In summary: forget about writing something valuable, treat Substack like it was LinkedIn and help turn it in an other insufferable platform full of business gurus and growth hacks. Oh, and buy my course.
He makes excellent points, Wes. It's not trolling when someone underscores points which are uncomfortable and accurate. It's also uncomfortable to Dear Reader when you can't seem to match your verb to your subject in your headline. Here ARE the Seven Things, not Here IS the Seven Things. If we're going to be on a writing platform, and we want to be able to look up to folks who are teaching us how to escape the cubicle, it's fair to expect those who are advising us how to write to demonstrate basic good grammatical skills. Again you can get irritated or call us trolls, but when folks do YOU the courtesy of providing solid feedback, it speaks volumes about you in how you respond to them.
It's up to us to try to drive Substack to be a place of quality content and meaningful connections.
When money enters the game, it's easy for people to avoid giving their real opinion, to teach half things and then sell the full material on courses (I don't think that is Wes Pearce case, but also I can't read minds or see the future) and the platform to become full of people that, although they don't have any experience or courses, they sell themselves as the owners of the truth. In summary, what you said, turn the platform into a place full of business gurus and growth hacks
I would say that there is a lot of good advice on this article, but there is also a lot of stuff that doesn't have meaning for me. I saved this, and will probably re-read it on another time to see what I agree, what I disagree (aka I think it is against my values) and what I can adapt.
Yes, and I don't see any problem with that. Money can make people be able to focus and deliver more value.
The problem is when people forget why they are writing in the first place and starting selling themselves instead of the content. Start speaking stuff even they don't believe. Money can make people a caricature of themselves.
Of course, being true to yourself is different from being rude, although a lot of free speech defenders tells us otherwise. This also doesn't mean that you shouldn't aim to write better, to frame you content in new ways or to try to innovate.
Agree with you and appreciate your perspective. I do feel like your writing and “you” tend to go hand in hand though, especially today. You *are* kind of selling yourself, along with your work.
People buy books and writing from authors they like, part of that is their personally and “brand.” I think it’s building a trust factor. It’s just how it is and I think that’s a missing link for many writers.
I can see that. I'm the other way around, but probably because a lot of the authors that I like has a bad or even horrible "brand" that I have to ignore to be able to read them and enjoy their content. Authors that taught me a lot.
Although I don't like their "brand", they being true to themselves and to me, makes me able to understand their content better and enables me to ignore the part of their work that doesn't resonates with me. I know it's naive, but they being themselves, even on bad cases, is that make me trust that they aren't hiding anything from me.
But yes, I have an idea of what version of me I'm trying to sell. Although it's had to stick to it.
I think there's a misconception that because you want to sell something ultimately the value you bring is biased, thanks to years of toxic coaching industry selling courses. The coaching industry is shifting. Give all the value for free, and monetize on your personal presence. Authentic relationship have become the value now. Not information. And yes it's possible to have a healthy monetized relationship. I stopped selling courses (I give it for free now) when I realized both myself and my clients were unfulfilled. There's nothing better than helping someone overcome their physical or mental health challenges than by building a trustful relationship and take them by hand, with love and care through their journey. I believe in a purposeful approach to marketing. The ultimate end isn't to sell. It's to help people and be paid for it. Big difference
I'm a philosophy and empowerment writer and want my ideas, content, and analysis to bring value to people. I use the idea of donations as a selling point for paid subscriptions. I offer all of my content for free and from time-to-time I ask for subscribers to buy a paid subscription if they can.
I agree with you that Substack has become inundated with writing advice, which can be annoying. However, I think it can be fine if it's not too excessive.
I think you just have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
This is an excellent compilation of some great strategies and I appreciate the fact that you interviewed sources (journalist here).
What I’d be interested to learn more about is the actual topics those Substack bestsellers you interviewed write about.
In my experience, I’ve found that certain topics- how to build your Substack, branding, marketing, selling, ect. make it easier/more realistic to incorporate some of these strategies than others, like fiction, history, science, or sports.
Thanks for putting it together Wes. What I found with conversions 5-6% is usually newsletters about writing, especially substack writing, since that pertains to most people on Substack.
What are the categories of writers you interviewed, that are 5-6%+ but not about writing or making money on Substack?
I’m not trying to insult you with this comment. I know you have good intentions and are a smart person. But this kind of writing ruins platforms. it convinces people to do different growth hacks instead of focusing on good writing. eventually the platform becomes a sort of pyramid scheme where its writers are writing about growing on substack to an audience of people writing about growing on substack. this kind of writing is why linkedin and medium are unusable.
A key take-away for me is the practice of using notes to test ideas for longer posts. I’m just getting started with Substack and found these ideas very practical for taking a targeted critical look at what I’ve have posted so far. Your post emphasizes the importance of always thinking strategically while taking frequent small steps going forward. Reminds me of learning to drive a car. You have to move slowly when starting, but you have to move. I’ve heard it said - “You can’t steer a parked car”
There’s a lady I subscribed to. In her posts, she always ends with something like, post your questions, post your concerns, and we discuss, let’s brainstorm together, etc.
I posted a couple of times, and realized she never participated in the discussion. Not with me. Not with anybody. She restacks other people’s posts, likes and comments on other people’s articles, but doesn’t participate in what she tells her subscribers to do.
I had no strategy at the start and I haven’t magically come up with one. It took me one year to gain a tick, and have now been here every week since early 2023. I’m very grateful for the support from the community.
There is no formula as far as I’m aware, I just write and leave the rest to my readers.
I turned on paid from day one as I hoped to reward myself sharing details from decades of experience.
This post right here is a pillar post! A very comprehensive overview of the topic with original insights. Something that has so much packed into it that you can't not save it for later or share with others.
This is a goldmine of content. Thanks for doing the research and work to share all of this. Now if only I had an extra 6 hours in the day to all of this! 😝
What would have made this post even more educational is to cite an example for each of the winning strategy. Thank you for putting together all in one place, definitely useful.
In summary: forget about writing something valuable, treat Substack like it was LinkedIn and help turn it in an other insufferable platform full of business gurus and growth hacks. Oh, and buy my course.
You sound like a happy person.
"Opinionated" is the word.
Don’t be a troll G. It’s not a good look.
I am not. I'm just an advocate for free speech. But I'll leave it there. Thanks for the nice exchange.
He makes excellent points, Wes. It's not trolling when someone underscores points which are uncomfortable and accurate. It's also uncomfortable to Dear Reader when you can't seem to match your verb to your subject in your headline. Here ARE the Seven Things, not Here IS the Seven Things. If we're going to be on a writing platform, and we want to be able to look up to folks who are teaching us how to escape the cubicle, it's fair to expect those who are advising us how to write to demonstrate basic good grammatical skills. Again you can get irritated or call us trolls, but when folks do YOU the courtesy of providing solid feedback, it speaks volumes about you in how you respond to them.
Boring response.
https://open.substack.com/pub/marlowe1/p/action-illinois-by-mary-gaitskill?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=sllf3
Are you ok?
Here's a breakdown for you: https://substack.com/@meandtimory/note/c-93331701
Honestly feel sorry for people like yourself whose entire existence here seems to be trying to cut others down. You must be very insecure.
Some people deserve to be cut down…
It's up to us to try to drive Substack to be a place of quality content and meaningful connections.
When money enters the game, it's easy for people to avoid giving their real opinion, to teach half things and then sell the full material on courses (I don't think that is Wes Pearce case, but also I can't read minds or see the future) and the platform to become full of people that, although they don't have any experience or courses, they sell themselves as the owners of the truth. In summary, what you said, turn the platform into a place full of business gurus and growth hacks
I would say that there is a lot of good advice on this article, but there is also a lot of stuff that doesn't have meaning for me. I saved this, and will probably re-read it on another time to see what I agree, what I disagree (aka I think it is against my values) and what I can adapt.
I do hope people remember the entire mission and purpose of Substack is to help writers monetize your newsletter. Their own words, not mine.
If someone is just writing for a fun hobby, that’s great. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that’s not even why Substack says they exist.
Yes, and I don't see any problem with that. Money can make people be able to focus and deliver more value.
The problem is when people forget why they are writing in the first place and starting selling themselves instead of the content. Start speaking stuff even they don't believe. Money can make people a caricature of themselves.
Of course, being true to yourself is different from being rude, although a lot of free speech defenders tells us otherwise. This also doesn't mean that you shouldn't aim to write better, to frame you content in new ways or to try to innovate.
Agree with you and appreciate your perspective. I do feel like your writing and “you” tend to go hand in hand though, especially today. You *are* kind of selling yourself, along with your work.
People buy books and writing from authors they like, part of that is their personally and “brand.” I think it’s building a trust factor. It’s just how it is and I think that’s a missing link for many writers.
I can see that. I'm the other way around, but probably because a lot of the authors that I like has a bad or even horrible "brand" that I have to ignore to be able to read them and enjoy their content. Authors that taught me a lot.
Although I don't like their "brand", they being true to themselves and to me, makes me able to understand their content better and enables me to ignore the part of their work that doesn't resonates with me. I know it's naive, but they being themselves, even on bad cases, is that make me trust that they aren't hiding anything from me.
But yes, I have an idea of what version of me I'm trying to sell. Although it's had to stick to it.
I think there's a misconception that because you want to sell something ultimately the value you bring is biased, thanks to years of toxic coaching industry selling courses. The coaching industry is shifting. Give all the value for free, and monetize on your personal presence. Authentic relationship have become the value now. Not information. And yes it's possible to have a healthy monetized relationship. I stopped selling courses (I give it for free now) when I realized both myself and my clients were unfulfilled. There's nothing better than helping someone overcome their physical or mental health challenges than by building a trustful relationship and take them by hand, with love and care through their journey. I believe in a purposeful approach to marketing. The ultimate end isn't to sell. It's to help people and be paid for it. Big difference
I'm a philosophy and empowerment writer and want my ideas, content, and analysis to bring value to people. I use the idea of donations as a selling point for paid subscriptions. I offer all of my content for free and from time-to-time I ask for subscribers to buy a paid subscription if they can.
Does that make sense?
I agree with you that Substack has become inundated with writing advice, which can be annoying. However, I think it can be fine if it's not too excessive.
I think you just have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Bingo. https://open.substack.com/pub/marlowe1/p/action-illinois-by-mary-gaitskill?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=sllf3
This is an excellent compilation of some great strategies and I appreciate the fact that you interviewed sources (journalist here).
What I’d be interested to learn more about is the actual topics those Substack bestsellers you interviewed write about.
In my experience, I’ve found that certain topics- how to build your Substack, branding, marketing, selling, ect. make it easier/more realistic to incorporate some of these strategies than others, like fiction, history, science, or sports.
Good luck getting a meaningful response.
Marketing doesn't discriminate on an industry. You'll be surprised how much this helps if you remix in your own way.
Thanks for putting it together Wes. What I found with conversions 5-6% is usually newsletters about writing, especially substack writing, since that pertains to most people on Substack.
What are the categories of writers you interviewed, that are 5-6%+ but not about writing or making money on Substack?
I wrote an article that you might like to read:
https://open.substack.com/pub/laudableaudible/p/the-disingenuous-growth-gurus-on?r=1nw7tu&utm_medium=ios
Just FYI. Who are the 21?
this is stupid as shit and if you don’t understand why I’m saying this, then that’s exactly why it’s stupid.
I’m not trying to insult you with this comment. I know you have good intentions and are a smart person. But this kind of writing ruins platforms. it convinces people to do different growth hacks instead of focusing on good writing. eventually the platform becomes a sort of pyramid scheme where its writers are writing about growing on substack to an audience of people writing about growing on substack. this kind of writing is why linkedin and medium are unusable.
Who did you interview for this? This doesn’t sound like the writers I follow, and sounds more like the LinkedIn marketer/thought leaders playbook?
A key take-away for me is the practice of using notes to test ideas for longer posts. I’m just getting started with Substack and found these ideas very practical for taking a targeted critical look at what I’ve have posted so far. Your post emphasizes the importance of always thinking strategically while taking frequent small steps going forward. Reminds me of learning to drive a car. You have to move slowly when starting, but you have to move. I’ve heard it said - “You can’t steer a parked car”
But what if you’re not here to teach anything?
There’s a lady I subscribed to. In her posts, she always ends with something like, post your questions, post your concerns, and we discuss, let’s brainstorm together, etc.
I posted a couple of times, and realized she never participated in the discussion. Not with me. Not with anybody. She restacks other people’s posts, likes and comments on other people’s articles, but doesn’t participate in what she tells her subscribers to do.
I had no strategy at the start and I haven’t magically come up with one. It took me one year to gain a tick, and have now been here every week since early 2023. I’m very grateful for the support from the community.
There is no formula as far as I’m aware, I just write and leave the rest to my readers.
I turned on paid from day one as I hoped to reward myself sharing details from decades of experience.
I love it.
This is really interesting
What are some examples of Pillar Posts?
This post right here is a pillar post! A very comprehensive overview of the topic with original insights. Something that has so much packed into it that you can't not save it for later or share with others.
Thanks but I’m doing well financially
I do appreciate the offer
This is a goldmine of content. Thanks for doing the research and work to share all of this. Now if only I had an extra 6 hours in the day to all of this! 😝
Guessing that AI might’ve had something to do with this post.
Thanks for making it so clear that a block is required.
Great content. Thank you. Do you have examples of great pillar posts?
I think this post itself is an example of a hero/pillar post.
I'm interested too. I have a feeling what they might be but examples don't hurt.
What would have made this post even more educational is to cite an example for each of the winning strategy. Thank you for putting together all in one place, definitely useful.