Love this interview, definitely one my favs in digestible marketing content! Thank you Lucy for sharing and encouraging tiny experiments! This is exactly why I started my own Substack, to make entrepreneurship accessible and fun, and more importantly in line with the reality of life. No sales funnels, or social media pushes, just simplicity in building a manageable foundation!
This is great - concise, actionable ideas. Thank you 🙏
And to take up your challenge - my newsletter can help you navigate your personal road to healing. I'm sharing my learnings from many years sitting alongside others in the therapy room, and navigating my own healing journey. The nuggets I wish I had known earlier 😀
"If we don’t share what we’re doing, people don’t know how to support us. Full stop." This is a basic truth I often forget. Thank you for the great tips Lucy and thank you Amanda for helping us to hear from Lucy.
This is so helpful! My question for Lucy is about the "business expertise" and what to do if you're not writing any sort of educational material.
I find that the upgrade motivation is much clearer for newsletters that are selling business expertise, or expertise in some other category (parenting, etc). I write a human interest newsletter focused on my experiences as a Muslim woman in a western context. While there is some education sprinkled through my pieces, it's not the primary focus of my writing. I think I am more selling who I am, and the idea of a diverse, humanizing Arab/Muslim voice.
I guess my question is around how to really show the value of this use case?
Completely agree with my friend Noha. As I read this piece, this was the same thought I had. Of the three 10-min exercise categories, business expertise is what stumped me. My stack is not about what I do, it’s about who I’m and very eclectic in nature OR as my wife puts it: it reflects my changing interests and passions. Also, Noha’s newsletter is more “in a lane” than mine which is where I get stuck sometimes. I guess the lesson here is that I need to pick a lane or “show more ankle” in my writing.
Btw I have done all the other things you recommend, except for the routine posting part (I’m more random than routine). But haven’t seen the engagement on notes. I also wonder if that comes only after the stack really takes off and I find my tribe. fYI, I’m around 600 subs, a handful of paid, and 34% open rate.
I’m currently feeling discouraged by substack but this interview (also the hours of Amanda’s live recordings) are helping me shift my thinking.
I would say your “business” is selling your life experience which has just as much, if not even more value that generic business advice. I would be looking at the emotional transformations, support and advice you give. But also don’t forget to mention that this is your livelihood and it’s about supporting your work too.
Some great ideas in this post, thank you. I've been changing the focus of my newsletter for the past 3-4 months and have gotten steady subscribers, hopefully as a result of being more aligned with my true writing voice and what I really care about vs. what I think people need to hear or do. The toughest part has been to show what's important to me through small personal details and experiences, since it feels a little self indulgent, but I want to keep going with this. Any tips on how to build on themes so that I can batch them to build a library of themed posts?
Has your existing audience connected to any particular anecdotes or bits of yourself that you have shared. We often think once it’s been shared once we can’t repeat it again, so I would encourage you to maybe recycle what’s already out there.
I offer my readers ideas in the form of stories and things they can do in their daily life, that will help them peel away the layers of conditioning to know what is truly important to them and gain the courage to act on what they find. "Helping you find your inner whisper and have the courage to follow it."
The benefits my lovely readers receive include manageable tools to help them feel better as they move through life as well as knowing they are not alone in trying to manage all the things. And hope - it's my desire to offer hope that we can all shift in a better direction.
I think this could be worded and packaged in a much snazzier way that would help a potential subscriber think "yes! I need this" - but I fail to find the words!
I think you have all the words there. Sometimes it’s also helpful to see how others describe how you help them and repurpose that. You could try posting the common struggles that people share and how you help them?
I found the mini-exercise the most challenging, and not for the reasons I expected!
Right away, I thought I could list a bunch under expertise and I naturally gravitated towards that as it’s been my go-to in the past. But what I actually found was my enthusiasm for writing the passion bucket ideas, and how they lit me up. And the learning and inspiration and connection I imagined might come from sharing some of my experiences I’d put under human interest.
Right then, I felt something in my body stranglehold the excitement. And thoughts emerged: you can’t write about this, no one who comes to you for groups that you facilitate, or coaching, will want to read this. You’ll be disappointing the people who are paying for something else entirely.
Sidenote: I haven’t started my Substack yet. And this is thematic in the sense that I feel I have to decide and know who I am before I start, and I wonder if I confuse this with knowing who I’m writing for. (I also don’t feel I know this yet either, in part because I don’t know exactly what I want to do *now* in my life, or what it looks like.)
I’m curious if you run into this with others, and what your advice might be!
Thank you! And thank you both for these suggestions and insights!
I have often found 18months into running a paid Substack and playing around on Medium for a year before that, the content I think is going to stick or resonate is always surprising. Perhaps the best test, is to set yourself a cadence and then just go out there....
I just went and liked every single one of my essays on here! It felt so good! I was so inspired by how it made me feel I went and posted a Note about it. This is so far beyond what I am usually like, I think I forgot that it’s okay to be your own biggest fan.
In honour of this newfound realisation as I am now my own biggest fan, I thought why not share who my newsletter is for?
My newsletter is for visionary women who are in a liminal state when it comes to their visibility. They feel unfulfilled and misaligned with the ways they have been visible but feel suspended in this state uncertain of how to find a more aligned path forward.
Thank you for recognising that, I truly appreciate it and thank you for the inspiration to shake off my existing perspective on self-promotion and embrace a new perspective. In less than 5 minutes 🥳🫶🏻💖🙏🏼
I tend to always have some small call for action, even if it’s just to comment or restack the post. But there are no rules. If you want a gentle sell under each one than you can or you can even just do a stand alone selling one.
Wow, what timing! I'm the absolute worst at marketing myself or even drawing attention to my work. I love writing. It's my passion and I think I'm good at it. Plenty of other people seem to think so, too, and many of them let me know, either by sending me an email or adding a comment about what my writing means to them. Every time I get one I have a fleeting thought about sharing it, as I've seen others do, but I can't. I just can't.
And often, to my surprise every time, some of my readers will pay for a subscription when they really wouldn't have to. Everything I write on Substack is free to my readers. Again, they might tell me it's because I've struck a chord with them or they love my writing or whatever. And I thank them, of course, but this is the first time I'm saying any of this out loud.
When it comes to blowing my own horn I'm trapped in that feeling of 'ick'. It stems from growing up with a mom and dad who frowned on personal bragging. They could brag about me, but I wasn't supposed to brag about myself. I came of age in the 1950s, when women were supposed to stay in the background. That didn't help, either.
The other day I mentioned in Notes that I had just realized I had a red check by my name. I thought about adding, 'Please don't congratulate me', but of course I didn't, and many people did just that. And I regretted even putting it out there. I couldn't even enjoy the congrats.
So that's where I am, and that's why I needed to read this piece by Lucy. And now I suppose I should go to the next step and learn from it. 🙄
Thank you so much for sharing your words with us. If it helps in any way I see so many people say the say thing. Take gentle steps. I really think it’s like a muscle and it gets easier over time. There are also no rules. If you are getting paid subscriptions without even promoting your paid offering this speaks volumes to the quality of work you are putting out to the right audience.
Thank you, Lucy. I think my biggest hurdle is knowing how to do it with some kind of finesse. Something that doesn't feel like I'm selling my babies.
I've never been convinced by sales pitches, and, more often than not, I'm completely turned off by them. They seem crass and pushy and not at all conducive to promoting my writing. Having to sell it feels like I'm diminishing it.
I know that makes no sense, but I will try to take gentle steps. Though I don't hold out much hope. 😏
My best-performing essay was followed by another one that is much longer and more impactful (imo). The events described in both essays are linked by mysterious events. I want the second essay to grow some wings, too, but it’s really long. I’ve thought about adding a voice recording—I have an excellent reading voice—but I’m wondering if there’s a way to pull readers into that kind of time commitment. Thanks for the encouraging post!
I love this. I think it’s such a great way to maximise one post. Most people won’t see what we post on Notes on the daily, so trying out a few different ways to promote our post I think is great.
Lucy, I *want* people to find my publication, but I truly blank on how to interact on the platform. Once I hit publish, I instantly make a note and then I back off.
If you could walk me through a process of how to promote my latest post, would it be a 2-5 day list of actions?
Super helpful - thanks so much, heading off to show my posts some love!
Love this interview, definitely one my favs in digestible marketing content! Thank you Lucy for sharing and encouraging tiny experiments! This is exactly why I started my own Substack, to make entrepreneurship accessible and fun, and more importantly in line with the reality of life. No sales funnels, or social media pushes, just simplicity in building a manageable foundation!
This is great - concise, actionable ideas. Thank you 🙏
And to take up your challenge - my newsletter can help you navigate your personal road to healing. I'm sharing my learnings from many years sitting alongside others in the therapy room, and navigating my own healing journey. The nuggets I wish I had known earlier 😀
"If we don’t share what we’re doing, people don’t know how to support us. Full stop." This is a basic truth I often forget. Thank you for the great tips Lucy and thank you Amanda for helping us to hear from Lucy.
TY Amanda and Lucy for this info and opportunity to interact.
Lucy, when you suggest “ I re-share my most-read pieces again and again. ”
In substack lingo, is that simply re-stacking to notes?
Yes! Absolutely, my most engaged posts on substack I’ll reshare with a new note here but also on my other social media platforms.
And vice versa, I’ll reshare any popular social posts within substack too.
This is so helpful! My question for Lucy is about the "business expertise" and what to do if you're not writing any sort of educational material.
I find that the upgrade motivation is much clearer for newsletters that are selling business expertise, or expertise in some other category (parenting, etc). I write a human interest newsletter focused on my experiences as a Muslim woman in a western context. While there is some education sprinkled through my pieces, it's not the primary focus of my writing. I think I am more selling who I am, and the idea of a diverse, humanizing Arab/Muslim voice.
I guess my question is around how to really show the value of this use case?
Completely agree with my friend Noha. As I read this piece, this was the same thought I had. Of the three 10-min exercise categories, business expertise is what stumped me. My stack is not about what I do, it’s about who I’m and very eclectic in nature OR as my wife puts it: it reflects my changing interests and passions. Also, Noha’s newsletter is more “in a lane” than mine which is where I get stuck sometimes. I guess the lesson here is that I need to pick a lane or “show more ankle” in my writing.
Btw I have done all the other things you recommend, except for the routine posting part (I’m more random than routine). But haven’t seen the engagement on notes. I also wonder if that comes only after the stack really takes off and I find my tribe. fYI, I’m around 600 subs, a handful of paid, and 34% open rate.
I’m currently feeling discouraged by substack but this interview (also the hours of Amanda’s live recordings) are helping me shift my thinking.
Thank you both for the insights. Appreciate it.
I would say your “business” is selling your life experience which has just as much, if not even more value that generic business advice. I would be looking at the emotional transformations, support and advice you give. But also don’t forget to mention that this is your livelihood and it’s about supporting your work too.
Some great ideas in this post, thank you. I've been changing the focus of my newsletter for the past 3-4 months and have gotten steady subscribers, hopefully as a result of being more aligned with my true writing voice and what I really care about vs. what I think people need to hear or do. The toughest part has been to show what's important to me through small personal details and experiences, since it feels a little self indulgent, but I want to keep going with this. Any tips on how to build on themes so that I can batch them to build a library of themed posts?
Has your existing audience connected to any particular anecdotes or bits of yourself that you have shared. We often think once it’s been shared once we can’t repeat it again, so I would encourage you to maybe recycle what’s already out there.
Good thoughts and yes, I can think of several things that have resonated.
Thanks Lucy and Amanda, this is great info.
I offer my readers ideas in the form of stories and things they can do in their daily life, that will help them peel away the layers of conditioning to know what is truly important to them and gain the courage to act on what they find. "Helping you find your inner whisper and have the courage to follow it."
The benefits my lovely readers receive include manageable tools to help them feel better as they move through life as well as knowing they are not alone in trying to manage all the things. And hope - it's my desire to offer hope that we can all shift in a better direction.
I think this could be worded and packaged in a much snazzier way that would help a potential subscriber think "yes! I need this" - but I fail to find the words!
I think you have all the words there. Sometimes it’s also helpful to see how others describe how you help them and repurpose that. You could try posting the common struggles that people share and how you help them?
Hi Lucy!
I found the mini-exercise the most challenging, and not for the reasons I expected!
Right away, I thought I could list a bunch under expertise and I naturally gravitated towards that as it’s been my go-to in the past. But what I actually found was my enthusiasm for writing the passion bucket ideas, and how they lit me up. And the learning and inspiration and connection I imagined might come from sharing some of my experiences I’d put under human interest.
Right then, I felt something in my body stranglehold the excitement. And thoughts emerged: you can’t write about this, no one who comes to you for groups that you facilitate, or coaching, will want to read this. You’ll be disappointing the people who are paying for something else entirely.
Sidenote: I haven’t started my Substack yet. And this is thematic in the sense that I feel I have to decide and know who I am before I start, and I wonder if I confuse this with knowing who I’m writing for. (I also don’t feel I know this yet either, in part because I don’t know exactly what I want to do *now* in my life, or what it looks like.)
I’m curious if you run into this with others, and what your advice might be!
Thank you! And thank you both for these suggestions and insights!
Wow this is so interesting what you gravitate towards. I wonder if you could just test writing around those subjects and see what comes up?
I might try this!
I have often found 18months into running a paid Substack and playing around on Medium for a year before that, the content I think is going to stick or resonate is always surprising. Perhaps the best test, is to set yourself a cadence and then just go out there....
I just went and liked every single one of my essays on here! It felt so good! I was so inspired by how it made me feel I went and posted a Note about it. This is so far beyond what I am usually like, I think I forgot that it’s okay to be your own biggest fan.
In honour of this newfound realisation as I am now my own biggest fan, I thought why not share who my newsletter is for?
My newsletter is for visionary women who are in a liminal state when it comes to their visibility. They feel unfulfilled and misaligned with the ways they have been visible but feel suspended in this state uncertain of how to find a more aligned path forward.
I love this action taking! What a great exercise to do.
Thank you for recognising that, I truly appreciate it and thank you for the inspiration to shake off my existing perspective on self-promotion and embrace a new perspective. In less than 5 minutes 🥳🫶🏻💖🙏🏼
Hi Lucy 👋🏻 🌊 Should every post have a call to action/service promotion or should some not for balance?
I tend to always have some small call for action, even if it’s just to comment or restack the post. But there are no rules. If you want a gentle sell under each one than you can or you can even just do a stand alone selling one.
Wow, what timing! I'm the absolute worst at marketing myself or even drawing attention to my work. I love writing. It's my passion and I think I'm good at it. Plenty of other people seem to think so, too, and many of them let me know, either by sending me an email or adding a comment about what my writing means to them. Every time I get one I have a fleeting thought about sharing it, as I've seen others do, but I can't. I just can't.
And often, to my surprise every time, some of my readers will pay for a subscription when they really wouldn't have to. Everything I write on Substack is free to my readers. Again, they might tell me it's because I've struck a chord with them or they love my writing or whatever. And I thank them, of course, but this is the first time I'm saying any of this out loud.
When it comes to blowing my own horn I'm trapped in that feeling of 'ick'. It stems from growing up with a mom and dad who frowned on personal bragging. They could brag about me, but I wasn't supposed to brag about myself. I came of age in the 1950s, when women were supposed to stay in the background. That didn't help, either.
The other day I mentioned in Notes that I had just realized I had a red check by my name. I thought about adding, 'Please don't congratulate me', but of course I didn't, and many people did just that. And I regretted even putting it out there. I couldn't even enjoy the congrats.
So that's where I am, and that's why I needed to read this piece by Lucy. And now I suppose I should go to the next step and learn from it. 🙄
Thank you so much for sharing your words with us. If it helps in any way I see so many people say the say thing. Take gentle steps. I really think it’s like a muscle and it gets easier over time. There are also no rules. If you are getting paid subscriptions without even promoting your paid offering this speaks volumes to the quality of work you are putting out to the right audience.
Thank you, Lucy. I think my biggest hurdle is knowing how to do it with some kind of finesse. Something that doesn't feel like I'm selling my babies.
I've never been convinced by sales pitches, and, more often than not, I'm completely turned off by them. They seem crass and pushy and not at all conducive to promoting my writing. Having to sell it feels like I'm diminishing it.
I know that makes no sense, but I will try to take gentle steps. Though I don't hold out much hope. 😏
My best-performing essay was followed by another one that is much longer and more impactful (imo). The events described in both essays are linked by mysterious events. I want the second essay to grow some wings, too, but it’s really long. I’ve thought about adding a voice recording—I have an excellent reading voice—but I’m wondering if there’s a way to pull readers into that kind of time commitment. Thanks for the encouraging post!
I wonder if it could be broken into a bit of a series?
Lately I see people making several notes, over a few days, with quotes from their own pieces. Thoughts about this? And thanks!
I love this. I think it’s such a great way to maximise one post. Most people won’t see what we post on Notes on the daily, so trying out a few different ways to promote our post I think is great.
Lucy, I *want* people to find my publication, but I truly blank on how to interact on the platform. Once I hit publish, I instantly make a note and then I back off.
If you could walk me through a process of how to promote my latest post, would it be a 2-5 day list of actions?
Let me marinade on this! I will do as a note later and tag you x
The title you chose for your Substack is great!
Okay, I’m persuaded. Off to reshare one of my most popular posts ever. Thanks, Lucy and Amanda.