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Jan 20, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

Lol, it is another chore. But if you enjoy what you're writing, some days it's a little less of a chore. lol. I will be sharing some tips, will post both here and on Medium. :)

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Jan 20, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

I still get follows every day on Medium, so I guess it's possible but it's a lot harder for sure. The biggest issue there is getting people to sign up by email because even if they follow, they likely won't see you in their feed. So if you do write on Medium, push email in your footer. lol. I'll post my tips as soon as I can cobble it all together and hope you enjoy!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

lol, Wren. That's good to know. I might check out her book based on that. But it's still weird.

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Jan 20, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

lol Holly. If 80% followed in hopes I'd follow back, that means the remaining 20% (3600 people) actually want to read my stuff but I promise 3600 people do not see my posts. Hell most days 360 don't see my posts. lol.

Couple things on open rates. First, if you were getting 52% on Mailchimp or Convertkit you'd be one of their showcased superstars because average open rates are under 20%.

That said, I've found open rates to be kind of borked here. My list isn't giant because I regularly delete the people with 0 stars. Stars are an engagement metric, so if a person has none after being subscribed a couple months, I remove them.

Here's what I mean by borked stats... when I go into email stats, here's two examples.

-- Emails sent 898 / Emails opened 871 / open rate 41%

-- Emails sent 892 / Emails opened 803 / open rate 44%

Wtf? It makes no sense to me. I don't know why stats are borked everywhere we go. They're borked at Medium, borked here. And for that matter, website stats in Google analytics are equally borked not just for my site but for clients, too.

So if yours are showing 52% on the main panel, you might see a different story when you go to the stats page that shows actual opens. Compared to getting 100 views from 18K followers at Medium, I'll take it. lol

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I do know lots of people don't hit like or comment, but kind of assumed 0 stars mean they didn't read or open, either, which is why I've been removing those. If that's incorrect, hoo boy, how dumb. lol. Guess I should check into that to be sure.

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Jan 20, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

Well! lol. I shall stop culling. I've never exported to look. Maybe I should.

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

The stars mean engagement, it doesn't mean they're not reading your work. I personally don't think it's wise to mess with it. Readers are often lurkers until you hit the right buttons. And if not, at least they're reading.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Hah. Well maybe if I stop culling, it will grow faster. lol

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

Pretty sure it will. But you've got a great thing going here. I love what you're doing. Don't waste another minute worrying about the little things!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

For whatever reason, I have quite a few readers with email address from Proton & Hey. neither of those will ever show any activity, no matter how active they might be. Just one more thing to consider before purging cold subscribers.

As a workaround, I occasionally send an email out to the group that looks like it's inactive. then a follow up a week or so later. If no one has responded, then it's likely time to purge them from the rolls.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Ugh. Follow-for-follow on Medium is a large part of what first pushed me away. Yes, I hope you get to 100. No, I'm not going to follow you "just because."

On here, I've set some pretty high guardrails to avoid that. I'll only recommend 'Stacks I genuinely enjoy. And with very little exception, I've kept the recs to ones that are in my same space (music).

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David Perlmutter's avatar

This is why you have to subscribe to writers by e-mail if you want to read them, because Medium's homepage reflects their interests and not ours. Typical corporate stuff.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

+1

There's a handful of Medium writers I've done that with, and it's really helped.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

When it works, though. I am thinking of one writer in particular. I signed up to get his posts by email. I rarely get them. He has trouble getting his publication emails to go out, too and ends up tagging all his writers. So the emails system seems glitchy, too.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Oh, it totally is. I get one writer's work consistently. The rest have been hit & miss.

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Kerry Kerr McAvoy's avatar

Thanks for this nudge. I’ve been considering substack for my podcast extras. This was the encouragement I needed.

Hey! On a separate note, my website is getting a major overhaul as we speak. Once a solid first design has been published, I’d love to know what you think. :) Wow, what a project it has been. Huge. Lol. Exhausting! It should be good, though (I think!)

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I'm glad to hear. And I'd love to have a peek at your site when it's ready. Just email me! :)

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Soooooo frustrating! thanks for spelling things out.

I've been considering Substack too!

I'm wondering...can I take something I've published on Medium and publish it on Substack or does it have to be original for Substack?

Thanks!

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Gotcha! And thank you! I don't think I'd mind Medium continuing to display my work.

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Great points. A bit intimidating. I have a separate mailing list for my website blog Seedlings vs Medium, so I have been able to post the same stuff to both of those. But if I want to build an audience on substack I'm going to have to create original stuff.

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Smart!!

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

Yes! I do it all the time, along with posts from my old blogs. I preface mine with an explanation of when I wrote it and where, and sometimes I update it if I think it needs it, but every post is golden if you still like them. You have a whole new audience for all those wonderful pieces!

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Hey Ramona, thank you!

So when you say, "I preface with an explanation of when I wrote it and where" you mean you say something like 'this post originally appeared on Medium in 2021?"

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Robyn Norman's avatar

Fun article :-). Thanks! And I loved the 'frantically got in touch with the editor' because every time I re-read one of my articles I see glaring faux pas!!

I'm wondering if you have any ideas/resources for a beginner's guide to substack that helped you get started. I'm sort of floundering rather than getting going because it's not Medium so it feels really foreign.

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

I wish I could point you to a beginner's guide but I've never found one with simple steps to get started! I try to attend Office Hours every Thursday, and usually find a wealth of information there, though there are so many participating now it's becoming almost impossible to keep up or to find something once I've moved on.

But you've given me an idea. I'm going to write a post at Writer Everlasting about starting and staying at Substack. I'll work on it today.

And thanks so much for your awesome support! Much appreciated!

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Robyn Norman's avatar

YAY!!!!!!!! But you've given me an idea. I'm going to write a post at Writer Everlasting about starting and staying at Substack. I'll work on it today.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

As of 5 minutes ago, my Medium "for you" homepage was showing 1 story from 4 days ago. The rest were from last fall.

Clicking over to "following," it's stories from:

Better Marketing

Better Marketing

Better Humans

Better Marketing

The Start Up- (this one also happens to be by a writer I follow)*

500ish*

Plethora of Pop

Better Humans

Better Humans

Better Marketing

Better Humans

Better Marketing

Ones marked with an asterisk are by people I follow. 500ish is a one man band, so that's a bit of anomaly here. Other than that, & the one in the StartUp, there's not a SINGLE article by a writer I follow in the top 10-12.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Cripes, Kevin. I can relate to that. I see a lot of those publications too. Guess I need to unfollow more publications and see if it changes my feed.

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Amy Sterling Casil's avatar

Yeah - I had one from 2013 - and I actually read it before wondering ... "oh" and looking at the date. The 'newsletter' that just came was "We are still deciding how to handle AI content" ... honestly I think our few English curse words are inadequate and I'm loathe to use them.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Right? It's really frustrating to watch that happening when writers are hurting for views.

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Amy Sterling Casil's avatar

Here I am struggling like a lunatic to crosspost from Medium to Substack. Christ on His Cross. Tech is bypassing me - I am rapidly losing the ability to cope with these many different interfaces and conflicts with different devices/programs.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

It's not just you. I had the same issue. I tried to import all my work from Medium, and wasn't able to.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I had that trouble and finally figured it out. I was able to import posts once I did. Will put that on the list of things to write about. :)

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Were you able to import them "wholesale," or one at a time? Either way, I'd love to read about how you did it!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I was able to import them all, but had to do some fiddling to get it to work.

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Amy Sterling Casil's avatar

I was just trying to post ONE - I have the download file of the hundreds of thousands of words I've published enriching those snakes -

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Doing just one means doing it manually. When you import, you can import in swaths. lol. But, I have manually moved single pieces. Just go to the Medium post and hit Control-A to copy the whole thing. Then Control-C on Substack to paste the whole thing in. Then check if anything needs editing.

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Amy Sterling Casil's avatar

This is what I did - there are a lot of little "bug-lets" with images, buttons, links, etc. (such as Amazon links). It is very complex. I wanted to brand my Substack as wellness - well here we are, the rape survivor with this s**t in her Wikipedia - and to this day not WORD ONE from any one at Scripps College, but they sat by and looked the other way when a full scholarship student and RA took her own life after predation and all the RAs went on strike. They could not care less and will defiantly defend their right to provide a safe happy home for predators just as ... well ... we can remember some individuals who felt that "following orders" was perfectly moral during WW2 also - https://amysterling.substack.com/p/holding-sexual-assault-enablers-responsible?sd=pf

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James Williams's avatar

I’d love some tips. I stopped posting on Medium as well. In the process of creating a newsletter and creating all articleson substack.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I'll be working on some tips and will share them both places. How is your substack going?

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Vanessa Gunter's avatar

Hi Linda, I would love any helpful tips you might have about Substack. I'm not sure I want to do this, but Medium is just really going down the drain and I need a home for what little writing I'm doing right now. Thanks for any help!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I felt the same way Vanessa. Its really frustrating and sorry the same is happening to you. I will put together a list of tips for getting onto Substack. Will probably post them on both Substack and Medium to make sure I reach everyone who's interested. :)

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Vanessa Gunter's avatar

Thank you :)

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

I've had some vague thoughts about what turned me off from Medium and why I hardly go there anymore, but this crystalizes it.

"At Medium, your followers are not your followers. They are Medium’s followers." This! It's like a lightbulb moment! The corporates at Medium have killed off any sense of community, the one perk I loved the most at one time. But it's okay, because I've found that community at Substack.

Mediium feels cutthroat now, with the emphasis on money and competition. That can never happen here unless the format changes drastically. I've said often that the subscription format is perfect for me. I've sent out invitations to subscribe and those who accept know what to expect. I see subtle changes in the way I write now. It's freer and more geared to a community, rather than to an invisible audience full of disinterested strangers. I'm really liking it.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I had the same lightbulb moment a while ago. For the longest time I thought I was building an audience over there. Then it dawned on me that even if people follow, they might not see my posts. How is that my audience? lol. It's not. I'm glad you're really liking writing on Substack. I find the same. :)

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

Yes, I'm settling right in. I've never felt this comfortable blogging before--and I've done a lot of it.

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Denise Shelton's avatar

I'm on Substack but my followers are mostly friends or people I picked up via Medium. I'd love tips on how to grow my list.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I will do, Denise. I'll put together some tips and share both here and probably on Medium too. I could use the reminder to do them myself. lol

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Jenine Baines's avatar

This is disgusting - just disgusting behavior by Medium. I subscribe to writers I don't want to miss but not everyone does and even I can't subscribe to everyone I follow! Shame on Tony and team.

Yes, I need advice on Substack...I believe I've come up w/ a theme...

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I got your email, Jen! Will reply over there. It is really frustrating at Medium lately. I'm going to work on my substack tips post and see if I can add some helpful idea that aren't already floating around out there.

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Denise G.'s avatar

I loved this discussion. If something smaller than micro-steps exists, that's where I am. I crave community and truly feeling connected. It's how I found Linda decades (?) ago. I'm ready to jump in.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Omg, Denise, can you even believe? It HAS been decades. Feeling connected is the most precious thing and it's lacking in so much of the internet. Like, can't say I ever felt connected on FB or Twitter. For a while on Medium, but that's changing fast with the new direction. But I think maybe it's possible here. I'm going to try cover the tips most people don't cover because it's usually the stuff no one thinks to say that matter most. You know?

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Denise G.'s avatar

Thank you for all you give. I don't know what I don't know. I'm working on the intro post. and then trying to figure out where the website comes into play. What I know, is that every piece of advice you've ever given me has helped me move forward. Happy to help in any way I can! PS when I open your substack from my phone (android) it makes me log in as if I was brand new?

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Katie's Confessions's avatar

It is so frustrating. I have no idea how to get started on Substack, but see I must do that. It has not been pleasant for those who came to Medium to read my stuff. I told them to just drop Medium and they were tickled. Part of it was, as you said, what Medium sends them. Thank you, Linda.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You're very welcome, Catherine. I'll do my best to put together a clear guide to getting started.

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Katie's Confessions's avatar

Thank you, bunches.

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