35 Comments

Hi Astrid, I was so grateful to find you through Google when I decided to move my newsletter to Substack, your advice and experience was insightful and invaluable, thank you.

I have two questions:

1) How do you sync your subscribers between Flodesk and Substack? For example, when someone signs up for your free course on your website, how do you move them across to your substack?

2) I was thinking about offering a monthly live event or a Q&A thread and was wondering what you sense the best practices are?

Many thanks x

Expand full comment

Hello Astrid: I started a newsletter last year and am now up to 700 subscribers which is amazing! My website was built through WIX, and the premium/ unlimited plan was chosen because I could send up to 1000 free emails a month. Unfortunately WIX has pulled a a bit and switch and changed their email marketing plans on me (and everyone else). They now want an additional $30 a *month* to send anything over 200 emails. I am livid, to say the least. (I already pay them $200 a year for the website).

I was already contemplating substack as a platform (I really like the app). So now I’m wondering if I should move everything over to substack and run my newsletter content more like a blog. Have you run into anyone else struggling with these new changes at WIX?

Expand full comment

Hi Astrid, how would substack differ from a newsletter (or should I pick one or the other?). And what's the key bit of advice you'd give to someone starting from scratch? I am set up and ready to go under wild Heart, Creative Soul as my substack name. Thanks!

Expand full comment

Thanks Astrid! Are you noticing any ad funnels to newsletters? And what do you think of adding value with courses, meetups, 1:1 work with newsletter paid subscriptions? I have worked with clients who built their entire email list with a SLO funnel instead of a freebie. Could a newsletter be a paid perk to a small course?

Expand full comment

I subscribed to Substack after your interview with Alice Sheridan so I'm very new to it and still learning the ropes. My intention is to create community, make contacts, get to know more people. I send a monthly newsletter through AWeber. My questions here are: how to best navigate Substack for the best viewing of newsletters (i.e., how will my newsletter not get mixed with a thousand other articles); how to direct it to specific interests; best length; I take it that the subject line here is as important as anywhere else. Also: why would Substack be better than AWeber? Because it gets seen by more people and not just by my list (as in AWeber?)? How do I know who is seeing it? Do I have any control as to who should see it? Apologies for the onslaught. Thanks much.

Expand full comment

An email signup form without a lead magnet???

As you can tell I speak some "marketing" after more than 12 years of doing it as a day job some of the lingo stuck. :-) Inspired by your talk on Art Juice I am re-launching my newsletter. I used to have a lead magnet (sign up and get this PDF on how to XYZ) but it feels out of date and, if I'm honest, kind of blah.

So my question is, is receiving my newsletter (called Photographs & Stories) enough of an incentive? Below is a description:

As the name suggests, these monthly emails are Photographs and Stories. Topics include:

-Photography and travel locations

-Resources for art lovers and artists

-Books, podcasts, and other interesting finds

-New and in-progress work

-Business tips for creatives

I'd love to know your thoughts!

Thank you

Expand full comment
Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023Liked by Astrid Bracke

Like you I love Substack, but I only use it for my personal musings, like the blog I used to have in the old days. In fact, to me Substack is mostly a blogging platform with awesome subscription, podcast and video features. For my business newsletter I still prefer to use the program that's built into my website. This way it's brand consistent and I have easy access to all of my assets, like blog posts, products, images etc. Plus, it's just an email and not also a post that is hosted on a public domain like Substack. For my business that makes sense.

I am not so sure about the subscription model for everyone. While $5 a month is not a lot on its own, it adds up quickly when I have to pay for everyone now whose newsletters used to be free. I can see that this is a good revenue stream for writers and authors, as writing is their business. So far I have not considered charging for my business newsletter because I have other products that I am selling and the newsletter is a communication rather than an income tool. I think what you are doing sounds very interesting though! It's a different way of looking at how we run our businesses and how we monetize our wisdom and expertise. So I am definitely cheering you on for this! xo

Expand full comment

this sounds great Astrid! Where are you sharing your Substack beyond Substack and our lovely community?

Expand full comment
Feb 23, 2023Liked by Astrid Bracke

Hi Astrid,

I listened to your January conversation on Art Juice this week. It was very useful and insightful.

I’m interested in your invitation to “ask me all your newsletter questions”. I’m working on a newsletter related to a niche small business/startup audience. What methods and channels would you recommend to market a newsletter of that type?

Expand full comment