I appreciate you sharing with us, Michael. It's helpful to see specifics on a Substack's trajectory. My biggest takeaway from your piece is the social media insight. I initially got a boost from Instagram, all family and friends, and then subscribers trickled in from Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn seemed to be more promising at first but has since tapered off. In other words, the return on investment hasn't been there for me, just as it wasn't for you. Granted, I'm earlier in the process than you are.
Most of my subscribers (just over 100) come from Substack. It's great. I love the community here, but there's one piece I keep grappling with. Where's my community? Where are the Substack users who are most likely to be interested in my content? Did you factor that in your approach? It might be different for you, as my Substack may be more specific: it's about generational wealth building and the immigrant experience.
Naturally, I followed immigrant, latine and personal finance writers I liked, and engaged with their content, but that's not where most of my followers come from. Most of them are what seem to be Substack power users. I welcome them any anyone else who wants to read my stuff, but I do wonder if they'll be the ones who will be invested long term and be motivated to share and bring in other readers.
Of course I've looked outside of Substack for communities who might be interested in my stuff, with mixed results so far. But I keep thinking that the numbers show that Substack is the best referrer, so I should keep to the most productive environment.
I'm looking at the length of this comment. Whew, this one really got away from me! I guess what I'm asking is: Did you find your community on Substack or did you find that elsewhere?
Anyway, congratulations on the milestone, Michael. Well deserved.
Hi Pablo, thanks for the great comment / question! I try to think in terms of communities plural, as opposed to a single community because it helps to draw audience from multiple places. I certainly get some readers from the broader Substack community, but when I drill down into my recommendations and traffic data, I see that I'm pollinating really well with other humor writers. In some cases, I've taken that cross-pollination to the next level by doing some cross-promo. By way of example, I took Ariana Newhouse (Respectful Smartass) on her offer to analyze my dreams. She wrote a funny piece in reference to one of my pieces and then in my Wednesday edition I pointed my readers to what she had written. Good discovery and growth for both of us, plus good fun.
Congratulations Michael on 1000 subscribers! This post was so encouraging and fascinating - and boy did the bit on social media make me have to have a think. I am KILLING MYSELF on the gram and now I'm wondering if I need to chill out haha ICongrats again, and cheers to the next 1k!
Thank you, Meaghan! I'm not great at the gram, so I don't if it shares any audience data, but if it does it's always good to check that data and challenge your assumptions about why you're using social and if it's actually working for you. FWIW, I know lots of writers who do get value out of social media, I'm just not one of them.
Congratulations... I'm wondering how you got such good substack engagement? I can't seem to activate a community on this platform. I get bits and pieces here and there, but not those kinds of percentages. I probably know the answer to the question... Doing more stuff like this lol. This is my first time commenting on your page, but I'd be interested in hearing your perspective.
Also, one thing I've learned: you can't please everyone. One reader's favorite story is another's least, and vice versa. That becomes truer the bigger your audience becomes. The only thing the writer can control is putting in their best possible effort.
This post is exactly what I love about the substack community. It's so generous, smart, well-written, informative, and funny -- all at once! This is my first time visiting your substack but I'm absolutely going to hit subscribe!
Major congrats!!! I just shared your thoughts on perfectionism with a friend in the art world, very well said.
You mentioned that you have over a dozen of Substacks recommending you -- did that mostly occur organically from fans of your work, or did it involve reaching out to writers for collaborations?
Thanks so much for posting this and wishing you the best! x
Thanks Emma! I don't think I've ever asked for a recommendation, so it's pretty organic. I do recommend the Substacks I enjoy, and I think that helps because it gets more writers comfortable using this tool.
Congrats, Michael! I have found the same to be true with all of the sentiments you shared. My only question would be about your percentage open rate, and if you've seen it level off somewhere, or experienced a drop at all? When I had a lower number of subscribers, around 30, my open rate was around 70%. At 125 subscribers, I've now leveled off at around 45-50%. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks Brian! I think your open rate experience is pretty normal. My open rates are usually in the mid 50s. When I miss they dip into the 40s and when I hit a home run they reach the low 60s. That said, I don't put much stock into open rates. I'm not an expert on email marketing, but my understanding is that they used to be the gold standard of metrics up until about a year ago when Apple and then Google changed some of their privacy settings, which somehow made open rates far less accurate and therefore less useful. I'm probably botching the explanation, but there are plenty of folks in the Substack Writers Unite discord who know this stuff cold. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the info! I have heard similar things from other writers as well about the open rate not necessarily being an accurate reading. It's tough to take all these measurements and come away with a working formula. I suppose the best thing to do is to keep writing good content!
Thanks for such an insightful (yet, still freaking humorous--how do you do it?!) post. Congrats on hitting 1,000--this one in a thousand understands precisely how you made it there (and why we’ll be hearing about 2K soon enough!).
I found this post after reaching my own 1,000-subscriber milestone for my newsletter, Our Tiny Rebellions. Ironically, this also happened for me during a vacation week. So much of what you write here confirms my own experience, too - about growth, community, and writing what you want, not what necessarily “fits.” Anyway, thank you for writing this. Here’s to more growth in 2023!!!
Thank you for this post! I am quite new to publishing on Substack though I moved and old list from mail chimp over so have a bit of an audience. I feel like I am walking around in the dark a little so advice like yours is totally brilliant. Love you newsletter! And Happy New Year. :)
I love how Substack is working for writers. I found you through Brad Berens and have just hit my own first milestone of 500 subscribers. I agree that it's all about community, and I love that I can put all of the skills and experience that I've developed over a lifetime of tech geeking, following links, making connections, using and building software, running conferences (and so much more, of course) to work now as a writer.
Thanks and congrats on hitting 500! Glad to hear we made this connection through Brad. Years ago, he hired me at iMedia, and I’ve met so many great people through Brad.
I appreciate you sharing with us, Michael. It's helpful to see specifics on a Substack's trajectory. My biggest takeaway from your piece is the social media insight. I initially got a boost from Instagram, all family and friends, and then subscribers trickled in from Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn seemed to be more promising at first but has since tapered off. In other words, the return on investment hasn't been there for me, just as it wasn't for you. Granted, I'm earlier in the process than you are.
Most of my subscribers (just over 100) come from Substack. It's great. I love the community here, but there's one piece I keep grappling with. Where's my community? Where are the Substack users who are most likely to be interested in my content? Did you factor that in your approach? It might be different for you, as my Substack may be more specific: it's about generational wealth building and the immigrant experience.
Naturally, I followed immigrant, latine and personal finance writers I liked, and engaged with their content, but that's not where most of my followers come from. Most of them are what seem to be Substack power users. I welcome them any anyone else who wants to read my stuff, but I do wonder if they'll be the ones who will be invested long term and be motivated to share and bring in other readers.
Of course I've looked outside of Substack for communities who might be interested in my stuff, with mixed results so far. But I keep thinking that the numbers show that Substack is the best referrer, so I should keep to the most productive environment.
I'm looking at the length of this comment. Whew, this one really got away from me! I guess what I'm asking is: Did you find your community on Substack or did you find that elsewhere?
Anyway, congratulations on the milestone, Michael. Well deserved.
Hi Pablo, thanks for the great comment / question! I try to think in terms of communities plural, as opposed to a single community because it helps to draw audience from multiple places. I certainly get some readers from the broader Substack community, but when I drill down into my recommendations and traffic data, I see that I'm pollinating really well with other humor writers. In some cases, I've taken that cross-pollination to the next level by doing some cross-promo. By way of example, I took Ariana Newhouse (Respectful Smartass) on her offer to analyze my dreams. She wrote a funny piece in reference to one of my pieces and then in my Wednesday edition I pointed my readers to what she had written. Good discovery and growth for both of us, plus good fun.
https://ariananewhouse.substack.com/p/13-guten-tag-mu-shu-pork-etc?r=1fqhx&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
My advice to you is to write to some other financial writers and ask to guest post on a topic that aligns with their newsletter and yours.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response, Michael. This is super helpful. I definitely will follow your advice!
Just checked out your newsletter Pablo! I enjoyed it!
I appreciate that. Thank you!
Congratulations Michael on 1000 subscribers! This post was so encouraging and fascinating - and boy did the bit on social media make me have to have a think. I am KILLING MYSELF on the gram and now I'm wondering if I need to chill out haha ICongrats again, and cheers to the next 1k!
Thank you, Meaghan! I'm not great at the gram, so I don't if it shares any audience data, but if it does it's always good to check that data and challenge your assumptions about why you're using social and if it's actually working for you. FWIW, I know lots of writers who do get value out of social media, I'm just not one of them.
Congratulations... I'm wondering how you got such good substack engagement? I can't seem to activate a community on this platform. I get bits and pieces here and there, but not those kinds of percentages. I probably know the answer to the question... Doing more stuff like this lol. This is my first time commenting on your page, but I'd be interested in hearing your perspective.
Hi Natasha! Love this question! The short answer is that asking questions at the end of my posts really helps drive the conversation. The slightly longer answer is something I wrote about here for the Fictionistas Substack. Hope this helps! https://fictionistas.substack.com/p/how-to-get-more-comments?r=1fqhx&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Brilliant. I've noticed Mark does a great job of this, too! https://howaboutthis.substack.com/p/curious-realizer-monochrome-was-the
Congrats, Michael! You're an inspiration and a standard-bearer. Here's to the next 1K!
Thank you, Amran!
Also, one thing I've learned: you can't please everyone. One reader's favorite story is another's least, and vice versa. That becomes truer the bigger your audience becomes. The only thing the writer can control is putting in their best possible effort.
Totally true!
Sooooooooooo true!!!
This post is exactly what I love about the substack community. It's so generous, smart, well-written, informative, and funny -- all at once! This is my first time visiting your substack but I'm absolutely going to hit subscribe!
Thank you, Jillian! Welcome to the party!
Congratulations, well done! Reading stories like this is useful for people like me who are newer to Substack. Best wishes going forward!
Thanks Mark!
Major congrats!!! I just shared your thoughts on perfectionism with a friend in the art world, very well said.
You mentioned that you have over a dozen of Substacks recommending you -- did that mostly occur organically from fans of your work, or did it involve reaching out to writers for collaborations?
Thanks so much for posting this and wishing you the best! x
Thanks Emma! I don't think I've ever asked for a recommendation, so it's pretty organic. I do recommend the Substacks I enjoy, and I think that helps because it gets more writers comfortable using this tool.
Thank you! <3
Congratulations. 1000 of us will look back as examples of being savvy early adopters!
Thank you, Mark!
Congrats, Michael! I have found the same to be true with all of the sentiments you shared. My only question would be about your percentage open rate, and if you've seen it level off somewhere, or experienced a drop at all? When I had a lower number of subscribers, around 30, my open rate was around 70%. At 125 subscribers, I've now leveled off at around 45-50%. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks Brian! I think your open rate experience is pretty normal. My open rates are usually in the mid 50s. When I miss they dip into the 40s and when I hit a home run they reach the low 60s. That said, I don't put much stock into open rates. I'm not an expert on email marketing, but my understanding is that they used to be the gold standard of metrics up until about a year ago when Apple and then Google changed some of their privacy settings, which somehow made open rates far less accurate and therefore less useful. I'm probably botching the explanation, but there are plenty of folks in the Substack Writers Unite discord who know this stuff cold. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the info! I have heard similar things from other writers as well about the open rate not necessarily being an accurate reading. It's tough to take all these measurements and come away with a working formula. I suppose the best thing to do is to keep writing good content!
Congrats!!!!! Totally agree with the compound interest method ✨
Thanks Elle! Reading your interviews with other writers has taught me so much!
Congratulations Michael! And thanks for this great post. So much wisdom in here. I’m going to print it out to re-read whenever I need a sanity check!
Thank you, Anne! I've learned so much about newsletters by reading Cafe Anne.
Thanks for such an insightful (yet, still freaking humorous--how do you do it?!) post. Congrats on hitting 1,000--this one in a thousand understands precisely how you made it there (and why we’ll be hearing about 2K soon enough!).
Thank you, Holly! Always a pleasure to see your comments!
it's always a brighter day when you show up in my inbox. thanks for all you do!
Thank you! Gonna figure out a way to frame this comment!
I found this post after reaching my own 1,000-subscriber milestone for my newsletter, Our Tiny Rebellions. Ironically, this also happened for me during a vacation week. So much of what you write here confirms my own experience, too - about growth, community, and writing what you want, not what necessarily “fits.” Anyway, thank you for writing this. Here’s to more growth in 2023!!!
Thank you for this post! I am quite new to publishing on Substack though I moved and old list from mail chimp over so have a bit of an audience. I feel like I am walking around in the dark a little so advice like yours is totally brilliant. Love you newsletter! And Happy New Year. :)
Glad this post was helpful & welcome to Substack, Claire!
I love how Substack is working for writers. I found you through Brad Berens and have just hit my own first milestone of 500 subscribers. I agree that it's all about community, and I love that I can put all of the skills and experience that I've developed over a lifetime of tech geeking, following links, making connections, using and building software, running conferences (and so much more, of course) to work now as a writer.
Congratulations on getting to 1000!
Thanks and congrats on hitting 500! Glad to hear we made this connection through Brad. Years ago, he hired me at iMedia, and I’ve met so many great people through Brad.