Why I Started Writing on Substack?
Why I Started Writing on Substack?
And what's the content strategy I use to distribute content across Medium and Substack.
Why I started on Substack?
Initially, I wasn’t sure.
I was convinced I needed a newsletter, because:
Medium’s interest is to become profitable, even if that means decreasing the writer’s earnings — this happens ever so often now.
Think about it:
On Medium, if you earn more, they earn less!
On Substack, if you earn more, they earn more!
All you need is to follow the money.
I wrote about it here.
On Medium also:
I get followers, but I don’t get emails.
I invest too much effort for too little returns.
I was thinking about Substack and ConvertKit. I wasn’t sure…
So I paid for the newsletter course of Tim Denning. I consumed it in just a few days. And I needed no further evidence…
On Substack, I can:
create a publication — just like on Medium
send mails — they are also posted on the publication!!
post articles on the publication without sending mails — this way I’ll upload all my Medium articles (like a blog!!)
post notes (similar to posts on X (twitter)!)
engage with other writers (so it’s now like social media!!)
create a podcast (!)
post videos (!)
co-write with other writers (haven’t seen it on any other platform!)
On Substack, I can’t:
integrate with Gumroad and ConvertKit to gain automatically new subscribers from my lead magnets
automate and create workflows like I can on CovertKit
So I wasn’t sure…I believe they will introduce these features one day, or at least offer landing page builders but for now, I wasn’t sure…
I want to have a focused approach, not to try to be everywhere and end up nowhere. Or if I’m everywhere I need to be able to automate, otherwise it’s not worth it.
So I wasn’t sure until I finished Tim Denning’s course.
The major advantages Substack has vs. ConvertKit:
they send me emails with valuable insights on how to grow my newsletter (not the standard bla-bla like other platforms do)
they create an all-in-one platform, and your newsletter starts growing from day one, as others can discover your posts and notes
they are focused on building a paid subscription model with all types of content, not just a newsletter. You can intuitively decide which pieces of your content and which features from your publication are for paid subscribers and which are for free
you don’t need to be active every day to feed that algorithm. Besides, daily emails can alienate your subscribers
they grow as a social media, whose algorithm “is interested” in your paid subscribers’ growth!! That’s HUGE! They do everything to help you with that!
See, that’s why I don’t call it a just “newsletter”.
It’s a social media, a blog and a newsletter platform all in one!
The best part: You can always export your subscribers and start it all over again on another platform.
I needed no more be convinced. I set it up while consuming Tim’s videos. And I fell in love with it!
But then I got a strategy problem…
What would I do for paid subscribers? I can’t just post Medium articles for paid subscribers on Substack. I know many writers do that, and it probably makes sense, because:
Semrush showed me only a 12% audience overlap between Medium and Substack!
So you can confidently do that, and your Medium readers can always find you on Medium.
But even so, it just doesn’t feel right to me.
I want my paid subscribers to feel special.
So I made a decision:
I will post all my Medium articles for free on Substack.
I’ll use the Substack link and put it at the beginning of my Medium article to monetize or gain more assets (emails) from Medium non-members. It feels better than just using my non-monetizable Friend link, I wrote about it here.
I will write an exclusive weekly post for my paid subscribers.
I will offer my paid subscribers exclusive digital products for free.
This I’m comfortable with!
So that’s the content strategy I’ll use to distribute on both platforms.
Will this work well? Time will tell!
As usual, I’ll share everything with you!
Thanks for reading!
👉 DOWNLOAD my FREE Writing Tools I use to make consistent money online.
[This story was initially published on Medium.]