I haven’t been this excited to write on the Internet since 2016. That’s when my approach to writing longform blockbuster articles started to perfectly align with Medium’s algorithm, which was heavily weighted toward the time people spent reading a given article.
Yea, I have a whole folder called Substack newsletters that I point everything to at the moment too.
I think many people are in some phase of the following process:
1. Discovery phase: exploring what to read and subscribing to lots of stuff.
2. Digesting phase: Realizing that time is too limited to read everything and that some newsletters are more consistently read and valuable than others.
3. Pruning phase: Unsubscribing to lots of emails.
My hypothesis is that a lot of the gains will go to the newsletters that are in people's top 3-5 newsletters and a lot of other newsletters will be unsubscribed from.
I really like the purpose of the platform, the general purpose of the newsletter and in my opinion you have summarized the characteristic aspects of the platform excellently, almost as if it were a real manifesto. The most important point in my opinion is that of the community, in addition to the interactions and comments regarding the various neslwetters, one perceives an active, real exchange of concrete interactions on what is published and written. Thanks for making it clear in this post!
Michael, we're really doing this! It's always cool to hear your story going from Medium to Substack and hearing about all you learned. I can't wait to kick off this challenge with you.
Thanks Michael and Tom for everything you are doing! I've needed a place to just commit to writing Notes and understand how to get the ball rolling. Thank you!
Good point. Email is based on SMTP open protocol. Podcast feature is based on RSS. But Substack Noted is not based on an open protocol like activity Pub.
Thanks Michael and thanks Tom! I had subscribed and quickly upgraded to you both separately as a new user to the platform which is testament to the quality of your writing respectively. So looking forward to your combined brilliance in the upcoming Substack Campfire.
'To succeed online, you also need to align with the right platforms for you and strike while the iron is hot.'
True, unfortunately. As content creators, we gotta consistently be aware of the changes in the platforms, decide which ones are more relevant to us, and whether or not we should stick to our current ones or shift to new ones.
How important do you think it was that you already had such a large following? I had no list when Tom invited me to join him in teh transition form Medium to Substack and afer an initial growth spurt I appear to have plateaued.
I keep reading from others who have seen amazing growth that they had a significant following they imported or invited and then had them help them grow with recommendations, et.c
I have also been wondering if writing about writing and self help, personal development is currently more attractive to the substack community than my work in business and finance?
I do think that everything we bring (fans, skills, knowledge, brand, CV) can help us transition faster.
Getting in at the right platform at the right time is a boost, but it is not a panacea.
I don’t know your personal situation and its nuances, so I don’t have specific advice, but my broad, longterm advice is that consistency and improvement are all that matter longterm. And my advice with Substack would be to learn from others who have figured it out by paying for consulting (I recently paid for consulting from Sarah Fay), signing up for relevant courses/Substacks, building relationships, analysing top people’s content for patterns, and doing a ton of experimentation.
Why I'm all in on this is its still your list... the algo's will change over time, but the ability to collaborate with other creators, have a central place for all types of content (not sending people to YouTube to be distracted away, etc.) makes this a platform that could be the dominate place for educational and entertainment for the next several years or decade.... come on Substack I'm rooting for you... don't mess it up. LOL
It all comes down to this: Substack it's still in it's honeymoon period.
Now it's the time to invest in it. No one know how long it will last.
Exactly!
Just subscribed to your newsletter and look forward to reading your longer posts after having read lots of your notes.
Wow! I'm honored to have a Substack bestseller among my subscribers.
I'll try my best to reciprocate, though I'm in the discovery phase and I'm subscribed to too many publications. 😨
Out of curiosity, what is the publication you read the most consistently?
Now it's a mess. I stopped email notifications because I'm subscribing to something every day, to reciprocate and to "spy" the competition 😉
Before, I read
Todd Brain
Alex Mathers
Noah Smith
The exponential view
Other newsletters outside Substack.
Yea, I have a whole folder called Substack newsletters that I point everything to at the moment too.
I think many people are in some phase of the following process:
1. Discovery phase: exploring what to read and subscribing to lots of stuff.
2. Digesting phase: Realizing that time is too limited to read everything and that some newsletters are more consistently read and valuable than others.
3. Pruning phase: Unsubscribing to lots of emails.
My hypothesis is that a lot of the gains will go to the newsletters that are in people's top 3-5 newsletters and a lot of other newsletters will be unsubscribed from.
I have a different approach. I didn’t want to miss everything an author published.
So, I’m treating my newsletter folder almost like a feed: I am very selective about what I open and read.
I quickly archive emails if they seem not interesting. I unsubscribe if I sense that I’ve been “skipping” too many emails from the same author.
Substack is a hidden gem
I really like the purpose of the platform, the general purpose of the newsletter and in my opinion you have summarized the characteristic aspects of the platform excellently, almost as if it were a real manifesto. The most important point in my opinion is that of the community, in addition to the interactions and comments regarding the various neslwetters, one perceives an active, real exchange of concrete interactions on what is published and written. Thanks for making it clear in this post!
Thanks Riccardo!
Michael, we're really doing this! It's always cool to hear your story going from Medium to Substack and hearing about all you learned. I can't wait to kick off this challenge with you.
Thanks Michael and Tom for everything you are doing! I've needed a place to just commit to writing Notes and understand how to get the ball rolling. Thank you!
Congratulations 😊. Only 1 thing to add: no possible to export followers, only subscribers
Good point. Email is based on SMTP open protocol. Podcast feature is based on RSS. But Substack Noted is not based on an open protocol like activity Pub.
Thanks Michael and thanks Tom! I had subscribed and quickly upgraded to you both separately as a new user to the platform which is testament to the quality of your writing respectively. So looking forward to your combined brilliance in the upcoming Substack Campfire.
Thanks Rob! Looking forward to getting to know you better and collaborating though this newsletter and Substack Campfire!
Great idea, guys. Sounds like a fun challenge, and I’m looking forward to the master class!
Thanks Ken!
Nice! Except the part about medium changing its algorithm.
'To succeed online, you also need to align with the right platforms for you and strike while the iron is hot.'
True, unfortunately. As content creators, we gotta consistently be aware of the changes in the platforms, decide which ones are more relevant to us, and whether or not we should stick to our current ones or shift to new ones.
The landscape changes unfortunately over time.
this is amazing, thanks for sharing your journey and reasoning behind it. looks like you made the right choice ;)
How important do you think it was that you already had such a large following? I had no list when Tom invited me to join him in teh transition form Medium to Substack and afer an initial growth spurt I appear to have plateaued.
I keep reading from others who have seen amazing growth that they had a significant following they imported or invited and then had them help them grow with recommendations, et.c
I have also been wondering if writing about writing and self help, personal development is currently more attractive to the substack community than my work in business and finance?
Good questions.
I do think that everything we bring (fans, skills, knowledge, brand, CV) can help us transition faster.
Getting in at the right platform at the right time is a boost, but it is not a panacea.
I don’t know your personal situation and its nuances, so I don’t have specific advice, but my broad, longterm advice is that consistency and improvement are all that matter longterm. And my advice with Substack would be to learn from others who have figured it out by paying for consulting (I recently paid for consulting from Sarah Fay), signing up for relevant courses/Substacks, building relationships, analysing top people’s content for patterns, and doing a ton of experimentation.
Hope that helps.
Thans Michael
I agree and I am doing the same and will participate in Campfire. I am also connected to Sarah but haven't been participating in one of her cohorts
Can't wait for this and to have you two as guides to get moving on here.
PS: Does Tom have a man-bun again?
Why I'm all in on this is its still your list... the algo's will change over time, but the ability to collaborate with other creators, have a central place for all types of content (not sending people to YouTube to be distracted away, etc.) makes this a platform that could be the dominate place for educational and entertainment for the next several years or decade.... come on Substack I'm rooting for you... don't mess it up. LOL
Im confused. Is blockbuster.thoughtleader.school substack or is it something different?
Good question, and I didn’t even realize this could be confusing but now I get it. Blockbuster.thoughtleader.school is hosted on Substack.