Thinking of starting a Substack?

Read this first 👇

As someone working in the creator economy space, I love the movement that Substack started.

They mainstreamed paying for independent writing, and changed the lives of thousands of writers in the process.

But they're building for a specific type of creator.
Substack has made it clear that they're focusing on professional writers.

(Putting my product hat on, this is a smart strategy for them to differentiate and win a specific market)

In 2020 they rolled out initiatives like grants, legal support, and mentorship for writers.
If you call yourself "not tech-savvy", their platform is the easiest out-of-the-box option.

Want to take some time off? One of their smartest features gives writers the power to pause paid subscriptions.
If you're a professional writer, Substack might be a good option for you to start with.

But, there are successful writers who are 'graduating' from Substack when they discover a few problems.
https://t.co/ryvYz4kXvD
If you're any other type of creator, don't choose Substack. 3 main reasons why:

💰 High take rate

The Substack revenue calculator (https://t.co/QG6UhlCbyp) shows ~80% profit margin for creators. Competitors are closer to 95%.

https://t.co/f98WLD6rzo
💌 Underpowered email

When you start to see success, you'll want to sell other products to your audience (see: “Multi-SKU creator” by @hunterwalk). This needs audience segmentation & automation—you can do neither here.

https://t.co/m0xR1ILXeM
💻 Underpowered website

Sure, you get a home on the internet for your writing. But ability to customize your site design, layout, and organization is limited. It's 1 long feed. This is not ideal for discovery, evergreen content, and SEO.
Consider these alternatives

@ConvertKit , @Ghost, or @letterdropco are all good options.

Email is a powerful tool for distribution and monetization. Newsletters are only one part of an email strategy, and switching costs are high.

Choose wisely.
Related reading:
https://t.co/sYBtptRj7H
https://t.co/79JNhyiD7j by @ungatedcreative
https://t.co/1MRqjsGVe5 by @Kevin_Indig
https://t.co/8IrurKzGpO by @JayCoDon
https://t.co/TIQe4rZbJq by @IanVanagas
https://t.co/rA03vOlBAT by @balajis

More from Finance

1/ I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my new website, a one-stop shop for all the content I'm creating.

There you'll find links to all my podcasts, the TTMYGH newsletter, and other exciting future projects.

2/ In 2020, I reignited my passion for interviewing brilliant people by launching The Grant Williams Podcast in various forms, including The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, and The Narrative Game.


3/ Starting February 1, I'm taking the bold step of moving these podcasts completely behind a paywall.

For the very affordable price of only $10 a month, listeners can gain access to the Copper Tier of
https://t.co/fxUfH8maI4, which includes all current & future podcasts.


4/ Why am I doing this? First and foremost, I aspire to create VALUABLE content. By definition, if something is priced at $0, it isn’t valuable. The time, effort and creativity that goes into these episodes is substantial. To keep doing them properly, they can no longer be free.

5/ I also strongly believe content creators should be able to make a living creating content. If everything is free, that’s not possible. I never seriously considered accepting outside sponsors – complete integrity is too critical to me.

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