Thanks Yana! Always grateful for shares. I write two when I can, but my baseline is one. I recently switched from Saturday publishing to Tuesday to see if that made a difference as well. I'd love to get more out there - and plan to - once I have more time to dedicate to it. I know a few people that are publishing full length posts daily.
The thing is that I get paid subscribers usually after I post. Not that it’s pure math, but it does happen more often as I post more often. So…worths trying :)
That tracks - You post - people get notified - people like/comment/restack. I'd post long form daily if I had the time to write! I will slowly work on increasing frequency as I progress.
Love the way you linked progressing through substack to gaming levels. It immediately made all, "What level am I on?" - I'm nearly on advanced mode at the moment - need to level up my notes and comments!
I don’t normally just leave a “this was great” BUT this was great dude! Best insights I have seen yet on Substack success tactics. Very clever and easy to follow metaphor. We done. You set the bar high today.
Awesome advice. I like the video game analogy. I wonder if the creators of Substack ever thought their platform would be compared to Diablo! Thanks for sharing this great article.
You're spot on - consistency is the key to just about anything! It's as much for business as it is for writing. What are your thoughts on the CHAT section here? I'm loving the NOTES but can't seem to get a feel for the CHAT!
I think the Chat has a lot of potential. I am currently experimenting with doing it twice a week. Think of like an instagram broadcast list, sms list, manychat list, etc. I see it as an avenue to great a deeper connection. I haven't mastered it but see how I can use it to gather engagement.
No, I try to avoid duplicating content. I have been working on the best way to find engagement. Asking questions about what people are working on, what content they would like to see, sharing behind the scenes things.
Let's imagine that, in the medium term, I have built an important community, with many ‘evergreen’ chats. But Substack changes functions that are important to me, or fills Substack with advertising, or for other technical or commercial reasons. I look for another community platform and move everything. All of it? No, I can't move neither the comments nor the chats.
That's why I want to investigate soon if there is a community platform that allows chat export. If I can export, then I can invest time in it.
I can only think of one solution: If I want to have a community, put a link at the bottom of each post pointing to where I have the community (an exportable place, like Facebook Groups, Discord or Circle), and start a thread with the same title, with a link to the Substack post where I started.
And maybe also copying the comments I have in that community.
And all this, because Substack doesn't let you export comments or chats.
You can 100% disagree. I think engaging is great. However, I believe engaging should be paired with a base level of publishing. Or else people may not have a reason to follow or subscribe.
I think its a bit of a chicken or an egg. I think they are both good strategies. Notes can be fantastic for growth. However, its likely best to focus on what feels best, works best and can be maintained for you.
Minimum viable habit is the way to go! It's been a game-changer for my writing practice. I used to burn myself out on novel writing and then drop the project entirely. Now, I can write and publish short fiction every week while feeling pretty confident in the quality and the workload. Thanks for sharing this.
I found that more frequent post (more often than weekly) also make a difference. I'm testing...
Amazing post, Landon, just shared it in my atomic newsletter on Convertkit.
Thanks Yana! Always grateful for shares. I write two when I can, but my baseline is one. I recently switched from Saturday publishing to Tuesday to see if that made a difference as well. I'd love to get more out there - and plan to - once I have more time to dedicate to it. I know a few people that are publishing full length posts daily.
The thing is that I get paid subscribers usually after I post. Not that it’s pure math, but it does happen more often as I post more often. So…worths trying :)
That tracks - You post - people get notified - people like/comment/restack. I'd post long form daily if I had the time to write! I will slowly work on increasing frequency as I progress.
I got it from your newsletter!
Woo! Thanks for reading.
Yes, I shared it. It’s so cool, thanks Hein!
Loved the gaming analogy and that Substack growth IS best seen as a game.
Level up as you feel comfortable. Have fun.
Make it so you want to return each day.
Yes! The fun part is huge for me. As humans, we just are not likely to continue doing stuff we don't enjoy.
Love the way you linked progressing through substack to gaming levels. It immediately made all, "What level am I on?" - I'm nearly on advanced mode at the moment - need to level up my notes and comments!
I'm subscribing!
Amazing!! Love this Wendy. So glad it resonated for you.
I’m not generally competitive, and I’m not a gamer (though surrounded by them at home) but on Substack I seem to be finding my inner competitor.
Ohh interesting, do you have it a good thing? Or a negative thing? I think it could be perceived or leveraged in either direction.
I think it's a good thing on substack as it makes everything more fun.
Great clarification, as I play in the beginners' puddle. :) Thank you.
That's where we all start Cheryl. Keep up the great work.
I don’t normally just leave a “this was great” BUT this was great dude! Best insights I have seen yet on Substack success tactics. Very clever and easy to follow metaphor. We done. You set the bar high today.
This means A LOT. Truly appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback.
This was such a beautiful article. I love how honest you've been. No click-baity stuff. Just the raw truth. Loved it! Hope to read more of you!
Thanks Arlo. I hate hype and click-bait. It's SO tempting to use it, but I try as much as I can to be as authentic and honest as possible.
Keep up the good work!
Love this!
I think for Write Build Scale the big thing we still need to do is optimize our publication theme.
We haven't really looked much into that yet.
I think you'll see some solid results once you do so. You can get pretty creative. I wrote a bit about it here: https://landonpoburan.substack.com/p/5-ways-digital-writers-are-using.
Awesome advice. I like the video game analogy. I wonder if the creators of Substack ever thought their platform would be compared to Diablo! Thanks for sharing this great article.
Best.
Thanks Craig
You're spot on - consistency is the key to just about anything! It's as much for business as it is for writing. What are your thoughts on the CHAT section here? I'm loving the NOTES but can't seem to get a feel for the CHAT!
I think the Chat has a lot of potential. I am currently experimenting with doing it twice a week. Think of like an instagram broadcast list, sms list, manychat list, etc. I see it as an avenue to great a deeper connection. I haven't mastered it but see how I can use it to gather engagement.
Ah ok. So would you repost something from Notes or something else??
No, I try to avoid duplicating content. I have been working on the best way to find engagement. Asking questions about what people are working on, what content they would like to see, sharing behind the scenes things.
Ok, that's helpful, thank you!!
But we cannot export chat
Why would you need to export your chats?
Let's imagine that, in the medium term, I have built an important community, with many ‘evergreen’ chats. But Substack changes functions that are important to me, or fills Substack with advertising, or for other technical or commercial reasons. I look for another community platform and move everything. All of it? No, I can't move neither the comments nor the chats.
That's why I want to investigate soon if there is a community platform that allows chat export. If I can export, then I can invest time in it.
Interesting. If you can figure out what value you're trying to capture within the chats you may be able to find a way to circumvent it.
I can only think of one solution: If I want to have a community, put a link at the bottom of each post pointing to where I have the community (an exportable place, like Facebook Groups, Discord or Circle), and start a thread with the same title, with a link to the Substack post where I started.
And maybe also copying the comments I have in that community.
And all this, because Substack doesn't let you export comments or chats.
I wrote this some days ago, it is in Spanish:
https://emprender.substack.com/p/construir-una-comunidad-en-substack
I post 2x a week which is why I'm God Tier
Killin it!
So good! I love this take and approach to helping move the needle on Substack!
Thanks J.R. Honestly, you have such an amazing name for a writer I have to say.
Can I disagree?
Beginers. BEST engage. 😊
You can 100% disagree. I think engaging is great. However, I believe engaging should be paired with a base level of publishing. Or else people may not have a reason to follow or subscribe.
Yes, I thought the same thing when I read your excellent post.
But people don't subscribe or follow for past content than for future content, so if we say we will post every Monday, well that's good enough.
I think the first thing is to get those people to read us, but they don't know about us if we don't comment on other people's posts and articles.
I think its a bit of a chicken or an egg. I think they are both good strategies. Notes can be fantastic for growth. However, its likely best to focus on what feels best, works best and can be maintained for you.
Yes. In my case, a mix of both.
Thanks a lot for your replies.
Hey Landon, what an informative article... Thanks for sharing!
Truly appreciate you reading.
Love the breakdown and the comparison to a video game.
You a gamer as well?
Great post, Landon! Love how you present is as a 'game to play'.
Happy you enjoyed it Marc!
Minimum viable habit is the way to go! It's been a game-changer for my writing practice. I used to burn myself out on novel writing and then drop the project entirely. Now, I can write and publish short fiction every week while feeling pretty confident in the quality and the workload. Thanks for sharing this.
You bet Josh, it's been a game changer for me. Stripping things down to their simplest form.