My Substackiversary

How I might’ve just gone and worked out what works for me!

Why Substack?

The 23rd November marks one year on Substack for me, I started at zero with just a desire to do something in this space. It had no form or strategy but I did have a bucket of ideas and an impatient drive to make something happen immediately.

I felt I’d missed the boat on Instagram, there was a period of time when I saw fellow artists really grow their followings and whilst I have some fabulous repeat customers and stockists for my art and things might be ticking over quite nicely, to make things work better for me and my desire to do more travelling, I needed to pivot some aspects of my business and to grow my audience.

By the time I eventually got round to admitting I needed to work more on my social media campaigns, it was all Reels, Dancing and oh my word, THE SHOUTING!

“ YOU NEED TO DO THIS TO SUCCEED. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GROW. LET ME MANSPLAIN YOUR WAY TO 100k!”

That was the appeal of Substack, a platform which felt like a pair of soft well fitting noise cancelling headphones, no adverts, I can pick what I want to read and when and whilst I’ve gone down many an hour long rabbit hole (coughs* Usually longer), it’s never felt like my time has been wasted here.

I also felt it was a place that I would enjoy writing and creating art in, people were polite, supportive and cheering you on in a way I thought had disappeared off the face of the internet.

Getting Started

If you poke around my archive there’s a paint with me video, there are posts about how I got started in greeting cards, an illustrated post, posts with more practical help and resources (some of these are now paywalled and I’ll explain my thinking there later) and observations about travelling, oh and of course dog art.

I should explain I also have ADHD and whilst I have no intention of becoming ‘The ADHD Artist’ on here, it might help you understand my flitting around different subjects.

So if my newsletter can never be about just one thing, then it’s about me, right? And then, isn’t being all me, me, me… a bit of a turn-off?

I concluded I needed a guide and some goals, so I signed up to a course, which ended up not really being a great help to me, the focus was more on writing and aesthetics, neither of which I needed much help with, but it got me familar with the publication structure and I did meet some fabulous people there and we’re still in touch. It also taught me to be a bit more careful with who I give my money to.

I love and can highly recommend

Claire Venus (she/her) ✨

and her publications. I dip in and out of them all the time, then I was introduced to

Sarah Fay

and ‘Substack Writers at Work’

Sarah is my person (not exclusively, she can be yours too), but do look around, different people suit different personalities, I see a lot of good people doing good things on Substack and no one I’ve come across, yet!, has tried to clickbait me into something fake or inauthentic.

So far, Sarah has helped me work out so much for myself, from what posting frequency suits my audience, to who my audience is! How does my newsletter align with my values and what my goals on here actually are. She’s a fabulous teacher, go check her publication out at

Sarah Fay

‘Substack Writers at Work’

The biggest take away I have learned so far is that you can pretty much write about anything if you stick to your core values as an artist/writer/person. It’s your voice across all subjects and you naturally, over time, become your own brand.

Goals

My first challenge was a proof of concept, would people subscribe to read my newsletter based on all the different things I want to write about, art, travel, business and dogs? So, my first goal was 1000 free subscribers in my first year.

I have spent nearly a year, trying out different things and features that Substack offers. Substack is definitely a long game and taking the time to set out your stall in a way that works for you is very enlightening.

Change is also a big factor, things are changing on Substack quite frequently in terms of how things work, the algorithm on Notes has been interesting recently, tumbleweed one minute then viral the next. I’ve learned to go with the flow, plod away and produce the best writing and painting I can.

I’m writing this on the 20th November and my free subscriber count is at 983*.

I’ll take that as a win. Plus I now have one of those subscriber growth graphs that has the start of a vertical line, how exciting is that?

Going Paid

I can’t remember exactly when I switched on paid, it’s just been sat there for a while as I work out what my strategy is and, trust me, it does need a strategy.

I currently have 6 paid subscribers, 2 of which are friends and family, the others are either super fans of my work or other creatives who find my content informative and useful. I’ve had more subscribers dip in and out over the past few months, but I know they’ve not stayed because there’s been no clear offering.

This is the most tricky bit for me so far to navigate, as I do have a business to run and I do like writing but I need to be painting and designing for a greater percentage of my time so that the bills get paid. So I’ve decided on the content that I think will be of service to my paid readers, plus direct access to me in the chat function.

So what’s my goal for next year into 2025? Let’s see if I can get to 100 paid subscribers. I am planning on doing a fun launch in January. In the meantime it’s this type of post I’ll be writing for my paid subscribers, sharing my experience and being guided by them as to what might come next.

Depending on when you’re reading this I’ll update the list below with links, as and when I’ve finished writing them, but these are the next posts I’ll be writing for my paid offer. You’ll get 2 a month in addition to the 2 free which makes it a weekly newsletter!

• Why I downsized my Studio and Shop space

• What different revenue streams do I have in my art business

• How I’ve replaced Photoshop with Procreate

• Are Trade Shows worth doing, what are the alternatives?

• Sharing my process for designing a new range of greeting cards

• How I’m pivoting my business to support my lifestyle

• How do Trade Customers access my trade products on a website that’s open to the public

• Painting Demos

• Cancelled Live on TV

If these sound right up your street, then I’d love to get to know you better in our private chat space.

In my first year here, I’ve made new friends, I’m progressing, slowly yes but that’s ok and I’ve been called a ‘radiator person’, which is apparently someone who makes other’s feel warm and energised.

I’m definitely adding ‘keep radiating’ to my goals for the next year 😊

*23 Nov a.m. Update: 997

PS Paid subscribers also get this cute downloadable planner…