353 Comments
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David Perlmutter's avatar

I have been meaning to do this for some time, so thank you for the reminder.

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Kristin DeMarr's avatar

Same! 😂

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You are so welcome David :)

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Anya Harris's avatar

Thank you for this. I am fairly new to Substack and didn’t even know what goes out as people have surprised me by subscribing! Will definitely change the default thank you. More tips would be greatly appreciated thank you 😊🙏

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You are so welcome Anya. I am working on a series of tips and a publishing calendar to keep me on track. Glad you enjoyed :)

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Terry Camper's avatar

On my to do list!

But I’m so glad to read your thoughts on why we write- the connection!

Thanks for that.

I needed that thought this morning- I’ve just been reading too many click-bait type articles and needed to change my thinking a bit.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

There's just so much of that click-bait stuff. I confess I've read too much of it and then can't do it because it doesn't feel right to me. So I figure I'll share what's working for me, and maybe it will help. Glad you enjoyed, Terry

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Kat Olvera's avatar

Just now getting my Substack up and running and this is really helpful. Thanks for the advice!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You are so welcome, Kat. It's a ride, that's for sure!

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Kristina Michelle's avatar

Oh my God, thank you. I’m not even sure if I realize there was a welcome letter. 🤦‍♀️😂

I’m new here 🤓

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I didn't for a long time either Kristina. And then when I did, what I wrote was awful. lol. It's in your settings, just keep scrolling down until you get to welcome letter. :)

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Kristina Michelle's avatar

Many thanks. I will work on it this weekend!

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Ruthie Urman's avatar

Thanks, needed that direction!

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Flora M Brown's avatar

Yikes! Gotta go fix my welcome letter.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

lol Flora. We've all been there. Took a while before I realized, too.

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

What a relief to learn I did the right thing without even knowing it! Here's my welcome letter. Memorable...I hope.

"You’re here! I’m so glad you’ve found your way here. I won’t interrupt your busy life too often, perhaps once a week. But I will try and bring interesting tidbits of the fantasy realm to you that I hope will allow us to build upon the fantastical and give us a bit of a respite from everyday life.

If you like what you see, please tell your friends about this newsletter.

After all, we hobbits, fae, witches, dryads, and other fantastical folk have to stick together!"

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Would you mind terribly if I suggest a way to rearrange those very words to make them stronger? :)

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

I'm always open to suggestions!

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Jennifer Jade's avatar

Will you share on here?

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

I will. I think it would be terrific if I could help others learn.

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Marquita Herald's avatar

Perfect timing! I didn’t use the default welcome but I still wasn’t happy with it so - and I swear this is true - first thing on my weekend to-do (after participating in the NKD!) is to redo the letter. I am inspired!

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Olaf Haarenson's avatar

You pitch on the fantastical was enough to have me blindly subscribe, looking forward to reading!

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

Awww, thank you! I hope you enjoy what you read. I have a blast writing it.

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Elizabeth Stone's avatar

So well said, and you’ve I inspired me to go revise ALL THE THINGS this morning so thank you. I probably needed to hear that.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You are so welcome Elizabeth!

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Untrickled by Michelle Teheux's avatar

Can you share a few examples of people who you think do it right? I’d love to see some good examples!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

That's a great suggestion Michelle. I wish I'd been saving them along the way, but I will start watching and see if I can build a nice collection

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Georgia Patrick's avatar

How about asking us to each send you the top 5? I'm thinking I'm not the only one who has a top 10 list. Whenever I see an About page or website that connects with high impact and memorability, I put it on the list. That forces me to keep the list current because you can get bumped off the list if something even better shows up. Oh, one more thing, do this privately by email. Not behind a Substack paywall, but in your own private circle. Specifically, you don't get to see the whole list, compiled by Linda, unless you contribute your 5. Call it Covered Dish Caroll. You get nothing back unless you bring enough for yourself and 4 others.

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Lancelot Schaubert's avatar

please do. that’s what i came here to read

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WomenWarriors's avatar

Anyone know how to remove the 'take survey' button in that welcome missive?

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Mike Sowden's avatar

@Jason Chatfield has pretty much the best I've seen! Go sign up and marvel at it.

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Jason Chatfield's avatar

Thanks Mike!

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Unpretending Spontaneous's avatar

Curiosity beckons. I see so substacks written about the United States. I’m interested to know the various countries people on substack are actually from. I’m an Aussie 🦘

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Indy's avatar

Hello fellow Aussie! It does seem very America-centric here 99% of the time, doesn’t it?

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Michelle Redfern's avatar

Hellooooo Aussie who splits time between Bali & Oz. 👋

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Anette Pieper's avatar

One more country: Germany. I'm from Germany and have lived here most of my life, but I've also lived and worked for 12 years in five other countries .

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Xaviera Loraine's avatar

I live currently in the USA but I am from Suriname 🇸🇷 South-America. Have been on the look out for Dutch writers on Substack but many write in English for the global universal reach 😌

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Adrienne's avatar

I live in Mauritius :) I liked this read, thanks.

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Audra B.'s avatar

Thank you! As someone who is still very much a Substack novice, I really appreciate your tips and tricks so much!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

You are so welcome, Audra. I'm glad you enjoy them :)

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Audra B.'s avatar

They are so helpful! And your writing is beautiful!

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Ravleen Kaur's avatar

This was nice!!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Thank you! :)

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Daniela's avatar

I'm trying to figure out how to change my welcome letter but I'm an old person and new apps anger me. Still, I'll take your advice and try a little harder.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

New apps are frustrating, I hear you on that. I use Substack on my desktop and I go to settings and scroll down until I read "welcome letter" -- it should be similar in the app. Hope that helps!

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Daniela's avatar

I found the button in the settings! Thanks for the help. Now I just gotta think of what to say.

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Leo in L.A.'s avatar

This annoys me. You know the little descriptor paragraph underneath the person’s name on their profile? They exceed the character limit and it trails off and I can’t read the rest of it. So annoying and it’s almost ubiquitous. lol

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Oh my god, Leo. I am with you on that one lol

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Sue Kusch's avatar

I have been on Substack since January 2024. I started down one road, then in January 25, fine-tuned it, and now on July 1 I am introducing my "new" Substack, which will focus on my passion and purpose, not what I thought would "sell." I know that I will lose subscribers who won't be interested in my new focus, but that's ok because chances are they weren't reading or engaging.

This evolution is partly because, as I gained more subscribers, my engagement & open rates declined dramatically. I reviewed my most-read and engaged content and realized that it CONNECTED me to my readers

I am a new subscriber to your content, and I read your writing immediately because it evokes emotions in me. And offers ideas or tips.

I was a blogger with a small business for a decade, and it was marketing 90% of the time. Now I just want to write.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I hear you Sue. I have been finding my way, too. If you're doing something new, here's a little tip. You can go into your stats and sort your list by stars. The stars are engagement so people who have 4 and 5 stars are your most loyal readers. You can send them a private email that doesn't get posted to let them know about the changes. Just a nice little touch to make them feel seen, you know?

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Sue Kusch's avatar

That's a great tip! Thank you.

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Jane Duncan Rogers's avatar

That’s a great tip! Thanks so much.

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Anette Pieper's avatar

I didn't know that! Thank you, Linda!

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Cassandra Davis's avatar

Thank you for the kick in the pants to fix mine!

I've re-worked it so it correctly matches the barely-contained-chaos that is the theme of my life.

---------------------------------------------

Strap in and prepare for some chop!

This wild ride is piloted by Maggie O’Connell; security services are provided by Nicholas Reed, and there’s a whole scattering of random aliens, superheroes, quirky friends, and more than a few references to daggers.

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Not Young, Not Done!'s avatar

Super valuable as I just started! Thank you Linda :)

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