Substack as a long term home for your words
And what to do about the other platforms
Our Notes Engagement thread for paid subs takes place right here tomorrow (Wednesday - Friday). Join us and get advice on your Notes posting schedule and some engagement tips.
is a membership community with over 400 creatives, authors, artists and writers and we can’t wait to meet you and support your big vision and ambition for your Substack space. Remember, inside the membership you get access to my signature course ‘Stay Creative on Substack’ so you can set your Substack up confidently within a month. You also get my a-z of resources, tutorials and call replays.Hi Sparklers,
How are you?
I’m so excited because at the weekend I’m finally going to delete Facebook. I’ve had to keep it for a commissioned project but that project ends 31st March and it means I can delete the whole account.
I don’t know about you but I sometimes feel I left digital laundry all over the internet and I am at the stage in my career where I really want to tidy up.
Last week, I spoke at The Writer MBA conference in New Orleans about Substack as a long term online home for our words.
I want to break this down for you as there is much in the mindset lesson of our commitment to a place and the work…
The first question I asked was the audience was;
How many places do you have an online presence?
Most of the audience stacked up between 5-10 online places. How many do you have?
It wasn’t shocking to me but I guess what always is shocking is the fact that we accept this and lots of us are burning out because of it? Can we really stay tethered to so many online places? My heart and eyes hurt just thinking about it.
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For years now I’ve taught the methodology of choosing two places to show up online. Mine are Substack and Instagram.
I also strategically plan for YouTube too and share occasionally on LinkedIN. I don’t start my week thinking when am I going to post on Instagram, I simply decide whether I have capacity to share some of my working life on stories and in a reel. If I don’t, I delete the app for the week and ask myself the same question the following week. In my experience, people rarely notice you are gone…
Running Creatively Conscious Ltd
As I say to my mastermind crew, we have to consciously choose to run a business and not a hobby.
Here’s how it works (and where Substack fits);
If I have a class I want to sell or an event I want to flag, I talk about it on instagram every week woven into content that brings connection for my audience. That’s the purpose of me being there. I open the app with purpose and if any negative feelings pop up I allow them and/ or delete the app.1
If I release a podcast I pull it through to all the platforms automatically through Substack and then share it on LinkedIN - they seem to like that I have a podcast over there. 👀
If there is an early bird or time sensitive offer I want to push I email my audience sometimes here from the subscriber tab but also from my other list which acts as a CRM (customer relationship manager).
I use other platforms to test ideas, take the temperature and keep my finger on the pulse of how people are consuming work and their world online and what they think of Substack in these places - this usually looks like downloading and exploring an app (like bluesky, threads or medium) for around 3-6 days then deleting it.
I don’t run ads.2
Ok onto Substack as a long term home for our words
You guys probably know I run two best selling Substack publications.
is my weekly paid newsletter where I share more of our life here on the Northumberland coast and being the scenes of my business too. It wasn’t always easy to know the right fit between my work there and my work here. I figured it our by showing up. I don’t regret using Substack to host a newsletter and a membership but I don’t advise it to everyone. 😅Here at
, I offer you guys free posts for 30 days before they go into the paid archive and the free podcast. This is work in service to your journey and it’s also the warm up for my membership here. Thank you for being here and supporting my work - I adore being here. 🥰The benefits of building a Substack publication
There is zero algorithm inside our publication
Substack’s sustainable growth engine is like no other
We can download our data and our email addresses
It’s (mostly) kind
“The other night I dreamt when I deleted my facebook I also deleted my instagram account - I was only sad about the highlights reel I made of me and my son as a toddler in the pandemic - in the dream, that was all I cared about.”
But what about Substack Notes and virality?
Notes is an amazing opportunity to stay connected to your colleagues and to deepen your connection with your readers. There’s also the other side of Notes where your work could get picked up by the algorithm and push your subscriber numbers up. It’s an opportunity not a chore. You don’t have to be there but in my opinion, you as-well give it a go?
What if we thought about it…
Instead of being on the hamster wheel of ‘showing up’, being frustrated or accepting of algorithms, what if we deepened the connection with the people who are here?
What if we took a step back and really connected to how online spaces made us feel?
What if we put our wellbeing first and stayed connection to our long term vision. Missing a day or a week of posting won’t matter when you hit the New York Times bestseller list.
What if we planned for our legacy and understood the impact we could have by focussing our attention and doing our best work then putting it in front of people who will see it and share it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you are navigating being online in all the spaces?
Let’s hone our craft and deepen our connection, we have time.
Claire
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PS - other resources you might find helpful;
This podcast episode with Sparklers
and about Instagram.My ‘Choose Two’ social media class. On offer for just £20 with over 50 happy customers! 🥰
All my resources on Substack Notes.
Online spaces can be super triggering but also revealing; what is the reveal? What is the lesson asking of you?
Ads and the ads economy drive a tonne of sales and I know that I’m just still in a phase of my business where I am getting super comfortable with my messaging and as I grow over 700 subscribers and 100 customers a month all is well.
I couldn't agree more. Yesterday I reached 100 subscribers here I was so happy I celebrated it on my ig. One person commented that it's not much but to me I felt so happy to know that beyond all the algorithms and etc, you have people who actually care enough about your journey to give you access to their email. I value those subscribers so much and I always try to think of ways to bring them some value or inspiration into their life. Like you said we have to care and value people who are already here 😊 instead of always pursuing growth . I love ig though as well because it allows me to share bits of my life that don't fit in other formats through stories. And when I have brain space I try to make a reel per week. But I never force it, just like you, some week I feel I don't have much to say and then I prefer to just interact with what other people are doing rather than just post for posting 😊
I’m trying to think through a lot of this at the moment too … it all feels complicated and I guess I need to start with what am I trying to do on these platforms to get some clarity and focus.. really helpful reading thank you Claire. There’s so many places now to be posting things I think I just get stuck and don’t ! I counted and I think it’s about 7 for me … at least I managed to delete twitter !