Substack Live Podcast

I love getting to do this with all of you.This goal-setting session is the best 40 minutes you can spend. I’m not just saying that. I did it this morning, too.Participating in this session will transform the next three months for you.Let me guide you for 40 minutes.You’ll leave knowing what matters to you and who you want to become; where to focus; and where to spend your time, attention, energy, and (yes) money.The 4 steps to achieving your Substack goalHaving a goal is and isn’t about achieving the goal.It’s about four things: Having a ritual of appreciation, discovering what’s most important to you right now, knowing where to focus your efforts, and becoming the person you want to be.Step 1: Ritual of AppreciationHaving a goal is about having a ritual to appreciate what you’ve done during a certain period of time, regardless of the goal, and what and who helped you get there.Right now: Write down three successes in your Substack.Those could be:* Subscribers* Paid subscribers* Producing posts you’re really proud of* Making connections* Getting engagement in the comments* Getting likes* Having people restack your posts* Showing up in the Notes Boost Challenge* RevenueTake a moment. Celebrate these. Really feel them in your body.Now, who helped you achieve them?* Family* Colleagues and friends on Substack* Friends* Substack guides/teachers* Substack—the platform* Food in your fridge that nourished you* Animals (maybe your cats :)* Sunlight and fresh air on your walks* The yoga mat you stretched on* The water in your tap that hydrated you* The bed you slept onMaybe send them a thank you.Step 2: What matters most to you (right now)Choosing a goal helps us discover what’s most important to us right now.* Choose one Substack goal for Q3 (July, August, September).One goal.The beauty of goal setting is that it also helps you determine what matters most to you right now.Start by eliminating from this list what’s non-essential:* Subscribers* Paid subscribers* Producing posts you’re really proud of* Make more connections* Get engagement in the comments* Get more likes* Have people restack your posts* Show up in the Notes Boost Challenge* RevenueThat will lead you to the one goal that’s essential to you right now.Write it down.Step 3: Become who you want to beTrying to achieve a goal is about who you want to become.If I just want money or subscribers or likes or even connection, it will likely feel empty whether I achieve it or not.* Who do you need to become to achieve your goal?* Fill in the blank:* Someone who ______.Write as many as apply.Step 4: Focus your time, attention, energy, and moneyWhere will you focus your time, attention, energy, and money in Q3 to achieve your goal in a way that going for it brings you more calm and health?* Time* Attention* Energy* MoneyFrom these, write down two small teeny action steps you can take and take them!Thank you (!) Meghan Daum, Susie Bright, Debbie Weil, Amy Gabrielle, Francesco Turrisi, and many others for tuning in.Share your goal or any part of this process with us. And then find someone to meet and say hello. Also, if you’re new or haven’t been to our paid-subscriber chat (!), please go and introduce yourself and your Substack. Our community is one of the best parts of your subscription. Don’t miss it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

So many writers want to be featured by Substack.It can bring thousands of new subscribers. Being featured signals you're producing authentic work, not AI content. It puts you in excellent company with other quality creators.Today, we're talking about the one thing that actually matters for Substack success—and it's not posting more, growing faster, or any of the surface-level tactics everyone's obsessing over.I take you inside how Substack decides who to feature.Go to www.substackwritersatwork.com and get the workflow I created to help you raise the quality of your posts to featured-Substack level. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Substack Writers at Work: www.substackwritersatwork.comToday, we talk about subvocalization and how important it is to reading and voice and how important it is to writing. Voice is one of the hardest craft skills to teach and learn. If more Substack writers and authors had it, a lot more of them would be earning an income. The most profound subvocalization-causing effects—your authentic voice, i.e., you—are rendered during the messy middle of the writing process. Past brainstorming and drafting, we get into revision and editing, where you render your voice into silent words. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.comThank you Joy Sullivan, Jo Hutton, Dr Kondrot, Beth Spencer, Diana Spechler, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

To listen to the full episode, join us at Substack Writers at Work!https://www.substackwritersatwork.com/In today's episode:Learn how to grow your Substack with live shows, discover author success secrets from Jason Chatfield & Mikala Jamison, plus March's top engagement strategies from Substack's leading expert.00:00 Introduction and Welcome01:15 Meet the Guests: Mikayla Jamison02:26 Meet the Guests: Jason Chatfield05:09 Mikayla's Substack Journey06:07 Jason's Substack Journey09:43 Book Deals and Publishing Insights23:44 The Role of Substack in Book Deals33:35 Marketing Strategies and Long Tail Sales36:41 Promoting the Book: Strategies and Tips37:10 Event Planning and Live Streaming37:25 Drawing Book Plates: A Quick Skill38:12 Marketing and Substack Growth39:09 Engaging Readers and Building Community40:34 Live Storytelling and Fringe Festival43:27 Pre-Order Campaigns and Bestseller Lists50:21 Advanced Review Copies and Social Proof55:54 Supporting Fellow Authors and Community01:01:11 Using Substack for Book Launches01:07:19 Final Thoughts and Pet Cameos This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

Live Substack Office Hours. Your Substack questions answered.Become a paid subscriber to Substack Writers at Work: www.writersatwork.net/subscribe.Yet another way SW@W is here to help you be your amazing self on Substack.Who?* Me, you, all of us.What?* Your Substack questions answered.When?* I’ll announce the day and time of each live Substack Office Hours every Tuesday in that week’s post.* We’ll also have popup Office Hours.Where?* You’ll be notified in email and the app when we’re live.* We’ll be live in the app.Why?* Imagine: Getting to ask me instead of the bot.* Imagine: No more confusion. No more frustration. No more feeling alone.* Office Hours are for paid subscribers.What are they like?* Watch the replay above to find out! (Great to listen to in the app or on Spotify or Apple. Timestamps are below.)* Basically, come on, be with each other, connect, put your questions in the chat, and I’ll try to get to each one.How?* Join us by upgrading to paid.Substack Office Hours, 11/8/24[00:04:17] Niches vs. being a generalist—my signature Substack DNA paradigm[00:07:35] Setting up subscriber challenges/workshops[00:09:33] Understanding the activity tab & metrics[00:14:18] Posting frequency - category differences & expectations[00:29:56] Balancing posts vs. notes - social media strategy[00:33:02] Monetization & subscription value[00:39:01] Headers, footers, and banners - design elements[00:42:02] Building audience—reality vs. perception[00:44:21] Custom domains and URLs[00:48:46] Selling/marketing without losing authenticity[00:51:31] Writing calls to action effectively[00:52:26] Community building among Substack Writers at Work subscribers This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack and author of "Insane Mode," reveals the platform's vision of prioritizing readers as customers rather than products. He discusses the journey from journalism to building a thriving community for creators, emphasizing the dangers of sensationalism in media. McKenzie highlights Substack's mission to cultivate trust-based relationships between writers and audiences, and explores integrating multimedia to enhance storytelling. His insights are invaluable for anyone looking to thrive as a writer or creative.

Subscribe to Substack Writers at Work: www.writersatwork.net.I’m so pleased to bring you my interview with Laurie Stone. She writes the literary Substack Everything Is Personal. In this conversation, we talk about how she grew her Substack so quickly—plus her writing process, her approach to “marketing,” Notes, publishing, the nature of narrative, and how she seduces the reader.She also shares her checklist for writing posts and Notes that resonate with her readers:* Start in the middle,* fail to arrive,* remember to love something,* make the reader hot,* make the reader laugh.She was a longtime writer for the Village Voice (1974-1999), which comes up here. She’s also the author of six books, most recently Streaming Now, Postcards from the Thing that is Happening (Dottir Press, 2022), long listed for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. She writes for The Paris Review, Evergreen Review, and Galerie. You can join her monthly Zoom conversations on writing craft by contacting her at lauriestone@substack.com. Subscribe to Everything Is Personal here: https://lauriestone.substack.com/Timestamps:00:15 Laurie’s Substack success02:14 Narrative techniques04:39 Using Notes and social media05:51 Teaching and workshops09:41 Laurie’s writing process17:37 Building a sustainable Substack25:47 What’s next for Everything Is Personal This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

Learn about six helpful tips for Substack writers to overcome a rut, including focusing on growth over time, exploring other platforms, appreciating current achievements, supporting the community, avoiding fixation on numbers, and being part of a supportive writer community. Also, get a sneak peek at the upcoming Substack Writers at Work Friday office party.

To upgrade to listen on Apple, go to www.writersatwork.net/subscribe.I’ve worked one-to-one with over 250 people—helping them succeed on Substack. That means I’ve been behind a lot of dashboards and mentored a lot of different people—with different interests and goals—to* double and triple and quadruple and septuple their subscribers,* substantially increase their revenue,* build a readership with real engagement, and* be Featured Substacks—the pinnacle of quality on the platform.Personalized guidance is the fastest, most efficient way to start and grow on here. I love strategizing and figuring out how a person’s talents, interests, and expertise will work best on the platform.Notice I didn’t say you can write “for yourself” and expect to be paid. You have to show up like a pro and serve your readers.) There’s nothing better than helping someone see how amazing they are and how Substack can help them have the life and career they want.I’ve learned and know a lot about Substack. Some of it also comes from building my own bestselling, Featured Substacks with over 9000 subscribers in eight months and guiding over 7000 subscribers here at Writers at Work.Here are seven things I hope will bring you growth and joy on Substack in 2024. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe