Creative Approaches #1 - Start a 'blog' on Substack

The coffee and croissant analogy ☕️ 🥐

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver

Good morning all,

How are you? It’s still DEEP winter in Northumberland. I keep opening the coops each morning and wondering when our chickens might start laying eggs again; perhaps another month or so…

When our shoulders drop slightly and our heart lifts up to the sun.

✨

This post is for beginners on Substack and compliments this one which is full of resources for those starting out here and shaping what feels good;

I wanted to write about using Substack as a ‘blog’ because the energy here has often been described as very ‘old school’ blog energy. Blogs take the pressure off somehow… they can be experimental and shift topics as much as we change our socks!

They can also be PLAYFUL. Want to write about your love for tiny penguins? Go for it. Want to call it Sky Blue Flamingoes at Dawn - ok then!

Writing on Substack is Storytelling

This is such an interesting topic for me BECAUSE I see the potential in Substack to be either a blog, a mailing list or both.

Quite simply it’s a space for the stories you want to tell.

There’s also a sneaky relatively unknown secret in that, you can start to create and write here without telling a soul… 🤫.

Do you know people here? Maybe a handful? What a delight that is after being under a social media microscope for our whole career?

Why would you want to create without eyes on your work I hear you ask?

Have you ever been to a retreat? Noted ideas down in your journal on a ‘lazy’ Saturday afternoon? Furiously free written and read it back and thought wow there’s something in that. Daydreamed about being a global best seller one day?

Your creative heart needs SPACE! You can have that here.

Yes Substack is the internet, but it’s also a space where you can turn your light on to a soft warm glow and give yourself time to re-kindle your creative voice.

Want to write about work, love, life, memories, a brand new topic? Great!

Want to delete it after 24 hours? Fine! 🐧

Want a pen name, to be discovered a new? Now we’re talking!

Unless you have professional writing experience or FEEL like a writer, you will need to write a fair few words OUT of your system before you start a new phase.

This is what blogs were used for back in the day; they didn’t show up as fully formed, well researched essays; they just showed up.¹

Want to write out a recipe for your Grandma’s fruit scones and link it a poem about when you waited for a bus - lovely!

You might write ‘too much’ or ‘too little’ and then it’s ‘just right’.

🥣 🐻

It’s a feeling, that you’re home, safe, that it’s ok to thread words, art, creative ideas together in a way that makes sense to you.

Embodied experience…

I’ve always written for work; funding bids, project plans, arts sales copy.

I started writing blogs while working for New Writing North in 2014. I was a crap writer but it didn’t matter - I started and I committed to communicating what it was I had to say 10 years ago.

Now my words are read by people in 90 countries here and I’ve published four creativity and business journals. Those earlier blogs were an experiment… let’s not mention the one I called ‘Run with your heart, not with your legs’ 🫣

My current website doesn’t have a blog function built in which is ONE of the main reasons I started writing over at

Creatively Conscious

right here on Substack back in April 2022. Quite simply, my company is called Creatively Conscious and I wanted a blog space of the same name. I didn’t move my mailing list until much later.

I also wanted to explore topics outside of ‘typical’ business style blogs. I wanted space to re-discover my creative voice outside of a ‘professional’ environment.

A playground for words!

Having URLs of your work to share on other platforms is SUPER useful.

Think sharing on;

• LinkedIN

• Instagram stories

• Facebook groups

• In another Substack post…

• On your website

• On a link in your instagram bio

And it’s completely FREE to start a “blog” here on Substack.

Me and Blogs; the back catalogue

Back in 2022, I could NOT face logging into my wordpress site it was so clunky and cluttered and things were always breaking, the text was re-formatting, I didn’t really know what ads were popping up - oh my days the plug ins - the rogue bullet points - WHAT a headache! I was so busy with arts project management and commissions I had no time or inclination to keep fixing it.

Thankfully for all of us…

A Substack blog is CLEAN, easy to design and there are NO adverts - yay!

I’ve since taught over 3000 people how to use Substack as a mailing list, blog and platform for creative work. The thing I hear the most from my 1-2-1 clients and members here is that Substack is overwhelming.

The second thing I hear is around indecision about how to use it, the third is that it can feel a little elitist. 😅

I’m going to speak to the first point first;

1. You can always ‘Stay Creative’ on Substack!

Substack is ever evolving.

When I first arrived, I had a year of experimenting here without ‘Notes’ ² and I was very much just having a nice time writing and creating. When Notes got introduced things shifted and changed. We had instant connection, flashes of problem solving, boat loads of opinions.

Rapidly, Substack rolled out a lot of new features. Knowing this is helpful, but you don’t have to use them all or even want to. The way Substack existed before Notes, chat and video etc worked great and still does! This is why I push the ‘stay creative’ message so much. It’s EASY to start a Substack. It’s not so easy to write a strategy for yourself on how to continue.

Use Substack in the way that works for you. You don’t have to enter the echo chamber anywhere online - create for you and your people will find you.

2. But what should I do first, how and how long does it take?

This is where the croissant and coffee analogy comes in. ☕️ 🥐 ✨

There’s a store in the UK that offers a free coffee with a loyalty card. There’s another that offers a free croissant. Technically, just for doing your grocery shopping in both stores, you could take a free coffee and a free croissant most months.

Your subscribers are simply people reading your blog that decide to invest their time in pressing subscribe in the hope that you’ll keep providing the lovely free croissants and coffee.

If you don’t, nothing BAD is going to happen, they will still be there waiting to visit your Substack when you’re ready to publish. They are not saying; hey I had a free coffee and now I want one every day and it must be this exact temperature; no, they are patiently waiting and going about their day. They are not thinking about when you’re going to post again.

The reason I chose this analogy for Substack is that I don’t know anyone who has gotten their “free” coffee and/ or croissant and not spent more time in these stores and spent more money with that particular chain.

If you offer valuable ideas (the good coffee), people are going to return. They might even stay longer and read more of your work (and eat your croissants)…

How much time do you have? Some suggestions for you and a gentle strategy for you…

0-1 hours a week? ☕️ - Just enjoy being on Substack as a reader for a while? Read what lights you up. Don’t follow anyone who upsets your flow. Yum!!

1-2 hours a week? ☕️ 🥐 - You could start a blog here and start building your email list if you’d like? Keep design simple and just write - you can faff on with all that later. People will sign up to receive your words, thats what happens here especially if you add value and nourishment to their life. Keep writing, see what chimes, check your engagement stats. Don’t know what to write? Write about the last time you ‘felt’ something…

2hours+ a week? ☕️ 🥐 🥐 Same as above but perhaps thing about spending some time on Notes too? Lean into how it feels to ‘be’ there with your creative colleagues. What conversations do you want to join in with? Are you ready to collaborate? Perhaps there’s a chocolate croissant on the menu? Perhaps you’ve got too many croissants and you want to pass some on?

3hours+ a month? ☕️ ☕️ 🥐 🥐 You could look at building the rest of your Substack system; design, recommendations, podcasts, design, audio, welcome emails…

Substack supports you to grow your subscriber base. Once your Substack is set up you can comfortably follow the suggestions above week in week out and if your work is read by one person it will soon be read by more.

What I’d advise, is to keep track of your work in a planner or diary and reflect on how it’s felt at the end of each month; it’s really that simple.

I have one for sale here designed to hold your whole 2024 on Substack.

If you want eyes on your work you’ll need to use the Substack network either through Notes, the Substack Recommendations tool, or your own external networks/ adverts.

Great work here finds an audience and is shared in multiple ways.

3. I don’t feel part of “the party”?

This is such a tough one and I have heard and do hear it a lot. I work with best selling authors who have imposter syndrome and stage fright. Writers block haunt them throughout their projects; we all struggle.

Throughout my career, I’ve supported international award winning artists and celebrities who feel sick to their stomach at the thought of PR. You are not alone; there’s a really human need for us to feel accepted; your body’s inbuilt warning system is trying to help. We have to lean into a new practise.

Substack wants you to succeed - they are growing this platform and their business. You can turn on these little cheerleading emails.

🎈 3 tips and ideas to support your journey in growing your Substack if you feel ready;

1. Invite like minded people to YOUR Substack party. If you’re feeling brave, start a community post or thread in Notes. You’ll get out what you put in. Writers on Notes are your colleagues; your peers, your equals treat them that way. Don’t tag a ‘celeb’ they probably won’t reply.

2. Join a community where participation is encouraged. I love

   Heart Leap
   and
   Things Worth Knowing with Farrah Storr
   who generously hold space for lots of us. Suzy and Farrah are both professional journalists and they know the power of their members ‘meeting’ in their space on zoom and in comments.

3. Stay in your lane a while. If comparison is going to creep in anywhere online you can guarantee it will here. Write your blogs, post them to your Substack website have a lovely time. I’d advise writing at least 10 before you consider how to reach others because having eyes on your work is a whole other dynamic and why not just enjoy the spacious creative void?

💬 Top Tip for Blogging on Substack ‘first’ 🌱

As you are building confidence here leave the delivery box unchecked that way you have a blog. You’re writing a blog that can be viewed here but not sending it to an email list of subscribers …

To publish your posts as a blog just don’t tick either of these buttons when it comes to publishing. Obviously if you don’t have email addresses attached to your Substack it won’t go anywhere.

📧

In my honest opinion, you’ll probably be more tempted to check the box because ‘why not?’ only good things happen if you check that box - trust me!

If you don’t then write 5-10 and see what your views are looking like, reflect on how it’s feeling and what you want to do next. I have a tonne of resources to help you get set up here - scroll back up and check them out in the top linked post?

If you’ve been writing here a while, what tips would you add for those who want o blog here first and find an audience for their work second?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you have questions.

Claire

✨

PS - My BRAND new programme for those who want to start and grow a MEMBERSHIP here is ready!

Substack to £10k is LIVE and out in the world. This has been such a labour of love and I’m so excited to bring you all of my expertise in building my memberships on Substack over the last (almost) two years and an accountability space to help you build yours. More here and early bird pricing for the first 30 people to sign up.

👩🏽‍💻 Hi, if you’re new here I’m Claire.

I’m an Engagement Consultant and Mentor and I live under dark skies in Northumberland with my family. I started my journey with Substack in 2022 and my work here is now read in 90 countries all thanks to Substack! ✨

1. I’d love you to listen to this podcast episode where I interviewed Best Selling author Cait Flanders who got her first book deal through writing what became a hugely successful blog.

2. Notes is Substack’s ‘in built’ social media network. Despite what I or anyone else tells you there is no ‘right’ way to use Notes - it’s NEW, it’s being shaped by us. You’ll get a sense of the Notes that travel far and stick around for a while… I like the ones that share education, inspiration, collaboration or pretty photos.