Sometime towards the end of July 2022 (I think) I start thinking about starting a newsletter on Substack. I have a friend who was running one that I happily subscribed to and paid for and I started tossing around an idea for my own newsletter. I was looking to grow a project that would bring in “passive” income. I was looking to grow a list and I wanted to serve a very specific audience. I wanted to help what some folks would call “woke” content creators and community builders. And, because we’ll hear this word thrown around a lot in 2024 when this episode goes “live” I want to be clear about who are these “woke” people?
People who think about how to monetize their brand ethically. Creators who are serving underserved communities example: Maybe you help Black women film producers or Moms create online businesses, or you’re focused on creating community for people who don’t have one. Service, mission and care would be a part of how you talk about what you do and who you serve. With that in mind, I have some lessons learned from hosting a Substack for over a year.
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Lesson #1-Newsletters Come in Many Forms
I feel like many creators are way overthinking what a newsletter is or how it could support your business. Newsletters can be:
- A place to share curated content
- A purposely designed resource
- A community space
- A simple way to put together a portfolio of work
Ultimately, a newsletter is whatever you decide you want it to be. In my case, I’ve designed it as a hybrid community space with deep focus on being a go to resource.
Lesson #2 Cadence vs. Calendar
It’s important to decide how you’re going to show up for your audience. I would caution you to avoid promising anything you cannot do. If you know that you can’t show up every week on Tuesday at 9:00 am MTN-don’t promise that you will. I work on a cadence which means that in my case I typically release one or two newsletters a week. Very rarely have I missed a week. When something comes up my lovely community never says anything.
Lesson #3 You Can and Should Monetize Free Subscribers
I’m actually really baffled by the people who say that they weren’t able to make money with their Substack or that it was hard to monetize. I actually made more money with my free subscribers vs. with my paid. In fact, I discovered that there are certain activities and areas of focus that I was slacking on that impacted my paid subscriber growth. My free subscribers way out performed in terms of making purchases compared to my paid subscribers to such a significant degree that I was low-key amazed when I ran the numbers.
Lesson #4 Substack is a Discovery Platform….But….
Yes, Substack is set up in such a way that you’re likely to find other people who may have similar interests. But, are the people that you’re trying to reach actually on Substack? Substack initially was designed as a space for writers to curate, highlight and share their work. As time moved on other creatives made their way onto the platform. But, I have to wonder if it’s a easy to find a significant number of the following random communities of people on Substack?
- Knitters
- Trekkies
- Unique cultural communities
- Roller skaters
I will note that as Substack grows as a resource, and it is, the ability to connect with people in unique affinity spaces will grow.
Lesson #5 You Have to Take Action
You can’t just hope that people will randomly find you on Substack. You have to actively direct people to your project. You have to share your Substack via:
- Podcasts
- Workshops
- YouTube
- Twitter Spaces
- Livestreams
- Social media feeds
- Website content
- Television interviews
- Radio interviews
- Pop Up Events
The point to this lesson is that marketing is a much more active process than how many people are approaching it.
Lesson #6 Newsletters (on Platforms) and Email List Function Differently
In the past I’ve sometimes said that a newsletter and an email list are somewhat similar. That a newsletter is like a prettier email list. While that is basically true, there are some unique functions of lists built off of branded “Newsletter Platforms” such as Substack/Beehiiv/Ghost. Some functions that are missing depending on the platform but particularly on Substack.
- Sequences
- Segments
- Funnels
- Expectations of the recipient
There are different features that I use via email marketing than what’s available using the Substack platform. I use currently use Flodesk as my email service provider and if you sign up with my affiliate link-you will get 50% off for your first year using the service.
Lesson #7 Branding is Everything
Names have power. Whether you’re naming a person, a place or a thing it conveys so much. An emotion, a feeling, a result, a community, an initiative, a shared goal or a shared problem. Your newsletter’s name should be:
- Clear
- Concise
- Not cute
- Searchable
- Memorable
The brand should be so easy for people who support your project to share with others.
Bonus Lesson Learned
Always work on growing your list. I’ve been very fortunate in that my newsletter, so far, seems to have a very low churn rate. My community members seem to stay with me for quite awhile. However, I’ve learned a lot about human behavior as it relates to newsletter consumption on Substack.
- Always serve your audience in the way that you said you would with your content
- Not everyone will read every edition that you send out.
- There are times during the year that your content won’t be in high demand. You’ll have unsubscribes during those times. It’s not personal.
- Not every product, resource or good will resonate with every member of your audience.
How to Create a Newsletter that Pays
I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you’re looking to learn about the strategy of building a newsletter that pays. Go to the following paid workshop that I’ve put together to help newsletter creators grow their newsletter and get paid for their work. It’s a strategy workshop on newsletter monetization even when you have a free newsletter and no paywall.
Go to the following link: