Love me some good content that's evergreen and keeps producing results for years! (Big reason of why I love podcasts and recorded trainings inside other people's communities.) And your point about how a newsletter accumulates IP is a point that nobody considers, but is a HUGE point and so important for your business.
Maybe the only differentiator. 😉 Seriously though, too many of us give away our talents to companies and clients and neglect our own IP. I'm aiming to change that.
You already know how many of our opinions on how we get to use our content and prioritise connections align, and you just summed it up so well in this entire article.
Stopstack has its own magic, but at the same time, managing paid subscriptions and the constant worry about churn (and making sure that people stay in this kind of subscription-style model) is actually taking up a lot of our bandwidth and time.
We could otherwise spend it somewhere else, whether in our business or outside of it. I wish more people talked about using Substack more as a launchpad, as an entry point, a shop entrance door, rather than where people are necessarily wanting to host their entire product suite.
Precision about who we’re speaking to in our content trumps audience size and all the engagement people seem to be so obsessed about.
1000% I agree the question is "How do I keep using this to meet the right people, build a body of work, deepen relationships and create opportunities around the business I already have?"
I love your point around 1:1 conversations and how people are so accessible here; completely agree. Everything I've been able to build here is not because I have xx subscriber number, but because I have talked to people, built relationships, listened to them, then built tools that help them do the same.
Thank you so much. It means a ton coming from you since I see you really know Substack and have done well here. 🙏 I am really enjoying all the conversations and meeting such incredible people. Honestly, LinkedIn used to be exactly like this. 😢
Aw, thank you - it’s funny, I still feel very early in my journey! (Maybe to your point about it taking years?!) I think we all have a lot to learn from each other.
Thanks for laying this out so clearly, Krista. I especially like your point that Substack lets us build IP and a body of work first, which naturally opens the door to conversations and relationships. Those can lead to bigger opportunities and eventually become a gateway into our broader business and solutions. I think this is a more viable model for most of us than simply banking on paid subscriptions. Just subbed, keep up the good work :)
I think we’re pretty quick to calculate money earned and much slower to calculate time spent. That changes the picture a lot. Thank you for explaining this, Krista! It's very helpful for Substack starters like me.
It’s actually worse than that. Most people look at what hits their bank account and call it “income,” forgetting Substack already took 10% and Stripe took another cut.
Then come income taxes and, depending on where you sell, potentially sales tax/VAT.
Once you factor in all the hours you spent writing, publishing, promoting, and managing it, a lot of newsletters aren’t profitable at all. They’re in the red. The ones who win usually have spent years working for free or 2$/hr until they are profitable. And even then, it really is unstable, labor-intense work only a writer would love. 😀
I really appreciate this perspective because I think many people get caught up in asking which platform is better instead of asking what they actually need the platform to do. Your point about building a body of work really stands out to me. Visibility gets people to discover you, but depth and consistency are what help people understand your expertise and trust you. 💖
Thank you Diana 🫶 I'm a big teacher of creating one's IP outside of employer/client work. It's that work that tells the world what you stand for and continues to carry you even if you lose your title.
Love me some good content that's evergreen and keeps producing results for years! (Big reason of why I love podcasts and recorded trainings inside other people's communities.) And your point about how a newsletter accumulates IP is a point that nobody considers, but is a HUGE point and so important for your business.
Thank you, Laura! I think alot of people are still sleeping on this. 😉
Agreed, and your IP is poised to be a huge differentiator in this world of AI-generated content.
Maybe the only differentiator. 😉 Seriously though, too many of us give away our talents to companies and clients and neglect our own IP. I'm aiming to change that.
You already know how many of our opinions on how we get to use our content and prioritise connections align, and you just summed it up so well in this entire article.
Stopstack has its own magic, but at the same time, managing paid subscriptions and the constant worry about churn (and making sure that people stay in this kind of subscription-style model) is actually taking up a lot of our bandwidth and time.
We could otherwise spend it somewhere else, whether in our business or outside of it. I wish more people talked about using Substack more as a launchpad, as an entry point, a shop entrance door, rather than where people are necessarily wanting to host their entire product suite.
Precision about who we’re speaking to in our content trumps audience size and all the engagement people seem to be so obsessed about.
1000% I agree the question is "How do I keep using this to meet the right people, build a body of work, deepen relationships and create opportunities around the business I already have?"
I love your point around 1:1 conversations and how people are so accessible here; completely agree. Everything I've been able to build here is not because I have xx subscriber number, but because I have talked to people, built relationships, listened to them, then built tools that help them do the same.
Thank you so much. It means a ton coming from you since I see you really know Substack and have done well here. 🙏 I am really enjoying all the conversations and meeting such incredible people. Honestly, LinkedIn used to be exactly like this. 😢
Aw, thank you - it’s funny, I still feel very early in my journey! (Maybe to your point about it taking years?!) I think we all have a lot to learn from each other.
Thanks for laying this out so clearly, Krista. I especially like your point that Substack lets us build IP and a body of work first, which naturally opens the door to conversations and relationships. Those can lead to bigger opportunities and eventually become a gateway into our broader business and solutions. I think this is a more viable model for most of us than simply banking on paid subscriptions. Just subbed, keep up the good work :)
I think we’re pretty quick to calculate money earned and much slower to calculate time spent. That changes the picture a lot. Thank you for explaining this, Krista! It's very helpful for Substack starters like me.
It’s actually worse than that. Most people look at what hits their bank account and call it “income,” forgetting Substack already took 10% and Stripe took another cut.
Then come income taxes and, depending on where you sell, potentially sales tax/VAT.
Once you factor in all the hours you spent writing, publishing, promoting, and managing it, a lot of newsletters aren’t profitable at all. They’re in the red. The ones who win usually have spent years working for free or 2$/hr until they are profitable. And even then, it really is unstable, labor-intense work only a writer would love. 😀
would love to learn more about this: "But helping an energy executive build a newsletter there earlier this year changed my mind. "
Specifically about drawing the audience for that newsletter, since most of Substack appears to be creators engaging with other creators...
We have planned to schedule a live with him in the coming weeks to discuss publicly. He kindly volunteered this - I didn't even ask him! 😂
I'll keep an eye out!!
I really appreciate this perspective because I think many people get caught up in asking which platform is better instead of asking what they actually need the platform to do. Your point about building a body of work really stands out to me. Visibility gets people to discover you, but depth and consistency are what help people understand your expertise and trust you. 💖
Thank you Diana 🫶 I'm a big teacher of creating one's IP outside of employer/client work. It's that work that tells the world what you stand for and continues to carry you even if you lose your title.