Why Haven't You Started Writing on Substack Yet?
I’ve enjoyed connecting with people familiar and unfamiliar in the past seven months.
My apologies for getting this published a day later than usual. I’ve been traveling lately, and some things get pushed back. Regardless of my schedule, I’m still committed to publishing a weekly post for a year. This leads me to the topic of this week’s post: why you need to start writing on Substack.
I published my first article on November 23, 2022. It wasn’t good, and the subsequent articles haven’t been much better. That’s beside the point. The goal of my starting this Substack was to get back into writing by publishing an original piece weekly. In the past seven months, I’ve enjoyed connecting with people familiar and unfamiliar. The feedback I’ve received from some of my readers has been overwhelmingly positive. Being able to connect with people on a much more personal level has been extremely rewarding. But for me—as Ryan Holiday puts it—the work has been the reward.
I don’t view the writing of these posts as work. I look forward to ruminating on an idea for a week before I sit down to write. I enjoy reading and commenting on responses to my posts. Writing is one of the few activities I do where time disappears. I’ve had blocks of uninterrupted writing that have lasted hours. I cherish these moments of creativity because they’re uncommon in our modern distraction-driven world. To celebrate passing the halfway point of this project, I wanted to share some stats in the hope of encouraging someone else to start their own Substack.
Stats After Seven Months of Publishing Articles
All-Time Views: 4,080
Top traffic sources: 1. Email, 2. Direct, 3. Facebook, 4. Substack App, 5. LinkedIn
Subscribers: 47
Gross annualized revenue: $60
Number of articles published: 32 (including this one)
Avg. email open rate: 67.45%
Subscriber locations: 15 US states and 4 countries
Top performing post: Buy These 10 Things For Life (Or At Least For a Decade)
Impact of Weakened Dad
The stats are well and good but they don’t show the complete story or impact that this project has had on me. I quit using social media earlier this year because I felt like it was distracting and ineffective. I would publish a photo that I had worked hard to capture and would get maybe 10 likes despite having more than a thousand followers.
Something wasn’t adding up. Obviously, social media companies use an algorithm to decide what content gets displayed and what doesn’t. I felt like the platforms were useless for sharing authentic content that wasn’t created to be clickbait. I know many other people have experienced this. I wanted to connect with people in a genuine way that wasn’t based on hype and shock.
I had spoken with several friends who recommended using Substack over starting a traditional blog. Since starting my Substack, I’ve been able to connect with people on a much deeper level. Granted, my following is small but my engagement with them is much higher. I see you and you see me. Long-form content has an inherent barrier to entry if all you’re looking for is a quick laugh. That’s fine because I’m not looking to connect with people who want a short distraction. I need to connect with people who love to think and discuss topics on a more profound level.
Discovering Bourdain
I debated writing my article about Anthony Bourdain due to the sadness of his story. But I felt like I needed to express my gratitude for the positive impact he made in my life. That article has performed below average compared to my previous posts but something interesting happened because of it. I connected with a reader who told me that they were unfamiliar with Bourdain’s work but proceeded to watch the Roadrunner documentary because of my article.
Hearing this feedback gave me a resounding sense of joy because that’s exactly what I wanted people to take away from my article. Learning that somebody is discovering Bourdain for the first time is exciting for me. I’m jealous when I learn people are getting into something I’m passionate about for the first time. That’s because the journey is always better than the destination. The discovery process is the best part of anything. Seeing your favorite band the first time is better than the second time and so forth.
Learning that I can be a conduit of discovery for somebody is the best piece of feedback I can receive.
The Next Six Months
I’m going to continue to write and publish articles through the end of the year. I’m not 100% certain if I’ll continue writing these articles past my initial goal. They are fun to write but do require a fair amount of time—of which I’m limited due to professional and family responsibilities.
So, what are you waiting for to start your writing project? If you’ve been on the fence about starting a Substack then don’t wait another week. The first article is the hardest. But writing gets easier—and increasingly rewarding—the more you do it.
As always, thank you for your attention!
Your writing has inspired me to write more, and about a wider range of things than I used to on my (non-substack) blog
I clearly have, however time to actually write is very small. I have an almost finished post I should get out one of these days.