How to Grow (intentionally and sustainably) on Substack...

5 Top Tips - step down 'social media rules' there are zero exhausting hacks in sight...

Hello petals,

Sparkle on Substack is here to support your journey with learning, growing and celebrating your creative voice on Substack. I have some tips for you this week but first let me share a nugget about writer-y goals…

This month I received a copy of a very glossy print publication I wrote for.

Years ago I had this simple statement as one of my goals… “to see my writing in print.”

I just thought it would feel really nice and more ‘official’ somehow - I was right.

It took a long time to get there and there were a few near misses thanks to pandemic print going digital at the last minute. 🥴

I’d kind of forgotten about the goal because I was having such a nice time writing here on Substack. I’d written for a mum’s wellbeing magazine as I was finding my voice a few year’s back and on receiving a copy in the post I parked up the goal and the dream as ‘complete’.

Re-reading my article in the glossy mag yesterday brought it all back… there was a younger version of me that longed to be able to write the way I do with ease now. Am I an incredible writer? No! But it turns out I didn’t need to be… nor did I need a private education or a writing coach - I just had to have some things to say and a long form platform to say them on…

Setting goals is a lovely way to hook your hat on something that might be possible in time and unlike social media I really feel here on Substack they have our best writer-y goals at heart! 💜 My writing has improved so so much since I started my Substack in ‘22 and the real key to that - just showing up.

This article and interview from the Beyond publication with Jane Ratcliffe and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie blew my mind this week… I’ll see you in the comments there?

Doing Well From Doing Good: A Conversation with Substack Co-Founder Hamish McKenzie

So… to growth - spaciousness and showing up to write…

1. Just know, we’re playing the beautiful long game…

I worked for a client here and they went viral bringing more than 3000 subscribers to their platform in just a couple of days. Want to know how? A HUGE public figure retweeted their Substack.

Before that day, we were working on intentional growth and the snowball effect Substack very much encourages and promotes and it was working.

So, in setting your goals for growth here - are you going in feelings, numbers (of subscribers, paid subscribers, recommendations, a diverse range of readers? a community? - what’s important to you right now and what do you see as important for your future?)

I think settling into that is my the most congruent advice I can give - who knows what this platform can be for you…. let’s just start and think about how we want it to feel….

Growth isn’t always linear even if the graph is…

2. Setting out your (insert beautiful descriptive word) stall…

I think it’s so so important to be clear on what you have to offer others… is it aspirational, inspirational, educational, fandom, community connection?

Our publication over Company of Two is very much community for mums, this one right here is both aspirational, inspirational and educational I think?

My main publication - maybe a mix of multiple things…

So my stall over at Creatively Conscious would be a stall about creativity’s impact on our wellbeing, our earth keeping work and a space to stay intentional about Big Dreams and Quiet ambition. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to convince folk of the importance of those things and that’s ok. I don’t need quick wins I want to save the planet.

3. Being niche killed the multi-passionate creative…

Readers love clarity but that doesn’t mean you have to cull parts of who you are….

Yes make it clear what your publication offers and who you are as a writer but then sparkle up your posts and offers with the lightening bolt of inspiration that strikes - people are here for you it’s not #interiors on instagram…. I feel like I could write an interiors post here if I wanted - I’d just make sure to include how I’d sourced sustainable items and the source of those otherwise there would be a mismatch….

How would a reader recognise your work - what would they see - yes there is branding and a lovely invite to use colour here but what else - how are they going to know it’s you and build up trust and like-ability with you?

My husband’s writing polarisers his audience and he’s fine with that - people come and go a lot - he wants to write what he wants to write - it’s part of his journey.

I feel like social media made us quite unwell and miserable for a while and we accepted it - let’s not bring that vibe here - we don’t need to - there are lot’s of ways to create and connect in genuine ways. You really don’t have to give up spending time in nature to create and grow here on Substack - it’s all possible and they are helping us.

Controversial - if you’re not growing - try being MORE generous for a week - tell me how that works for you…

4. Use your buttons… and know your why…

Not only do the buttons here break up your text and give our eyes a visual break but they offer a call to action to your readers too…

I’ve found the easiest way is to work with the same format of buttons in every post but I do sometimes mix it up for fun.

Remember here some people are reading on web or on email so the call to action is slightly different…

5. Use Notes and Recommendations

Spoiler alert you need to share your work and to encourage others to as well. Substack send out an email mid-month with recommended publications, they re-stack on Notes, the feature publications and push your work out on the explore page - they are here for us!

Using recommendations give a signal to other writers that you are reading and interested in their work.

I read over 140 publications here now - quitting social media helped with that but honestly I adore reading here and I do think that’s one of the main reasons my publications are constantly growing.

Top tip - in Notes you want to encourage conversation - that’s how Notes stick around for 2, 3 even 4/5 days - it’s a conversation not really a bulletin board… (although we are all just learning and sharing as we go).

You can @ mention other writers if they have their handle switched on… it’s very supportive and social… a really fun space to spend time.

BONUS - some examples of beautifully curated publications

I’ve chosen these as I feel like I know the people behind them - they could pop round for a cuppa and that would be so lovely.

I probably even know what to make them and which mug they’d like…

I don’t know any of them IRL but I feel connected to them, their story, their words, their journey and that’s the secret sauce for me as a reader…

There is no one true way to go about building a Substack. This is your playground, experiment with it. If you’re having fun, your readers will too.

Team Substack

I hope you have a wonderfully creative week on Substack!

Thank-you for being here and supporting my work. It really does mean the world to me.

Sending sparkles,

Claire x