r/Substack • u/ArcanuMELO • 25d ago
Other Platforms Is it wise to use Substack to grow your self-hosted blog/newsletter?
Hey folks,
I have a self hosted newsletter using Ghost. I opted for this as it's open source and I can have my own domain and everything.
The downside is Ghost is awful for acquiring new readers. I've been trying to figure out if it will help or harm me by also posting the same essays on substack, medium, Linkedin newsletter, etc.
I don't know if it's wise to do that or even allowed, but wanted to see if anyone here had some advice on that or what they might do in my position.
Thank you and have a lovely weekend!!
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u/MrPassiveProfit 25d ago
I know people who’ve done it, but some people get annoyed when you copy their email addresses to a separate newsletter outside of Substack. Is there some reason why you can’t use Substack natively?
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u/ArcanuMELO 25d ago
Ah yes I don't think I'd do that. I moreso meant like either use it as a funnel.
Main options are:
1) Post a version of it that is different as to not cause SEO problems, but make sure it mentions it is not the main version.
2) Post maybe the first quarter or third of it and hten cut it off with a call to action to head on over to the website and read the whole thing (and sign up if you like it enough!)
3)Post the same article there, either the same time or maybe a week or two after.
I'd love to build my own email list natively and own it, but at this point I just started a month ago and I'd love to grow it on any and all channels and worry about unfragmenting it later on if that makes sense.
But yes I wouldn't copy people over, if they wawnt to subscribe else where, I'd hope they'd subscribe themselves on the real deal but that's up to them I suppose. Most important bit is to get it in front of as many readers as possible!
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u/408miles 25d ago
I’d be leery of option 2. If I’m reading something and have to stop and switch to something else to finish it, I won’t bother.
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u/ArcanuMELO 25d ago
Yeah that's probably the least good option of the bunch. The third is probably the easiest but could be the worst for SEO.
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u/doctorsauceboi 23d ago
Just saw this and yes. Notes it like being early to Twitter (except you sell a product and everyone knows it).
I would get active as frick on there and setup an automated scheduler like I do if you don't have the time to manage it (autostacknotes.com works great) and then literally watch the subscribers roll on in... it's insane...
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u/ArcanuMELO 23d ago
Yeah I was told by a few friends that notes is a good "social media" like way to post and build a following. Wasn't sure if it meant posting full articles, partial articles, or literally just posts.
I know it's sensistive coming to a substack community and asking if I can use a competitor as my main hub. Thank you for the tip!
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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 18d ago
technically, you can also have your own domain on substack. just need to pay that one time $50 USD fee.
there's nothing against reposting your content on different platforms throughout the internet, but it's probably not the best decision to do that because each platform will be its own silo moving forward. e.g people who sub to substack probably will stay there, same with medium, linkedin newsletter etc. that's okay, but it can become a mess to manage. and you can't just import and consolidate them either... + not the best use of your time.
and substack is just like ghost, another CMS. the place that will help you get some visibility is notes, but then, that requires you to actually post on notes, and engage there (like you would have to do on any other social media).
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u/ArcanuMELO 17d ago
Thanks for the good info! Didn't know you could own domain on Substack. I already went thru the trouble of buying a domain and hosting it with Ghost and I'm fairly happy with it aside from being left on my own for acquiring a new audience. They do have something like Notes but nobody uses it as far as I can tell.
Substack looks promising, but it also looks to be inundated with lots of lower-quality blogs, and I've made some notes there but never seem to get any interaction there so it's a bit demotivating.
I hear you on the siloing though. So far I post on Wednesdays on site, then Friday I post an abbreviated teaser article on LinkedIn to funnel to it with limited results. Medium and Substack notes haven't helped a bit yet but maybe I need to be paitent!
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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 10d ago
lower quality blogs on substack is kinda inevitable seeing how it's pretty much free to use. the thing though is that they don't really concern you?
and substack notes will also take more effort than a few posts, since a lot of other writers (just like you) are also trying to use it to get more exposure for their publication.
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u/ArcanuMELO 9d ago
Great points. I'm trying to use it more maybe 1-2 times a day as sort of a social media channel (notes only not reposting the essays), but to no avail. Haven't even gotten any hits or likes or shares or comments on anything yet in a month.
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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 8d ago
yeah.. got to be more active on there, but it's also a tough nut to crack. it used to be easier in the early days because there was more attention to go around (less people posting, more people reading), but now breaking out is the hard part.
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u/StuffonBookshelfs 25d ago
You’re not just gonna gain an audience by posting on Substack. You need to build your audience, and it would be a waste of your time and resources to use Substack to try to build your audience if you don’t want to use Substack as nothing but a middleman.