Claudia, the idea that a Note can collect trust earned over years changed how I read my own numbers. It is easy to mistake a lack of history for a verdict on the writing. Thank you for that distinction.
11 subscribers and trying hard to stay the course 8 weeks in. Still finding my voice in notes. The long form essays come easier to me. Thank you for sharing.
I appreciated your helpful insights here Claudia. Trust and showing up for others is key.
I was glad to see I've been doing quite a bit of this. I don't do all my notes in 1 sitting, but I do have a flow I've created that revolves around my new weekly posts on Tuesdays that lets me set up a lot in advance, but I like leaving room for "in the moment" as well.
I also personally reply to all comments on my notes and more importantly, I keep a list of people whose work I like to support and who do the same for me (besides weekly post subscriptions). I also am sure to get around to commenting on the notes and posts of others which is often more important. Plus, I participate in some community boosts like yours which I always appreciate.
I recently started putting some of my older posts on Medium to see what would happen there and get a little more mileage out of my work, but direct everything to Substack. All of my growth is from Substack, and I agree with you that the growth is from Notes either directly or indirectly and commenting/supporting the posts of others.
Good one. Though I'm not so sure about the numbers advice.
I mean, you're writing about creating success on Substack. That comes with a natural set of numbers like subscribers numbers, growth percentages, posting frequency, etc.
But what if numbers are irrelevant to your topic? I write about be(com)ing difficult: breaking free from Patriarchal social conditioning. No numbers that come naturally with that...
totally valid point - although I have a second newsletter where I write about more business + AI, so I am taking it from that one as well. but still, I totally see your point
Business and AI - I'm subscribed to that. You write sensible stuff.
Not to belabor the point, but business with and without AI also always has natural numbers: revenue, time spent, customers/clients, time-to-market, margins, etc.
And creating success on Substack is a business too. Unless you're really not interested in monetization. And I'd wager there are only a few of those. After all, most people starting a Substack dream of earning their living through their writing (eventually)...
I don't care about Substack numbers, but I appreciate the clarity and such transparency. I just teach writing tips, not how to grow their Substack and not how to be big on Notes.
I’m always interested in what you have to say, and writing from your real position makes a lot of sense. I’m not so sure the same can be said for writing about your subscriber numbers. If you’re teaching Substack growth, your audience is naturally interested in how many subscribers you have and how you got them. If you’re not, and there’s not too many of them, it sounds like self-pity (if there’s a lot, it sounds like bragging). Most readers, in most contexts, aren’t invested in the creator’s metrics. They’re there for the ideas, whether that’s fashion, politics, astrology or something else. The lesson I take from this is to be specific and speak from experience, not necessarily to make the content about how many people are paying attention.
Claudia, the idea that a Note can collect trust earned over years changed how I read my own numbers. It is easy to mistake a lack of history for a verdict on the writing. Thank you for that distinction.
thank you, Regina! glad you found it helpful
impressive curve that algorithm pumps
That 47 people note is one hell of a note 😀🎉
This goes into my secret vault
oh, awesome, I'm honored :)
🙏🏻💪🏻
11 subscribers and trying hard to stay the course 8 weeks in. Still finding my voice in notes. The long form essays come easier to me. Thank you for sharing.
for sure, thanks for commenting! and keep going!!
I don’t know why I’m crying reading this.
All I know is I got too many feels and more than once this felt like you were talking to my inner child.
So of course I love you now.
Oh wow, thank you for writing this sweet comment
It was extremely relatable content great job!
Definitely felt like you were talking to just me 🥲
“I don’t use any other social media platform, ads or anything else.” This line got me to instantly subscribe. Never read anything from you before.
oh so awesome, welcome to my pub, Haley!
I appreciated your helpful insights here Claudia. Trust and showing up for others is key.
I was glad to see I've been doing quite a bit of this. I don't do all my notes in 1 sitting, but I do have a flow I've created that revolves around my new weekly posts on Tuesdays that lets me set up a lot in advance, but I like leaving room for "in the moment" as well.
I also personally reply to all comments on my notes and more importantly, I keep a list of people whose work I like to support and who do the same for me (besides weekly post subscriptions). I also am sure to get around to commenting on the notes and posts of others which is often more important. Plus, I participate in some community boosts like yours which I always appreciate.
I recently started putting some of my older posts on Medium to see what would happen there and get a little more mileage out of my work, but direct everything to Substack. All of my growth is from Substack, and I agree with you that the growth is from Notes either directly or indirectly and commenting/supporting the posts of others.
It's all been working steadily over time.
Thanks for the research!
oh, such a good idea to keep a list of people you like to read!
Good one. Though I'm not so sure about the numbers advice.
I mean, you're writing about creating success on Substack. That comes with a natural set of numbers like subscribers numbers, growth percentages, posting frequency, etc.
But what if numbers are irrelevant to your topic? I write about be(com)ing difficult: breaking free from Patriarchal social conditioning. No numbers that come naturally with that...
totally valid point - although I have a second newsletter where I write about more business + AI, so I am taking it from that one as well. but still, I totally see your point
Thanks, Claudia.
Business and AI - I'm subscribed to that. You write sensible stuff.
Not to belabor the point, but business with and without AI also always has natural numbers: revenue, time spent, customers/clients, time-to-market, margins, etc.
And creating success on Substack is a business too. Unless you're really not interested in monetization. And I'd wager there are only a few of those. After all, most people starting a Substack dream of earning their living through their writing (eventually)...
I totally see your point, thanks for bringing it up
Claudia is on the faculty of Midlife U! It’s great to see her writing and advice being shared!
thank you! :)
Best to be ourselves, I agree, and yet, there is so much pressure to be like the big guys. Batching makes perfect sense. I've been working on that.
I know, not to compare is so hard..
As always, fabulous Substack growth tips! You do the digging and research, test and try... and share with us!
Thank you so much @Melissa Scala! makes me so glad that you find it helpful and share a quick comment here 🙌
I don't care about Substack numbers, but I appreciate the clarity and such transparency. I just teach writing tips, not how to grow their Substack and not how to be big on Notes.
fair enough:)
I’m always interested in what you have to say, and writing from your real position makes a lot of sense. I’m not so sure the same can be said for writing about your subscriber numbers. If you’re teaching Substack growth, your audience is naturally interested in how many subscribers you have and how you got them. If you’re not, and there’s not too many of them, it sounds like self-pity (if there’s a lot, it sounds like bragging). Most readers, in most contexts, aren’t invested in the creator’s metrics. They’re there for the ideas, whether that’s fashion, politics, astrology or something else. The lesson I take from this is to be specific and speak from experience, not necessarily to make the content about how many people are paying attention.
that’s perfectly summarised and hits exactly the points I tried to give :)