Is Starting a Substack Newsletter a Smart Move for Spoonies?

Is publishing a newsletter on Substack a shiny object too far for Spoonies? Will writing and growing a publication enable you to make a consistent online income? All your Substack questions answered.

Why is publishing on Substack so popular? What are the benefits of publishing a newsletter? Should you start your own publication?

As a reader of Substacks, you’ve probably been thinking about whether you want to write your own newsletter here too.

It’s another platform, I know. I totally understand because that was my first thought too.

As Spoonies, we do need to be more conscious about how we spend our energy, so I too was worried Substack might be a shiny object too many.

Ultimately, for the past 15 years, my mission has been to help Spoonies make a consistent income online.

And how we do that is to build a niche community and sell services and/or digital products and online programmes that leverage our knowledge - while conserving as many spoons as possible for the things we prioritise.

Right now, I strongly believe Substack offers us an enormous opportunity to make a greater impact and more money online.

That’s why I’ve been hyper-focused on Substack for the past few months.

As more begin to consider adding Substack to their online business strategy. I’ve been answering questions you might have too.

So I compiled a list and answered them here.

If you have a question I’ve not covered, feel free to ask me in comments.

Let’s start with what Substack actually offers creators:

It’s a social media and blogging platform for writers and readers.

• It’s a place to build an engaged audience.

• It’s a place to create a connected community of aligned readers.

• It’s a place you can sell from and through.

Why is publishing a Substack newsletter becoming so popular?

Writers, united!

Over the past few years, short-form video content has become de rigueur – the favourite of the mainstream social media platform algorithms.

Introverts, writers, and anyone who doesn’t want to be on camera or enjoy making and editing videos have felt left behind.

I certainly have. I find video soooooo tiring and I have little to no editing skills. So posting the type of videos that do well on socials is a slog for me.

Writing? I love it!

Writing is de rigueur here!

Long-form content isn’t really what the average social media doom-scroller wants. Sob!

So the feed is filled with mostly instant gratification, ‘pithy’ content and that’s the stuff that gets the most traction. It’s rarer for a long-form piece to go wild in the aisles.

Readers enjoy reading more in-depth content that interests them.

And they get spoonie fulls of that here.

Writers have been discouraged from writing in-depth by the lower visibility.

Yes, we’ve always had the option to write long-form blogs on our own website, but then we face the challenge of driving readers to an external site.

And we all know how much social media platforms love to help us do that, don’t we?! 🙄

Substack solves all these problems by being both a traffic source and a blogging platform in one.

Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash

Why now?

Substack is in a rapid growth phase.

This means competition is low in most niches right now - especially micro-niches.

It’s a great time to start and establish your newsletter and get ahead of the bigger upward swing that is still to come - an even greater influx of new people joining every day.

Currently there are:

• 95 million monthly visits (and climbing)

• 5+ million paid subscriptions to creators – and booming

The opportunity to get your message in front of ideal clients is huge – and growing daily.

How do you make money with Substack?

You can have two levels of paid subscriptions (monthly/annual, and ‘founding’/premium).

You can sell your digital products through links in your content and community channel.

You can upsell your existing services from your CTAs - for those who want more.

If you don’t currently sell digital products or you want to create a new low-ticket offer to sell through Substack, keep reading for something to help with that.

How does Substack compare to Facebook and friends for content visibility?

I can’t remember the latest stat for how many of your Facey followers see your posts, but it’s very low. 5% or something like that.

On Substack, all your subscribers see your blog posts because:

• They are emailed out

• New posts shown across the top of their home feed

• New posts appear in a separate inbox feed

• And they’re listed on your profile for subscribers who arrive later down the line.

Substack’s algorithms don’t hide your posts from your readers.

Who is most suited to starting a Substack newsletter?

• People who enjoy writing.

• People who have things to say and want to write about them – non-fiction or fiction.

Yes, you can host live and pre-recorded video, and stream audio here too.

But fundamentally, Substack is a platform for writers and readers.

• Introverts

Readers feel connected to the writers whose work they read.

As a genuinely collaborative platform and community, Substack enables you to creates the kind of connection introverts crave.

How does audience behaviour differ on Substack to other social media apps?

People are much less likely to doom scroll on Substack.

That means your subscribers will consume your posts in a more focused way – like a newspaper or book.

Your work has a much longer shelf life than social media posts, which last days… or hours.

What if you already have an email list? Why also use Substack?

When someone subscribes to your publication, they’re joining your Substack email list.

If you do NOT have an email list yet, it’s a free email service with basic functionality.

You own your Substack email list and regularly downloading your subscriber data will go some way to protect you from the unreliability of access to your social media accounts

If you do already have an email list, I do NOT recommend ditching your current provider for Substack.

The big players here have both – their main email list and a Substack list.

Email functionality is minimal. There is no autoresponder capabilitybut it’s a simple way to start when you’re new.

My online business runs on Gold Star Pro and my main email list is hosted there. Buyers join my main email list as do people who download one of my lead magnets.

Otherwise, each audience is emailed separately.

If you’re closing in on the next tier of your email list service, you could move non-buyers here to delay having to upgrade.

Substack gives you an opportunity to reach new people organically.

You’ll meet like-minds outside of your social media bubble and can bring them into your ecosystem. (You main email list, digital product customers or private clients.)

It’s also an opportunity to reuse older authority content and get it in front of new ideal clients, leveraging the platform’s popularity to reignite interest.

What topics can you write about on Substack?

• Anything you want to.

There’s no censorship.

• If you’re a health coach with tons of expertise to share, mentioning ‘controversial’ topics like covid won’t get you shadow banned or cancelled here.

• If you’ve got a hobby or interest you don’t often talk about publicly online, in case it confuses your audience, you can build a side community based on that interest here – keeping the two audiences separate.

• You can reinvent your message here. You can pour out your deepest thoughts. Or you can show up exactly as you do elsewhere.

It’s your choice.

You already have a website. Why publish on Substack?

• Their domain authority is high. Trusted.

It’s likely a lot higher than yours unless you’ve heavily invested in SEO.

That means a high percentage of emails land in inboxes.

• SEO is strong.

This, coupled with their high domain authority will boost discoverability.

Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash

The biggest reason in my view? TRAFFIC!

🏝️ Your website is like a private island.

You’re there alone unless you bring people over.

That means optimising your entire website and each post for SEO rankings.

🌆 Your Substack blog is in the middle of a thriving community.

You’re surrounded by people who pop in and out of each other’s ‘homes’ and bring their friends.

The Substack website is already high in rankings.

• You can also add your Facebook pixel and track analytics if you want to dig into the data.

Where will you find your readers?

• Invite the most engaged people in your existing audience to subscribe.

• Engage effectively with other people’s content on Substack and new readers will find and subscribe to you. (You might have heard about this visibility strategy before hehe!)

• Features like ‘Recommendations’ and ‘Reads’ help us grow through each other.

What does it cost to publish your newsletter on Substack?

• Until you activate your paywall and sell paid subscriptions, Substack is free.

• When you do sell subscriptions, Substack takes a 10% fee from your subscription income.

(This is how they make their money.)

• If you sell other products or services through Substack (not via subscriptions), they take 0%.

So what is the answer? Is publishing a newsletter on Substack a good use of your spoons?

It depends.

Q1: As always, the very first question to ask yourself is… do you want to start a Substack newsletter?

If the answer is no, then it’s not for you right now.

And that’s your perfect decision.

If yes…

Q2: Do you enjoy writing long-form content?

My observation is that Substack posts are generally 750 words or more.

SEO favours longer posts, so 1,000+ words will serve your SEO well.

If you’re like me and you find it harder to write a short post, then Substack is ideal for you.

If you don’t enjoy writing, long-form will use too many spoons and it’s unlikely you will sustain the habit.

When new habits fall by the wayside, it turns the volume up on that “not good enough” internal chatter.

Nobody needs any more of that kind of negativity in our life.

Still yes?

Q3: Will you post often enough?

There’s no pressure to post daily, weekly or even regularly on Substack.

The ‘hyper-growth’ experts here - i.e. those teaching people how to add 1000s of subscribers each month - say you ‘should’ post 2-3x week.

If you are not chasing hyper growth, sack off that should.

I reckon aiming for a minimum of monthly posts is your benchmark.

Will you write a new new post at least once a month?

Yes…?

Q4: Will you help your newsletter grow?

This means spending a few minutes engaging with other people’s Notes and posts - and maybe a chat or two.

Basically getting to know people, reading some content and building your Substack friendships and network.

Still yes?

Woohoo!

Hello new Substack creator friend!

Want some help?

How I can help you start, build and scale your Substack

1- Become an INSIDER subscriber

You’ll get my “Spoonie Substack Startup” course giving you everything you need to start your own Substack publication for sustainable success:

• Choosing your aligned micro-niche - including my ‘Clarity Clairvoyant’ journalling prompts to ask your inner guidance for the answer you can trust

• Mapping out your profits plan - how will you make an online income with Substack?

• Demystifying the long list of settings so you set up your publication for sustainable growth

Then, over the next year, you’ll receive !Skyrocket Your Substack” online workshops, guides, and support to grow your subscribers and sales.

Insiders includes over £1k of my programmes, including:

• Plan, create and sell digital products to leverage your skills and generate evergreen income

• Align your actions with how you are designed to thrive for more success with less stress

• Write sizzling sales copy that excites readers to become buyers

• Plus direct access to me for your questions in our chat channel.

Join Insiders for £99 here

………………………………..

2- Done-for-You Substack Setup

Want a Substack newsletter but don’t have time to set it all up?

I’ll handle everything – including writing your sales copy, so you’re ready to publish and grow.

Get your Substack set up and ready for you to grow and scale here

(Want a DFY management option where I’ll repurpose your old emails or content, and/or create new posts? DM me.)

………………………………..

Done-With-You Substack Startup

Work with me 1:1 for 30 days and together we will:

• Plan your aligned Substack niche community you’re excited to connect with and support through your content and offers

• Map your money-maker model - how you’ll sustainably generate an additional 5k+ monthly from, alongside and through Substack

• Co-create your conversion-optimised sales copy that will clearly communicate the value of your offers to your ideal buyers, so more of your readers are motivated to become your customers and clients.

Optimise your Substack for sustainable online success with me, here:

And finally…

If what you have read here has got you excited to start your own Substack newsletter, don’t sit on it!

Now is the time to piggyback Substacks rapid growth, tap into the massive potential, and become the established creator in your niche - while the competition is still low.

Wishing you Spoonie Fulls of success!