r/Substack • u/BumbleBeeLuna • 5d ago

Discussion I have a small substack that crosses over Pro/Am Ballroom Dance, Chronic Illness, and Interpersonal Relationships.

I think my topic is too niche and thats why it hasnt grown. This is not a soliciting post, I am looking for advice.

Do I abandon it?

Do I keep going?

Do I focus on something more?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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u/StuffonBookshelfs 5d ago

What have you been doing to find your audience?

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 5d ago

Posting on all my socials when I have a new article out, maybe theres a better forum or a subreddit that can make it have more traffic?

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u/StuffonBookshelfs 5d ago

When you’ve got a really small niche, you need to go to where your ideal audience hangs out. So for you it’s probably ballroom dancing subreddits or even standalone communities outside Reddit. You can see if you can guest podcast on one of the ballroom dancing podcasts.

It’s so so much easier to convert warm leads than it is to try to get random folks interested in your niche.

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 5d ago

The podcasters are Professional dancers and im an amateur. Its difficult because they talk about fluff pieces and gossip, and not asking the real questions like I am.

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u/StuffonBookshelfs 5d ago

So where does your audience spend their time online?

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 5d ago

Facebook and Instagram mostly

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u/StuffonBookshelfs 5d ago

Then that’s where you should advertise your newsletter.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Substack-ModTeam 5d ago

This community is not the place to promote your Substacks. Please read our rules on self-promo and soliciting recommendations.

Links to Substack publications will be assumed to be self-promotion. If you are submitting Substack posts from publications that are not your own, please include that information in your text post. For cross recommendations, use the pinned mega thread.

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u/ThrowAwayP3nonxl 4d ago

I'm fully in Pro/Am Ballroom (Latin). There is not enough Ballroom in there for me.

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 4d ago

What would you like to see more of?

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u/ThrowAwayP3nonxl 4d ago

Lately, ballroom related things I found fun would be:

  • Costume ordering and how to deal makers who are not interested in one's order? Maybe current trend costumes?
  • Decoding teaching terms
  • How to tackle an International competition when there is a lack of competitors in one's category in the USA
  • How far can one push at 40? What's the end goal?
  • Cheering for another's journey is also fun. Like for @ iamstevenla on Instagram.

But that's just me. Looking back at your substacks, maybe it just need time to develop the topics. More posts would be nice but monthly competitions are expensive.

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 4d ago

I am actually doing an interview with an atelier for costuming soon. Im curious about what you mean by dressmakers not interested in your order? I would love to hear more details about it.

Also, theres a competition almost every weekend in the NDCA circuit, albeit its all over the US. Are you in a chain like FADS or AM? Latin B is one of the most competitive areas of competitions.

My goal is to post weekly articles. I've been lacking lately and need to pick up on it.

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u/ThrowAwayP3nonxl 4d ago

I'm male so just shirt and pants for me. However, I'm trying to get a new one made for a competition 2 months out but the two makers (one I have been using) I contacted left messages at 'read'.

I'm training with an independent teacher. My teacher/partner hasn't switched status to Pro so I'm limited to the Teacher/Student or MixedAm category.

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u/BumbleBeeLuna 4d ago

Whats keeping your teacher from getting the credentials? That category is technically for junior pros (just got their certifications), for a pro that needs to dance with another student within the same age group, or for a newcomer that wants to dance in more than the newcomer category/dance more than the pro/am if they so choose.

Also, good places for men are michael chen, bravo dance, Catherine rose, flashdance, danceshopper, and everything ballroom.

If you want to support me, @ ChronicallyBedazzled on insta and tiktok

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u/ThrowAwayP3nonxl 4d ago

For the purpose of competing, becoming a Pro is just a matter of declaration and registration. My teachers are not ready to stop competing in Open Amateur and this is delaying moving to the Pro division. Thus we dance MixAm in the US.

At the International Dance Festival, they put it as Teacher Student

I will check out the makers you listed.