👀 Substack as Social Media
+ members call on Friday 24 May
If you want to grow and/ or make money on Substack as a writer or creative I’ve got you covered. For strategy, bespoke advice and launch plans, book a 1-2-1 or join my 💎 Diamond Membership here at Sparkle on Substack
Join us for class and grow your community on Substack
Members get two live calls and replays each month, access to the archive. The Monday Ask me Anything thread, Substack Notes engagement support twice per month and Friday co-writing/ working. It’s a steal at just £95 per year, (EUR, 110, US $120, AU $180, Ca $164).
☎️ Fri 24 May 2pm - Sparkle Call
You local time zone convertor is here.
Focus - Take ACTION with Community Building.
Using
Chat
Notes
Threads, audio, video and community invite posts for connection and joyful growth. Holding community and deepening connection while managing boundaries online.
Our call agenda and some thoughts on keeping it simple on what has become a multi-dimensional plaform…
Substack Chat - like a what’s app chat with your subscribers. There are MANY ways to use chat. It doesn’t have to be tumbleweed but you also don’t have to use it at all. Come to class and we’ll make a decision on where it fits with your goals and your publication essence. As a reader I have left all chats except chats for publications I pay for. No fomo here.
Susbstack Notes - I would advise everyone uses Notes in 3 distinct ways. It’s a brilliant tool for growth, mingling and supporting your colleagues. In my opinion likes and subscribes are slowing down as things get busier and people press the follow button so let’s make an effort now and get clear on what we WANT and expect from Notes and the time we invest there.
Substack Thread Posts - threads like this one and 3 reasons why I love them.
Audio, Video and Community invite posts for CONNECTION - there are so many ways to build community through your work and words - let’s explore this together!
Lastly - our compassionate and supportive friend thread - is focussed on our writer bio, publication explainer this summer. More in the call.
All you can do is step back in time…
In April 2023, Substack changed everything and gave us social media in the form of Substack Notes to play with.
We’re familiar with social media, it’s shaped the way we express ourselves online.
Many of us jumped straight in finding ways to connect with our writers and writerly colleagues.
A year on, this space is still full of our writer and readerly colleagues… in my eco-chamber, readers who just read are NOT on Notes, they don’t see it as their space...yet!!!
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Here’s how you can carve out time to make posting on Substack Notes work for you…
My biggest tip? See it as a big experiment to get to know your readers and make connections rather than a test of success or metric popularity.
This mindset shift will have you feeling READY to wade on into the Notes party and have a chat.
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What are your thoughts on Substack as a social media tool?
social media
noun - websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
FUN Task - I want you to go scroll your own Substack Notes feed - go back and read and observe the last 20/ 30 Notes and what the interaction is. Likes, comments, chit chat, surprises, new faces?
If you want a url to head there replace my writer “handle” with yours here and you’ll get straight there. https://substack.com/@clairevenus/notes
What I notice when I do this is not only what chimed with folks but also the notes that I re stacked and how far they went.
I’m looking at you…If you bring conscious attention to the growth of your publication, perhaps it’s worth spending some time being social - a burst each week or even every other week - track the results and then cosy in with your new subscribers and have a lovely time INSIDE your publication?
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I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments about how you’re feeling about Substack Notes and being social on Substack.
If you don’t have time to reply, save this post for later and hit the heart NOW because it literally means the world to know I’ve positively impacted your day.
Sending sparkles,
Claire
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PS - The waitlist is open for Your beautiful (Substack) Digital Magazine - live round of my mini course. We start 1st July. Limited spots and 33 of you are already on the waitlist. This is the course you want if you want to set up your publication your readers navigate as a beautiful online home for your work and words. You’ll be so proud to share the link you’ll make business cards to share it every where you go. Yep I have included a template for that!
My aim is to put the course live for sale on 1st June 2024 and early bird pricing will run for one week.
I love Notes. I gave up social media for the most part a few years ago bc it felt so toxic. Notes is different—people are nice and the content is mostly about writing and creativity bc I only see who I follow vs other social media pushing content you didn’t ask for.
I don’t really get much traction on Notes tbh. I have a few faithfuls who are writers as well as readers and they sometimes comment, but I don’t get a lot of my readers engage. Most of my subscribers read in their inbox and don’t use the app so I think until folks see Substack as a viable alternative to other social media platforms that won’t change. But I write for visual artists and that community is still faithful to Instagram, so I think Notes doesn’t work for all communities in its current format.