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When a marketing-savvy author friend said recently that they were removing their content-rich, SEO-friendly blog from their site and relocating it to Substack, I nearly gasped. (And I’m not even a drama queen.)
This was part of their plan to use Substack as their email newsletter service.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I want to monetize* my newsletter and Substack makes that easy to do,” they replied. (*Monetize: marketing buzzword for “earn money from.”)
I explained why I didn’t think this was in their best interest, but the author was locked in. Logic be damned.
I’ve since had this “Substack for authors” conversation with several book marketing coaching clients and, quite recently, in person with a group of local author friends over lunch.
Here’s what I’ve been telling them.
Substack is a newsletter platform. People who use Substack benefit from:
Here’s what authors tell me about why they’re considering Substack or have already signed on with the service.
Yes, some people with large followings are using Substack. I’ll bet a bunch of your author friends are, too.
But, let’s remember the words of my wise mother: “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?”
“Everybody’s doing it” is a shallow rationalization that doesn’t work in this situation any more than it does when it comes to combovers for balding men.
With book marketing, what works for one author doesn’t necessarily work for another. How well you execute makes a difference, too.
With book marketing, what works for one author doesn’t necessarily work for another. How well you execute makes a difference, too.Click to tweetThis is true. You can be up and running quickly.
That’s partly because Substack is so basic. It lacks important features offered by other more conventional email marketing service providers, including the ability to personalize messages by adding a subscriber’s first name to a salutation.
That’s attractive to many.
But several other email service providers, including mine, provide far more functionality at the free level. (I use ConvertKit, which is free for up to 1,000 subscribers.)
But that’s okay. If you’re just starting out, the simplest and least powerful service available might be a good fit for you.
Yeah, well, good luck with that.
Most authors scramble to get unpaid subscribers.
Generating enough paid subscribers to make a difference is harder than you might think. Be sure you’ve got a marketing plan in place for it.
That’s such a smart idea that my email service provider, ConvertKit, offers that feature now, too.
This is pretty cool…in theory.
I’ve found it hard to uncover lesser-known newsletters when all I’ve got is the topic, though.
I’ve played around with that function and discovered that you aren’t likely to be found unless someone is searching for your name or newsletter title. The most popular newsletters show up first in various categories. To find a less-popular one, you have to scroll … and scroll … and scroll.
Who has time for that?
Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to like Substack. But there are a few reasons not to like it, too.
Here’s why I discourage authors and others – especially bloggers – from using Substack for email marketing and blogging.
Let’s presume you’re giving your subscribers the information they need. They love it! They recommend your newsletter to others!
All – all – of the resulting traffic completely bypasses your website and goes to Substack.
Substack, not your website, benefits from all of the SEO (search engine optimization — what you do to your website so that it gets found by search engines) value generated by the newsletter content you create specifically to appeal to your target audience. That type of targeted content is precisely what you need for your site to show up near the top of online searches for your topic.
Why would you undermine your brand online to support another company’s business?
You’re redirecting traffic away from your site. Not. Smart.
As you learn more about the power of email marketing, you’ll want your email service provider to perform a range of pre-determined functions. You tell it what to do once, and the system automates it for you.
For example, one best practice in email marketing for businesses of all sizes involves sending a series of welcome email messages to new subscribers on a schedule that’s unique to when they subscribed. Each message shares new information that’s relevant to your subscriber.
Substack can send a single welcome message to a new subscriber, but that’s it.
This lack of automation isn’t a deal breaker initially. You might not want sophistication if you’re using email marketing for the first time. But as your success grows, you’ll want more power.
(For more on that, read “Book review: Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert.”)
The hype around how Substack makes it easy to earn from paying subscribers is incredibly misleading.
We’re accustomed to subscribing to free newsletters that might offer value. But paying for a “premium” version of that content requires a big shift that most aren’t ready for yet. And it sure doesn’t happen instantly.
I need to get value from your content before deciding if I want to pay you for more of it. Determining if the value is there takes time.
In addition, maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like how many of these newsletters persistently beg for money.
As a user, I find the constant requests to pay for the newsletter or “premium” add-ons tacky and intrusive. How do you build relationships with your subscribers when you’re annoying them?
Here’s an example of what I see in Substack newsletters when the publisher decides to use theirs to earn money.
This is from a writer who added me to their subscriber list (I did not opt-in). I’ve blocked out the newsletter title and the introductory text so the sender can’t be identified; I’ve left the requests to pay for more issues where it appears in the beginning of the newsletter. It appears at the end, too.
Repeatedly asking for money is no classier than asking your dinner guests to pay for their meal as they’re leaving at the end of the evening.
Admittedly, I might be a little paranoid about this.
But what if Substack crashes and you lose all of your archived content?
I feel like I have more control over that with my own little website, where I can constantly and consistently monitor all threats and keep them from taking my site down.
I realize that these negatives might not outweigh what you see as positives. So, should you sign on with Substack, or should you spend time comparing it to alternatives?
I don’t recommend making an important business decision based on what “everyone else” is doing.
Instead, whether it relates to email marketing or the latest social network or whether you should host a podcast, I always recommend learning as much as possible about a tactic and its options before making a choice.
Instead of chasing the latest bright, shiny object, consider where you’d like to be with email marketing in one, three, and five years. Then explore enough solutions to understand which will do the most to get you there.
Want to experience ConvertKit, the email marketing tool designed for creators like us? Use my affiliate link to try it for free.
Substack is a newsletter platform that allows users to create and distribute newsletters to subscribers. It offers features such as free usage until monetization, a network for newsletter recommendations, and an archive for back issues.
Authors are drawn to Substack for several reasons:
There are several reasons why Substack might not be the best choice for authors:
While Substack has its merits, it’s essential for authors to weigh its pros and cons against other email marketing solutions.
Be sure to consider factors that include control over content, automation capabilities, and how well the platform is aligned with your long-term goals.
No, popularity shouldn’t be the sole factor in choosing an email marketing platform.
Authors should assess their specific needs, long-term objectives, and the various service provider capabilities before making a decision.
It’s crucial to put informed decision-making over blindly following trends.
I know that many of you love Substack. Please tell us why in a comment!
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