20 Comments
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Maria Hanley's avatar

So good, Amanda. Your words always make me feel like there is a sustainable and rewarding path forward, even amidst all the noise. Thank you.

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Julia Rymut's avatar

OMG! I just sorted my subscriber list by ACTIVITY and I have a lot of 5-stars! This is such a boost to my morale. Thank you for pointing this out. Now I'm going to try to figure out how to support my 5-stars and build some more!

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Amanda B. Hinton's avatar

This is wonderful. ☀️ ☀️

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Alix Klingenberg's avatar

so helpful, as always, Amanda! Thank you for your work and for sharing what works here.

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Mo__'s avatar

So refreshing, Amanda! Your grounding helps us feel grounded. Sanity in the midst of substack chaos. TY for your words, but even more TY for being you!

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Amy Brown's avatar

I agree so much with encouraging these actions and being so gratified when they happen. As you say, ‘This is how trust becomes traction — and traction becomes momentum.’ Each week I ask for likes, comments, restacks if they appreciate what they read and answer every comment. Most fun of all is when subscribers start talking to each other in the comments of my piece. That’s community building! I also spend time doing this for publications I enjoy.

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Mary Austin (she/her)'s avatar

Yes, yes, yes to all of this! Thanks for putting all of this into words.

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Jane Lamason's avatar

After being completely undone by the Google algorithm, ignored by the FB algorithm and burned out trying to keep up with Pinterest I moved to Substack. What was always missing was the ability to build realtionships with trust and alignment. I love the feeling of being free to explore my path forward and to support those whose work resonates with me. Thank you for this post.

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Amanda B. Hinton's avatar

I hear you!! Substack isn’t perfect but it is a really different place! Welcome. :)

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Dr Karen Shue's avatar

I was indeed wondering about those Activity 🌟's - thanks for that data moment!

Is there a way to create categories of substacks we recommend? I've shared publishers' links elsewhere, but I do it by category (About Substack, History, Other Brain newsletters, etc.). can one do this in the Recommend list of one's newsletter?

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Amanda B. Hinton's avatar

Mmmm don't think so!

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Asha Dornfest's avatar

THIS is why I am so proud to support your work, Amanda! Trust has driven my work since the early blogging years. I believe, now more than ever, it’s not only key to sustainable success, it’s part of our cultural repair. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and still drop the ball (it’s not easy to do this work consistently) but this north star has always guided me.

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Amanda B. Hinton's avatar

👀 Wow I love hearing this!! Stay tuned, Asha. Really big things coming in the next month or two. Would love, love, love your voice in the mix on this!

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Asha Dornfest's avatar

I'm late to the party! My head has been elsewhere recently and I'm on the cusp of some travel, but I'm excited to participate when I return.

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Stacey Jenkins's avatar

Thank you Amanda this is very helpful. I’m still learning about SubStack like many others and appreciate the support

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Su's avatar

Thank you, Amanda. I’m just learning Substack. Your post is very helpful ;)

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Allison Deraney's avatar

"You're not chasing scale. You're curating alignment." I love this stance!

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Sherry Lowry, MCC,MA,MS's avatar

Amanda’s send truth walking your way. And what could be more timely to receive and return right now but trust as part of community…

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Deborah Brasket's avatar

I love what you say here about the meaning behind those likes and comments, the curating element of all we do here, sharing, magnifying, the things that move us, those little acts of love. And it is about trust, trusting our own voices and trusting that those whose voices resonate with ours will find us and we them.

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Angel Living's avatar

This is the first thing I saw in my inbox after drafting a post about the difference between an astrology reading and an astrological consultation. I had been wondering where to share it, and after reading this post I think I’ll make it into a note.

I’m so appreciative of your work, Amanda, even if I don’t always have the time to dig into it as I’d like-when I do, it’s always amazing!

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