This is extremely helpful as I’m brand new to Substack as of this week. I definitely relate to the lack of the “regular network”. I really haven’t shared to my friends or followers on any other platforms that I’m here, but that in itself is pretty exciting given this is currently a fresh, clean slate for me across the board.
This perspective and info is awesome as I’m still trying to learn the ropes and figure out my place.
Hey Jack, thanks for reading and welcome to Substack! I haven’t blasted out to my networks that I am here yet either. Glad we’re connected, we’ll figure it out together! Have a good weekend!
Thanks for sharing these reflections! I am about to move my list over and am doing so for the same reasons you mentioned - so much more engagement here and easier to grow, especially since I don’t do regular social media anymore. I see a lot of people maintaining their website and still having ConvertKit or whatever other email platform they’re using in addition to Substack. I have a Shopify store so unsure whether to keep it or how to tie up all these loose ends, but curious if you have any thoughts on that.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks so much for reading and replying. I am like you, don’t spend much time with other social media right now. And I can’t really speak to how Shopify could integrate as selling digital products On my blog was something on my radar that I never got around to. Have a great weekend :)
Convertkit. I have a minimalist newsletter so I send a email monday-friday. I alerted my friends on Friday we will be moving. First issue on substack goes out tomorrow. We shall see 🙏🏽
Very insightful writeup, Mack! I have a question: how did you “import” existing subscribers to Substack? I have a bunch of subscribers on Medium, and I have their email addresses, but I was unsure if it was “right” to just drag them into another email list without their explicit permission.
Hey Gauracv, great question. I took an existing list I had built on Mailchimp, and imported it. The week before I did the move, I emailed the list via MailChimp and told them I was making the move, how they would benefit, and giving them a chance to unsub if they didn’t want to stay for whatever reason.
Having said that, importing a list from Medium may be different, I’m not sure. I know there are many people here on Substack who also write on Medium, so they could likely help you more with importing a list from Medium and if there are any issues to consider. But I do think it’s a good idea to notify the list before you make the move, just to give them a heads up on your plans.
Congrats on your first month on Substack! I’m so glad you’re getting to engage with your readers. Like you, I love sharing helpful advice and when it felt like it was going out into the void on Facebook and Instagram, I noticed I wasn’t as consistent.
I’ve been publishing weekly since December and love it so much. I think you’re going to have a blast here! By the way, I think you’ll enjoy Seth Werkheiser. 😊
I love how you shared these insights but it's raw and real. Too often we see these notes floating around without context. This is extremely helpful. I need to reread again .. maybe tonight. Thank you for being an amazing support on Substack. Sometimes I think I'm shouting into a void but you're always there 😉
Thank you so much for including me in your round up. I can’t wait to watch your journey and fascinated about your writer audience v’s business audience anecdote. Very much do consider you a friend here. My favourite part was when you disagreed with me. How refreshing!
Hey guys, so I wanted to leave a one-week update on this post. This post is now easily the most popular issue of Backstage Pass, it has the most views, comments, and Likes. And it's so far generated 4 new subs, which is more than all the previous posts had generated combined.
The curious part is the open rate is slightly below average at 27%. The majority of the engagement and interest is being driven by traffic from Substack, more specifically on the app. On average, 2% of my traffic to any individual issue comes from Substack.
For this issue? It was 27%. A huge jump.
Also, I've noticed that ever since I published this post, traffic from Substack has gone up daily. To be fair, a lot of it is due to this issue, but there does appear to be some bleedover onto other issues as well. A very good development.
The funny thing is, I was hesitant to share this issue at first because the results from my first month here were so meh. That's what I love about Substack, everyone shares the highs and lows. Thank you ALL for reading, commenting and sharing. It means the world to me!
This is extremely helpful as I’m brand new to Substack as of this week. I definitely relate to the lack of the “regular network”. I really haven’t shared to my friends or followers on any other platforms that I’m here, but that in itself is pretty exciting given this is currently a fresh, clean slate for me across the board.
This perspective and info is awesome as I’m still trying to learn the ropes and figure out my place.
Hey Jack, thanks for reading and welcome to Substack! I haven’t blasted out to my networks that I am here yet either. Glad we’re connected, we’ll figure it out together! Have a good weekend!
Thanks for sharing these reflections! I am about to move my list over and am doing so for the same reasons you mentioned - so much more engagement here and easier to grow, especially since I don’t do regular social media anymore. I see a lot of people maintaining their website and still having ConvertKit or whatever other email platform they’re using in addition to Substack. I have a Shopify store so unsure whether to keep it or how to tie up all these loose ends, but curious if you have any thoughts on that.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks so much for reading and replying. I am like you, don’t spend much time with other social media right now. And I can’t really speak to how Shopify could integrate as selling digital products On my blog was something on my radar that I never got around to. Have a great weekend :)
I appreciate this breakdown. I just moved my newsletter here so I am interested to see how this goes
Thank you Sharlrita! Good luck with your Substack, where was your list at before?
Convertkit. I have a minimalist newsletter so I send a email monday-friday. I alerted my friends on Friday we will be moving. First issue on substack goes out tomorrow. We shall see 🙏🏽
Congratulations! I think you’ll really like it here.
Me too!!!
Very insightful writeup, Mack! I have a question: how did you “import” existing subscribers to Substack? I have a bunch of subscribers on Medium, and I have their email addresses, but I was unsure if it was “right” to just drag them into another email list without their explicit permission.
Hey Gauracv, great question. I took an existing list I had built on Mailchimp, and imported it. The week before I did the move, I emailed the list via MailChimp and told them I was making the move, how they would benefit, and giving them a chance to unsub if they didn’t want to stay for whatever reason.
Having said that, importing a list from Medium may be different, I’m not sure. I know there are many people here on Substack who also write on Medium, so they could likely help you more with importing a list from Medium and if there are any issues to consider. But I do think it’s a good idea to notify the list before you make the move, just to give them a heads up on your plans.
Well done and I love how you share the full picture and the background.
I’m
All about keeping it real.
Thank you, Veronica. I learned from the best!
Congrats on your first month on Substack! I’m so glad you’re getting to engage with your readers. Like you, I love sharing helpful advice and when it felt like it was going out into the void on Facebook and Instagram, I noticed I wasn’t as consistent.
I’ve been publishing weekly since December and love it so much. I think you’re going to have a blast here! By the way, I think you’ll enjoy Seth Werkheiser. 😊
Hi Mika! Yes that’s it exactly, taps mic is this thing on? LOL
Appreciate you mentioning Seth, just followed him and you. Have a wonderful weekend!
Yay! I’m glad you’ve found him.
I came over from Lucy’s share.
It’s so great when you can connect people with others.
Awesome, I love @Lucy Werner!
Thank you for the mention Mack.
I love how you shared these insights but it's raw and real. Too often we see these notes floating around without context. This is extremely helpful. I need to reread again .. maybe tonight. Thank you for being an amazing support on Substack. Sometimes I think I'm shouting into a void but you're always there 😉
Always here for you, sis! Thank you for always being here for me.
Thank you so much for including me in your round up. I can’t wait to watch your journey and fascinated about your writer audience v’s business audience anecdote. Very much do consider you a friend here. My favourite part was when you disagreed with me. How refreshing!
Thank you Lucy, always value your friendship and am constantly learning from you!
Hey guys, so I wanted to leave a one-week update on this post. This post is now easily the most popular issue of Backstage Pass, it has the most views, comments, and Likes. And it's so far generated 4 new subs, which is more than all the previous posts had generated combined.
The curious part is the open rate is slightly below average at 27%. The majority of the engagement and interest is being driven by traffic from Substack, more specifically on the app. On average, 2% of my traffic to any individual issue comes from Substack.
For this issue? It was 27%. A huge jump.
Also, I've noticed that ever since I published this post, traffic from Substack has gone up daily. To be fair, a lot of it is due to this issue, but there does appear to be some bleedover onto other issues as well. A very good development.
The funny thing is, I was hesitant to share this issue at first because the results from my first month here were so meh. That's what I love about Substack, everyone shares the highs and lows. Thank you ALL for reading, commenting and sharing. It means the world to me!