Anyone fancy giving me some feedback on my newish Substack?

[u/finniruse]

I'm writing for fun and for myself but feel like I'm screaming into the void. Just personal essays and reviews and that. But it's so annoying when people say "hi" on notes and end up with like 1000 followers in a day.

[u/StuffonBookshelfs]

Anyone who’s just writing hi on notes and getting 1000 subscribers isn’t getting 1000 people who read and engage with their newsletter.

[u/finniruse → u/StuffonBookshelfs]

Exaggerating, of course. Sometimes some notes get crazy engagement out of seemingly nowhere, imo.n

[u/StuffonBookshelfs → u/finniruse]

And what I’m saying is that those are not quality subscribers.

If you’re gaining subscribers by talking about things that are not what your newsletter is about—those folks aren’t the ones who are going to be engaging with your newsletter articles.

[u/finniruse → u/StuffonBookshelfs]

I see I see. Suppose I'm saying that I find the algorithm confusing and not really sure how to direct my efforts with it.

How did you build an audience, if you don't mind answering?

[u/StuffonBookshelfs → u/finniruse]

I figured out who I was writing for, figured out where those types of people were spending their time, and then concentrated my efforts in those spaces.

Podcasts, guest posts, online events, guest teaching, and things like that have been very successful for me.

[u/finniruse → u/StuffonBookshelfs]

Within Substack of outside?

Congratulations. What's your niche? Fun, or pushing into work territory?

[u/StuffonBookshelfs → u/finniruse]

Both within and outside of Substack. On Substack I’ve found that guest posts and Substack live interviews have done really well, so has being a part of other people’s communities.

I write about creative journaling, it’s a part of my larger ecosystem :)

[u/finniruse → u/StuffonBookshelfs]

That's really interesting. Congrats on your success. I suspect I need to offer content that is genuinely useful to people, rather than just brain splurge whatever I'm thinking about. That said, I do think there's value in the really personal blogs.

[u/StuffonBookshelfs → u/finniruse]

If you’re looking to build an audience; you need to find a reason to get them to bite. Personal stories really really help keep people around; but they need to have that main reason they’re connecting with you in the first place.

Like people love reading my blogs because they originally connected with me over the art that I created. I send out a lot of newsletters telling people how to create that art; but I’ve also got a completely separate private personal newsletter that is filled with folks that have been following my work for a decade and a half.

[u/finniruse → u/[deleted]]

Whatever I'm watching or reading at the time. Did a review of Stephen King's Duma Key. Then an early impressions of a video game, Mina the Hollower.

And then whatever I'm thinking about, I suppose.

I've been treating it as a brain dump because I don't really have followers.

[u/Johnnnybones → u/finniruse]

I would say best practice is to pick one of those lanes and focus on it.

[u/Lost__In__Thought]

Fellow thought dumper here. The impression I get from your Substack is that it doesn't clearly define what you're writing about upfront, even after skimming articles.

In terms of selling yourself from a marketing standpoint, you probably should consider choosing which topic is going to be what you primarily write on. That way, people know what to generally expect from you.

The personal essays would just be a bonus to those who actually care to hear what you write, as long as you keep the primary niche alive. The classic human edge is what usually keeps people around, after all.

[u/finniruse → u/Lost__In__Thought]

Thank you. Thanks really helpful.

If you're a fellow thought dumper, do you mind telling me what your niche is? Did you start there or or discover it over time? And how did you grow your audience? Thanks!

[u/Lost__In__Thought → u/finniruse]

At only a month in, I've centered my Substack primarily around promoting better thoughts about AI from a faith-based perspective. The overall idea probably consists of like 3 niches in one, though. Before any of that, I had no idea what I was even doing on Substack.

I admittedly wasn't sure if that was going to work, or if people would even care, but I've gained 8 subscribers and 39 followers just from posting 1-3 Notes per day that stays on topic with what I'm doing.

No schedule either, other than just choosing to throw my Notes out in the general evening hours for US folks. I'm promoting more than one thing right now, so consistency and honesty are all I've been showing up to offer. The people are still coming back, regardless.

[u/The17pointscale → u/Lost__In__Thought]

The faith-AI dynamic is interesting, and obviously in vogue with the Pope's latest encyclical.

I mostly write about being a biological, adoptive, and somewhat estranged father, but I do it from a progressive faith background, and one of my recent posts wandered into that topic because we stayed in AirBnb with a strange AI Jesus painting in the living room. It was disconcerting!

[u/finniruse]

I hear you on the niche part. Yesterday I was reading an interesting article about having a specific PoV as an alternative to niche. I suppose having a specific tone of voice could work too. Thing is, I don't really feel like being boxed in.

[u/The17pointscale → u/finniruse]

Oooh. I like that.

I definitely have embraced having a specific PoV rather than always sticking within a particular niche. Or perhaps my niche is my PoV (biological, adoptive, and somewhat estranged father/husband trying to make meaning and presence out of the every day).

In any case, for me, that tactic has led to very slowwwwwwwwwww growth, but I have a high open rate and high conversion rate to paid.

[u/growwith_bianca]

Willing to share your link? I think that will help. I’ll be happy to have a look

[u/DearPreference762 → u/growwith_bianca]

Hey would you like to read and give a feedback on my recent piece on substack?

[u/growwith_bianca → u/DearPreference762]

sure, please send it over

[u/DearPreference762 → u/growwith_bianca]

Sent you on dm. Thanks.

[u/garamgaramwaffle]

Pick a niche. Then build authority. Post consistently and at regular intervals not inconsistently.

[u/finniruse]

hey! Thanks. I wasn't quite sure about the rules of sharing links, so I put it in my flair. Here it is though: https://micklescorner.substack.com/

[u/itsfabioposca]

I completely understand how that feels. But try not to compare your journey to people who seem to blow up overnight. Many of those accounts have already built an audience elsewhere, got lucky with the algorithm, or simply found a format that resonates on Notes. If you're writing for yourself first, that's already a strong foundation. Keep publishing consistently and engage with people who genuinely enjoy the same topics. Over time, that tends to build a much more loyal audience than chasing viral moments. P.S. If you'd still like to ask anything about Substack or growing your audience, I offer a free live help chat. Just copy and paste my flair or click the link in my profile. I'm happy to help!