Since switching to Ghost, I saw my open rates go up almost double what they were on Substack, but since I have to pay per subscriber, I do cull my list every quarter. I filter people who haven't opened a single email or clicked, then email them to ask if they still want to be on my list. The first time I did this was eye-opening. Quite a few said they use an email provider that doesn't track opens, like you mentioned. Others said they read via an RSS feed. Many bounced back because the email was inactive or inbox was full.
Very relatable. This happens every time I do it, and my rss has been broken for months. So my rates are down. I am actually moving to ghost this month. They are building my site right now. Like it?
I really like Ghost after seven months. While the transition was pretty seamless, it still took subscribers a little while to get used to the change, so it takes a lot of hand-holding, screenshots to show how to comment, sign in to change their account,etc, especially people who are used to having everything on Substack. I get a lot more responses through email now because I think some just still don't know how to comment on Ghost. I'm fine with that, but something I noticed. Ghost also didn't have an automated welcome email setup until recently, and I think that hurt. It's better now that they do, in terms of retention.
Thank you for sharing, Russell. As an up-and-coming author, I am looking ahead to talking about my book and how I’ll get the word out there. I’ve been experimenting with emails through Substack versus sending the posts. I have all my emails for Substack turned off so I only see the posts when I clicks into my Subscriptions on the web or app.
A while ago I was tagged in an issue where folks who clicked off the email notification were actually removed as a subscriber. I’m not sure if this was fixed or not.
It makes me wonder if it’s worth an individual email from my personal email address. How do I get the word out about my book? Do I use mailchimp or kit or flowkit/flowbacker (whatever the hell it’s called).
I can export my subscribers from Substack. This seems to be my one comfort.
These are not easy answer. I have many thoughts on this, but I need to know more about your situation. You clearly have too much information, and need help whittling the right ones for you. Getting these answers are why people join our unicorn tier and book 1:1. I know people just want every answer in a comment, but that is almost always impossible for getting the right answer.
I have noticed my engagement rates dropped after I stopped using my AI-generated voice over. I hate to use AI for that, but some of my readers prefer voice even if it’s AI.
Most of these are problems of success, I guess. So until you have been doing this for a while and know what works, you probably shouldn’t worry about anything.
Or at least only worry about one thing, you know? I mean, everything is a problem when you start, so nothing is? Until you have an email list, for instance, you don’t have to worry about culling it.
Idk. Gotta aggregate your audience somewhere and email is the best way to do it tha we currently have. You can build an app I guess, or a Skool community, but not a lot of options.
Honestly? I think it's a branding issue. Hapitalist sounds clever but also ambiguous. The meaning isn't instantly clear. Author Stack gave a better idea of what subscribers were getting. I'm not saying that to be critical, just as an observation. I'm a longtime subscriber to both.
I noticed the same thing happened when Great Courses rebranded to "Wondrium." Just not the same energy. Branding is important. Titles matter.
I appreciate your opinion, even though I don’t agree with it. Most of the people who subscribed to Author Stack complained that it didn’t give author related things. I have never once gotten a complaint like that from somebody since the rebranding. There is a difference between something being broadly branded and something being well-branded. Lots of people subscribed to TAS because it said the word Author, but never actually wanted anything I had to say here. That’s actually pretty terrible branding in my opinion.
I remember reading that you've changed the name of this particular Substack a few times-could it be that because Hapitalist is still new and you may need to wait about 6 months to a year to be able to truly compare and contrast with past successes and failures?
(Side note: I could be misremembering about reading about the past name/domain changes)
Yeah. I mean yes, but the recommendation engine specifically is filled with people who are brand new to any ecosystem, and the slowdown was coming before the change. Part of why I made the change is because I saw it slowing. There are still 649 people recommending me.
I also have a redirect of my old site so all that traffic should be redirecting.
So, yeah, but not to the extent it is. I think I mentioned both of those in the second half of the article, but maybe not enough. Am I missing something?
I think you just described a symptom of late-stage capitalism.
Well I did write a book called How to Thrive as a Writer in a Capitalist Dystopia, so it’s very on brand.
I, a human, opened, read and enjoyed this post. Just to let you know.
Since switching to Ghost, I saw my open rates go up almost double what they were on Substack, but since I have to pay per subscriber, I do cull my list every quarter. I filter people who haven't opened a single email or clicked, then email them to ask if they still want to be on my list. The first time I did this was eye-opening. Quite a few said they use an email provider that doesn't track opens, like you mentioned. Others said they read via an RSS feed. Many bounced back because the email was inactive or inbox was full.
Very relatable. This happens every time I do it, and my rss has been broken for months. So my rates are down. I am actually moving to ghost this month. They are building my site right now. Like it?
I really like Ghost after seven months. While the transition was pretty seamless, it still took subscribers a little while to get used to the change, so it takes a lot of hand-holding, screenshots to show how to comment, sign in to change their account,etc, especially people who are used to having everything on Substack. I get a lot more responses through email now because I think some just still don't know how to comment on Ghost. I'm fine with that, but something I noticed. Ghost also didn't have an automated welcome email setup until recently, and I think that hurt. It's better now that they do, in terms of retention.
Nice! Did you use one of their themes or make your own?
I bought one: https://themex.studio/braun/
Here's how it looks: https://www.tiffanychu.org/
I love it!!!
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Russell. As an up-and-coming author, I am looking ahead to talking about my book and how I’ll get the word out there. I’ve been experimenting with emails through Substack versus sending the posts. I have all my emails for Substack turned off so I only see the posts when I clicks into my Subscriptions on the web or app.
A while ago I was tagged in an issue where folks who clicked off the email notification were actually removed as a subscriber. I’m not sure if this was fixed or not.
It makes me wonder if it’s worth an individual email from my personal email address. How do I get the word out about my book? Do I use mailchimp or kit or flowkit/flowbacker (whatever the hell it’s called).
I can export my subscribers from Substack. This seems to be my one comfort.
These are not easy answer. I have many thoughts on this, but I need to know more about your situation. You clearly have too much information, and need help whittling the right ones for you. Getting these answers are why people join our unicorn tier and book 1:1. I know people just want every answer in a comment, but that is almost always impossible for getting the right answer.
I’ve given up on my open rates, but I’ll probably do a small culling.
Yeah, it’s probably the best. It’s just really hard.
I have noticed my engagement rates dropped after I stopped using my AI-generated voice over. I hate to use AI for that, but some of my readers prefer voice even if it’s AI.
And I'm just starting out with email. Should we be worried?
Or, to rephrase... How worried should we be? 😕
Most of these are problems of success, I guess. So until you have been doing this for a while and know what works, you probably shouldn’t worry about anything.
Or at least only worry about one thing, you know? I mean, everything is a problem when you start, so nothing is? Until you have an email list, for instance, you don’t have to worry about culling it.
Of course, it would be silly to worry about culling emails if I don't have an email list.
My worry is more high altitude... Is email itself going to the shitter because of all this?
I guess we won't know until it does (or... doesn't 🤷🏼♂️)
Idk. Gotta aggregate your audience somewhere and email is the best way to do it tha we currently have. You can build an app I guess, or a Skool community, but not a lot of options.
Honestly? I think it's a branding issue. Hapitalist sounds clever but also ambiguous. The meaning isn't instantly clear. Author Stack gave a better idea of what subscribers were getting. I'm not saying that to be critical, just as an observation. I'm a longtime subscriber to both.
I noticed the same thing happened when Great Courses rebranded to "Wondrium." Just not the same energy. Branding is important. Titles matter.
I appreciate your opinion, even though I don’t agree with it. Most of the people who subscribed to Author Stack complained that it didn’t give author related things. I have never once gotten a complaint like that from somebody since the rebranding. There is a difference between something being broadly branded and something being well-branded. Lots of people subscribed to TAS because it said the word Author, but never actually wanted anything I had to say here. That’s actually pretty terrible branding in my opinion.
What do you recommend as the best tactic re: email? Do we continue to cull our lists?
You have a lot of giveaway subs so probably. It’s not a clear cut answer.
I remember reading that you've changed the name of this particular Substack a few times-could it be that because Hapitalist is still new and you may need to wait about 6 months to a year to be able to truly compare and contrast with past successes and failures?
(Side note: I could be misremembering about reading about the past name/domain changes)
Yeah. I mean yes, but the recommendation engine specifically is filled with people who are brand new to any ecosystem, and the slowdown was coming before the change. Part of why I made the change is because I saw it slowing. There are still 649 people recommending me.
I also have a redirect of my old site so all that traffic should be redirecting.
So, yeah, but not to the extent it is. I think I mentioned both of those in the second half of the article, but maybe not enough. Am I missing something?
Google had already killed it before generative AI.
I don’t agree with that. Nor did I say generative ai killed it. Did you even read the article?