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May 26, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

lol. It's a multi lane highway. I'm just in the next lane lol

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May 26, 2023
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Linda Caroll's avatar

I agree Adoyo. I think some people just gravitate to one niche, while others don't.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

This is great. I can target my Substack writing posts to the audiences that will actually appreciate them. I was having trouble with that before.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Right? I think it's a great addition, too!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I haven't quite figured out how best to navigate Substack tags, but I do have a few recurring features (record reviews, weekly playlists, etc.). Like you, my audience is in chunks- some people really show up for content about X, and others for Y. I certainly don't expect every one to show up for everything, but I *do* want them to keep showing up, and I think this helps make that happen.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I think in your case, the tags would work really well to help people find the content they enjoy.

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Jill Ebstein's avatar

Linda, for your sake, I regret to say we are alike. I write and travel in a wide lane. Niches aren't me, even if that is what I help others do as a consultant. There is simply too many interesting ideas and topics to pursue. This week I wrote about ChatGPT/prompt engineering and then on "moving meditation," followed by standing on the mountain of "no's." The only common ground is that they have nothing in common but me as their author.

Bottom line: I salute your diversity of writing, and I enjoy it immensely. Please don't change.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

lol, thanks Jill. I'm not sure I could change if I tried. And I have tried. So hard. Tried to stick to a niche. But then I bore myself to death. In my opinion, the only thing that makes us all truly unique is how we look at the world, you know?

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Dakota Duncan's avatar

Thank you for this explanation. Somehow, when I read it on Substack, I felt like it wasn't going to be useful for me, but now I think I see the beauty parts. I've gotta go do some playing around with it!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Right? Same. I need to do some playing with it, too.

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Dakota Duncan's avatar

Here's a question for you. Do you know if adding a tag to a particular post, something more narrow than the larger navigational tag, would help people find the post? For instance, I have a navigational section on "amphibians" but the particular post is about specific species of frog. If I add "frog" as a tag is there any point? I see it gets added to our settings options, which could end up creating a very long list of tags. Any insight?

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I think that's hard to say since tags aren't even a month old. I do wonder the same kind of stuff. Like, will people be able to follow tags? Or are they just for our readers? And I don't know the answer to those questions.

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Dakota Duncan's avatar

Guess we’ll learn together!

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Robin du Plessis's avatar

Linda, did you put tags on this story? I'm asking because I don't see any at the bottom and I am using the app on my android. Just curious...

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Linda Caroll's avatar

No, I didn't. I haven't decided on the tags I want to use yet. Will start as soon as I decide that, and then get them set up. :)

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Robin du Plessis's avatar

I will keep my eyes open for when you do.

As a matter of interest I looked at two other substacks I receive and don't see any tags.

Thanks!

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

Am I right, then, that you don't know from experience to what degree these are helpful?

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Zoe Carada's avatar

Hi Linda, I use lists on Medium to group my posts theme. I was also confused when I joined Medium as to how to structure my content list. And yes, very happy about tags here, but some key tags should be given, so they are searchable beyond your own publication.

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Jenine Baines's avatar

I'm with Holly as a poet. Poetry - a niche but beyond that - all topics!

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Jan M. Flynn's avatar

I saved this post and re-read it now that I've (finally!) set up my Substack and scheduled 4 posts for June. Like you, I just can't seem to niche down, and this phrase of yours resonates with me: I like the people who are like roman candles, and you just never know what they’re going to come up with . . .". However, on my Substack, I'm focusing on aging in a way that's joyful but thoughtful, as well as real. No advice on how to be a super ager from me!

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Yana Bostongirl's avatar

Wow I did learn a lot from this - but why doesn't the tags display at the bottom of the post like on Medium?

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Linda Caroll's avatar

That's a good question! For a while, they didn't at Medium, either. I kind of hope they'll add it somewhere along the way.

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Dr. Axel Meierhoefer 🏕️🔥's avatar

I have been using tags in the last 5 posts/articles but I am not sure that it does anything. Do we get any feedback abut the effect of tags?

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Cryptofada's avatar

When I saw this I thought hashtags

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Linda, Thanks! This is really helpful!

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Karen Michaels 🦋's avatar

Great info re the tags. I am DEF not a niche person and I love finding others doing this too. Thanks for the inspo, Linda!

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