How your Substack can work for you while you are away, sticking to a monthly publishing schedule and your tips and tools for staying creative on Substack this week.
If you can nail the creative then Pinterest can be a great tool. I haven’t had the time to build that channel yet. It doesn’t really fit with my target audience but I may dabble in the future.
This was a revelation to me too! I'd get to the point when I press that publish button and then think, wait, I didn't do the Take Away and the Embers parts of the post. I had been thinking about doing a template post or something to avoid that in the future, but duplicate to drafts is so simple!
Ooh I’m excited to learn more about driving traffic from Pinterest! I’ve been growing my presence there this year and am keen to start adding Substack pins 📌
So many helpful tips here, thanks Claire! I love that you can share little preview teasers of scheduled posts now, I will deffo be trying that. And I’m looking forward to hearing more about Pinterest strategy!
You’re so welcome Kimia - they keep improving Substack and sharing more and more brilliant ways to enhance our experience it’s so fab! How long have you been here?
Thanks so much Claire. I'm interested in your Pintrest workshop as I haven't a clue! I rarely use it which makes it very tricky when I do😂, however I want to learn.
If you have a think about the boards you'd like to set up and why that would be a great first start Donna! You can do this in a notebook. Sophie has taken my Substack to a few views per month to 14k per month and now I understand it I can keep that momentum going. A few folks have definitely subscribed here and some to my YouTube too. I mainly just used pinterest for planning interiors or birthday parties but I get it now!!
From zero I know!!! Sophie scheduled all my posts so I'll prob see some drop off now unless I keep it up - I think she did around 12 optimised posts...
Hope this is the right post Claire! So far my questions about Pininterest are how to make videos and what drives the traffic to your pins. Thank you! 💫🙏
Thanks for sharing my note, Claire, and for adding your thoughts to it when I first posted it. I appreciate that you are honest with your opinions as Substack continues to grow and develop.
Love the "duplicate draft" feature, found it a few months in and use it every time.
Yes Martin - I do ... but I've only realised it in the last month because I am running two sessions a month here and giving my paid subs the opportunity to ask me questions through the week. I don't think we should chat for chats sake but being accesible to my members a few days a week incase they have a question i can help with has been really valuable. I do one chat a month on my other (bigger) publication but it's crickets over there lol... I know alot of folks don't click into it and design wise I'd love it if new chats and replies jumped to the top.... For discoverability Notes is the one and I think some nurturing can happen there too where as chats seems more a private fire side circle to me?
I always use ‘duplicate to drafts’ now, it’s so much quicker! Also, so super excited for the Pinterest session! 🤩
If anyone has any questions that you’d like to ask before the session, then please let either myself or Claire know, and we will answer them during the session 🥰
Can I add to your ‘duplicate to drafts’ tip? Hope that’s okay! I like to duplicate the previous post then use the strike-through option to strike everything out I wrote last time but leave it in the draft. That way I can still read what I wrote last time and hopefully I’ll avoid doubling up content. :)
That is a great idea. I find myself mid-flow and suddenly need to look back and it disrupts the process when you have to go searching for your own post!
Ooo I had to read this twice! Why wouldn't you just compare it to the published one? Sorry if I'm missing something here - I love hearing other people's creative process you are always so so welcome to share!! ✨
Oh you definitely could, but it would have to be open in a separate tab that you keep going back to. I like having it all right in front of me as I write a new one for guidance. This won’t be for everyone but I like it.
Thank you for encouraging the sharing Claire, I feel very welcome here ❤️
Hi Susan - no so Notes is like the inbuilt social media network. Chat and Threads are sort of the same but different.... If you want to start an intro with your community I'd advise doing it as a normal post and encouraging people to chat in the comments. Does that make sense?
Yeah there is something called threads but it’s wholly confusing to most of us so best just to not as it’s just tricky to navigate within your publication (or that’s my experience). Chat can feel like tumbleweed so best to make a post! Also top tip - change your chat settings so only paid/you can start chats otherwise anyone can sub and spam your people!
I hear mention of Threads, but never discovered it, and so it has been VERY confusing. I agree, tumbleweed is a fantastic analogy for Chat, it is difficult to see the 'threads'. I'd like it as a more private safe space for subscribers, but comments at the end of posts are so much easier to follow and engage with.
That is probably a good idea. I was just thinking about doing a tagged Note on all the navigational things that I have found difficult. A sort of wish list!
Only four people have subscribed in two months, so it looks as though I have no choice but to find those who may be interested in mine outside of Substack because they don't appear to be on here. Only the tiniest percentage, perhaps, which makes it hard to find them. I might take a peek at the workshop.
Hi Denise! Great topic!!! I've had a peak at your publication. I love the way you describe it as a magazine. There's a few things you can do to make it stronger and clearer. 1. add tabs - could you add a recipe tab and perhaps an education tab (maybe a better word)... 2. could you collaborate or find other folk in the heath and wellbeing arena here and chat with them? 3. Do you use Notes? 4. Do you have somewhere with memoir/ your personal experiences of lowering sugar intake here? I presume to calm inflammation and increase wellbeing? People really connect with honest writing here... 5. Join in Substack Open Office Hours and chat with other writers facing the same struggles - they are usually every week. Hope that's useful? We'd love to support you in the Sparkle on Substack community! You're so super welcome. xx
Thank you so much, Claire. I wasn't expecting such an in-depth response.
1. Recipes are something I would like to add, but I'm not a recipe person, much less a recipe developer. I thought about recipe curation but am unsure how to do this in the best way. I could then throw in my creations once in a while, if I have anything decent to share.
2. I've always thought that if someone is going to collaborate, then the person with whom they're collaborating would need a decent number of subscribers to introduce them to.
3. I probably don't use Notes enough, so that's something to work on.
4. My personal experience is utterly boring because I didn't have any 'fancy' results. I mentioned this in my most recent article.
5. I do try to join in with the office hours. It's good to be around others and those sharing ideas.
Thank you again! It would certainly be better to be part of a paid community. I've been wanting to but money's tight, so I'm taking my time deciding which one to choose!
Thank you! I appreciate that. It's probably best to wait until I'm paid so that the timing is right for the first payment next month if I continue with the subscription. So it'll probably be sometime next week, now.
Ooooo very interested to hear about Pinterest-ing substacks! I was trying to figure this one out the other day and got very confused.
Yes we only have capacity for so much don’t we! Sophie is a WHIZZ!
If you can nail the creative then Pinterest can be a great tool. I haven’t had the time to build that channel yet. It doesn’t really fit with my target audience but I may dabble in the future.
My main social effort is going into LinkedIn.
Ahh are you in my group there? I have big plans for that space too... just giving it a little bit of attention at the minute...
I am interested in Pinterest as well!
I had no idea you could “duplicate to drafts”! Thanks for the info Claire 💛✨
Saves SO much time! I use it for this one too although keep tinkering with the layout... you're welcome Mackenzie!! x
🥰
This was a revelation to me too! I'd get to the point when I press that publish button and then think, wait, I didn't do the Take Away and the Embers parts of the post. I had been thinking about doing a template post or something to avoid that in the future, but duplicate to drafts is so simple!
So so handy - I'd like to give my original templates some breathing space but things morph and change all the time for me here.
I can’t believe I didn’t know this. Although to be fair, there is quite a bit of Substack that still surprises me 😂 I’ll get there eventually 😂
Duplicate to drafts is a game changer. Substack brought it in about 9 months ago. Amazing.
So good isn't it!
Awesome!
Ooh I’m excited to learn more about driving traffic from Pinterest! I’ve been growing my presence there this year and am keen to start adding Substack pins 📌
Ahh I’ll look you up there Sarah! If I haven’t already!! ✨✨
So many helpful tips here, thanks Claire! I love that you can share little preview teasers of scheduled posts now, I will deffo be trying that. And I’m looking forward to hearing more about Pinterest strategy!
You’re so welcome Kimia - they keep improving Substack and sharing more and more brilliant ways to enhance our experience it’s so fab! How long have you been here?
I couldn’t agree more, it’s very encouraging. I’ve been on Substack for a year and some change, now. Wild. I love it!
Thanks so much Claire. I'm interested in your Pintrest workshop as I haven't a clue! I rarely use it which makes it very tricky when I do😂, however I want to learn.
If you have a think about the boards you'd like to set up and why that would be a great first start Donna! You can do this in a notebook. Sophie has taken my Substack to a few views per month to 14k per month and now I understand it I can keep that momentum going. A few folks have definitely subscribed here and some to my YouTube too. I mainly just used pinterest for planning interiors or birthday parties but I get it now!!
14k is impressive. How often do you post there?
From zero I know!!! Sophie scheduled all my posts so I'll prob see some drop off now unless I keep it up - I think she did around 12 optimised posts...
Hope this is the right post Claire! So far my questions about Pininterest are how to make videos and what drives the traffic to your pins. Thank you! 💫🙏
Perfect!
I hadn’t even thought about duplicating pista! Genius! Thank you for all of this juicy goodness!! xxx
Welcome petal!! ✨⭕️🌚
Clearly that was supposed to say post!! Not pistas!
Thanks for sharing my note, Claire, and for adding your thoughts to it when I first posted it. I appreciate that you are honest with your opinions as Substack continues to grow and develop.
Love the "duplicate draft" feature, found it a few months in and use it every time.
So good isn’t it!! Notes seems to have sped up for me today?
I love these posts thanks.
I see you mention Chat. To be honest I’ve given up with Chat and I’m now focusing primarily on Notes.
Do you think chat has any real use now?
Yes Martin - I do ... but I've only realised it in the last month because I am running two sessions a month here and giving my paid subs the opportunity to ask me questions through the week. I don't think we should chat for chats sake but being accesible to my members a few days a week incase they have a question i can help with has been really valuable. I do one chat a month on my other (bigger) publication but it's crickets over there lol... I know alot of folks don't click into it and design wise I'd love it if new chats and replies jumped to the top.... For discoverability Notes is the one and I think some nurturing can happen there too where as chats seems more a private fire side circle to me?
I always use ‘duplicate to drafts’ now, it’s so much quicker! Also, so super excited for the Pinterest session! 🤩
If anyone has any questions that you’d like to ask before the session, then please let either myself or Claire know, and we will answer them during the session 🥰
Is the Pinterest session going to be recorded? Or is it live? I’m in the states so I know there is a time difference thing.
So it's going to be a pre-recorded session as that's what everyone voted for so yes!!
Yay! 😄
Will gather them all up and think about when I first started then gave up too!! ✨❤️
Can I add to your ‘duplicate to drafts’ tip? Hope that’s okay! I like to duplicate the previous post then use the strike-through option to strike everything out I wrote last time but leave it in the draft. That way I can still read what I wrote last time and hopefully I’ll avoid doubling up content. :)
That is a great idea. I find myself mid-flow and suddenly need to look back and it disrupts the process when you have to go searching for your own post!
Totally!
Ooo I had to read this twice! Why wouldn't you just compare it to the published one? Sorry if I'm missing something here - I love hearing other people's creative process you are always so so welcome to share!! ✨
Oh you definitely could, but it would have to be open in a separate tab that you keep going back to. I like having it all right in front of me as I write a new one for guidance. This won’t be for everyone but I like it.
Thank you for encouraging the sharing Claire, I feel very welcome here ❤️
Hmm ok yes I can see how that would be super clear!! I like it!!! 💌
When referring to start a new Thread to help grow your community, is this the same as Notes? Thanks Claire!
Hi Susan - no so Notes is like the inbuilt social media network. Chat and Threads are sort of the same but different.... If you want to start an intro with your community I'd advise doing it as a normal post and encouraging people to chat in the comments. Does that make sense?
I think I was just overthinking it - as if it’s an extra add-on to chat and notes 😊
Yeah there is something called threads but it’s wholly confusing to most of us so best just to not as it’s just tricky to navigate within your publication (or that’s my experience). Chat can feel like tumbleweed so best to make a post! Also top tip - change your chat settings so only paid/you can start chats otherwise anyone can sub and spam your people!
I hear mention of Threads, but never discovered it, and so it has been VERY confusing. I agree, tumbleweed is a fantastic analogy for Chat, it is difficult to see the 'threads'. I'd like it as a more private safe space for subscribers, but comments at the end of posts are so much easier to follow and engage with.
They really are - I should tag Substack here so they can see as I see this a lot.
That is probably a good idea. I was just thinking about doing a tagged Note on all the navigational things that I have found difficult. A sort of wish list!
Only four people have subscribed in two months, so it looks as though I have no choice but to find those who may be interested in mine outside of Substack because they don't appear to be on here. Only the tiniest percentage, perhaps, which makes it hard to find them. I might take a peek at the workshop.
Hi Denise! Great topic!!! I've had a peak at your publication. I love the way you describe it as a magazine. There's a few things you can do to make it stronger and clearer. 1. add tabs - could you add a recipe tab and perhaps an education tab (maybe a better word)... 2. could you collaborate or find other folk in the heath and wellbeing arena here and chat with them? 3. Do you use Notes? 4. Do you have somewhere with memoir/ your personal experiences of lowering sugar intake here? I presume to calm inflammation and increase wellbeing? People really connect with honest writing here... 5. Join in Substack Open Office Hours and chat with other writers facing the same struggles - they are usually every week. Hope that's useful? We'd love to support you in the Sparkle on Substack community! You're so super welcome. xx
Thank you so much, Claire. I wasn't expecting such an in-depth response.
1. Recipes are something I would like to add, but I'm not a recipe person, much less a recipe developer. I thought about recipe curation but am unsure how to do this in the best way. I could then throw in my creations once in a while, if I have anything decent to share.
2. I've always thought that if someone is going to collaborate, then the person with whom they're collaborating would need a decent number of subscribers to introduce them to.
3. I probably don't use Notes enough, so that's something to work on.
4. My personal experience is utterly boring because I didn't have any 'fancy' results. I mentioned this in my most recent article.
5. I do try to join in with the office hours. It's good to be around others and those sharing ideas.
Thank you again! It would certainly be better to be part of a paid community. I've been wanting to but money's tight, so I'm taking my time deciding which one to choose!
Will reply properly later but if you want to jump into our session tonight I can gift you a month here no worries! It would be my pleasure ✨🙏
Thank you! I appreciate that. It's probably best to wait until I'm paid so that the timing is right for the first payment next month if I continue with the subscription. So it'll probably be sometime next week, now.
No pressure lovely I run a pay it forward model in my business so the generosity spills over to folks who want to take it up! ✨
Thanks and you’re so welcome!! ✨💌