Hi! I found your Substack in the “Office Hours” segment related to growth…I’m still very new to Substack, and not a meteoric-growth account by any stretch, but these are 3 things that I have seen continue to directly result in new subscribers, even when my actual weekly post hasn’t generated any. I hope these are helpful in any small way - and for what it’s worth, I’m glad to have found your letter to add to my reading list!
1. Subscribing to new Substacks myself. I try to look for new Stacks about once a week. If I’m interested in their Substack, they’re also often interested in mine. New eyes can also lead to Recommendations, which then lead to more new eyes :) - and of course, recommending others where you can also helps here, as they are likely to recommend you as well. I was surprised the portion of my (small) list of subscribers that came straight from a few recommendations.
2. Notes. I try to spend time on Notes daily, even if it’s just a few minutes. I re-stack letters that I enjoy from my reading list, with a note about what I liked or a quote from the letter. Also, a couple of days after I publish, I re-stack my own letter with an excerpt quoted. I’ve found that, often, accounts I’ve never seen before will first like or follow on Notes, and then later Subscribe.
3. Drop cards/direct emails (as often as opportunity presents itself). I’ve resigned myself to the reality that finding new people who might be interested in my newsletter just does mean reaching out to people "outside"! So I kind of push myself to be more intentionally out-going about that within the bounds of being socially acceptable. 🤣
Thank you so much for compiling this list! Based on your description, I asked for Dear Genius for Christmas and it has been such an excellent read.
I am an illustrator and have collected many of the children's books she had a hand in so I am starstruck by all the excellent people she got to work with over the years! Fun fact (for me), it turns out we went to the same boarding school (roughly 7 decades apart). Thank you again!
Hi! I found your Substack in the “Office Hours” segment related to growth…I’m still very new to Substack, and not a meteoric-growth account by any stretch, but these are 3 things that I have seen continue to directly result in new subscribers, even when my actual weekly post hasn’t generated any. I hope these are helpful in any small way - and for what it’s worth, I’m glad to have found your letter to add to my reading list!
1. Subscribing to new Substacks myself. I try to look for new Stacks about once a week. If I’m interested in their Substack, they’re also often interested in mine. New eyes can also lead to Recommendations, which then lead to more new eyes :) - and of course, recommending others where you can also helps here, as they are likely to recommend you as well. I was surprised the portion of my (small) list of subscribers that came straight from a few recommendations.
2. Notes. I try to spend time on Notes daily, even if it’s just a few minutes. I re-stack letters that I enjoy from my reading list, with a note about what I liked or a quote from the letter. Also, a couple of days after I publish, I re-stack my own letter with an excerpt quoted. I’ve found that, often, accounts I’ve never seen before will first like or follow on Notes, and then later Subscribe.
3. Drop cards/direct emails (as often as opportunity presents itself). I’ve resigned myself to the reality that finding new people who might be interested in my newsletter just does mean reaching out to people "outside"! So I kind of push myself to be more intentionally out-going about that within the bounds of being socially acceptable. 🤣
Thank you so much for compiling this list! Based on your description, I asked for Dear Genius for Christmas and it has been such an excellent read.
I am an illustrator and have collected many of the children's books she had a hand in so I am starstruck by all the excellent people she got to work with over the years! Fun fact (for me), it turns out we went to the same boarding school (roughly 7 decades apart). Thank you again!