OMG, it's like you read my mind with this post, Christina! I haven't been on Substack for 6 months yet, but it sounds like my experience so far is shaping up to be a lot like yours.
I 100% agree that this platform is NOT intuitive to navigate. I feel like a mouse navigating a maze, clicking around and trying to find the right settings and features to use for whatever I'm trying to do.
And I'm pretty reluctant to go paid here for the same reasons you mentioned.
Thanks for sharing this. I agree with you about the pressure created by being a paid newsletter. If your sick, too busy etc it’s hard, knowing you might be letting someone down. 😮
I kind of wanted to ditch substack in the beginning but I decided to give it another chance for 1 year. with consistency, I want to see how that will look like.
I also love the simplicity of Medium--and the ability to import direct from my blog--but Substack is useful for an entirely different reason: I imported my newsletter subscribers after my autoresponder newsletter hosting service tripled prices. Still trying to navigate the whole design situation and adjust strategy.
wow, they tripled prices on you? YIKES! Which newsletter hosting service were you using? Do you have a big list?
I have a sizable list that I was planning to migrate here. I've only brought a small percentage of the list here so far. But I'm having some second thoughts about it now.
The service was aWeber and it was great until it wasn't due to $$$. List was 3400. Substack dropped 500 emails when I uploaded for unknown reasons so now list is below 3k.
That happened to me too. Some of my email addresses fell off. It’s possible that some were duplicates with people who were already signed up with me at Substack. 500 is a lot though. I’m sure you don’t have that many dupes.
Oh wow! That must have been a shock. I love that it's free here (minus a 10% fee if you decide to monetize), but Substack is missing tools like automated sequences.
I miss the automated welcome sequence, too. I used to have multiple reader magnets, all using automated drip campaigns. I bundled all that content (free mini masterclass, DetectiveEmiliaCruzstarter library, etc), created a multiple page on my website and put the link in my welcome page for Substack subscribers.More content accessible to all, less to keep track of for me.
I like the IDEA of paid subscriptions.. getting paid for what I do anyway is a satisfying prospect. I’m not just an author though… there may be times where I’ll travel and not want to sit in front of to of computer, thinking and typing. Other aspects of business and coaching may take me away from writing for months. TRAP is the word for it indeed.
Christina, I’m like you, I love trying new things- the start of a thing is the most seductive. It’s all leading to the production of something far greater than all of its previous iterations combined. All of your previous endeavors’ experience is probably culminating in a grand project that you’ll be the most known for and will have the greatest impact.
I resonate with your comment deeply. What's funny is I canceled the subscriptions on my Substack, but now I have a better idea of what to use it for, and I am committed to being consistent with sending it out two days a week. So now I trapped myself again with a strict schedlue! haha.
But, at least if I change my mind again, I won't feel bad because it's free.
I love the last part that you wrote. That's how I like to see things too. All of our curiosities are leading to one grand thing...
I feel you! I think every highly successful individual/group/company has an evolution and as long as we’re moving forward in action, we’re succeeding, despite the “changiness”.
Great analysis. I think another pain point with Substack is the enclosed eco-system. I think it's healthier for a newsletter to gain subscribers from multiple places vs. heavily focusing on the Substack platform. I feel like people forget to diversify their traffic and that may impact subscriptions and earnings in the long-run.
I can really sense your honesty here, Christina. I also completely understand why Matt keeps his newsletter free. But you know, you have all the tools, even with a free newsletter to create the income. As I start my third month on Substack, I can also see how people grab what they can for a fiver than disappear. I mainly put stuff behind a paywall because so much of my work is being stolen and copied. I also prefer to work with people who are serious about learning and making it work. And yes, Substack notes is getting boring. It’s either hate speeches about people who charge for a newsletter or teach how to make money, or posts about Donald Duck, or just GPT listicles. You’ve got this.
People signing up for $5 and then grabbing the freebies and running makes me think even more that it would be better to keep a newsletter free, then sell products and make affiliate offers within the newsletter.
But I see what you’re saying about wanting to work with serious people, (and those are the people who pay for the information).
Really? I have no idea what a good recommendation count is or isn't. lol I'm terrible with that kind of stuff! I'm not doing anything active with that.
Sorry to hear you’ve not had a smooth ride. I prefer Substack as I haven’t made any money on Medium and had gained few email subscribers. Substack hasn’t cost me any money, I have many more email subscribers in much less time. On Medium I always felt I had to write to please others to get my money back. On Substack I write what I want to write and those who follow me know what they are getting. I decided early on that I wasn’t comfortable with the commitment to paying subscribers and so will use it as a content marketing platform. My followers will find out about my products through the platform. I will have digital products available as well as my prints.
Thanks for sharing these ideas Cristina. I think they are very important especially because they are honest and reflect (I think) the thoughts that many people and writers have, especially about content, Notes and the need for constant writing. I think issues like these are not only fun to read, but are very useful to people who use the platform consistently.
Thanks for sharing your reflections on this. After all, for me it's a matter of whether A) it's my business, B) it's my hobby, or C) is Substack the place to move the needle for a business.
All forms are legit. And many people use Substack in creative ways. I like your work and learned a ton. Also about ideas, I probably never will have the time to try them myself.
These are good questions to think about. I want Substack to help me move the needle in some way. But I still am not clear how. But I like the way you made me think about it.
OMG, it's like you read my mind with this post, Christina! I haven't been on Substack for 6 months yet, but it sounds like my experience so far is shaping up to be a lot like yours.
I 100% agree that this platform is NOT intuitive to navigate. I feel like a mouse navigating a maze, clicking around and trying to find the right settings and features to use for whatever I'm trying to do.
And I'm pretty reluctant to go paid here for the same reasons you mentioned.
I’m sure they’ll improve the navigation as time goes on, but it's pretty tricky right now! Thanks for your thoughts. I’m glad I’m not crazy. haha
I'm learning substack and I'm seeing a lot of good things. Thank you for your article.
Thanks for checking it out!
Thanks for sharing this. I agree with you about the pressure created by being a paid newsletter. If your sick, too busy etc it’s hard, knowing you might be letting someone down. 😮
The good thing is you can always just send a quick update if you can’t send a newsletter out one day. I’m sure your audience would be understanding.
Yes I have a few almost ready drafts too, and I’m working towards building it to a meaningful income so it is still worth it for me! ✨
I kind of wanted to ditch substack in the beginning but I decided to give it another chance for 1 year. with consistency, I want to see how that will look like.
I think anything will do well with consistency. I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
I also love the simplicity of Medium--and the ability to import direct from my blog--but Substack is useful for an entirely different reason: I imported my newsletter subscribers after my autoresponder newsletter hosting service tripled prices. Still trying to navigate the whole design situation and adjust strategy.
wow, they tripled prices on you? YIKES! Which newsletter hosting service were you using? Do you have a big list?
I have a sizable list that I was planning to migrate here. I've only brought a small percentage of the list here so far. But I'm having some second thoughts about it now.
The service was aWeber and it was great until it wasn't due to $$$. List was 3400. Substack dropped 500 emails when I uploaded for unknown reasons so now list is below 3k.
That happened to me too. Some of my email addresses fell off. It’s possible that some were duplicates with people who were already signed up with me at Substack. 500 is a lot though. I’m sure you don’t have that many dupes.
Thank you for the info. I remember aWeber as being really expensive to start with, so I can only imagine the costs now.
A big part of the cost goes to their affiliates. I haven't checked lately, but they used to pay affiliates recurring revenue on signups.
I wonder why Substacked dropped some of your subscribers? ????
Oh wow! That must have been a shock. I love that it's free here (minus a 10% fee if you decide to monetize), but Substack is missing tools like automated sequences.
I miss the automated welcome sequence, too. I used to have multiple reader magnets, all using automated drip campaigns. I bundled all that content (free mini masterclass, DetectiveEmiliaCruzstarter library, etc), created a multiple page on my website and put the link in my welcome page for Substack subscribers.More content accessible to all, less to keep track of for me.
I never used the automated sequences on Kit, but I should have! I know how good they are to be able to set it and forget it.
I like the IDEA of paid subscriptions.. getting paid for what I do anyway is a satisfying prospect. I’m not just an author though… there may be times where I’ll travel and not want to sit in front of to of computer, thinking and typing. Other aspects of business and coaching may take me away from writing for months. TRAP is the word for it indeed.
Christina, I’m like you, I love trying new things- the start of a thing is the most seductive. It’s all leading to the production of something far greater than all of its previous iterations combined. All of your previous endeavors’ experience is probably culminating in a grand project that you’ll be the most known for and will have the greatest impact.
I resonate with your comment deeply. What's funny is I canceled the subscriptions on my Substack, but now I have a better idea of what to use it for, and I am committed to being consistent with sending it out two days a week. So now I trapped myself again with a strict schedlue! haha.
But, at least if I change my mind again, I won't feel bad because it's free.
I love the last part that you wrote. That's how I like to see things too. All of our curiosities are leading to one grand thing...
I feel you! I think every highly successful individual/group/company has an evolution and as long as we’re moving forward in action, we’re succeeding, despite the “changiness”.
Great advice 👍 thanks!! X
My pleasure!
Ok. I’m on both. Ty
Tnks for the great article. Appreciate it. Can u give me the basics or a primer of how to sell my e books? I have quite a few of them.
Blessings and joy,
Your friend
Frankie chocolate
I promote my ebooks on Medium and in my Substacks. I don’t do anything fancier than that. :)
Great analysis. I think another pain point with Substack is the enclosed eco-system. I think it's healthier for a newsletter to gain subscribers from multiple places vs. heavily focusing on the Substack platform. I feel like people forget to diversify their traffic and that may impact subscriptions and earnings in the long-run.
That’s a good point I didn’t think of.
I can really sense your honesty here, Christina. I also completely understand why Matt keeps his newsletter free. But you know, you have all the tools, even with a free newsletter to create the income. As I start my third month on Substack, I can also see how people grab what they can for a fiver than disappear. I mainly put stuff behind a paywall because so much of my work is being stolen and copied. I also prefer to work with people who are serious about learning and making it work. And yes, Substack notes is getting boring. It’s either hate speeches about people who charge for a newsletter or teach how to make money, or posts about Donald Duck, or just GPT listicles. You’ve got this.
People signing up for $5 and then grabbing the freebies and running makes me think even more that it would be better to keep a newsletter free, then sell products and make affiliate offers within the newsletter.
But I see what you’re saying about wanting to work with serious people, (and those are the people who pay for the information).
Your number of recommendations is insane! Are actively doing/saying anything to encourage others to recommend you, or are they purely organic?
Really? I have no idea what a good recommendation count is or isn't. lol I'm terrible with that kind of stuff! I'm not doing anything active with that.
Thank you for sharing insight in your experience with Substack. even if I haven´t as active as you, I agree with what you say.
I do also prefer the simplicity of Medium, but as you say Substack has so much to offer.
It looks like there are at least a few of us that have come to the same conclusion.
Sorry to hear you’ve not had a smooth ride. I prefer Substack as I haven’t made any money on Medium and had gained few email subscribers. Substack hasn’t cost me any money, I have many more email subscribers in much less time. On Medium I always felt I had to write to please others to get my money back. On Substack I write what I want to write and those who follow me know what they are getting. I decided early on that I wasn’t comfortable with the commitment to paying subscribers and so will use it as a content marketing platform. My followers will find out about my products through the platform. I will have digital products available as well as my prints.
This sounds like a solid strategy, Graham! I'm happy Substack is working well for you.
Thanks for sharing these ideas Cristina. I think they are very important especially because they are honest and reflect (I think) the thoughts that many people and writers have, especially about content, Notes and the need for constant writing. I think issues like these are not only fun to read, but are very useful to people who use the platform consistently.
Thanks for checking it out, Riccardo! It looks like other people have some of the same thoughts as I do about Substack.
Thanks for sharing your reflections on this. After all, for me it's a matter of whether A) it's my business, B) it's my hobby, or C) is Substack the place to move the needle for a business.
All forms are legit. And many people use Substack in creative ways. I like your work and learned a ton. Also about ideas, I probably never will have the time to try them myself.
These are good questions to think about. I want Substack to help me move the needle in some way. But I still am not clear how. But I like the way you made me think about it.
😉