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

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The first ever world map was sketched thousands of years ago by Indian saint
“Ramanujacharya” who simply translated the following verse from Mahabharat and gave the world its real face

In Mahabharat,it is described how 'Maharishi Ved Vyasa' gave away his divine vision to Sanjay


Dhritarashtra's charioteer so that he could describe him the events of the upcoming war.

But, even before questions of war could begin, Dhritarashtra asked him to describe how the world looks like from space.

This is how he described the face of the world:

सुदर्शनं प्रवक्ष्यामि द्वीपं तु कुरुनन्दन। परिमण्डलो महाराज द्वीपोऽसौ चक्रसंस्थितः॥
यथा हि पुरुषः पश्येदादर्शे मुखमात्मनः। एवं सुदर्शनद्वीपो दृश्यते चन्द्रमण्डले॥ द्विरंशे पिप्पलस्तत्र द्विरंशे च शशो महान्।

—वेद व्यास, भीष्म पर्व, महाभारत


Meaning:-

हे कुरुनन्दन ! सुदर्शन नामक यह द्वीप चक्र की भाँति गोलाकार स्थित है, जैसे पुरुष दर्पण में अपना मुख देखता है, उसी प्रकार यह द्वीप चन्द्रमण्डल में दिखायी देता है। इसके दो अंशो मे पीपल और दो अंशो मे विशाल शश (खरगोश) दिखायी देता है।


Meaning: "Just like a man sees his face in the mirror, so does the Earth appears in the Universe. In the first part you see leaves of the Peepal Tree, and in the next part you see a Rabbit."

Based on this shloka, Saint Ramanujacharya sketched out the map, but the world laughed