3 Insights From a Successful Substacker

Simple, powerful learnings

Hi all,

How are you? Today I want to share some insights from a hard-working, successful Substack writer.

Last month this fabulous creator published a glorious post about what she had learned after a year of writing posts on an “unpopular” topic. In the post, she describes what she did to grow her publication from nothing.

Oh my gosh, she literally did ALL THE THINGS, promoting her newsletter in Facebook and Reddit groups, on LinkedIn and Instagram, collaborations, book reviews, referrals, SEO-optimisation, podcast guest appearances, attending workshops, conducting interviews…

Honestly, I don’t know how she found the time.

One year later, she has a thriving publication that she is proud to celebrate. Well done, Kristi Koeter of Content Clarity and Almost Sated!

Here are three big takeaways she shared, that I know you will really benefit from hearing today.

1. “Defining your audience and niche is important”

Kristi says she started with a wide niche - personal growth - and tried to attract everyone interested in personal growth. However, her most powerful work was about a sub-topic that is quite polarizing.

Kristi says when she wrote about that sub-topic she lost readers who had subscribed for general personal growth stories. Losing subscribers sounds terrible, but in fact, it was a game-changer.

It showed her that her sub-topic was where she should be focussing, and allowed her to build something powerful around that smaller topic, instead of being just another voice in personal growth. Now she has a publication that is truly unique and appeals strongly to a small but engaged readership who want to support her work.

Niching down was the key to finding success.

2. “It’s about building relationships.”

As a newsletter creator, you are privileged to be able to ‘speak’ to people right inside their private inboxes. Your subscribers have extended you an invitation and opened the door to a relationship with you.

Kristi’s paying subscribers choose to support her work because she has built relationships with them. “I genuinely want to help and connect with people” she says.

How to build a relationship with your readers

• Share yourself with your readers: your wins, failures and frustrations.

• Let them see a little of your personality (or a lot!). Include photos of yourself in About pages and occasional posts.

• Ask your readers questions and encourage them to respond to your work. Reply to their responses and answer questions.

3. “Writing for your audience is important”

Kristi initially thought her writing would appeal to women of all ages. However, she discovered that a certain demographic was much more excited about her work than women of other ages. When she decided to talk more directly to that demographic, she says her messaging got better and her writing did too.

Thank you, Kristi for your fabulous insights!

Read the whole post by clicking the preview box below.

What I learned in a year of writing about a really unpopular topic

That’s it for this week! Have a good one,

Karen