44 Comments

I large(ly) ignore(d) audience metric stuff when I was on Medium and when I am on Substack. I focus on trying to provide quality stuff if and when I can and hope people will pay attention. And some do.

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Lots of writers say that. Oh, I'm not paying any attention because I focus on quality. One has nothing to do with the other. All the audience metrics in the world wont help if quality doesn't come first. But there's a whole lot of really good writers who write for crickets because they don't learn how to leverage the platform they're on.

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I do try to leverage platforms, but on my terms. Not on, for example, Tim Denning's.

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Funny thing is, I've worked with Tim outside of Medium. He's a pretty decent guy. Almost no ego at all and that was a nice surprise. What he does works for him. For his niche but also his personality. The trick is for everyone to figure out what works for them. In their niche. According to their personality. There is no universal strategy that works for everyone. :)

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...which is why you always have to be your own person. Adopting a fake identity and public presentation rarely works well.

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Yeah I can attest to that! I'm in Tim Denning's cohort, and while he gives a lot of good advice, I also need to adapt it to my own niche, since I obviously write about very different things from Tim's. I feel like a lot of people blindly listen to advice and believe it's Gospel, without actually considering how it applies or doesn't apply to their situation. Can't blame the teachers for that if the student didn't use any critical thinking before applying advice. That might sound a little harsh, but.

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Totally agree Sieran! (as one also in the cohort)

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Same. I'm (was) in the Tim Denning group also. It took a long time to understand that what works for him (not to mention the courses, the cost, and the constant upselling) does not work for me. I didn't believe it was Gospel, but I did put a lot of faith into his courses and following along with what he instructed. I was a new writer back then, and needed to have guidance from someone!

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Hey Patti, I thought your name was familiar! We chatted in the comments of my "In Defense of Tim Denning" post, if you remember. About the selling, I used to be bothered by it. But later, I realized that they're not directed at me. If I'm not interested (or already bought the course), I can simply ignore them and enjoy the story. Getting an email to my inbox, gives the impression that he's talking to me. But in reality, the message might be directed at other people. The lesson may not be applicable to me, either. (E.g. He talks to an audience who doesn't write online, or who don't publish regularly. I already post daily so he's not talking to me.)

I'm not sure if you were in the Mastermind? The one where you get weekly live workshops with Tim and Todd on Zoom. We also get a monthly content teardown, where Tim gives you honest feedback on a post you submit, which has been super helpful. We have that private channel on Slack too for Mastermind members, where Tim replies to every comment and question. I thought that was notable, especially as he's a super busy person with gazillions of emails and messages!

Anyway, I imagine the experience is very different if you're just taking the courses but not in the Mastermind, since the courses are recorded videos. Even if you enjoy the videos, it's not the same as interacting with them live, and every week, too. There's a lot of social bonding and accountability, and getting to know classmates, which I find very helpful for my motivation and morale!

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I'm glad you're going paid Linda!

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Thanks, Walter. It's about damn time, hey? lol

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I think you’ll find there are a lot of wonderful people out there who are eager to support you!

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I have all my fingers and toes crossed. Makes it hard to type, but here's hoping.

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Definitely about time!

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Hi Linda, so happy to see you going paid! Please let me know, I'm all in!

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I don't want to miss this! Please let me know when it's available - I have a quick trip, and want to ensure I get it in before we head out. Congrats!

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So I just had somebody who I’m doing a writing retreat with -who’s been a writing professor at the University here for 23 years - point out that I should put my work behind a pay wall because of ChatGPT searching the internet for writing, which I had never thought of. I hate the idea of forcing people to pay for my writing. But then I also thought maybe I can just set it at a really low amount and hopefully everyone that wants to read can do so. So I’m still debating it. But I do love that you will be sharing help/training as well 👏🏻 There is a lot of false advertising out there in all marketing help for sure.

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Jen, go into your Substack settings and turn off the setting that allows AI to read your writing. You don't have to go paid. Damn. I need to write about this, too.

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Oh good god. SEE?! You helped already. Ha. To be fair she said she didn’t know much about Substack. Thank you!

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You're very welcome. Did you find it? Good! But yeah, going to write about this. Because every site that exists, there's a way to keep them out.

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OK, it took me a minute because I had to do it on a desktop and then I had to go into my actual dashboard into the settings and privacy versus just the settings that aren’t in your dashboard which is a little confusing, but thank you so much for letting me know that was an option! I feel much better now 🙏🏻👏🏻

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You're very welcome! :)

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I’m so glad I read this- I forgot about this! I meant to do it when I saw someone post about it on notes.

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woo hoo..

yes so excited on this milestone for you. indeed it's about damn time!

I am swarmed with work-related learnings right now (hello rewiring of brain and neuroplasticity), on top of changing jobs.

Realistically, I doubt I have much bandwidth or time to go in-depth with new learnings, most of all , implement the tutorial tips, but I am going to "push" myself a little, and just subscribe, because I know your stuff is always golden.

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I’m in, all the way. Frankly, Linda. Your advice on these topics will be gold ( it IS gold). I do not subscribe to other sources about writing info. I read very little of it on Medium. But I am over-the-moon excited about what you are doing. You will see me use a different email for my subscription(it’s the other one you have , but not this one on the Stack)

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I can't think of a quicker way to NOT get Boosted than reading/applying the tips people are writing about. I can assure you "using subheadings" is one of the last things I'm looking for when deciding whether or not to nominate work.

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Right? I had someone tell me they like to see subtitles and blockquotes to increase the chances of getting a boost. I said no thanks, those have nothing to do with boost. Sometimes I don't know where people get their ideas.

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I loved this newsletter, Linda. Just like you, I left my job years ago, also moved countries. I love writing and editing (I mostly do it in Hungarian), but it doesn't pay the bills. Last week I was thinking about to work at Aldi as a shop assistant. And don't get me wrong, there is no problem with that, but I think I can do better, I can make a living on writing and editing (in English). But yes, I'm lost in that jungle of bullshit articles you mentioned...The more I read them, either my blood pressure gets high or my confidence level gets low...literally I feel lost...

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Hey Linda, I also noticed how quick it is for people to subscribe to one's Substack. As small as my reach is, even I've been getting approximately a subscriber a day, which is unheard of on Medium, where I wrote for two and a half years just to get 50+ subscribers.

But I have the same concern as you. Some people seem to impulsively subscribe to a lot of substacks, sometimes just to support friends or classmates. Nothing wrong with that, but from my experience of doing a subscribe for subscribe with some classmates in a past course I took, I ended up with a bunch of newsletters that I wasn't even interested in.

Not because they were bad but because most of my classmates don't write in topics I'm interested in... Our instructor told us to subscribe to each other to give each other initial boost, which is well intended but in hindsight, I think it was unwise. I feel too guilty to unsubscribe from anyone but maybe I should?

Now I'm in a different course, where I see some classmates subscribe to each other for support. Some people subscribe to me for support, which I'm grateful for. But unless I'm actually interested in their topic, I refrain from subscribing back. Not because I dislike them as people, but because I'm just not interested in their topic and don't want my inbox crammed with lots of things that I'll never read! Okay it's already crammed with mostly things I don't read, but most of the time I don't have the heart to unsubscribe. But I probably should. :(

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I totally agree. Subscribe for subscribe is unsustainable and only brings guilt after a while.

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This is exciting, Linda. It may encourage me to write more on Medium so I can afford it. My budget is very tight for the rest of the year. If I can’t swing it yet, I can maybe catch up on the ones I miss. Will this year’s tutorials be available to next year’s subscribers? I’ve been a fan of yours since your Medium tips download years ago. You are the only person I’ve found with consistently reliable advice on writing on Medium and Substack. You’re about to make bank, girl, and nobody deserves it more. Best of luck!

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If I had the funds, I would absolutely subscribe. Your advice is excellent!l

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$ign me up! Count me in!

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So in sum:

- It’s unethical to sell marketing strategies to desperate people trying to live their dreams but here I am doing it

- All the other marketers are selling old, irrelevant advice but here I am pushing medium boost strategies on substack *cough*

- I make more money than all the other marketers which is proof that I’m better at marketing (and not for other reasons like first mover advantage or luck or because I make wild, unrealistic promises)

Sorry to be harsh but all the bold claims you make in this piece has my hackles up and I have read too much sales copy to be a lemming at this point.

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I am glad you posted this. Because sentiments like yours are why I have just minded my own business, learned how to grow, and watched people struggle. Because I knew. The minute I offer any kind of help, someone like you was going to step out, call me a hypocrite. Which is basically what you did. The *cough* sealed that.

So here's the difference. Many of the people selling "how to succeed on Medium" courses built their following on "how to succeed" and meta posts. Which is spectacularly unhelpful for someone who writes essays or poetry. I could point you to some of those people. Send you to their profile. Send you to their course. But I don't call people out in public that way. So I'll leave you to do your own homework in that regard.

Go to my Medium. You will not see any meta posts. You will not see any posts about how I got more followers, how I got boosted x number of times. None. What you will see is personal essays, feminist posts, history posts, a little poetry. I built my results on writing. Not holding out a "you, too" carrot. Nuance. Is sometimes everything.

You are right. I do make bold claims. And I fully intend to back them up. That nuance is why.

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I am very much looking forward to your tutorials, Linda. I write on Medium, essays mostly, and don't have a niche. How important is having a niche, by the way?

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$20 sounds like a bargain for your expertise each time!

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I know I have a bazillion things I need to improve and yep, have no idea what they are... I read the AI tip below, so thank you:) I also turned mine off. I will most likely be investing in your tips when you release them also, since there are so many people who give the worst advice about writing online. Yours are solid, and not gimicky which I like. I am def at a standstill in my writing and need some serious work.

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Would you say you are better at marketing or writing, Linda? And which do you like the most? Because I can't tell from this super meta piece. Impressive.

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Thanks for sharing your expertise with us. Following along curiously. :-)

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