how the Notes algorithm actually works, so I might adapt to it. Is post frequency what determines the visibility of one’s Notes on the wiser network, or the number of subscribers? Would love the @Substack team’s take on this.
Hey Andrei and all,
Sarah had a really thoughtful comment on how Notes has helped her grow: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-free-list-76/comment/15305517
Thoughtfully engaging with others writing, in the comments and with restacks, will help you get in front of new audiences.
As a reminder, there are three tabs in Notes:
The Subscribed view shows notes and activity from writers you have subscribed to directly.
The Home view shows notes from writers you are subscribed to and writers they recommend, making up your extended network.
The My Subscribers view is where writers will see posts from people who subscribe to you. We’re experimenting to see if this tab can help writers and their readers build stronger connections through Notes. In addition to their notes and activity, very soon you’ll see indications of their subscriber status (for example, free or paid).
So if no one has recommended us yet, does this mean that no one will see our Notes besides our current subscribers?
Notes is great because you can think of it like areas of overlap. "Home" shows you who you subscribe to, and who those people recommend. "Subscribed" shows you just those who you subscribe to. "My subscribers" shows the people who subscribe to you.
If you are just starting out, it might look sparse. As you follow and discover more newsletters, it will grow. Don't be shy about chiming in on a conversation you can see on Notes, the community is very friendly and loves the engagement. Lots of curious clickers no matter what, so you may get tons of subscribers just by showing up!
But start small, and start in a way that is comfortable to you. Notes is a low pressure environment, and you can work at your own pace and make it what works for you.
Fear not, keep writing, whoever needs to know will notice you. If you write with your soul, people will notice you sooner or later. The most important thing is to keep writing, persistence is what we need.
🧠 Hello everyone! I'm a small substack with just over 10 subs, and I'm looking to grow my newsletter. I've been active on Notes, but my own posts there get extremely low traction because I'm not really being seen by anyone except the one or two fellow writers. But I comment on others' notes and posts, and try to interact with other writers on here.
I don't think there are many people in my personal life or on my social media that are really interested in what I do, though some of my friends and family are subscribed to my newsletter. What I'm looking for is a way to grow my audience that I can do from substack, or that isnt telling everyone I meet on the street about it. I don't mind that it takes time to grow, I knew that when I started, but if I could hit 50 subs by the end of the year I'd be super happy. Maybe 100 if I'm lucky!:)
This post may be a good one to dig into! Getting your first 100 signups
https://on.substack.com/p/getting-your-first-100-signups
thanks!
Hi all! I’ve experienced some growth in my list recently by collaborating and cross-posting with other writers - it can be daunting but I’d never say no to working with someone else now. You get to meet awesome new people and produce and share work you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to!
Incidentally if there’s anyone out there writing about parenting (particularly young kids) then hit me up!
I don't write specifically about parenting but I am planning a "Life lessons from my 9 month old" post in the next week or so. Being a new mom, parenting just sort of filters into my newsletters because it's a lot of what my daily experience is.
Beyond collaborating on posts etc., I'd love to start an accountability group for new parents who are also writers and trying to balance the two! Sometimes I feel like it's an impossible task but I know others are also doing it! <3
Love this idea!
Awesome! Just checked out your newsletter, there's some great stuff there! I'd be interested in cross-posting and forming a parent/writer's accountability group if that seems helpful for others. Send me an email -thebarefootbeat@substack.com.
that's awesome! i want to try cross-posting
You should check out my substack, I publish a weekly newsletter on parenting strategies targeted towards academic readiness from 0-5. The information is all from The Basics which is a nonprofit that started at the Harvard Achievement Gap Institute. I am partnered with organizations in my community and also have the Substack!
Would love to work with you!
I will! Would love to see how we could collab 😊 feel free to drop me a message - someotherdad@gmail.com
Something I learned (or re-learned) this week is to not take for granted that people from you social media accounts, assuming they all know that you publish a newsletter. I put out a reminder to people on Instagram this week because I'm stepping up my writing, and I asked people to join the newsletter so they could witness the changes. I got a bunch of new subscribers that had no idea I even had a newsletter just from that single update.
This was me with Discord! Usually the people in our immediate social media circles love seeing what we’re up to, writing included!
🧠
What I have found when attempting to grow my subscriber base is simple interactions tend to have the most success.
Can you expand on simple interactions? With readers or other writers? What are some ways you engage in simple interactions?
Absolutely!
By simple interactions I mean interactions wherever they are possible to whomever they are possible. This includes both readers and writers.
For instance, if you have a reader comment on your post, a like and a follow up comment goes a long way. It has the possibility of becoming another topic to write about or commented on by more than the original reader.
And as far as writers, checking Notes here and there and commenting on what they put out, or commenting on their long form writings as well.
Even commenting or replying to comments other writers have received if you have input yourself.
All of it, including what you have done here, shows you're interested in more than typing up a few things and hoping people subscribe. It shows you're interested in fostering and interacting with a community.
And community is what is attractive here. Community makes Substack and other media platforms run. It's what makes them thrive.
Thank you! "Community is what is attractive here." 100% good reminder
Extremely helpful tips, thank you.
Thank you for this breakdown, I'm new to Substack just this month as well. Definetely taking note here! Thank you
Not a problem! Welcome to the club!
Thank you!
Thank you for outlining what you meant by simple interactions. I always feel the pressure to be doing some grand sharing campaign of my posts on all social media platforms, but I think you're right about just interacting with others.
We forget about the power of just being human and being interested. A small community is stronger than a bunch of drones who don't care about what you have to say.
Yes, 100%!
People just want to be heard, they want to KNOW they're heard.
And a simple comment accomplishes exactly that.
🧠 Hey guys! One thing that’s worked for me consistently have been collaborations with other writers. The recommendation feature is a big factor in my growth, and though I don’t have that many subscribers yet (118, with a goal of reaching 500 bu the end of the year), I’ve seen steady growth from this, along with mentions from other newsletters with more subscribers. Word-of-mouth, that’s what’s responsible for steady growth. Interacting on Office Hours has also been important, as I get a few subscribers every week from these threads (by the way, if you want to read some vulnerable personal essays and memoir, come check out Practice Space!)
Great advice, in addition to your words, I would like to add. Do not forget that the number of recommendations is not limited, you can recommend everyone you like who has a similar theme, and someone is sure to start recommending in return.
So collaborate as in you co-publish on post on 2 Substacks? I'm interested in doing this. Would love to learn how. Thanks!
Well collaborate can mean anything involving two writers. It can be recommending each other’s newsletters, cross-posting each other’s posts, or mentioning each other in our own posts. That’s what I’ve tried so far, and it’s worked. There’s also writing a guest post for another publication, which I haven’t done yet, but I’d love to.
thanks! i want to try cross-posting.
Cool! I encourage you to. Are you in the Substack discord?
nooo! i'll have to check it out
how to you find people to collaborate with?
Hi! Usually they’re people whose writing I like, whom I get in touch with asking them to read my stuff. If they like it, I then go further and ask them if they want to collaborate with me.
For me, the best way to grow is through recommendations
Needing some clarification around recommendations- are people saying their Substack grows when THEY recommend other writers? Or when other writers recommend them? I've kept my recommendations to just three or so newsletters but interested in how maybe I should shift my strategy here.
It's when other writers recommend you. You got to find writers who have a similar audience and just connect with them
🧠 One thing I am currently trying is to create a "Series" of themed posts that interlink with one another. That way, if someone comes across one part of the series, they can read the others and be tempted to subscribe. So far, I have series running on task management for creators and freelancers, and how to communicate better with clients.
I've also been thinking along these lines but more organically than formally. I'm curious: do you map out the whole content series before you start?
I have a slightly more organic approach as well. I have a high-level idea of the areas I want to cover, but that does get altered a bit through the writing process.
Thanks for sharing.
The topic "how to communicate better with clients" sounds interesting, I'll have to read it at my leisure. And the idea of a series of thematic posts is very intriguing, I will take note of it.
I've done something similar recently, and I wrote a bunch of content related to some recent legal events. I'm starting a running post (that I will eventually pin to the top of my substack) that will kind of be like a year-in-review of legal issues, with links to whatever I wrote.
I'd love to hear how that goes for you!
Good luck!
I find that the best thing about Substack is when I genuinely esteem another writer for their posts and they genuinely esteem me for mine -- and we have great dialogues in both of our comments sections. You can't force it, although you can make a good effort every day, reaching out to our peers, our fellow writers. But when it happens and it's genuine, it's pure Sustack magic.
More than once, I've noticed authors actively communicating with each other on their channels, and it seems so friendly. I understand that these people communicate with each other sincerely, they are interested in each other's work, which is fascinating.
Recommendations have been a huge help, but marketing, promotion, sharing, cross promoting, investing in yourself and ultimately being a good writer with great content is what drives free sign ups. Paid sign ups are another story...
✏️
Hi writers! I am looking to connect with other Substackers who joined the platform in connection with or in preparation for a book on the same topic. Hoping to find people in all stages of the book process!
My Substack, Non-State Actress, is focused on making national security and defense relevant, interesting, and accessible for non-experts. I am writing a book (with a companion digital resource) with the same name and concept and use SubStack as a way to share abbreviated chapters and get feedback between deadlines and such. Prior to publishing here, I hadn’t published anything in my own name…*ever* and it’s been a REALLY helpful on-ramp. I would love to learn from others who started on Substack for similar reasons, or ended up on the book route after starting on Substack!
Maggie, good to meet you. I specifically joined Substack to nudge me to write my next manuscript - very effective, am almost there. I self-published my first book on IngramSpark. Am now looking at hybrid options for the next one.
✏️ 🟧I am a complete newbie. I have participated in the OpEd Project at the University where I teach. 1. How do you decide to write for 'yourself' i.e. Substack vs writing an OpEd or the like for publication somewhere?
2. I write essays on 'life' as I imagine most of us do. Why would I think that anyone would be interested in what I have to say?
3. I have published academically for years but this is a whole new thing. It's 'easy' (not at all lol) to publish in a research format but the essay is a whole 'nother thing. Any pointers? Thanks
1- Write what makes you happy. Honestly, if you wrote an OpEd style newsletter that might be cool, I haven't seen anything like that. But if you write personal essays, that would be great too and I know people would love it!
2- People are interested in what you have to say because nobody else is you! You have experiences and wisdom and stories that nobody else on earth could replicate if they tried. Don't let the comparison game stop you--you have something that nobody else has, and that is YOUR story!
3- There's no science to newsletter writing, in my opinion. You can write it like a letter, like a note to self, like an OpEd. The important thing is to just write. You will find your voice, in time. It took me two or three years of blogging to realize what I was about and what style I like. I'm a slow learner, so it probably takes most people less time to figure it out!
Ruth, I was going to reply to your questions, but after reading Scoot's response I couldn't say it any better and agree 💯 with that advice.
The only thing I would add, since you're used to publishing academically, is that online writing is different. I had to learn to write much shorter sentences and paragraphs online than I was used to. Single sentence paragraphs are fine in digital articles.
Also, I had to learn to use simpler words; my vocabulary is more extensive than the average reader's.
Finally, adequate white space is an important part of correctly formatting an online article. Many people read on their cell phones, so what seems like a short paragraph is long when read on a small screen. Blocks of text should be short, and it helps to use headings, subheadings, and quotes to separate those blocks into manageable chunks.
Hope this helps, and remember to write first and foremost for yourself. So what if no one reads your words at first? Eventually, people who resonate with your writing will discover it and want to read more.
Great advice on the formatting and adequate white space! I still have a hard time forcing myself to have paragraphs less than 3-4 sentences but it really IS all about the look, too.
I'm getting used to writing shorter paragraphs. It still seems wrong to have a one sentence paragraph, but I do it!
I absolutely agree with every point, and you are a good motivator!
Thank you for this pep talk I didn't know I needed!
Hi and welcome! I honestly think it's just the unknown that feels intimidating as I've only ever written personally essays but writing an OpEd sounds super scary.
I just listened to a podcast with the poet Maggie Smith as a guest and she said "specificity is sticky." Her takeaway, after writing a memoir was that people can weirdly relate to the more specific stuff you share about your life that you actually think no one will care about or understand.
And I think she's right!
My other advice is just try it out and see what resonates. If it resonates with you, first, it's more likely to resonate for others. Good luck!
My advice would be to change your "handle" from "Misc" to something that helps us make the affirmative yes decision to subscribe.
I identify with your journey. I'm a recovering academic and educative writer primarily related to my professional work in mental health. My grounding for all my early years was pursuing everything spiritual, holistic, and enlightening. I've brought more of my personal story into my writing; those that give me honest feedback feel I might need a ways to go. My last article only had 3 or 4 references, which is a positive step for me.
🧠I have had my Substack for one month, and have committed to posting twice per week -- 630 am my time zone, which appears to be helpful. I am getting about 70% open rate, and much of that is within the first few hours as people are getting going in their day. I have also begun scheduling posts, so that I am not always "on deadline". I am also intentionally NOT marketing too aggressively. I share via my LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter channels, and when I think a certain post is of particular interest to someone in my life, I'll send the link to them by text or e-mail. My goal is to build slowly and steadily, so that I can "work out the kinks" as I learn what's best.
Thanks, Matt; It is interesting that I haven't seen anyone else talk about really personal connecting. I do this when I write something I value and want to share it with a close friend or colleague. I send the URL of my article by email or message. I get my most and sometimes only trusted and honest feedback from doing this.
And it's true that chasing numbers as fast as possible is not always a good idea. I like your approach of slowly gaining a solid and good audience by sticking to the term "work out the kinks". That said, you put out as many as two posts a week, that's some serious persistence and should be commended.
That's a great open rate!
My strategy: Use Substack's new Notes product!
More from a recent note that I wrote on Notes:
"Put simply, Pascal’s Pensées is more silhouette than portrait.
Nevertheless, it is both striking and brilliant. Much like Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, it stands tall, remains incomplete, and inspires awe. All in all, it’s quite a metaphor for that brief flash we call life, no?
I mention all the above because Substack—the platform upon which I write and send this newsletter—has launched something of a digital pensées in the form of its Notes app.
Substack Notes is a new Twitter-like service for Substack’s writers and readers to “share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more.” Its stated purpose is “[to create] a space where every reader … can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things [they are] reading on Substack and beyond.”2
It represents another front in Substack’s noble war to pry social media from the cold dead hands of advertisers and into the warm embrace of artists the world over. Indeed the launch of Notes further solidifies Substack’s pivot from newsletter network to a new “economic engine for culture.” I, for one, am cheering loudly from the peanut gallery (yet I may already be in Teddy Roosevelt’s arena given my three years writing White Noise)."
More here: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/a-short-note-on-notes
Hello everyone! I’m still learning because it’s barely two months since I started here but I think growing your email list is also about growing your community and a reciprocal interest in each other is vital. I know I’m already writing better just for writing in community.
🧠 If you're having trouble writing content for your newsletter, here is one simple thing I found that helped:
- Write content that's enjoyable or useful to YOU.
I've heard many musicians say that they create the music they want to hear. If you find enjoyment or use in your writing then it will be easier to keep going!
100%. Putting yourself in the shoes of your audience and approaching things from their perspective is one of the best ways to ensure your content is useful and relatable.
Good advice, thank you.
🧠I wouldn't go so far as to call this a "strategy", but Recommendations from fellow Substack writers certainly seem to propel free subscriptions. What do you all think?
I agree with you, Joan.
Joan, you and I have similar Substacks ... want to trade recommendations (and subscriptions)?
Definitely, Joan.
✏️ Any fellow international news/politics writers? Perusing the site I observed that substack is still mainly dominated by US news, or at most global news from the US angle. Just want to reach out and see if there's a possibility of forming a small cadre of writers focusing on international political news from multiple countries' perspectives.
I would say that I write from my own perspective, in which the U.S. can definitely play a larger role due to its outsized influence on global events, also sometimes from a Dutch perspective, but I think most of all, from a human perspective, which, frankly, is missing from most contemporary discourse. I don't do current event news, however, I choose topics that I think are important and do deep dives, hear out all sides, and try to get to the truth of the matter.
Likewise, I try to write about areas of interest where a holistic and human perspective is missing. Though as a great reader of contemporary discourse and journalism, I find pieces that stimulate me to delve deeper and explore at least an aspect of the topic in a more enlightening way.
Try this one...it could suit you?: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
🟧I love the idea of Notes, but concerningly feel like the resource to run it isn't sustainable for current substack business model. I am not sure we are profitable before notes where there were just us writers and newsletters readers and now the substack team has to run a total new social network. Weirdly, I, a no-name writer who loves the idea of substack and wants to thrive on it, just want some reassurance that Notes can last in its current form without bringing in algorithm and ads in the future.
Yes! This! I'm still extremely new here, as in joined this month new and I genuinely enjoy the current state of Substack, how it works, the intimate feel. And would love to see Notes remain without algorithm or ads as well.
Hello there! Thank you so much for writing on Substack.
Sarah had a really thoughtful comment on how Notes has helped her grow: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-free-list-76/comment/15305517
Thoughtfully engaging with others writing, in the comments and with restacks, will help you get in front of new audiences.
As a reminder, there are three tabs in Notes:
The Subscribed view shows notes and activity from writers you have subscribed to directly.
The Home view shows notes from writers you are subscribed to and writers they recommend, making up your extended network.
The My Subscribers view is where writers will see posts from people who subscribe to you. We’re experimenting to see if this tab can help writers and their readers build stronger connections through Notes. In addition to their notes and activity, very soon you’ll see indications of their subscriber status (for example, free or paid).
I am not worried about my own growth but Notes' longevity in its current form. I know it's off topic, sorry for that, ... but at least can I get someone in substack saying that running Notes isn't a liability financially and will change substack into what we don't like in the long run?
🟧 - First time in one of these Office Hours. Thanks for doing this.
I have been researching (and reviewing your posts on the subject) regarding conversion to paid options. I have two questions:
1. Is it within guidelines to offer benefits outside of substack, such as merch and/or other prizes?
2. If the Founding Member price is higher than the annual membership, is it okay for that to be a one-time fee; or is that automatically an annual fee?
Thank you!
Welcome! I think for 1 you are free to do what you like, just like you can leave substack and take your subscribers with you. you are in charge of your substack, is how they have consistently said it. For 2, it is annual. or you would have to do it through Stripe/paypal/ko-fi instead and then gift them the subscription in exchange.
Thank you for your feedback. So perhaps it's possible with 2 that I "gift" them the lifetime subscription?
Yes you can do that.
This is all new to me, I have never written before and I started posted for my first time yesterday. I am working on personal journeys, mainly health and loss related, to inspire people and give them hope. I have to set up Social Media but I mainly need to learn all things Substack, I haven't even figured out how to update my name to match my brand yet I am that knew. It is a little scary but I figured if I don't dive in head first it will never happen. So I am here to learn.
Hello! It's great to have you here:) I'm relatively new here too, though I've been on here for a couple weeks by now. I'm glad you're getting into writing - it can be quite fun! I hope you enjoy it here!
Thank you! It seems like this is a great place to be and writing has been fun so far or at least coming up with future topics to tackle. :-)
I am definitely hear to learn as well! Best of luck!
Best of luck to you as well.
Welcome to Substack!
Thank you
I'm a total newbie too, and don't even know how to find "reply to all"!!
(Thank heavens, everyone here seems very kind!)
Baby steps, we have got this!
🧠 - I just want to say that Notes has driven zero (0) subscribers to my newsletter. Just in case anyone was wondering whether they were alone 🖤
I think that the main thing here is not to give up in this business. Perseverance, the main thing is perseverance. I believe in you.
I'm right there with you. I theorize it's because I don't have many other Substack writers as subscribers?
Sounds like a reasonable theory to me!
Hi all! I write about all things political and would be honoured if you'd subscribe!
You'd make my day :) ill subscribe back too!!
Thank you so much.
Just subscribed up, Keith! Most importantly, don't give up!
Thanks Sabrina!! :)
I just subscribed and recommended! Punditman is looking to expand subscriptions too :-)
Thanks! Just subbed back :)
Yes I will if you will: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
Thanks Graham. Done !!
Just did so & recommended, Kit!
Thanks George ! I look forward to reading your work :))
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Robert. You too!!!