What are your 'beliefs' when it comes to Substack?
Hone in on YOUR why and be a crystal in the wild... š
CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who made the Set up your Substack Homepage challenge tasks work for you! I know some of you are circling back to the tasks and spending some more time thinking about them - thereāll be there for you for a good while so take your time.
Ooo and welcome if youāre new here. Iām Claire! Iām a mum, allotment owner and multi-passionate entrepreneur. I live on the Northumberland Coast with a view of the sea and an island called Coquet Island. Iām so happy youāre here.
They are all saved in this one post so save this and youāll all set.
An note on identity and hyper connection to online presence? š¤ š³ļø
Thereās a wonderful opportunity to live out our lives online in a way that feels safe, possible and urgent.
I have adored growing my Substack publications and having an audience to write to, people to chat with and supporting my business in offering Substack classes.
The shadow side this āworkā online is our identity can get swept up in a ferocious whirlwind where we loose sight of our self worth OUTSIDE of vanity metrics and growth. We have to stay grounded to life, to the things we love, to the possibility of a world unplugged.
Iād love your take on this below in the comments. Itās my belief that deeply understanding this concept is how you stayā¦you show up week in week out, you also unplug with ease. Iāve had to work hard to do both the growing here and the unplugging and Iāve learnt so much in the processā¦
Beliefs about Substack (or anywhere online really)ā¦
Ok letās get into itā¦
When we were kids, other kids would call out (as an insult)ā¦
āGet a life!ā
Itās one of those insults that you canāt really say anything back to. š Of course kids being kids they would say āIāve already got one thanksā.
I donāt know why, but it came back to me the other day and I thought about it againā¦
It made me laugh. Life is SO beautiful and fragile at times and in that life and Iām taking the real parts of living our life not so much of the everyday āstuffā we donāt care about the internet or our work. We donāt have to prove ourselvesā¦
Letās take some examplesā¦
When Iām deep in holiday mode with my family and soaking up the new atmosphere of a place, Iām not thinking about how well a scheduled Substack post is performing,
When I was giving birth to my children I didnāt think about what my instagram caption would read on their arrival.
When I have lost those dear to me I wasnāt thinking about how I would articulate that or if my logo needed to be sky blue pink to catch attention.
I was living, feeling all the things it means to be human.
With the invites to craft and measure our words and pour energy into growth and personal creativity on Substack (or anywhere) I want to circle back to your why for your work hereā¦
Once you know your āwhyā for Substack it wonāt matter;
about the numbers
about what anyone else is doing
about your competitors (still working on that one) š
You get to show up and create as part of your life!
You get to receive readers and heart felt responses to your work, all of that is here or coming for you. Your life is outside of all of this. You get to be a crystal in the wild! 1
In saying that, it can of course be satisfying to set numerical goals and tick them offā¦ when I reached 1k subs over on
I celebrated with lots of things, same here at Sparkle. It meant something in my life. I felt different.When I reached 100 paid subscribers I celebrated again and I felt thisā¦
The sky doesnāt tell the clouds; āwe will never create a rainbow together againā nor does it say āwe will shoot one across the sky as a perfectly theatrical moment to change the trajectory of sad Jimmyās day todayā¦ ā
Itās random, by chance, determined by sun and rain within the seasons and it always FEELS āthe exact right timeā to those of us who see it. To stand under a rainbow is magic. š
Now I know, the subscribers keep coming I still celebrate but I donāt feel different. My next goal is 10k subscribers. Why?
Because I love to support people to create. I love to help them balance and figure out what joyful growth is for them.
I feel passionate about the permission slip I enable in creatives who also write, writers who want to deepen their creative practise, nervous new writers who are wondering if they can take up space, what it would feel like to commit to themselves and a growing readership. I get itā¦ because Iāve walked the path and supported hundreds of others to do the work too.
I want to bring light to the dark so you can create and align that work with what it feels like to be well.
To be at ease in life, to feel congruent in a practise of creativity.
It brings me deep contentment - thatās my why for Substack education here.
There is 35% off an annual membership for the next 4 days - I donāt usually run discounts but this one is one of my big ole tests so I can report back to my members. Itās run for 4 weeks and there are only 4 days to grab it. Ā£62 instead of Ā£95 for a year and access to all my previous workshops and calls, a supportive community, weekly problem solving threads. two calls a month and Friday co-writing sessions! Iām a space holder and this is the accountability portal you need alongside creatives you need if you are stuck with your Substack or want to deepen your creative practise and increase your readership.
Doing the work AND being a crystal in the wild
When a private client came to me and said they wanted 10k subscribers in two months I wasnāt phased. We did the things that I know work and they hit it. š¤
When a burnt out corporate comes to me and is confused about why they are here, we take it back to their creativity, to inner child work and to their lineage. There are often tears and many breakthroughs. Their creativity is unleashed and it doesnāt matter about the numbers, any of them.
When an author wants to plan a successful launch, we work out what that would feel like and how they want to plug in, then they set about doing the work knowing that it will FEEL great. And more important feel āenoughā no mater the income at the end of the launch.
Itās really so easeful and I want that for you to here on Substack tooā¦
So tell me your WHY for Substack and if you like your beliefs about this platform; the unfiltered, the uncomfortable, the messy, the things that feel true, impossible, the possibleā¦ letās get into it in the commentsā¦Iām SO excited for this conversation!!
Claire
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PS - My (self limiting) belief is I probably wonāt be featured by Substack Reads at least not this year. It helps me with perfectionism, leaning into having ābetterā grammar and punctuation and being in my creative process. I might aim for it next year on
PPS - If youāre wondering what me and my members here are up to this month, calls and content is listed here.
I was watching one of my favourite lifestyle shows - easy format, a tonne of creativity, a challenge, a competition, some humour - itās called Interior Design Masters. The designers were tasked with making over a small British high street crystal shop. They brought in a tonne of different types of lighting and shelving they did a brilliant job but all the while I was thinking IMAGINE what is would be like to FIND a crystal in the wildā¦ hereās to being a crystal in the wild here on Substack and not one in a shop full of crystals! š
My āwhyā is that I want to share my wonder and curiosity - for the natural world, for folklore and tradition, for womenās stories. It is a cycle, a loop - knowing I will be writing makes me experience the world differently, makes me notice the tiny details of my day to day adventures, and then I get to share them with others, who will hopefully take that curiosity into their own lives. Ultimately, thatās why I do it.
I've just always felt like such a weirdo. And when I write, I feel less so. Or I feel more so, I'm not sure, but I feel more whole and less like I'm floating around trying to get it right. Finding our why is such a big question, for me at least. Some people seem very clear. But mine feels elusive and like if I could just figure it out, pinpoint one thing, then everything would flow from there. But I've been learning this year that when I think there's one thing that will fix it all, that's a good place for me to pause and explore what I'm really feeling. And when I think about my Substack from that vantage point and why I'm here, it's to write what I need to read about, to get better at my writing and to build community. I have this dream of having a community that's vibrant like Claire's or Jeannine Ouellette's and yet, I don't teach or sell anything and I wonder, what would people come for? Just for what I write? And then I think about what you said here, Claire, and I think, well, _maybe_. Maybe they would and maybe the why will present itself if I just keep with it. The world IS full of magical things. šŖ