I'm Confident I'm Moving My Mini Newsletter (Intellectualists) from ConvertKit (AKA: Kit) to Substack on Wednesday!

Here's what I've done so far (and the one thing I'm struggling with)

Image created in Midjourney.

On August 15, I decided to move my mini newsletter to Substack.

Intellectualists is sent out every weekday and contains a short list of curated links with tips, resources, and information related mostly to writing, marketing, and content creation.

The goal is to give my readers a quick way to get the resources they need to make more money online.

I had it on ConvertKit (now Kit) for the past year, but I decided to move it over to Substack for 2 reasons:

1. To save money. I don’t think Kit is very pricey for all that it offers. However, I’m not using any of it. I only use the basics. Since Substack is free, it just makes monetary sense to switch.

2. To grow my newsletter faster. I’m not saying I’m guaranteed to grow my newsletter faster on Substack, but it has so many amazing built-in features (like Notes & Recommendation) that I should be able to get it going a little quicker than I did on Kit.

First, let me show you what I’ve done so far, and then I’ll tell you what I still need to do (including the one thing I’m struggling with).

---

What’s been done so far

1. Added a placeholder to Substack

2. Updated my logo, created a header + a footer

3. Tested the formatting

4. Cleaned my email list

1. Created a placeholder

The first step I took was setting up a placeholder in Substack, as suggested by

Jamie Northrup

. (Thanks, Jamie!)

I did that a little while ago, and I’ve already gotten some subscribers!

Screenshot taken by the author.

I also got a very generous pledge from

Fleda Wright-Bennie

, but I won’t be taking her up on that offer because I’m turning off all monetization. This newsletter will always be 100% free!

2. Updated my logo, added a header + a footer

I updated my logo mostly for the fun of it. I wanted to add some color.

Image created by the author.

But there’s a practical reason behind it too. I have a few different things I’m working on:

• Hustling Housewife

• Intellectualists

• Master of Manifesting

They all have different colors associated, but I’m trying to make them more cohesive. I also updated my website, ChristinaPiccoli.com, and added different colors to try to pull everything together.

Screenshot taken by the author.

3. Tested the formatting

I wanted to be sure the formatting was approximately the same from Kit to Substack. My newsletter is extremely simple, so I didn’t think it would be a problem. It looks very similar on both platforms.

Here’s what it looks like in Kit:

Screenshot taken by the author.

And in Substack:

Screenshot taken by the author.

I made a couple of minor changes:

• the logo (which I mentioned above)

• removed my image at the bottom because it’s already at the top

• took out “missed an issue?” since all the issues will be housed on Substack going forward

The other change I plan to make is to remove the p.s. and integrate any promo links into the main link area.

That’s just a formatting thing and I think it’ll look nicer.

I noticed

Yana G.Y.

does that in her CreativeBites newsletter, and I like it better.

4. Cleaned my email list

I went to Kit today and removed all the cold subscribers. I think it was around 86. I now have 631 subscribers.

Screenshot taken by the author.

What I still need to do

1. Announce the move from Kit to Substack

2. Export my subscribers from Kit and import them to Substack

3. Figure out what to do with my email sign-up box (and all the links associated with it)

1. Announce the move from Kit to Substack

I’ve already done that multiple times here on Substack and on Medium. But, I never pinned down a date.

In my Tuesday’s P.S., I’ll inform everyone of the move.

Screenshot taken by the author.

2. Export my subscribers from Kit, and import them to Substack

I semi-figured out how to do this.

(Um, I Googled it. lol)

In case you need to know…

• here’s how you export from Kit

• here’s how you import into Substack

Seems easy enough!

3. Figure out what to do with my email sign-up box (and all the links that point to it)

This is the one thing I’m struggling with!

Here’s how people currently sign up to my Intellectualists newsletter:

Screenshot taken by the author.

I have a lot (a lot) of links pointing to this page for people to sign up.

This box connects to Kit and puts people on my list, then they get a nice Thank You page:

Screenshot taken by the author.

But Substack is a different animal.

A subscriber doesn’t put their information into a box, they sign up directly on Substack.

I have a few options I’m considering (let me know if you have any thoughts or other ideas):

1. Create a redirect so when people fill out their information with my subscribe box, they’ll be directed to Substack. (

   Jamie Northrup
   told me about a tool that can do this.)

2. See if my subscriber box creator (ConvertBox) can redirect to Substack somehow.

3. Create a redirect for my domain, intellectualists.com, and send it directly to my Substack.

4. Remove the subscribe box on my homepage, and simply add a link to my Substack.

I’m honestly thinking of doing #4 because that seems like the easiest option. I don’t want to think too hard about this. I just want to get it done!

That’s the only thing I’m struggling with (so far)!

---

I’m excited to see if I can grow faster on Substack, and I love testing out new things. With that said, I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing, but I know I can figure it out along the way!

(I hope?! lol)