Hi Kim! This is a thought-provoking piece! First, I totally agree on the attribution problem, Substack simply does a very poor job of tracking what sources are sending us traffic.
Beyond that, I don't think most people are considering how different subscribers are based on the source used to acquire them. Recommendations are touted as a boon for growth, but I suspect many people, especially those new to Substack, just click to accept reccos when they subscribe to someone and really have no idea who they are accepting as a new subscription. In other words, they have no real intention of actually reading and engaging with that content when they sign up. That can always change over time, but it's not there at the start.
And to be fair, it's not much different when someone subs from the average Note. If you or I write a Note about how awesome Gen X is, we may get a dozen new subs. But would ANY of those new subs be in our target audience? Probably not.
Another area you touched on is Substack's future. As you stated, there has been too much funding flowing into Substack lately for growth NOT to happen. Investors will demand a return on their funds.
That means we WILL see more people coming to Substack. A LOT more. When they arrive, the experience here WILL change as a result. Substack will also change its core features and offerings.
My advice to my Paid subs (as you know) is that we need to position ourselves now to take advantage of the coming growth. When it arrives, we want to be ready.
Long-term, we will need to carefully analyze what impact the growth has on the overall health of the platform. It could be that we can adapt and stay here and continue to grow. Or it could be that we will want to bolt and go elsewhere.
I will say, March has been a solid month for growth for me so far, on the free and Paid side. I'm not sure if that's a sign of platform growth, or not. Time will tell. Appreciate this thoughtful post, Kim!
You’re absolutely right about subs coming in through notes also might not be the ideal subscriber - I hadn’t really thought about that (if we could attribute which note specifically, that would be great).
Your point about the future of Substack and preparing for long-term growth is spot on. Thank you for that. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day here (or get sucked in for hours reading, lol) - without looking at the ‘thirty-thousand’ foot view.
Congrats on the growth in March! Well-deserved! 😊
Now that I’ve skipped my weekly ‘SPARK’ (will do my first monthly roundup at the end of this month), I’ve had a great uptick in subs too.
Never in a million years did I think I’d love to understand data the way I do now, lol. AI makes it so much easier to grab the data and break it down for my non-data brain.
Oh I’m glad you are also seeing a jump in subs! So you are posting less and your subs are going up? That’s interesting because I honestly wonder how much writing contributes to growth vs simply engaging on here.
Very very helpful and timely. Thank you. I think I intuitively understand that I need to have email and website and blog separately from Substack but continue with substack for the connection and reach to new people. It's been 3 years since I started my substack and it has grown very little. So right at the time that the ability to reach smaller creators is tanking is the exact time I am ready to jump in and utilize all their growth features! LOL - always a bit off in my timing....
I have just switched from Mailchimp to Kit, mostly because Kit has product selling pages & forms built right in, as well as a page to re-post my substack long articles (visibility in two places). Their recommendations seems spotty so far. So I was interested to hear what you had to say about them and I'm curious about Bento! Never heard of it. I eternally wish for a platform that truly does allow you to do it all under one roof.
Here's a thought directed at all the brilliant minds on Substack: create a substack-like platform with better analytics, ability to sell products, segment lists, etc - all the things AND be content with being a robust sustainable business model WITHOUT the drive to scale and grow beyond what is good for the little guys (and big ones too). Why can't a great serviceable platform be enough? Why always must things grow to the point of shedding the foundations something's built on? Couldn't someone create this? Let's a have a mastermind to see what all should be included and then model it off the best platforms that already do those things. Don't you think engagement would be immense? Thank you!
It would be great if someone wanted to create that kind of company, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Bento is new to me - and I made the switch because a good friend of mine who is brilliant at email marketing & automations and was with Kit for a long time made the switch. *I think I need to reach out to Bento and see if they want to do a live or something.
If you’re looking for more insights into your stats, etc. on Substack, I highly recommend getting StackContacts from @Finn Tropy. It’s incredibly powerful!
Another recommendation is Subflow AI by @Dheeraj Sharma - which does notes scheduling, replies, and the new version has more analytics (I haven’t had a chance to jump into them yet).
It was because I looked at the data that I shifted my approach here (novel idea, right? lol)
It would be great to have an uber-platform that does everything, but I’m not sure if that is a realistic goal.
That’s why I started StackContacts, to be able to pull data into a local SQL database that can connect the dots between different platforms, like Substack, Gumroad and Kit (so far), and enable AI to make queries across the different datasets.
Yesterday I was playing with PostHog MCP server - I’m using PostHog for event analytics across my products. I was blown away when I could correlate data between Substack, Gumroad, and how users engage with my products, like Substack Pro Studio - with a single question using Claude AI. This is clearly the direction where analytics is going…
Sorry to hear you made the switch, especially for the reasons you mentioned. My own experience with Kit mirrors a lot of what’s been discussed here — the Creator Network, the brittle automations, and the limitations around selling. It’s ultimately why I’m leaving the platform. I even wrote an open letter to Nathan Barry about these issues a while back, and to my knowledge none of it has been addressed.
If Bento doesn’t feel like your thing, there are plenty of other email providers out there — I don’t follow the landscape as closely as I used to, but there are definitely services that offer better value and prices than Kit. And if you ever want to own your checkout instead of being tied to a provider’s quirks, ThriveCart still offers a lifetime deal. Owning that layer has been the most stable part of my setup — I’ll never be hostage to a third‑party checkout again.
What you said about Substack’s evolution also resonated. It echoes something I’ve told artists for years: it’s never the size of the list that matters — it’s the quality. And you can’t rely on external platforms to build that for you. If you’re counting on Substack to grow your list, you’re going to be disappointed. I’ve seen the same thing happen on Patreon repeatedly when creators showed up without an audience of their own.
Wishing you smoother sailing as you rebuild your system — these transitions are never fun, but they do lead to better setups.
I know they’ve made a ton of updates to the platform since I last used it (it felt really dated) and I might just go that route.
That’s unfortunate about nothing being addressed with Kit (doesn’t surprise me). I think we’re going to see a lot of people moving away from some of these ‘legacy’ tools. Like you said, there are plenty of other tools to choose from.
And honestly, I’d prefer to support smaller companies when possible.
Thanks for such a detailed response. I kinda ran out of the capacity to keep checking out more systems. Kit seems to have what I need right now. At some point I will probably change. Bento sounds great if having paid subscribers to your newsletter is your main focus. My main focus is selling my services (1:1 healing sessions is my preferred work) and offering complementary products for a diverse income stream. So yes I am creating digital courses, and groups and thinking about what would make valuable paid tiers on Substack and affiliates. Having a newsletter service, and a shopping cart and a website and a blog and social media and zoom and vimeo and youtube and stacksweller and quickbooks and affiliate profiles and and and and - well, frankly, it's a wonder I don't explode like Beeker (muppets!). I believe in time it will feel more streamlined and maybe one day an all-in-one platform will truly be built. For now, I soldier on, making choices in the moment.
Thanks for the reassurance about Kit. Since that’s what I’ve chosen for now.
Can I ask your opinion on another topic? When someone subscribes to your substack, do you put their email on your regular email list on another platform? Eg Kit, bento, etc. I have gone back and forth. They signed up for just my writing, not my eblasts is one argument. Another is they said they wanted to hear from me so I’m sending them everything. I make it into an ethical question, then I paralyze myself to inactivity. Where do you land?
Substack is an amazing space for connecting and a place to house your long form content - it isn't the space to create your total business model (I agree) or to really connect with your subscribers - however they get here. It is definitely not a one and done space. Even if advertising comes (and how can it not?) It is still a space with many incredible and time/money saving features.
I'll be interested to see how the notes scheduling feature turns out in the long run... I've seen this backfire on platforms in the past too.
And just a reminder BACKUP your list and data weekly (at least) platform do fail from time to time (not that I think Substack is in danger of that) But things happen
Substack truly is a great place for connecting and housing long form content (I still post the content on my website, too, ideally first so the search engines pick it up there).
On the one & done space: totally… but I think too many people starting out or without the knowledge of understanding how to ‘de-platform’ subscribers they could run into some challenges down the road (part of doing business).
I thought the same thing on the notes scheduler yesterday!
I feel like I'm so early on the substack game that it's all overwhelming. Hearing that the algorithm is not favorable to small creators (again, as usual when I'm a small creator, it's not in my favor) is a bit frustrating. I guess I just don't know how to grow on here, whether I export my list elsewhere doesn't seem to matter when I can't get eyes on my stuff from anywhere. oh well.
It can definitely be overwhelming - and I’ve been at this a long time.
I highly recommend @Finn Tropy | StackContacts - it’s a tool that lives on your computer but the data it gives you is invaluable (Finn is great at helping if you get stuck, or I’m happy to help if I can, too).
It was because of looking at that data that I pivoted how I was doing things and instantly saw a difference.
If that’s more than you want to do, @Dheeraj Sharma has SubFlow AI that is a Chrome extension, and it also gives you super helpful data that Substack doesn’t.
I’m sure you’re already doing notes/engaging, but that certainly helps, too. Happy to chat if you ever want a friendly ear!
thanks a lot @Kim Doyal for the mention and @Kelly Bixler i went thru the journey in the last 5-6 months here figuring it out and somewhat still figuring new things.. it is overwhelming for sure but having been on quite a few platforms now I will say that the community support in Substack is far more effective and acknowledging than anyother.. so that helps overcome the intial lonely phase to an extent.. but like all other social platforms it requires you to be social and break thru the initial few months or so.. help is widely available on Substack. Happy to share more of my journey, ppz feel free to connect ..
Kim, I started my publication last November to make people aware of what is happening with gender equality and womens rights. I provide research into important related issues, what makes icons successful (and what we can learn from them), best practices globally, etc. I have been doing this for free for several months now and believe my content is important and can move the needle towards gender equality.
And only a few months in, grew my free subscribers to 50 and another 50 followers (still nor sure why the difference).
But a few months, since xmas, NO new subscribers. I have been on and off on writing notes, (broke my wrist and travelled for 3 weeks) but still writing notes most days; and momentum has definitely slowed.
I want to build the business to create more awareness, and earn some money on the side.
Not really looking to build and sell products. But the more subscriptions, the more I can create impact through awareness, get people thinking about what matters.
Your article explains quite a bit. Not sure yet what to do...
I think a quick win for you would be to notes and engagement on similar newsletters in your niche.
A few that come to mind:
@Code Like A Girl - Not just about coding, it’s an incredible publication focusing on highlighting women in tech, calling out the platform biases, and supporting women to do what we can to balance that out.
@Michelle Redfern Truth Bomb Times - she calls it all out. Brilliant writer and staunch advocate for women and gender equality.
@Lorissa Rinehart focuses on the history of women’s participation in American Democary
@Bonnie Marcus writes ‘Own Your Ambition’ Former CEO, published author, executive coach and podcast host, I write about empowering women and gender related issues in the workplace and beyond.
Kim, I loved this and I'm so keen to see what you do with Bento (please show us!). As a very small fry publication on Substack, I've found it bordering on stifling. Growth is insanely hard because I feel like my discoverability is throttled and I don't know if it is possible to break through it. I recently wrote a throw away note on leaving Facebook and for the first time understood what it is like when the platform shows you to a much larger group - I was talking about Facebook for days with strangers and that note had a long life on the feed compared to anything else even though it was not even close to viral.
The worst kind of subscriber is the one who arrives having already subbed to 996 other publications. That kind of subscriber is useless and I feel like instead of being the supportive person they think they are, they instead let every single person down. Not sure if it is possible to tell whether they just accept every single rec every single time, or if they are bringing insta/FB habits here and treating subs like a follow/like they would do elsewhere. I'd love to be able to figure out these people and their interactions with content better!
I remember your FB post! It’s a little bittersweet to get so much engagement when it’s not necessarily attracting the right audience. It’s a bummer because I want to read other things (outside of my niche) and engage in notes about other topics, but next thing I know my feed is completely out of whack.
I know exactly what you mean about the person who just signs up for everything - it literally helps no one.
The stifling part makes a ton of sense, too.
I’m absolutely going to share what I’m doing with Bento & Substack! Bento makes it so easy to connect to the things I’m building, it’s great (and you know I’m always here if you ever want to go deeper on a call).
Do you have StackContacts?
I highly recommend it! Happy to help you install it if you get it (and @Finn Tropy is fantastic).
I would start with that for the data. I’m working on something else that will complement StackContacts.
I love that you put all this out here for everyone to be aware of and are very clear that you aren't leaving Substack - just learning to work with it in a way that puts your business needs first and not just being along for the ride with Substack the corporation ;) One thing I do want to clarify, is even with email marketing, yes we can tag and segment to our hearts desires, but our stats are often garbage on the open and click ones at least. Many email platforms show them as opened when not and many don't allow the clicks to come through. UTM links is a great idea - I use them in email specifically for this reason. My email will say 10 clicks and I can show 100 visitors going to that page via webpage stats etc. Nothing is 100%, so if you care to know, you have to know what tools to use to really get the most info. It's work!
So much good info in here, Kim! A lot to think about in terms of how to interpret our data, how to react when we get those unsubscribes (they do hurt! But knowing they maybe shouldn’t have come in in the first place through Recommends is helpful info), what the future of Substack will be and how it’ll affect what we do on this platform.
I love that you could draw on your past experience in this space to make these connections for us.
It sounds to me like that's exactly how it should be! Old skills, new situation, old skills turned new. What I hear in a wobble is so much growth and learning!
BTW, yet another comment I was able to find through my Substack Replies app. 😆 I am so excited about this app, but omg it's too finicky to ship yet, working hard on it...
I am so excited to hear more about the Substack Replies app! One of the things I've been thinking about adding to my 'Hub' is a space that pulls all replies & comments (depending on API access).
I would love, love, love to be able to reply and engage with people there, as opposed to having to log in to any social platform (Substack being the exception).
I honestly feel like creating custom (bespoke) solutions is an incredible opportunity for those who love to build. I am loving not logging in to multiple apps.
That’s such a great angle with your app (not sure if that’s the right word).
And every note about your app feels like a tease, haha
I’m calling it an app! But I also don’t know if I should call it something else. Actually now it’s running off of Flask so it’s being called an app by the code.
Haha omg I know and especially with you. A lot do my projects don’t end up seeing the public light 😬 I’m really excited about this one though. I’m using it and it’s helped me. It’s just finicky and I don’t want people to have a bad experience with it…
But I will definitely plan to share it with you in some form regardless of whether it goes primetime!
Thank you for an excellent read, Kim! You’re right at how vague Substack can be about where our subscribers are coming from. We can’t really experiment if we don’t know what’s working or how people are seeing of our stuff lol.
I started my Substack to put myself out there and build awareness around the work that I do, but I’m planning to get my website up and running, so I have my own place.
Maybe you can solve a mystery of mine. Sometimes, I’d have someone subscribe to my newsletter, but somehow they don’t receive my emails, like it doesn’t get sent to them. Is there a way that people can control how they receive our posts?
YAY! Smart decision on the website! Ideally, we should publish on our own sites first. Substack doesn’t let us set the canonical URL (which tells search engines which piece of content to index as the original source), so, if you can, publish on your site first.
Here’s what to tell your subscriber (I searched this so I could get you the answer quicker, lol). This is directly from Substack:
Key Steps for Subscribers to Ensure Email Delivery:
Check "Smart" Settings: Within Substack account settings, ensure notifications are set to "Only in email" or "In email and app," as "smart notifications" may prioritize app alerts over emails.
Check Spam/Promotions: Look in spam folders and the Promotions tab (in Gmail) to move emails to the Primary inbox.
Whitelisting/Contacts: Add the publisher's subdomain email address (e.g., [subdomain]@substack.com) to your email contacts.
Verify Email Address: Confirm the correct email address is linked to the subscription.
Why is this interesting? +1
For Writers/Publishers Ensuring Delivery:
Use Proper Settings: During publication, confirm the settings are set to send to "Everyone" via "Email and app".
Encourage Whitelisting: Remind subscribers to check their spam/promotions folders and whitelist the email address.
Thank you so much, Kim! I really appreciate you searching this up for me lol. I've been meaning to work on my own website, but I'm always so preoccupied with creating other websites for my clients that I forget about myself. Need to make it a priority.
No client work before noon. I’ve more or less stuck to that for years. I always get the client work done and I feel better for having used the time when I’m most creative to create for me.
I love that! I've always been the kind of person to get client work done first and then use whatever time is left on myself. But mornings are usually when my creativity peaks, so I might just try that. Thanks again, my friend.
At first I thought this advice was for established Substackers. I've <50 subscribers, my business is fledgling. Yet I see it's best to set up early - saves the reno later.
the bias elena noticed is a common challenge in recommender systems, especially when the objective function optimizes for platform-level metrics without explicit controls for creator distribution.
I have my own rotating list of authors I browse through, independent of Substack recommendations, where I periodically sort descending by (1) when I last checked them out, and/or (2) when they last interacted with me. Clearly not using Substack as a business!
Hi Kim! This is a thought-provoking piece! First, I totally agree on the attribution problem, Substack simply does a very poor job of tracking what sources are sending us traffic.
Beyond that, I don't think most people are considering how different subscribers are based on the source used to acquire them. Recommendations are touted as a boon for growth, but I suspect many people, especially those new to Substack, just click to accept reccos when they subscribe to someone and really have no idea who they are accepting as a new subscription. In other words, they have no real intention of actually reading and engaging with that content when they sign up. That can always change over time, but it's not there at the start.
And to be fair, it's not much different when someone subs from the average Note. If you or I write a Note about how awesome Gen X is, we may get a dozen new subs. But would ANY of those new subs be in our target audience? Probably not.
Another area you touched on is Substack's future. As you stated, there has been too much funding flowing into Substack lately for growth NOT to happen. Investors will demand a return on their funds.
That means we WILL see more people coming to Substack. A LOT more. When they arrive, the experience here WILL change as a result. Substack will also change its core features and offerings.
My advice to my Paid subs (as you know) is that we need to position ourselves now to take advantage of the coming growth. When it arrives, we want to be ready.
Long-term, we will need to carefully analyze what impact the growth has on the overall health of the platform. It could be that we can adapt and stay here and continue to grow. Or it could be that we will want to bolt and go elsewhere.
I will say, March has been a solid month for growth for me so far, on the free and Paid side. I'm not sure if that's a sign of platform growth, or not. Time will tell. Appreciate this thoughtful post, Kim!
Thanks, Mack,
You’re absolutely right about subs coming in through notes also might not be the ideal subscriber - I hadn’t really thought about that (if we could attribute which note specifically, that would be great).
Your point about the future of Substack and preparing for long-term growth is spot on. Thank you for that. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day here (or get sucked in for hours reading, lol) - without looking at the ‘thirty-thousand’ foot view.
Congrats on the growth in March! Well-deserved! 😊
Now that I’ve skipped my weekly ‘SPARK’ (will do my first monthly roundup at the end of this month), I’ve had a great uptick in subs too.
Never in a million years did I think I’d love to understand data the way I do now, lol. AI makes it so much easier to grab the data and break it down for my non-data brain.
Oh I’m glad you are also seeing a jump in subs! So you are posting less and your subs are going up? That’s interesting because I honestly wonder how much writing contributes to growth vs simply engaging on here.
Oh, no, I wasn’t clear ;-)
My Thursday newlsetter was more of a ‘traditional newsletter’ with the same segments every week.
When I looked a the data I saw my stand alone posts perform about 10% better than the formatted newsletter.
So I’m doing more stand alone articles and will do a monthly recap for the SPARK.
Very very helpful and timely. Thank you. I think I intuitively understand that I need to have email and website and blog separately from Substack but continue with substack for the connection and reach to new people. It's been 3 years since I started my substack and it has grown very little. So right at the time that the ability to reach smaller creators is tanking is the exact time I am ready to jump in and utilize all their growth features! LOL - always a bit off in my timing....
I have just switched from Mailchimp to Kit, mostly because Kit has product selling pages & forms built right in, as well as a page to re-post my substack long articles (visibility in two places). Their recommendations seems spotty so far. So I was interested to hear what you had to say about them and I'm curious about Bento! Never heard of it. I eternally wish for a platform that truly does allow you to do it all under one roof.
Here's a thought directed at all the brilliant minds on Substack: create a substack-like platform with better analytics, ability to sell products, segment lists, etc - all the things AND be content with being a robust sustainable business model WITHOUT the drive to scale and grow beyond what is good for the little guys (and big ones too). Why can't a great serviceable platform be enough? Why always must things grow to the point of shedding the foundations something's built on? Couldn't someone create this? Let's a have a mastermind to see what all should be included and then model it off the best platforms that already do those things. Don't you think engagement would be immense? Thank you!
Thanks, Juliet,
Your comment about your timing cracked me up.
It would be great if someone wanted to create that kind of company, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Bento is new to me - and I made the switch because a good friend of mine who is brilliant at email marketing & automations and was with Kit for a long time made the switch. *I think I need to reach out to Bento and see if they want to do a live or something.
If you’re looking for more insights into your stats, etc. on Substack, I highly recommend getting StackContacts from @Finn Tropy. It’s incredibly powerful!
Another recommendation is Subflow AI by @Dheeraj Sharma - which does notes scheduling, replies, and the new version has more analytics (I haven’t had a chance to jump into them yet).
It was because I looked at the data that I shifted my approach here (novel idea, right? lol)
Thanks for the shout-out, @Kim Doyal
It would be great to have an uber-platform that does everything, but I’m not sure if that is a realistic goal.
That’s why I started StackContacts, to be able to pull data into a local SQL database that can connect the dots between different platforms, like Substack, Gumroad and Kit (so far), and enable AI to make queries across the different datasets.
Yesterday I was playing with PostHog MCP server - I’m using PostHog for event analytics across my products. I was blown away when I could correlate data between Substack, Gumroad, and how users engage with my products, like Substack Pro Studio - with a single question using Claude AI. This is clearly the direction where analytics is going…
You’re most welcome, Finn,
Oooh! That sounds fantastic! (now off to look at PostHog, lol).
thank you Kim for tagging me and SubflowAI here 🙏..
Always, my friend!
Sorry to hear you made the switch, especially for the reasons you mentioned. My own experience with Kit mirrors a lot of what’s been discussed here — the Creator Network, the brittle automations, and the limitations around selling. It’s ultimately why I’m leaving the platform. I even wrote an open letter to Nathan Barry about these issues a while back, and to my knowledge none of it has been addressed.
If Bento doesn’t feel like your thing, there are plenty of other email providers out there — I don’t follow the landscape as closely as I used to, but there are definitely services that offer better value and prices than Kit. And if you ever want to own your checkout instead of being tied to a provider’s quirks, ThriveCart still offers a lifetime deal. Owning that layer has been the most stable part of my setup — I’ll never be hostage to a third‑party checkout again.
What you said about Substack’s evolution also resonated. It echoes something I’ve told artists for years: it’s never the size of the list that matters — it’s the quality. And you can’t rely on external platforms to build that for you. If you’re counting on Substack to grow your list, you’re going to be disappointed. I’ve seen the same thing happen on Patreon repeatedly when creators showed up without an audience of their own.
Wishing you smoother sailing as you rebuild your system — these transitions are never fun, but they do lead to better setups.
Thanks so much, Barney,
I actually have ThriveCart 😉
I know they’ve made a ton of updates to the platform since I last used it (it felt really dated) and I might just go that route.
That’s unfortunate about nothing being addressed with Kit (doesn’t surprise me). I think we’re going to see a lot of people moving away from some of these ‘legacy’ tools. Like you said, there are plenty of other tools to choose from.
And honestly, I’d prefer to support smaller companies when possible.
Thanks for such a detailed response. I kinda ran out of the capacity to keep checking out more systems. Kit seems to have what I need right now. At some point I will probably change. Bento sounds great if having paid subscribers to your newsletter is your main focus. My main focus is selling my services (1:1 healing sessions is my preferred work) and offering complementary products for a diverse income stream. So yes I am creating digital courses, and groups and thinking about what would make valuable paid tiers on Substack and affiliates. Having a newsletter service, and a shopping cart and a website and a blog and social media and zoom and vimeo and youtube and stacksweller and quickbooks and affiliate profiles and and and and - well, frankly, it's a wonder I don't explode like Beeker (muppets!). I believe in time it will feel more streamlined and maybe one day an all-in-one platform will truly be built. For now, I soldier on, making choices in the moment.
You’re so welcome, I love your Beeker comment 😂
FYI - Bento is just an email service provider (like Kit).
Kit is a great choice because of the ability to use Kit Commerce, Landing pages, etc. It also integrates directly with many other tools fairly easily.
Thanks for the reassurance about Kit. Since that’s what I’ve chosen for now.
Can I ask your opinion on another topic? When someone subscribes to your substack, do you put their email on your regular email list on another platform? Eg Kit, bento, etc. I have gone back and forth. They signed up for just my writing, not my eblasts is one argument. Another is they said they wanted to hear from me so I’m sending them everything. I make it into an ethical question, then I paralyze myself to inactivity. Where do you land?
Substack is an amazing space for connecting and a place to house your long form content - it isn't the space to create your total business model (I agree) or to really connect with your subscribers - however they get here. It is definitely not a one and done space. Even if advertising comes (and how can it not?) It is still a space with many incredible and time/money saving features.
I'll be interested to see how the notes scheduling feature turns out in the long run... I've seen this backfire on platforms in the past too.
And just a reminder BACKUP your list and data weekly (at least) platform do fail from time to time (not that I think Substack is in danger of that) But things happen
Great reminder on the backup, thank you Jill!
Substack truly is a great place for connecting and housing long form content (I still post the content on my website, too, ideally first so the search engines pick it up there).
On the one & done space: totally… but I think too many people starting out or without the knowledge of understanding how to ‘de-platform’ subscribers they could run into some challenges down the road (part of doing business).
I thought the same thing on the notes scheduler yesterday!
It’s going to be interesting to watch.
I feel like I'm so early on the substack game that it's all overwhelming. Hearing that the algorithm is not favorable to small creators (again, as usual when I'm a small creator, it's not in my favor) is a bit frustrating. I guess I just don't know how to grow on here, whether I export my list elsewhere doesn't seem to matter when I can't get eyes on my stuff from anywhere. oh well.
It can definitely be overwhelming - and I’ve been at this a long time.
I highly recommend @Finn Tropy | StackContacts - it’s a tool that lives on your computer but the data it gives you is invaluable (Finn is great at helping if you get stuck, or I’m happy to help if I can, too).
It was because of looking at that data that I pivoted how I was doing things and instantly saw a difference.
If that’s more than you want to do, @Dheeraj Sharma has SubFlow AI that is a Chrome extension, and it also gives you super helpful data that Substack doesn’t.
I’m sure you’re already doing notes/engaging, but that certainly helps, too. Happy to chat if you ever want a friendly ear!
thanks a lot @Kim Doyal for the mention and @Kelly Bixler i went thru the journey in the last 5-6 months here figuring it out and somewhat still figuring new things.. it is overwhelming for sure but having been on quite a few platforms now I will say that the community support in Substack is far more effective and acknowledging than anyother.. so that helps overcome the intial lonely phase to an extent.. but like all other social platforms it requires you to be social and break thru the initial few months or so.. help is widely available on Substack. Happy to share more of my journey, ppz feel free to connect ..
Always, Dheeraj,
And I think most people will say that it’s a process for all of us!
Kim, I started my publication last November to make people aware of what is happening with gender equality and womens rights. I provide research into important related issues, what makes icons successful (and what we can learn from them), best practices globally, etc. I have been doing this for free for several months now and believe my content is important and can move the needle towards gender equality.
And only a few months in, grew my free subscribers to 50 and another 50 followers (still nor sure why the difference).
But a few months, since xmas, NO new subscribers. I have been on and off on writing notes, (broke my wrist and travelled for 3 weeks) but still writing notes most days; and momentum has definitely slowed.
I want to build the business to create more awareness, and earn some money on the side.
Not really looking to build and sell products. But the more subscriptions, the more I can create impact through awareness, get people thinking about what matters.
Your article explains quite a bit. Not sure yet what to do...
Thanks, Rena,
I think a quick win for you would be to notes and engagement on similar newsletters in your niche.
A few that come to mind:
@Code Like A Girl - Not just about coding, it’s an incredible publication focusing on highlighting women in tech, calling out the platform biases, and supporting women to do what we can to balance that out.
@Michelle Redfern Truth Bomb Times - she calls it all out. Brilliant writer and staunch advocate for women and gender equality.
@Lorissa Rinehart focuses on the history of women’s participation in American Democary
@Bonnie Marcus writes ‘Own Your Ambition’ Former CEO, published author, executive coach and podcast host, I write about empowering women and gender related issues in the workplace and beyond.
That should get you started. 😉
Thanks for the shout out Kim!!! @RENA GRANOFSKY keep writing!
Also I would suggest checking out @Mack Collier for how to effectively grow your pub. He has so much grounded practical advice. I follow it.
Thank you, CLAG! @RENA GRANOFSKY and I are following each other!
Thank you lovely lady for the shoutout!
My pleasure!
Thanks @Kim Doyal for the shout out!
You're welcome, Bonnie!
Thanks so much Kim! I am connecting!
Great! 😊
Kim, I loved this and I'm so keen to see what you do with Bento (please show us!). As a very small fry publication on Substack, I've found it bordering on stifling. Growth is insanely hard because I feel like my discoverability is throttled and I don't know if it is possible to break through it. I recently wrote a throw away note on leaving Facebook and for the first time understood what it is like when the platform shows you to a much larger group - I was talking about Facebook for days with strangers and that note had a long life on the feed compared to anything else even though it was not even close to viral.
The worst kind of subscriber is the one who arrives having already subbed to 996 other publications. That kind of subscriber is useless and I feel like instead of being the supportive person they think they are, they instead let every single person down. Not sure if it is possible to tell whether they just accept every single rec every single time, or if they are bringing insta/FB habits here and treating subs like a follow/like they would do elsewhere. I'd love to be able to figure out these people and their interactions with content better!
Thank you, Dallas,
I remember your FB post! It’s a little bittersweet to get so much engagement when it’s not necessarily attracting the right audience. It’s a bummer because I want to read other things (outside of my niche) and engage in notes about other topics, but next thing I know my feed is completely out of whack.
I know exactly what you mean about the person who just signs up for everything - it literally helps no one.
The stifling part makes a ton of sense, too.
I’m absolutely going to share what I’m doing with Bento & Substack! Bento makes it so easy to connect to the things I’m building, it’s great (and you know I’m always here if you ever want to go deeper on a call).
Do you have StackContacts?
I highly recommend it! Happy to help you install it if you get it (and @Finn Tropy is fantastic).
I would start with that for the data. I’m working on something else that will complement StackContacts.
I love that you put all this out here for everyone to be aware of and are very clear that you aren't leaving Substack - just learning to work with it in a way that puts your business needs first and not just being along for the ride with Substack the corporation ;) One thing I do want to clarify, is even with email marketing, yes we can tag and segment to our hearts desires, but our stats are often garbage on the open and click ones at least. Many email platforms show them as opened when not and many don't allow the clicks to come through. UTM links is a great idea - I use them in email specifically for this reason. My email will say 10 clicks and I can show 100 visitors going to that page via webpage stats etc. Nothing is 100%, so if you care to know, you have to know what tools to use to really get the most info. It's work!
Thanks, Christine,
Great point about the stats/data with email marketing!
I think being able to share the right message, with the right people, at the right time is the differentiator with email marketing.
And YES to UTM links!!! I created an app for that and was surprised at how many people weren’t familiar with UTM links.
They’re tedious to create, lol -but incredibly helpful (*now my brain is wondering how I could create an agent or script to do this, lol).
Really helpful article on some of the inner workings of Substack. Thank you for sharing, Kim!
Thanks, Alyssa, 😊
So much good info in here, Kim! A lot to think about in terms of how to interpret our data, how to react when we get those unsubscribes (they do hurt! But knowing they maybe shouldn’t have come in in the first place through Recommends is helpful info), what the future of Substack will be and how it’ll affect what we do on this platform.
I love that you could draw on your past experience in this space to make these connections for us.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Alyssa,
It’s been super helpful - and at times a little wobbly to see how all the past experience in this space translates to Substack.
I think the key, at least for me, has been to just be patient (not my strong suit, lol).
It sounds to me like that's exactly how it should be! Old skills, new situation, old skills turned new. What I hear in a wobble is so much growth and learning!
BTW, yet another comment I was able to find through my Substack Replies app. 😆 I am so excited about this app, but omg it's too finicky to ship yet, working hard on it...
I agree!
I am so excited to hear more about the Substack Replies app! One of the things I've been thinking about adding to my 'Hub' is a space that pulls all replies & comments (depending on API access).
I would love, love, love to be able to reply and engage with people there, as opposed to having to log in to any social platform (Substack being the exception).
Ooh that’s such a good idea! Just bypass all the other hullabaloo, I like that.
As I’ve been building this app, it’s making me reflect that software is going to change quite a bit to be more personalized.
Like I’m not really planning right now in my app be something I maintain and update for people.
I’m kind of setting it up so people can this as a seed, then they continue to develop on it in a way that works for them.
Like I can imagine maybe you learn from it and integrate something into your system.
But we’re all going to end up with these systems that are personalized to our use case, like this Hub you’ve building!
I have no idea what it looks like in terms of monetization opportunities, but that’s one direction I can see this all heading.
I honestly feel like creating custom (bespoke) solutions is an incredible opportunity for those who love to build. I am loving not logging in to multiple apps.
That’s such a great angle with your app (not sure if that’s the right word).
And every note about your app feels like a tease, haha
I’m calling it an app! But I also don’t know if I should call it something else. Actually now it’s running off of Flask so it’s being called an app by the code.
Haha omg I know and especially with you. A lot do my projects don’t end up seeing the public light 😬 I’m really excited about this one though. I’m using it and it’s helped me. It’s just finicky and I don’t want people to have a bad experience with it…
But I will definitely plan to share it with you in some form regardless of whether it goes primetime!
Ahhh Kim. Didn't know you were on Substack! 😀
HA! I swear I thought I shared that last time we chatted!
We are overdue to reschedule!
I think you did. I'm using Substack for a local newsletter. But now I've started my own. And yes, we are overdue ☺️
Thank you for an excellent read, Kim! You’re right at how vague Substack can be about where our subscribers are coming from. We can’t really experiment if we don’t know what’s working or how people are seeing of our stuff lol.
I started my Substack to put myself out there and build awareness around the work that I do, but I’m planning to get my website up and running, so I have my own place.
Maybe you can solve a mystery of mine. Sometimes, I’d have someone subscribe to my newsletter, but somehow they don’t receive my emails, like it doesn’t get sent to them. Is there a way that people can control how they receive our posts?
YAY! Smart decision on the website! Ideally, we should publish on our own sites first. Substack doesn’t let us set the canonical URL (which tells search engines which piece of content to index as the original source), so, if you can, publish on your site first.
Here’s what to tell your subscriber (I searched this so I could get you the answer quicker, lol). This is directly from Substack:
To ensure Substack posts are received via email, subscribers should check their https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037488332-I-subscribed-to-a-Substack-publication-but-am-not-receiving-any-emails-What-can-I-do to confirm email notifications are enabled rather than just app notifications. Key steps include moving emails from the Promotions tab to primary, whitelisting the sender address, and verifying email settings on the account.
Substack +3
Key Steps for Subscribers to Ensure Email Delivery:
Check "Smart" Settings: Within Substack account settings, ensure notifications are set to "Only in email" or "In email and app," as "smart notifications" may prioritize app alerts over emails.
Check Spam/Promotions: Look in spam folders and the Promotions tab (in Gmail) to move emails to the Primary inbox.
Whitelisting/Contacts: Add the publisher's subdomain email address (e.g., [subdomain]@substack.com) to your email contacts.
Verify Email Address: Confirm the correct email address is linked to the subscription.
Why is this interesting? +1
For Writers/Publishers Ensuring Delivery:
Use Proper Settings: During publication, confirm the settings are set to send to "Everyone" via "Email and app".
Encourage Whitelisting: Remind subscribers to check their spam/promotions folders and whitelist the email address.
Use Welcome Emails: Set up a https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/24034796625428-How-do-I-set-up-welcome-emails-on-Substack that instructs new subscribers to whitelist your email to ensure future delivery.
Test Deliverability: Send a https://pubstacksuccess.substack.com/p/how-to-start-a-substack-newsletter to yourself to confirm it goes through.
PubStack Success +3
Thank you so much, Kim! I really appreciate you searching this up for me lol. I've been meaning to work on my own website, but I'm always so preoccupied with creating other websites for my clients that I forget about myself. Need to make it a priority.
I used to have a rule…
No client work before noon. I’ve more or less stuck to that for years. I always get the client work done and I feel better for having used the time when I’m most creative to create for me.
I love that! I've always been the kind of person to get client work done first and then use whatever time is left on myself. But mornings are usually when my creativity peaks, so I might just try that. Thanks again, my friend.
My pleasure, Sanam,
Hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
You too! 😊
Great food for thought. Thanks!
My pleasure, thanks for reading, Dot. 😊
Loved this article, thank you!
Your’e so welcome 😊
At first I thought this advice was for established Substackers. I've <50 subscribers, my business is fledgling. Yet I see it's best to set up early - saves the reno later.
Absolutely! Less clean up down the road.
the bias elena noticed is a common challenge in recommender systems, especially when the objective function optimizes for platform-level metrics without explicit controls for creator distribution.
YES! “platform-level metrics” without explicit controls fro creator distribution.
It’s a constant rolling of the dice to see if you’ll fall into the algorithms good graces.
We Dig Data dug into their Substack data because the defaults are not helpful - https://www.wedigdata.io/p/how-we-unlocked-our-substack-performance
I have my own rotating list of authors I browse through, independent of Substack recommendations, where I periodically sort descending by (1) when I last checked them out, and/or (2) when they last interacted with me. Clearly not using Substack as a business!