Stay Creative on Substack #3
A round-up of tips, posts and advice for joyful, congruent growth here on Substack.
“Rest isn’t a reward for work; it’s part of the work.”
Leesa Renee Hall
Hi folks,
I’m bringing my Stay Creative on Substack posts back once a month - yay!
Gosh you know it was my intention to publish these every other week but Substack got B U S Y.
I’ve consciously moved them to once a month - if you have something to share for the December edition email me? Ok let’s get into it…
On growth…
Growth means different things to all of us.
I wasn’t taught to chase accolades or shiny external validation… I wasn’t a high achieving kid but I was a creative one and in the 80s that was (more than) enough! 🤓
I know growth is important and we’re balancing personal growth with growth of our careers and stepping into spaces we can also share our craft and be paid.
All in all,
gives us the tools for soulful, sustainable growth.I was talking to my new pal G who has just hit a subscriber goal for her Substack and I asked her what she personally felt had brought her growth.
She said; referrals, being active on Notes and entering
’s photo challenge (via Notes) so there you go!
Growing your Publication and what it can mean…
Save some of these articles to read for later?
So there’s a few BRILLIANT articles on growth doing the rounds so I’ll start there.
A reminder to members we have THREE co-working/ writing sessions (first one Monday) focussed on growth on Substack in joyful ways… I’m super excited for these ‘end of term’ lessons - get ready for some fun! These sessions are a little different to those I’ve hosted before. Not giving too much away there might be a quiz! 😉
Thanks
, , , , , and Mackenzie for sharing your stories on growth and inspiring ours.These stories are diverse and a brilliant read all for very unique reasons - hope you enjoy.
✨
Bonus post from
who is celebrating writing her first book after starting here on Substack in the pandemic! Congrats Nicola!! ✨ (Do go check out her Substack it’s beautiful).
Upcoming chances to create, network, chat, learn…
- and I are cohosting a chat for writers and illustrators to find ways to work together here on Substack. 15 Nov, 3pm - Register for free here.
In January, I’m chatting with my aussie pal
about how (and why) she focussed on converting her most engaged (40k followers on) instagram over to subscribers Substack. We’re going to open up the conversation around soulful growth and marketing… You’re all invited - Sign up for the waitlist here and help co-create this event with us?If you’re not part of
Headline Hub, you might like to spend some time there and check out this fab workshop she hosted to help clarify just how important headlines are for our Substack posts/ emails. I particularly liked it when she talked about the death of click bait! Substack is truly a “new engine for culture” and aren’t we glad?- is hosting a UK meet up for Substack writers and dreamers in December - she’s an incredible space holder - this will be lush and children are welcome!
- is hosting a wonderful visual challenge at the moment and I’m seeing creatives feel so warm to using the platform in this wonderful way… do support his project and community building efforts….
How to…
This is one of my frequently asked questions so posting it here to help manage the Substack overwhelm.
HOW to; turn on ‘smart notifications’ (aka app only notifications) to turn your Substack experiences into an app only experience.
Hands up - I am subscribed to TOO many substacks. 🙉
I turned on ‘smart notifications’ on in April when Substack Notes came in and it’s meant it’s now an app only experience for me. NB you can still email your subscribers from the subscriber dashboard if you want/ need to.
Who’s here?
👀
There was a lovely chat in Notes about who is here writing from the UK and turns out there are a few of us now. The work
does to build partnerships in the UK and Europe is utterly brilliant.I must admit I’ve been VERY happy to start to see my world map lighting up… I feel like it’s like little sparks and roaring fires of connection across the world - delightful!!
🔥
Head to your settings/ stats then subscriber report to see yours and pop back and tell us all how it’s looking?
I’ve met so many wonderful people here; creatives, writers, authors and recently we’ve welcomed best selling authors
and to this space.I also had
on my podcast a couple weeks back (members have a preview coming next week) and promises me she’s coming over to share her life writing SOON!The work Substack enables us to do is a true gift. I’m so super grateful.
If you’re reading this thinking ‘oh I’ve missed out’ - please know you haven’t. Now is the time, your time - come play!
Incase you missed it last month…
WORKSHOP - Community Building (Notes, comments, chats, cross posts - how we WANT to show up on our Substack)
PODCAST - The Power of Substack with me and
OPEN POST - Substack FAQs with me and
CHAT - new here? Come say hi and meet some of our community in this post…
Got time for a cuppa? An intro thread...
Hi petals, I wanted to make an intro post so new folks can get to know who is here and why we’re all writing on Substack! ✨ Where are you from? What brought you here? How long have you been here? …
Reader question…
How do I protect my boundaries? What function does Substack have to protect how I feel and what I see from others so I can focus and do my best work?
This is a complex topic and I’m sharing this instagram post from The Holistic Psychologist who’s book I highly recommend.
You do have options here;
Unsubscribe - you can unsubscribe to someone’s publication and not receive notifications or emails from them. You’ll still see them in Notes IF you use it.
Remove - you can remove someone’s subscription to your publication. Go into their subscriber profile and you can see what they’ve read and take them out if you need to.
Mute - this will mute a writer’s Notes. You won’t be notified if they tag you. BUT you can still be tagged by other writers who subscribe to them in the same thread and then you will have to unmute them to see the whole thread. You will still see Notes from your community if they mention the person you’ve muted or restacked their work.
Block - this blocks someone from seeing your publication ON THE APP - everyone can see everything on the website - it’s public unless it’s behind the paywall. They will know you’ve blocked them.
Ban, suspend or report - you can ban someone from commenting on your work but only subscribers can comment anyway like this… press the 3 dots on a comment…
My hope is you won’t need these options and I only know about them as I’ve been on the receiving end of some of these so I wanted to be open and share this with you because we do have some choices.
Substack is a platform built on community supporting each other and cheerleading our unique was of being creative.
If your nervous system is flaring up and you need to remove someone from seeing your work, you can but you might still see their work shared - you can’t delete them existing here.
Substack is like a 24/7 party and you will bump into the same faces/ names again and again IF they are in your subscriber network.
Until next month,
Let’s stay creative and sparkle up our Substacks!
Much love for your journey here!
Claire x
PS - Want more personalised support? You can join the community here at
for twice monthly workshops/ co-working and lots of support to grow your Substack in a joyful way. I’d love to support your journey and share more. I ALSO have limited slots available for Substack audits in January. More here. I’m here to help you grow in the way that feels joyous to you and I’m delighted to have been called to do this work. ✨
A double mention? Claire, thank you so much! I don't know what else to say! You're awesome and I'm glad to see so many people enjoy my bi-weekly photo challenges!
I'm a few weeks into Substack now and honestly, it takes up a LOT of my headspace. I thought I was swapping my MailChimp over, making some new friends and finding a home for my content to live a little bit longer...Have found Claire's voice and resources and support to be so helpful as I work out my own map here. THANK YOU. Weekend homework ready!