#grow your paid subscribers on Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Expecting Platforms to Grow Your Audience Without Effort Is a Costly Illusion

Education and Meaningful Connection for Any Profession If You Don’t Give Something to Substack, It Gives Nothing to You This story is not limited to Substack. While I use it as an example to make my points, the principles I share here apply universally to any platform, any creator, and any profession. “Our brain’s default mode tempts us to resolve uncertainty by rushing to quick conclusions.…

[honeytonedhottie]

honey's it girl magazine december edition⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🎀

welcome back to honeys it girl magazine, this is the december catalog. get ready for the inside scoop on data that i've collected, things i've learned/started doing, and just general info like that organized in kind of a teen-magazine inspired fashion. this months catalog has an article written by the LOVELY @osculum-frombee. i just wanna start off by saying THANK YOU all for supporting the magazine and my blog this year, this is theee it girls magazine and without further ado lets just get into it.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ;

hey everyone! recently its come to my attention that a lot of you guys are advising me to create a sub stack account and so i did. on substack there will be a paid subscription to read the it girls magazine, BUT there are some things i want to tell u guys about regarding this magazine...💬🎀

WHAT ABOUT THE MAGAZINE ON TUMBLR? ;

you will still get an amazing it-girls magazine every month on tumblr absolutely free! the only difference between the it girls magazine on tumblr and the it girls magazine on substack is that on substack the magazine will be exclusive and include the following...💬🎀

♡ early access

♡ downloadable issues

♡ subscriber shout-outs

♡ guest article opportunities if u want to write something for the magazine

♡ collaborations potentially 🙈

♡ longer articles in general so if u like the longer articles and if u wanna read more than the exclusive version is def for you

the it girls magazine on this platform will include the same content as the magazine on substack! except on substack it'll be more in depth and include perks mentioned above. its basically the magazine y'all get here, but upgraded ✨

WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT MY SUBSTACK ;

for just $5 a month, you’ll get all the extra goodies that make honeys it girls magazine even more special! think early access to issues, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, and fun extras like shopping guides and downloads. plus, your support means the world to me—it helps me keep creating the content you love and dream up even more cool stuff for you. it’s like joining our little vip club where you get all the insider perks and help the magazine grow! 💕

as of right now im still working out the kinks of my magazine on substack so for todays catalog you guys will be getting the exclusive version that way u guys can know what its like! if u have any questions at all ur welcome to ask in the comments/submit an ask. i hope to see you all there but until then enjoy the experience 💻🎀

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS TO BE GLAMOROUS ;

for this holiday season lets set the scene with "mariah carey’s “all i want for christmas is you”, your wearing a sparkly dress and looking as beautiful as you always do ✨ looking like the ultimate holiday dream! thats the energy that we wanna emulate during this holiday season and we’ll get more into that later on in this catalog. 

no but seriously, all i want for christmas is to be more fabulous and glamorous. as i was writing my christmas wishlist with my fluffy pink pen, i even made pink hot chocolate to set the mood (recipe will be shared later on) and i came to the realization that aside from the material aspects of a hyper feminine glamorous christmas, the vibe also needed to match. 

glamour is about the way that you carry yourself. so, while we’ll definitely be purchasing our holiday wishlists, make sure that we’re keeping up with our self care rituals and in fact, pampering ourselves more because we are FABULOUS and we should treat ourselves as such. now, lets unwrap all the ways you can dominate this season like the it girl you are. 

WHAT MADE YOU AN IT GIRL THIS YEAR ;

now that we’re in december i wanna track it back and do some reflection on our year just like we talked about in the november catalog. every it girl has her moments and im sure that this year has been full of them for you so just take a second to acknowledge your moments form the year. 

for me, my biggest moments this year include making the decision to take myself more seriously because, i feel like i take myself quite seriously already but i haven’t been applying myself giving myself my all like i KNOW i can so making that choice this year to truly step into myself was def my biggest moment. 

your it girl moments also dont have to be something necessarily ground-breaking, it can be as simple as you finding your signature scent (hint: if it smells like warm vanilla gourmand, it’s the one) or as ground breaking as reaching your health goals, getting on honor-roll for your school, or making big doll dollars! 💰💖💸 whatever it is, YOU did that. reflect and celebrate yourself. 

PINK HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE ;

pink hot chocolate is the perfect winter drink! plus its super easy to make so im going to be giving the recipe here so that you can enjoy a cup of it while you continue reading the it girl magazine. put on ur hello kitty aprons and lets get straight into the recipe! you’ll need the following ; 

♡ 4 cups of milk ♡ 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips  ♡ 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 

so what your gonna do is your gonna heat up 4 cups of milk in a pot and then add in ur white chocolate chips, mixing them together until smooth. then you’ll add the vanilla extract and the red food coloring and stir to distribute the color...💬🎀

i like to enjoy mine with whipped cream and pink and white mini marshmallows! now that you have your beverage we can continue on with the it girls magazine. 

HOLIDAY SELF CARE ROUTINE ;

one of my favorite things to do are over the top self care routines! i love to feel glamorous and girly and take good care of myself meticulously especially during winter break because its easy to just rot and fall into a lethargic haze so hopefully this holiday self care routine motivates you and gives you something to do if your bored.

use a holiday themed bath bomb from lush

use a deep conditioning hair mask, put your hair up and read a chic magazine (like this one, duh)

its all about the experience so light a yummy candle while your doing self care

use a foot scrub of brown sugar honey and lemon -> for extra glam paint ur nails

moisturize your body with a shimmery lotion so you sparkle like a holiday queen

bubble baths!!

WHAT THE IT GIRLS ARE LISTENING TO ;

one of my favorite releases this december has to be twice and megan thee stallions collar strategy! the song is so vibrant and bubbly and i absolutely loved the music video also. we can't talk about december music without talking about the queen of christmas herself miss mariah carey and her christmas album 'merry christmas' some songs from my christmas playlist are ->

♡ santa tell me - by ariana grande ♡ all i want for christmas is you - by mariah carey ♡ last christmas - by wham! ♡ doughnut - twice ♡ a nonsense christmas - sabrina carpenter ♡ december - ariana grande ♡ when christmas comes - by mariah carey and john legend

THE ADVICE COLUMN ;

Q ; “Hey, I recently bought almond oil but don’t know what to use it for. I have heard of using it for hair, skin, body, etc. but could you elaborate on it? Also if it’s ok with u could this be in your magazine which I love btw! Your the best!” 💬

A ; hi anonie! so almond oil is super duper versatile. you can use it in a hair mask for shine and hydration. you can add a couple drops to your body lotion for skin hydration. you can also mix it with sugar and make ur own homemade body scrub. from the research i did, its also great for cuticle care and soothing dry areas like elbows and knees. thanks for loving the magazine! 

DECEMBER TRENDS ;

i first wanna talk about the FASHION trends for december 2024 because it’s caught my eye. according to harpersbazzar “this season is all about daytime party clothes, o blood office attire, and updated english country classics.”

reoccurring themes in december fashion are all about finding ways to indulge in warmth and texture during the dark winter days. a texture that i’ve seen used a lot in december fashion is velvet and im going to talk about this a lot because it’s so super glamorous to me and resonates with me more as opposed to other textures that are trending like suede and corduroy.

velvet is so rich and perfect for december because of the cold weather. velvet to me just SCREAMS chic and luxurious. another texture i’ve always loved for the colder seasons is furs! miu mius first look from the fall 2024 fashion show set the stage for how popular chocolate browns are this month. chocolate brown is the chicest shade of cocoa ✨

december fashion also incorporates lots of layering because of the weather, but to master this you must layer FASHIONABLY. layering is so fun because we can really play with textures and colors. some tips to do this are as follows…💬🎀

mix textures to add dimension and interest

play around with proportions (for example big fur coat + tiny silky dress. or puffer jackets with a fashionable pair of jeans)

statement outerwear pieces!!

moving away from the fashion point of view on december trends, i wanna talk about the “can’t pay the mortgage” trend of december. so essentially you’d tell your significant other that you can’t pay the rent/mortgage, all while knowing that they have never payed for the mortgage. 

so naturally, the husbands after hearing this they’re confused and some even offended that their wife would even have to think about paying the mortgage. i think that this trend is really cute, and its a harmless prank and its really beautiful to see women in equitable relationships where they’re being taken care of and happy. I LOVE TO SEE WOMEN WINNN. 

HUNNY I CANT PAY THE MORTGAGE (BY THE LOVELY @osculum-frombee) ;

For December trends let’s go out with some advice that could better you in 2025, relationships. Let’s talk about love and expectations we all experience.

The perfect trend for this is the recent “Can’t pay the mortgage trend” where wives or partners tell their husbands they can’t pay the mortgage and see their reactions. This trend was originally done by 100% couples where the man paid all the bills in the household, or couples where the man paid half the bills (like the mortgage and perhaps something else) while the wife paid other bills but then 50/50 couples started participating in the trend and the differences in reaction was… shocking to say the least?

Reactions ;

The reactions betweeen the 50/50 men and the 100% men were obviously very different, but the question is just how different?...💬🎀

The men who paid most or all of the bills in the household almost immediately laughed or joked about their wife and how she doesn’t pay the bills anyway, some were confused and looked at their wife like “Babe..what?🤨” while some played along and pretend like they had no idea what they were going to do but reassured their wife they would handle it (my personal faves) 

While the 50/50 men would have a DRASTICALLY different reaction these men would either blank out or rage out at the idea their wife or girlfriend couldn’t handle it, the guys who blanked out asking their wife is she could take overtime or saying they didn’t know what to do while the ones who raged out went to cursing or degrading their wives. 

These reactions show perfectly what you do and DONT want in a relationship. The way your partner reacts and treats you is everything and there’s a difference between the way a provider would react and a stingy man would.

The trend isn’t about saying you should date a man who pays 100% of the bills if you don’t want to, or that all 50/50 men are trash. Like all things this requires PERSPECTIVE and knowing what  YOU personally WANT 

In times like this with the economy there are people out there who can’t do it with just one income alone, and that doesn’t mean you or your partner is a peice of crap for having to split the bills to make it...💬🎀

A provider man ;

You want to- no NEED to ensure that regardless of how much money your partner or you make, that whoever your dating is a provider man, who is more focused on taking care of you then you taking care of him, a problem solver who can save money for a rainy day, there are men out there who do 50/50 but ensure they take care of their partners, worship the ground they walk on and PROVIDE, do their best to take the stress off their partners shoulders while also taking care of household issues, men who put effort in emotionally and understand that relationships are a 2 way street, aren’t stingy about spending on their loved ones and treat their partners like the rare gemstone they are. THATS the type of man you want, whether  he be filthy rich with generational wealth or a man who gives it his all either way.

There are 50/50 men out there who save money and if their partner ever said they couldn’t do their part of the bills this month he would move mountains to ensure his partners stressed was alleviated and create a solution to the problem,  that could  be him working overtime or taking money out of the savings or covering that months expenses himself if he can, he wouldn’t yell or argue, or curse profanities , he would help and ensure they were taken care of. 

Emotional matters ;

There are men who may seem like the better choice, men who are rich and perfect on paper, but it’s not about how much money your partner has it’s how they react to the things they cannot buy. If you’re partner throws money and expensive bags at you without a second thought but when it comes to getting to know you and understand you, gaining your trust, talking through emotional issues and you trying to communicate to them they shun you out, get mad or dismissive then this isn’t the partner for you, wether you be man or women. You may think someone can buy things like your trust, effort, energy and genuine love but those are things that can’t ever be bought these things take experience, time spent with that person, arguments and makeups, it takes learning and growing to  trust that person to love them.  having a partner who doesn’t put effort in emotionally or mentally  isn’t having a partner at all it’s simply being occupied or “busied” by someone else who won’t put forth a real connection with you. 

What you want vs what you’re told to ;

I saw a video of a women saying her and her husband go 50/50 they use 1 salary for bills and expenses and use the other for savings, she said she likes it this way, she has her bachelors and her masters degree and chose not to quit working after becoming pregnant she listed points that were SO important

She mentioned how she liked having the fridge stocked, how she like vacationing whenever she wanted, she liked buying what she wanted and not struggling. The point I’m making is that it’s all about what you want and what feels right for you, but also about how your partner treats you. If you decide to  go 50/50 on the financial labor and are  with a man who doesn’t care about you or is very “dusty” you’re going to be unhappy and unfulfilled but its also the same if you’re dating a man who pays 100% yet still ignores every other need in a relationship like mental and emotional, youll be unfulfilled and unhappy. 

If you’re going 50/50 make sure you're dating a man who’s clean and willing and likes to help around the house, who can clean or cook and will put effort into all aspects of this relationship. If you want to work but be 100% taken care of and save the money you make or spend it freely it’s your life, if you want to be a stay at home mom or parent or just want to stay at home and be 100% taken care of it’s your life, if you want to have your fantasy “the way of the househusband” life where you work and pay all the bills and your husband stays at home, cooks and cleans and takes care of everything else than babygirl it’s your life and honestly rock it? 

It’s your life and it shouldn’t be curated to anyone else’s wants or expectations as long as you’re happy fulfilled, with a provider/ problem solver who will move mountains for you be happy. You’re not a roommate for going 50/50 when you’re truly loved and respected in your relationship and your partner  isn’t stingy. Whichever way you want your relationship to go make sure you find a partner who is on the same page and can give you that, don’t try to force a clown to be a king because then the entire kingdom will end up a circus, don’t chase or fight with a man who doesn’t want to give you what you want or doesn’t view you as worth it or cannot afford to, find a partner who is aligned in your ideas and values and is entirely pleased to provide you what it is you wish. 

The beauty of the trend ;

While some people do scrutinize women who are in a healthy 50/50 relationship or women who want to go to work and still be provided for. It’s not about that this trend is about showing women what’s possible, that providing 100% for a man will always lead to you being depleted and drained in every way possible, that the better and healthier relationship is out there and that there are men who would do anything to be with you and keep you and let their actions show as such not just financially but emotionally. Women have said that this trend has shown them their husbands or partners aren’t worth it and that it’s opened them up to a better way of living and has shown them their better off single than with a man who depletes them. 

This is about empowering women and I notice this trend goes hand in hand or is the sister to the “women in male fields trend” a trend that showcased women acting like men and talking about what they’d experienced with them, that trend was women saying they were done with that treatment and this trend is about showing women they can do better. 

Conclusion ;  

Going into 2025, focus on yourself- find out what it is you want.  

And if there’s anything you take away from this segment let it be that: 

It’s about what you want 

50/50 doesn’t make either of you bad

Better is always out there

You are the love of your life 

Thank you for reading my first ever segment in the It girls magazine💕💖

WHICH HOLIDAY IT GIRL AM I? ; 

are y'all ready to discover what type of it girl you are this holiday season? take this quiz to figure out which festive vibe suits your personality. lets see how ur sleighing this season…💬🎀

1. your ideal holiday party look is:

a) a sparkling, gold sequin-covered dress that’s sure to steal the spotlight 

b) a chic velvet jumpsuit with fluffy details and elegant accessories 

c) a fluffy sweater with a touch of holiday glam — think sparkly headbands and cute socks 

d) a glamorous satin gown in red or emerald green, paired with glamorous makeup and red bottoms

2. what’s your go-to holiday drink?

a) sparkling champagne or a festive glittery mocktail 

b) a warm, spiced apple cider 

c) pink hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, topped with whipped cream 

d) a luxurious holiday latte with hints of peppermint or caramel 

3. your favorite way to spend christmas eve is:

a) attending lavish holiday parties, and kissing under mistletoes 

b) enjoying a candlelit dinner with close friends or family, and watching cozy christmas movies 

c) baking holiday cookies and wrapping gifts while sipping on hot chocolate

d) getting all glammed up for a special dinner and exchanging glamorous gifts with ur girls

4. when decorating for the holidays, you:

a) i go ALL out with sparkly lights, glittery ornaments and a chic color scheme for pinkmas 

b) elegant neutral decor with touches of greenery, its classic duh

c) a cozy vibe with diy ornaments, fairy lights, and plaid everything 

d) love classic red, green, and white with vintage-style baubles for a traditional yet glamorous feel 

5. what's your holiday music playlist vibe?

a) mariah carey’s “all i want for christmas is you” on repeat 

b) classic jazz and soft holiday tunes 

c) cozy acoustic christmas songs and christmas movie soundtracks 

d) holiday hits that make you want to dance like wham and micheal bublé 

6. what's your holiday beauty look?

a) bold red lips, highlighter that shines like snow, and glittery eyeshadow 

b) soft, glowing skin with a natural glam look — think minimal but chic 

c) a cozy but cute look with a bright red lip and simple, glowing skin 

d) smokey eyes, dramatic lashes, think holiday bimbo

7. your dream holiday getaway is:

a) a glamorous snowy cabin retreat with hot cocoa and a warm fire, and complete with an evening of glitzy christmas parties

b) a cozy winter escape in the mountains with scenic views and a fireplace 

c) a festive city escape, with christmas markets, hot chocolate, and cozy cafes 

d) a luxurious tropical resort, giving beachside holiday vibe

results:

mostly a’s: the sparkling diva ✨ you’re all about the glam and sparkle this holiday season! from dazzling sequins to luxurious accessories, you know how to shine brighter than the christmas lights. you love the glitz and glamour of the season and aren’t afraid to make a statement — just like the holiday parties you attend!

mostly b’s: the elegant sophisticate 🥂 you bring class and sophistication to everything you do this holiday season. whether it’s a cozy dinner or a quiet night by the fire, you exude an effortless elegance. this holiday season, you’ll be enjoying luxurious simplicity — think velvet, classic red lips, and timeless decor.

mostly c’s: the cozy glam girl 💖 you’re all about warmth, coziness, and making the season special in your own way. whether it’s baking cookies, wrapping gifts, or cuddling up with your favorite holiday movies, you embrace all things festive and chic. this holiday, it’s about combining comfort and glamour for the perfect holiday vibe!

mostly d’s: the classic glamazon 💅🏼 you’re the definition of classic holiday glamour! whether you’re rocking a satin gown or glamming up your beauty look, you always bring sophistication and style to the season. for you, it’s all about elegant traditions, bold accessories, and a glamorous holiday look that can’t be ignored.

[thetremuloushand]

hey i know i haven't been around much lately. im trying to spend less time on my phone, but i also love and miss my tumblr denizens!

i wanted to let you pals know that i am working on another project: a substack called PROGRESS PUNK.

PROGRESS PUNK is about self-improvement, mental health, creativity, and diy spirituality, through a queer and anti-capitalist lens.

as i said on substack notes, i am seeking readers and friends who:

- hate capitalism, consumerism, and the rat race

- identify as diy spiritual seekers

- are learning how to love the journey more than the destination

- appreciate people who are trying to grow, but don't feel seen in traditional self-improvement spaces

- genuinely believe that everyone deserves a life unfettered by oppression

i invite you to subscribe, but there is NO obligation to be a PAID subscriber. if you'd like to donate to keep my creative projects running, i would REALLY appreciate it, but there is NO paywalled content at this time. no hate for those hustlin, but i am focusing on just getting my words in front of eyeballs.

if you subscribe, you will get approximately two NON-SPAMMY emails a week with my posts. you can read them right in your email or use the substack app, if that's a thing you peruse.

feel free to reach out to me if you have a substack and you'd like me to follow you back!

[susiephone]

What exactly *is* Substack? I know vaguely it's some kind of blogging platform?

yeah, basically it lets users start a newsletter - some people use it as a personal or lifestyle blog, some people post essays or articles, other people post short stories or poetry. you have the option to either post content for free, or keep your pieces behind a paywall for subscribers, and you can decide how expensive the subscription fee is. (i believe the lowest you can go is $5/month, or $50/year.) most people who make money off substack have a mix of free and paid pieces - like they'll post x amount of free pieces and y amount of paid pieces a month, or they'll have a few free pieces up so people can get a sense of their work, and keep the rest behind the paywall. readers can choose with substacks to subscribe to and which ones they're willing to pay for

it's very lucrative for some people, but like all creative endeavors, the people who make real money off it are very much the exception - for most it's a few extra bucks a month, or they keep everything free and use it as a way to grow their following.

[cosmiccannibalcamille]

Cosmic Cannibal Has Just Turned 1! 🎉

Hold on to your planets, because we’ve hit some major milestones! 

It’s officially been ONE YEAR since I launched my online astrology store and Substack, and guess what? I’ve ALSO finally finished my book, Jupiter Returns! (I can’t believe it either, because it feels like it’s taking me FOREVER.)

Pre-sale for Jupiter Returns is set for Sept. 14.

On top of that, my TikTok channel has officially hit 10K followers. 🎉 (That’s another one I can hardly believe.) With 370+ subscribers on Substack (and growing every day), it feels like a moment worth celebrating. So, I’m rolling out a 30% off sale on everything, from chart readings to workshops and cheat sheets! I’m calling it the Cosmic Cannibal Birthday Sale.

Shop 30% Cosmic Birthday Sale

To sweeten the deal more, I’m giving you a limited-time offer: 30% off paid subscriptions on Substack for an ENTIRE YEAR.

Yep, that means you can dive into all my spicy, snarky, and savvy astrology content for only $3.50 a month. If you’ve been wanting to upgrade for a while, this is your chance to do so and save $. (But this flash sale is only valid until Sept. 10.)

Save 30% on Your Substack Subscription

 What do you get with a paid subscription?

Full archive of horoscopes, astrology and birth chart articles

From my popular Dominant Planet series, to Fame Degrees, Career Astrology, and every single horoscope. EVER.

Did I mention HOROSCOPES?

With a paid subscription, you unlock in-depth insights into how the transits land for you and your chart, with tips / journal prompts for working with the astrology.

Exclusive podcast episodes & chat thread.

Listen and chat with me any time.  

Annnd more!

I would love for you to be a part of the ~full~ experience here on The Cosmic Almanac. I really want to continue to build a community, and connect with more of you. So, please consider redeeming this special birthday offer. But remember: this flash sale ends TOMORROW. 

Save 30% NOW

Questions? Drop them in the comments!

Thanks for being a stellar part of the journey; I’m so grateful to have you here. 

Cheers to many more wins! And while you're cheering, check out your FREE weekly forecast:

[ameliasoulturner]

3 Best Platforms for Aspiring Writers to Launch a Solo Business and Break Free in 2025

If you've ever dreamed of turning your passion for writing into a full-time income and finally saying goodbye to your 9-to-5, you're not alone. Thousands of people are making the leap every year, using their writing skills to build solo businesses that give them freedom, flexibility, and financial stability.

The good news? You don’t need a traditional publishing deal or a journalism degree to make it happen. In 2025, there are more opportunities than ever for writers to carve out their own paths and make real money doing what they love. The internet has leveled the playing field—and with the right tools and platforms, you can create your own lane, attract a loyal audience, and turn your words into income.

But with so many platforms out there, where should a new writer begin? In this article, we're diving into the three best platforms for aspiring writers in 2025—whether your goal is to build a personal brand, create a steady stream of income, or simply do meaningful work on your own terms.

Let’s break it down.

1. Substack: Your Launchpad for Independent Publishing

If you enjoy writing essays, newsletters, or commentary and want to build an email-based audience, Substack is your best friend.

Substack allows writers to create and send email newsletters to their readers, monetize through paid subscriptions, and build a direct connection with their audience. What makes it so appealing is its simplicity. You don’t need to know how to build a website or learn marketing funnels—just write, publish, and share.

But here’s where Substack really shines: it lets you own your audience. Unlike social media platforms where algorithms control who sees your content, Substack delivers your writing directly to inboxes. And in 2025, email is still one of the most powerful tools for building trust and loyalty.

Why It Works for Solo Writers:

Direct Monetization: You can start with free content and slowly introduce paid options as your audience grows. Substack handles payment processing, so you can focus on writing.

Community Tools: You can host discussions, comments, and even podcasts, building a real community around your work.

No Gatekeepers: No editor telling you what to write. Your voice, your topics, your rules.

Writers making anywhere from $500 to over $10,000 per month have built their businesses one email at a time. The key? Show up consistently, be authentic, and deliver value.

Best For: Writers who want to build a loyal readership, share their thoughts or expertise, and get paid directly by subscribers.

2. Medium: Reach a Built-In Audience While You Learn the Game

Medium is like the digital version of a glossy magazine mixed with a public journal. It's perfect for new writers who want to find their voice, test ideas, and reach people without worrying about promotion or SEO right out of the gate.

With Medium’s Partner Program, you can actually earn money based on how much time paying members spend reading your stories. This performance-based model means that high-quality, engaging content can get rewarded—even if you're just getting started.

In 2025, Medium continues to be a top pick for new writers because it takes care of the technical side of blogging. No hosting. No themes. Just you and your writing.

Why It Works for Solo Writers:

Built-In Exposure: Medium’s curated content system can help you reach thousands—even tens of thousands—of readers if your content resonates.

Monetization Without Selling: You don’t need to pitch anything or sell a product. Just write, and if your content performs well, you get paid.

Credibility Boost: Medium content ranks well on Google, so it’s a smart way to build authority in a niche or industry.

A well-written story can live on Medium for years, continuously driving traffic and passive income. That’s not just side-hustle potential—that’s digital real estate.

Best For: Writers who want a clean, focused platform to build a portfolio, grow their reputation, and earn based on content performance.

3. Fiverr: Turn Your Writing Into a Freelance Business

While Substack and Medium are great for content-driven business models, Fiverr is the fast track to getting paid for your writing services.

Fiverr has evolved a lot since its early days of $5 gigs. Today, it’s a thriving marketplace where writers are earning serious money offering services like blog posts, email copy, product descriptions, LinkedIn bios, and more.

What sets Fiverr apart is its reach. Millions of buyers are already looking for help with writing projects. All you have to do is show up with a strong profile and quality samples, and you’re in the game.

Why It Works for Solo Writers:

Immediate Income: You can start earning as soon as someone places an order. No need to build an audience first.

Skill-Based Scaling: As you get more orders and positive reviews, Fiverr ranks you higher in search, which means more visibility and better-paying clients.

Niche Opportunities: You can specialize in areas like resume writing, technical writing, or even writing social media posts. There's room for everyone.

Some freelancers earn $2,000 to $5,000 per month on Fiverr alone. And with the right strategy, you can turn one-time gigs into recurring clients and long-term contracts.

Best For: Writers looking to get paid quickly, build a service-based business, and grow into a full-fledged freelancing career.

Bonus Tips for Building a Sustainable Writing Business

Choosing the right platform is important—but equally crucial is how you show up. Here are a few quick tips to make your writing business thrive in 2025:

1. Niche Down Early: Pick a niche that matches your skills and interests. The more specific your content or services, the easier it is to attract loyal followers or buyers.

2. Focus on Quality Over Quantity: Writing every day won’t matter if it’s not useful, interesting, or original. Take your time, research deeply, and make each piece count.

3. Build Your Brand: Whether it’s your tone, your story, or your values—make sure people know what you stand for. A strong personal brand is what separates you from the crowd.

4. Diversify Your Income: Don’t rely on just one source. You can write on Medium, run a Substack newsletter, and freelance on Fiverr—all at the same time. Diversifying your income streams adds stability and growth potential.

5. Invest in Learning: From SEO and digital marketing to storytelling and productivity, investing in new skills can 10x your results. The more value you bring to the table, the more you can charge—and the faster you grow.

Final Thoughts: Why Now Is the Best Time to Go All-In

There’s never been a better time to be a writer. The barriers are lower. The tools are better. The market is global. And if you play it right, you can build a writing career on your own terms—one that pays the bills, fuels your creativity, and gives you the freedom most jobs never will.

Whether you’re sharing your voice on Substack, building authority on Medium, or landing clients on Fiverr, you have everything you need to launch a solo business in 2025. So if you’re sitting at a desk right now, dreaming of quitting your job—this is your sign. Start writing. Start building. Your solo journey begins now.

[indigo-sodapop]

Substack Spotlight!

This will be a continuously growing post (or series of posts because I wager this will get verrryyyy long soon) featuring pieces of writing from Substack that I've really enjoyed, and want to share with you! To read them, you don't need a Substack account, and you can subscribe to the writers with only your email address, if you'd like! Happy Reading!

The Enchanting History of Creepy Little Girl-Creatures by Ball-Jointed Diary

"This innocent thing has teeth; large, haunting eyes, a disturbing aspect that can’t quite be pinned down. Many BJD artists follow in the footsteps of Hans Bellmer, creating dolls with ghoulish and fragmented features in the surrealist vein. Often, the suffering of girlhood is made apparent and oddly pretty in the subtle details of these dolls."

Lessons on Loneliness by Petrichoral

"he only wears black, so i’ll come dressed as the night. i’ll cloak myself in snobbism, lingerie, and obscure opinions. he’ll wear a cloak of his own, of course, but i’ll see right through it. but still i’ll play along. i feel like etching myself into someone’s story today. carve myself out of somebody else."

mellon collie and the infiinte sadness by Sudana Krasniqi

"I have never felt more alive than when I am in the throes of the kind of day that makes me wish I was dead."

12 Years Hostage: The Hidden Truth of Solitary Confinement in Texas by Xandan Gulley via Black Lipstick

"Perhaps death is a token of life to those who are hostages. I sometimes feel as though solitary confinement was made for that very purpose-- to make us look forward to dying. But against all odds, I am sane."

Becoming Bewildering by Faye Boam

"I'm a firm believer that we are all doing the best we can with what we have. Which has far more to do with the actual forces our body can handle than the ideas of 'willpower' and 'manifestation' that are thrown around like they mean something concrete."

Domesticated by Jimmy Gardener

"There he is, sprawled like an idiot on the floor. The selfish prick hadn't even bothered to finish removing the lid from my nightly can of shit paste. He had it in his hands when I saw him seize, jerking upright as if suddenly harpooned in the asshole."

Life be like by James Worth

"But I really do have to double down and insist this isn't about New York, New York anyway. She's a backdrop for a feeling I've been festering over for a year now that really just ahppened to come to fruition on her grossly hallowed streets. And even then, the fruiting body of this epiphany paid little if any attention to the setting."

i'm afraid i've been lying to you by c.s. mee

"i've been quietly collecting pieces of fabric, leather and corduroy it seems, to place atop my skin and say they are my face."

i miss running fast by tanit

"there's some research around loneliness, and how people who takr hotter showers are intrinsically lonely because the feeling of hot water on your skin is like an intimate touch. my showers are always either scalding or freezing. i don't think i need a scientific paper to tell me i'm lonely. i'm a capricorn moon for fuck's sake, i was born lonely, i live to shit myself on how lonely i am, fearing that i will die alone."

i take offense to not being loved as hard as a song by heaven

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO NOT BEING LOVED AS HARD A SONG

ONE THAT YOU'D PLAY MORE THAN THREE TIMES A DAY"

freezing fingertips/ warm places by birdbrain

"you thread your fingertips into the space between my ribs

your inhale hinging on my exhale"

how to stop sighing in public by Griffin Blue Emerson

"Even if our lives are uneventful, without action, at least there's the small actions we make to make ourselves ramen, to make ourselves breakfast, to make ourselves sleep, to make ourselves shower, to make ourselves get groceries, to make ourselves take stock of our own self and wants, and to try to make ourselves know what it is that we really want."

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Section 11: How to Integrate Blogging with Your Substack for Audience Growth

Summary of my Udemy Course “From Zero to Substack Hero.” Image source from the video location. Readers on Medium can read this tutorial script via this link. Purpose of this Series for New Readers This is a new series upon request from my readers. I recently developed a course titled “From Zero to Substack Hero” and published it on Udemy and shared it on Content Marketing Strategy Insights…

[kristenbrady]

A New Way to Grow Your Subscriber List on Substack: Collaborations

Okay, so I am slowly growing my paid subscriber list on Substack. I am always on the lookout for new ways to grow.

Today, I came across this amazing opportunity from Tina Lopez. She offers this Collab Monthly Membership where you get one email a month of all the collaboration opportunities to join to grow your email list for only $17!

So what’s included?

One email a month containing a roundup of:

Access to all bundle applications to grow your email list.

Access to key collaboration partners that are looking to partner with you to grow their email list.

Finally, an alternative strategy to grow your email list (without posting content or relying on social media)

Also provided by Substack, they suggest all these amazing chances for newsletter publishers to grow their subscriber list by collaborating in these ways:

Guest posts

Podcast guests

Cross-posts

Mentions

Notes

Letter exchange

So I have decided to kick my own Substack newsletter up a notch by offering guest post opportunities from other writers who want to collaborate with me. If you have any guest posts on making money online, the gig economy, other legit money-making opportunities, or stories about making money with Medium or Substack, consider sending me a DM to my Substack here.

[aman-acan-andacityplan]

Life in the Microculture

I came across this rather enjoyable Substack article documenting some of the conflicts between what the authors coins Macroculture (Hollywood, Mainstream news) and Microculture (YouTube, Substack). I think it perfectly encapsulates a lot of the feelings I have been having about mass culture, or lack thereof. Large studios, publishers and recording labels feel strangely disconnected from the culture and they exhibit an obstinate stubbornness and refusal to learn from up and coming content creators. Not only that, but traditional media has greatly overestimated its own standing.

Companies, such as NBC and Disney have walled off their newest show behind streaming paywalls, letting mass distribution networks such as Cable languish. The result has been a kind of hollowing out of mass media content. Should I go through the trouble of signing up for Paramount+ to watch a few episodes of the Frasier reboot or go to Youtube where I can watch a Let's Play, urban exploration channel or any other types of original content that are created with real care and passion. A few months back, I watched the pilot for an animated production called Lackadaisy. The animation was beautiful and the concept was truly inspired: cats involved in alcohol distribution in prohibition era Saint Louis. I also found a fan production called "Star Trek Continues", which was surprisingly well written and produced. Both of these left me feeling satisfied that I watched a quality product than many movies or streaming shows with much higher budgets banking on established IP's.

Over time, small creators have also shown themselves to be better stewards of their content. Takedowns, of course, do happen but many creators will take the time to post their videos over multiple streaming platforms or host it on a Patreon page for paid subscribers. Even when channels lie dormant or are abandoned by their creators, the back catalog will still exist for many years after the hype dies down. I'll admit a lot of this is based on my own, highly personal, Youtube experience, but given that most creators don't ask for much more than a like, a channel subscription and some time to feature sponsors, my expectations for quality control are fairly low. There's a heavy amount of cringe on Youtube of course (content farming, mobile gaming ads and anything the icy grip of Logan Paul touches) but these crass appeals for attention have done nothing to diminish my appetite for microculture content platforms.

This is a stark contrast to mass distribution networks, which will casually delete whole libraries of paid content once a digital platform is no longer perceived to be viable. Just recently I learned that Sony has acquired Funimation, which means that digital copies of physical media will no longer be available. This will have a direct impact on my viewing experience as I have a digital library of my video purchases on their platform. When the quality control of major media platforms drops below that of amateur content creators then a company stands to lose much of its competitive advantage.

Even the last bastion of mass culture, live sports, appears to have some cracks in the foundation. Though TV rights to live sporting events are still lucrative, the appeal of going to an ordinary, regular season game isn't what it used to be, take college sports for example. Loyalty runs deep in college athletics, but attendance numbers hint at growing apathy and disinterest among sports fans. Attendance has dipped slightly across all major college football conferences over the course of 10 years and the attendance decline is quite significant in college basketball. The infrastructure for live sports production is also something that can't be replicated effortlessly. As streaming services bid for being the exclusive provider of important postseason games, its seldom guaranteed that even if you pony up and pay that your viewing experience will be a rewarding one. A playoff game between the Chiefs and Dolphins streamed exclusively on Peacock was riddled with production errors, poor resolution at times and buffering issues.

More importantly mass culture requires a kind of broad cultural consensus in which to thrive and prosper. When that consensus collapses, its hard to cultivate new and upcoming talent. Even when the macroculture attempt to bring over an established name in the microculture the results tend to be mixed. Going back to the world of live sports lets look at Pat Mcafee. Having moved from the world of sports podcasting, Pat Mcafee's tenure at ESPN has been acrimonious to say the least. His show appears to be as popular as it was before his affiliation with ESPN, but it remains to be seen whether his unique, highly personal brand can be absorbed into the media conglomerate.

Comedy, another cultural arena where you need sharp elbows to make it to the top, has generally languished in the macroculture as many of the most talented comedians opt for podcasting and the occasional Netflix special. For example, an up-and-coming talent like Shane Gillis has found a large audience in spite of his negative press in the macroculture space of Saturday Night Live. He came back just recently for a guest stint on the show and I imagine your perception of the episode's quality will depend on your ideological leanings. Mass culture needs great comedy if it is to resonate with a large majority of the country and right now I would say the small content creators have completely dominated in the realm of comedy.

So not only is the Macroculture essentially being outhustled by small creators, they are also have also engaged in a number of practices that have contributed to their own cultural obsolescence. Also, the collapse of trust and cultural consensus across the nation makes brand building incredibly difficult. Hollywood can still make limited run TV shows that I enjoy and follow (I am currently going through Shogun at the moment) but these type of shows won't move the needle in the way a long-running TV show like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad did.

Couple the collapse in mass media with the number of layoffs shaking the video game industry and the macroculture looks to be in full scale retreat. Even as someone who has become deeply disenchanted with mass culture media offerings, the video game industry seemed virtually impregnable just a few years ago with games like Fortnite being the equivalency of a money printing machine. Will the use of AI shave enough off of bloated production costs to push major media ventures back into profitability? Maybe. My own belief though is that the future rests with small content creators and I for one will not be shedding any tears when legacy media falls off the cliff.

[billadler]

Patience is the most powerful force on Earth. Find out why in my flash fiction, "The Power of Patience."

This is the first story I published on Substack.

I need your help to grow my newsletter. Subscriptions are free. I'd be honored if you subscribed--it helps me immeasurably. Just click on the button at the end of the story. (While there's an option for a paid subscription, both free and paid subscribers receive exactly the same newsletter; paid subscriptions are just another way to support my writing.) https://billadler.substack.com/p/the-power-of-patience

[arcticdementor]

Media Twitter does not hate Substack because it’s pretending to be a platform when it’s a publisher; they don’t hate it because it’s filled with anti-woke white guys; they don’t hate it because of harassment or any such thing. I don’t think they really hate it at all. Substack is a small and ultimately not-very-relevant outpost in a vastly larger industry; they may not like it but it’s not important enough for them to hate it. What do they hate? They hate where their industry is and they hate where they are within their industry. But that’s a big problem that they don’t feel like they can solve. If you feel you can’t get mad at the industry that’s impoverishing you, it’s much easier to get mad at the people who you feel are unjustly succeeding in that industry. Trying to cancel Glenn Greenwald (again) because he criticizes the media harshly? Trying to tarnish Substack’s reputation so that cool, paid-up writer types leave it and the bad types like me get kicked off? That they can maybe do. Confronting their industry’s future with open eyes? Too scary, especially for people who were raised to see success as their birthright and have suddenly found that their degrees and their witheringly dry one-liners do not help them when the rent comes due.

…

Life in the “content” industry already sucks. A small handful of people make bank while the vast majority hustle relentlessly just to hold on to the meager pay they already receive. There are staff writers at big-name publications who produce thousands of words every week and who make less than $40,000 a year for their trouble. There are permanent employees of highly prestigious newspapers and magazines who don’t receive health insurance. Venues close all the time. Mourning another huge round of layoffs is a regular bonding experience for people in the industry. Writers have to constantly job hop just to try and grind out an extra $1,500 a year, making their whole lives permanent job interviews where they can’t risk offending their potential bosses and peers. Many of them dream of selling that book to save themselves financially, not seeming to understand that book advances have fallen 40% in 10 years - median figure now $6,080 - and that the odds of actually making back even that meager advance are slim, meaning most authors are making less than minimum wage from their books when you do the math. They have to tweet constantly for the good of their careers, or so they believe, which amounts to hundreds of hours of unpaid work a year. Their publications increasingly strong arm them into churning out pathetic pop-culture ephemera like listicles about the outfits on Wandavision. They live in fear of being the one to lose out when the next layoffs come and the game of media musical chairs spins up once again. They have to pretend to like ghouls like Ezra Klein and Jonah Peretti and make believe that there’s such a thing as “the Daily Beast reputation for excellence.”

I have always felt bad for them, despite our differences, because of these conditions. And they have a right to be angry. But they don’t have much in the way of self-awareness about where their anger really lies. A newsletter company hosting Bari Weiss is why you can’t pay your student loans? You sure?

They’ll tell you about the terrible conditions in their industry themselves, when they’re feeling honest. So what are they really mad about? That I’m making a really-just-decent guaranteed wage for just one year? Or that this decent wage is the kind of money many of them dream of making despite the fact that, in their minds, they’ve done everything right and played by all the rules? Is their anger really about a half-dozen guys whose writing you have to actively seek out to see? (If you click the button and put in your email address, you’ll get these newsletters. If you don’t, you won’t. So if you’re a media type who hates my writing, consider just… not clicking that button.) Or do they need someplace to put the rage and resentment that grows inside them as they realize, no, it’s not getting better, this is all I get?

It’s true that I have, in a very limited way, achieved the new American dream: getting a little bit of VC cash. I’m sorry. But it’s much much less than one half of what Felix Salmon was making in 2017 and again, it’s only for one year.

You think the writers complaining in that piece I linked to at the top wanted to be here, at this place in their career, after all those years of hustling? You think decades into their media career, the writers who decamped to Substack said to themselves “you know, I’d really like to be in my 40s and having to hope that enough people will pitch in $5 a month so I can pay my mortgage”? No. But the industry didn’t give them what they felt they deserved either. So they displace and project. They can hate Jesse Singal, but Jesse Singal isn’t where this burning anger is coming from. Neither am I. They’re so angry because they bought into a notoriously savage industry at the nadir of its labor conditions and were surprised to find that they’re drifting into middle age without anything resembling financial security. I feel for them as I feel for all people living economically precarious lives, but getting rid of Substack or any of its writers will not do anything to fix their industry or their jobs. They wanted more and they got less and it hurts. This isn’t what they dreamed. That’s what this is really about.

…

My own deal here is not mysterious. It’s just based on a fact that the blue checks on Twitter have never wanted to accept. I got offered money to write here for the same reason I got offered to write for The New York Times and Harper’s and The Washington Post and The LA Times, the same reason I’ve gotten a half-dozen invitations to pitch since I started here a few weeks ago, the same reason a literary agent sought me out and asked me to write a book, the same reason I sold that book for a decent advance: because I pull traffic. Though I am a social outcast from professional opinion writing, I have a better freelance publishing history than many, many of my critics who are paid-up, obedient members of the media social scene. Why? Because the editors who hired me thought I was a great guy? No. Because I pull traffic. I always have. That’s why you’re reading this on Substack right now.

…

A really important lesson to learn, in life, is this: your enemies are more honest about you than your friends ever will be. I’ve been telling the blue checks for over a decade that their industry was existentially fucked, that the all-advertising model was broken, that Google and Facebook would inevitably hoover up all the profit, that there are too many affluent kids fresh out of college just looking for a foothold in New York who’ll work for next to nothing and in doing so driving down the wages of everyone else, that their mockery of early subscription programs like Times Select was creating a disastrous industry expectation that asking your readers directly for money was embarrassing. Trump is gone and the news business is cratering. Michael Tracey didn’t make that happen. None of this anger will heal what’s wrong. If you get all of the people you don’t like fired from Substack tomorrow, what will change? How will your life improve? Greenwald will spend more time with his hottie husband and his beloved kids and his 6,000 dogs in his beautiful home in Rio. Glenn will be fine. How do we do the real work of getting you job security and a decent wage?

…

But how do things get better in that way? Only through real self-criticism (which Twitter makes impossible) and by asking hard questions. Questions like one that has not been credibly confronted a single time in this entire media meltdown: why are so many people subscribing to Substacks? What is the traditional media not providing that they’re seeking elsewhere? Why have half a million people signed up as paying subscribers of various Substack newsletters, if the establishment media is providing the diversity of viewpoints that is an absolute market requirement in a country with a vast diversity of opinions? You can try to make an adult determination about that question, to better understand what media is missing, or you can read this and write some shitty joke tweet while your industry burns to the ground around you. It’s your call.

Substack might fold tomorrow, but someone would else sell independent media; there’s a market. Substack might kick me and the rest of the unclean off of their platforms tomorrow, but other critics of social justice politics would pop up here; there’s a market. Establishment media’s takeover by this strange brand of academic identity politics might grow even more powerful, if that’s even possible, but dissenters will find a place to sell alternative opinion; there’s a market. What there might not be much of a market for anymore is, well, you - college educated, urban, upwardly striving if not economically improving, woke, ironic, and selling that wokeness and that irony as your only product. Because you flooded the market. Everyone in your entire industry is selling the exact same thing, tired sarcastic jokes and bleating righteousness about injustices they don’t suffer under themselves, and it’s not good in basic economic terms if you’re selling the same thing as everyone else. You add that on to structural problems within your business model and your utter subservience to a Silicon Valley that increasingly hates you, well…. I get why you’re mad. And I get that you don’t like me. But I’m not what you’re mad about. Not really.

In the span of a decade or so, essentially all professional media not explicitly branded as conservative has been taken over by a school of politics that emerged from humanities departments at elite universities and began colonizing the college educated through social media. Those politics are obscure, they are confusing, they are socially and culturally extreme, they are expressed in a bizarre vocabulary, they are deeply alienating to many, and they are very unpopular by any definition. The vast majority of the country is not woke, including the vast majority of women and people of color. How could it possibly be healthy for the entire media industry to be captured by any single niche political movement, let alone one that nobody likes? Why does no one in media seem willing to have an honest, uncomfortable conversation about the near-total takeover of their industry by a fringe ideology?

And the bizarre assumption of almost everyone in media seems to have been that they could adopt this brand of extreme niche politics, in mass, as an industry, and treat those politics as a crusade that trumps every other journalistic value, with no professional or economic consequences. They seem to have thought that Americans were just going to swallow it; they seem to have thought they could paint most of the country as vicious bigots and that their audiences would just come along for the ride. They haven’t. In fact Republicans are making great hay of the collapse of the media into pure unapologetic advocacy journalism. Some people are turning to alternative media to find options that are neither reactionary ideologues or self-righteous woke yelling. Can you blame them? Substack didn’t create this dynamic, and neither did I. The exact same media people who are so angry about Substack did, when they abandoned any pretense to serving the entire country and decided that their only job was to advance a political cause that most ordinary people, of any gender or race, find alienating and wrong. So maybe try and look at where your problems actually come from. They’re not going away.

Now steel yourselves, media people, take a shot of something strong, look yourself in the eye in the mirror, summon you most honest self, and tell me: am I wrong?

[mathewingram]

Facebook goes after Substack

Note: This was originally published in the daily newsletter at the Columbia Journalism Review, where I’m the chief digital writer

If you’re an independent writer or journalist, Facebook would like you to know that it wants to help you. With what? Just about everything: it wants to give you easy to use writing and publishing tools, so you can create websites and newsletters, and publish them in multiple places (including on Facebook, of course), and it wants to help you connect those sites and newsletters you create to groups that it will also help you create (on Facebook, naturally). And it wants to give you tools to attract subscribers to your writing, and other ways of generating revenue (i.e., ads), and all kinds of other non-specific helpful advice. We know all this because Campbell Brown, Facebook’s head of news partnerships, and Anthea Watson Strong, the company’s product manager for news, wrote a blog post in which they described all of these features and the ways in which they want to “empower independent writers, helping them reach new audiences and grow their businesses.” But the part that really caught the attention of those in the media is that Facebook says it is going to jump-start this new program by paying a “small subset” of independent writers.

Nowhere in this long statement of intent does anyone mention the name Substack, which is probably not surprising, because what Facebook is offering sounds like a carbon copy of what Substack provides to independent writers and journalists: a platform for their posts and newsletters, one in which Substack not only provides back-office support for subscriptions, but also doles out cash to a select group of writers in order to convince them to try out the platform. This “Substack Pro” program has been the source of some controversy recently, due to the fact that some of the writers the company has chosen to fund have expressed a range of what some find to be offensive opinions. For example, Scott Alexander, who writes a blog known as Astral Codex Ten (and was the subject of a controversial New York Times profile), has written positively about the idea of “human biodiversity,” which is often a code word for pseudo-scientific racism and/or eugenics. The list of others on the Substack Pro list (which the company has not made public) reportedly include Frederik de Boer, who promised he would retreat from public writing after he falsely accused another journalist of rape, but has since restarted his political blog.

While he isn’t being paid by Substack, Glenn Greenwald — the former Intercept writer — has used Substack to write about about New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz, making it clear that he doesn’t think the harassment she has faced is as important as the harassment he has faced. And Graham Linehan has reportedly used his Substack newsletter to mock, mis-gender, and harass trans women. Substack co-founder Hamish Mackenzie said in a blog post that who they decide to pay isn’t based on the content of what they write, but merely on whether they will be successful (i.e., generate revenue) and that therefore these are not editorial decisions, but critics have pointed out that these are exactly the kinds of editorial decisions traditional media outlets often make. In any event, several writers and journalists have said they are leaving Substack, because they don’t want the revenue they generate from subscriptions to be used to fund opinions they disagree with. In response, Substack co-founder Chris Best tweeted “defund the thought police” (Substack’s founders have since tried to clarify that the Pro program supports a wide range of writers).

It’s unclear whether Facebook created its new program as Substack was starting to come under fire, or started it after the company became popular. The giant social network has become notorious for copying successful products and services developed by others, including Snapchat and Twitter (which, coincidentally enough, recently announced its own Substack-style subscription newsletter offering). Regardless of how it came to be, Facebook likely sees an opportunity to appeal to writers and journalists with its own slate of similar offerings, and it has a number of features that Substack can’t offer. For example, Facebook doesn’t need to generate any revenue at all from its new platform — unlike Substack, which needs to justify the $17 million or so it has raised from Silicon Valley venture capitalists by producing significant financial returns. Also, Facebook can offer tools that allow writers who use its platform to reach a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people, something critics say Substack lacks (although it offers some writers health insurance and legal protection, neither of which are mentioned in Facebook’s blog post).

As for whether writers and journalists should hitch their star to this particular Facebook wagon, that is a much more complicated question. On the one hand, being paid to write is arguably a good thing regardless of who is doing the paying, especially if you are scraping by as an independent. On the other hand, Facebook has siphoned off and/or controls so much of the marketplace for writing and journalism already that even the most desperate journalist might feel loath to increase its dominance any further. Facebook has also tried in the past to offer tools that would help writers reach their audiences, and the number who have successfully done so is still relatively small — perhaps in part because a giant company like Facebook often gets distracted by other things, and its previous initiatives fall by the wayside. Some may take the social network up on its generous offer, but doing so may not be the guaranteed road to riches that they are hoping for.

Here’s more on Facebook and Substack:

Substack recreates media: In a piece written for CJR, Clio Chang writes that instead of creating a more equitable media system, Substack may have just replicated the flaws of the old one, by promoting and paying primarily white men who already have large audiences. “In general, will Substack replicate the patterns of marginalization found across the media industry, or will it help people locked out of the dominant media sphere to flourish? To a large extent, the answer depends on whether or not Substack’s founders believe they’re in the publishing business. When we spoke, they were adamant that Substack is a platform, not a media company—a familiar refrain of Silicon Valley media ventures.”

Substack defends itself: In a follow-up blog post on the Substack Pro system, the three founders of the company — Mackenzie, Best, and Jairaj Sethi — said that contrary to some of the criticism the service has received, it is not promoting anti-trans viewpoints. More than 30 writers have now signed Pro deals, they said, and they cover a range of issues including politics, climate change, pop culture, sociology, feminism, history, health, literature, art, sports, and music. More than half of those being paid are women, Substack said, and more than a third are people of color. The company also said that the Pro program is not funded out of the contributions from other Substack subscriptions.

Facebook ruins media: Jacob Silverman writes for The New Republic that Facebook’s entry into the subscription content business is not likely to bode well for journalism. “Imagine Facebook—with its data-driven, amoral attitude toward publishing, where everything truly is just “content” coming down the production line—deciding to give deals to some of its most popular media personalities. If Facebook’s building out a content operation, it would only be logical to cement business ties with right-wing personalities Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino, whose posts—chock-full of hateful disinformation—are often among the most shared.”

Some writers get rich: In a December piece for the New York Times, media writer Ben Smith revealed that the highest-earning individual writer on Substack was Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of 19th century American history at Boston College. According to Smith: “By my conservative estimate based on public and private Substack figures, the $5 monthly subscriptions to participate in her comments section are on track to bring in more than a million dollars a year.” Richardson said that she “tries not to think too much about the size of her audience because that would be paralyzing.”

Other notable stories:

The Biden administration is restricting the information Border Patrol agents and sector chiefs can share with the media as a surge of migrants tests the agency’s capacity at the southern border, according to four current and two former Customs and Border Protection officials who spoke to NBC News. The officials, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media about the topic, say the restrictions are seen as an unofficial “gag order” and are often referred to that way among colleagues.

The Malaysian government has used its emergency powers to push through a new law it says is designed to control “fake news,” but critics fear will give it even more scope to crack down on online criticism. The government declared a state of emergency in January, suspending parliament until August, in what it said was a necessary move to control the spread of COVID-19. The new law includes a jail sentence of up to six years or fines of up to $120,000 for publishing anything that challenges the government’s official narrative about the state of emergency, according to Reuters.

Financial news site Quartz has turned one of its articles into an NFT, or nonfungible token, a cryptocurrency artefact that some are using to monetize art and other forms of content, including the first tweet posted by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, and a recent album by the band Kings of Leon. “We converted an article—this very article, in fact—into an NFT, a digital asset that essentially serves as its own certificate of ownership and authenticity,” wrote Samanth Subramanian and David Yanofsky. There are currently no offers, and the reserve price is $18.27. Bidding will end on March 21 at 8 pm, and proceeds of the sale will be contributed to the International Women’s Media Foundation.

The Connecticut state legislature is meeting today to hold a hearing on a bill that would allow subscribers of the Hartford Courant to sue the paper’s owner if it takes on any debt or pays out dividends that are not “for the good of the company.” Supporters are hoping the bill will block the takeover of the paper by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. The hearing begins at 9 am, and among those testifying will be Courant reporter Rebecca Lurye, and Fraser Nelson, who helped the Salt Lake Tribune to achieve nonprofit status in 2019. Since the start of 2020, The Courant — the oldest continuously published newspaper in the US — has lost a third of its staff and had its newsroom shut down.

Ian Karbal writes for CJR about Tom Wheeler, who ran the Federal Communications Commission under Barack Obama and is now a Walter Shorenstein fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Most of the regulations that Wheeler promoted for net neutrality, privacy, and cybersecurity were rolled back under Donald Trump’s appointee, Ajit Pai. “It was painful,” Wheeler said. “You have the things you fought hard for and believe strongly in, and then you see the manufacturing of alternative facts that were misleading and designed to do away with these kinds of improvements.”

The McClatchy newspaper chain is trying to broaden the range of opinions it publishes by rolling out 12 community advisory boards, one for each of its opinion teams. It is also publishing five principles — including advocating for social justice and police reform, creating a roadmap for the post-pandemic economy, and examining the rural-urban divide in America — that it will use to guide its opinion coverage in newspapers across the country. “By the end of the year, all of our opinion teams will have advisory boards,” Peter St. Onge, McClatchy’s new national opinion editor, told the Nieman Journalism Lab.

A blogger and developer named Tom Cleveland used the New York Times API (application programming interface) to look at the way the paper rewrites and A/B tests different headlines for its news stories. According to the data he collected, almost 30 percent of Times stories have their headlines changed, and the one with the most changes had the headline replaced eight times. Some are just grammatical changes, he says, but most appear to be looking for more clicks, such as a Biden article that changed from “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Agenda” to “Biden Is the Anti-Trump and It’s Working.”

Google announced 11 projects that have received a collective $3 million in funding through the company’s News Initiative to fight misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. They include interactive radio dramas in Senegal and Nigeria, a partnership with a music star in Uruguay, and a collaborative project in India that will distribute fact checks through a grassroots network of rural women. Google announced the fund in mid-January, and the company said that it received more than 300 applications from 74 countries.

Facebook goes after Substack was originally published on mathewingram.com/work

[localbizlift]

All About Substack: Competitors, Features, and Audience

Do you love to write? Draw? Create in any way? Do people tell you that you should try using your creative skills to make a living?

Do you shrug them off because you don’t know how to get started or because you don’t feel you have the time to commit to unpaid work? After all, many people get their journey started writing free content in newsletters and blog posts. 

That’s where Substack comes in. You get to write and get paid—even if you don’t have a following yet. 

If you’re curious to know more, stick around. I’m breaking down Substack and its many competitors to help you determine if this is the path for you. 

What Is Substack? 

In 2017, Substack took the market by storm by allowing creatives, journalists, and bloggers to make money from their own email newsletters. Substack provides a way to build an email marketing list, write newsletters, charge subscribers, and manage payments. 

This platform offers an intuitive email creator that helps writers create interesting emails with links, images, content, and more. It lends itself towards all sorts of creators, including:

bloggers

comic book creators

investing and business writers

podcasters

We will focus on writers and bloggers today, but you should keep this site in mind if you’re involved with comics or podcasting. 

You can begin using Substack for free. However, as you begin to build a following, you could opt for a premium option, running $5 to $75 per month.

When you use a premium level, you can charge your readers. Substack only gets paid when you get paid, taking a 10 percent cut. Stripe takes an additional 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. As you can likely tell, you need to have a solid following to make a decent buck on Substack. 

Even with that amount taken out, Substack has the potential to become a viable profit source.

Substack Features

At the core, Substack is an email marketing platform. Whether you choose to go the paid or free route, that’s up to you. Here are some of the ways that you can make use of Substack. 

Free Newsletters 

Using a free Substack newsletter is a great way to grow your brand, develop your voice, and build a name for yourself. If you don’t have a large following, this is a great place to start. Create valuable content for your small following and offer it for free.

Don’t use Substack in a vacuum; pair it with a website. This allows you to invite readers to your site using a CTA and potentially turn them into buyers. 

Paid Newsletters 

While a free newsletter has the potential to make you money on the backend, you can use paid newsletters to make money on the front end.

You can publish as many newsletters as you want, and there are little to no guidelines on what you can write. Remember that people will factor in how much value they’re getting based on how much you’re charging them. If you’re charging $75 per month but only publishing two newsletters, you may lose subscribers. 

If someone is willing to pay to read your writing, it means they want to read it regularly. Therefore, getting in the habit of publishing consistently is the best strategy. This way, the readers know what to expect, and you can plan accordingly. 

Who Is Substack’s Audience? 

The best thing about Substack is the wide variety of subscribers for you to tap into. The writers on Substack include journalists, celebrities, political analysts, food writers, world travelers, and more. Most of the writing you’ll find on Substack would classify as personal writing, opinion, or research and analysis. 

In the interest of transparency, Substack has experienced some controversy relevant to portions of its audience. Writers accused of transphobia, harassment, and other negative behaviors have found homes on the platform, as it isn’t heavily moderated. While your audience is your own and not tied to any other creator’s, this is something to factor in when considering how your particular audience may respond.

As for the audience, you have your choice of writing whatever it is you want because chances are, there is someone out there willing to pay to read your writing if it’s valuable. If you’re targeting a more niche audience, you may be able to charge more to a small set of subscribers because they need more resources. If you’re after a broader niche, you could charge less but reach more people.

You have the freedom to choose the direction you want to go with your Substack newsletters, but the options are nearly endless. 

3 Tips Using Substack for Marketing 

There is serious potential to make a lot of money and reach a lot of people on Substack, but you have to know how to do it. So, here are some tips for marketing on Substack. 

1. Start With Free Newsletters 

You can’t introduce yourself out of nowhere and expect them to subscribe for a monthly fee if they have no idea who you are. You have to provide something valuable. 

Eventually, readers could become enticed by your content and want more of it. Once you get to that point, start thinking about charging people. 

One of the biggest mistakes people make is moving from free to paid too soon. You need to be strategic, making sure your audience is genuinely engaged and would be willing to pay for your work. 

Even if you wait until the perfect moment, you may still lose followers. People used to getting something for free may balk when asked to pay. But, if you provide excellent content, have a committed following, and charge a reasonable price, you increase your chances of keeping the majority of your subscribers.

2. Have a Strong Offer

Offer more than a newsletter; give your subscribers something they can’t turn down. For example, you could have an exclusive social media group for subscribers or even offer one-on-one conversations or coaching, depending on your field. You could also offer subscriber-only discounts for any products you may sell.

Write to your audience and include a CTA to get people to click on your offer. This could be an excellent way to convert these hot leads. 

3. Consider Multiple Publications 

Substack allows you to have as many newsletters as you want—meaning you could have a free and paid version. This strategy allows you to continue to engage with your entire audience.

To get readers to move to your paid option, you need to offer a little bit more. Make the content more exclusive, valuable, and personal. 

You can also have multiple free publications if you want to spread yourself across a few different niches. For example, digital marketing is highly diverse with a variety of different subjects. So, you could have a newsletter about SEO and another about social media marketing, both driving readers to your website.

Substack Competitors 

There are a ton of Substack alternatives, so making a decision can be challenging. Let’s take a look at some of their biggest competitors so you can choose the platform that’s right for you.

Substack Vs. Ghost 

The goal of Ghost is to help you build a loyal following to generate income you can rely on. As with Substack, you charge subscribers a monthly fee in exchange for your content.

What separates Ghost from Substack is the way they take payment. Ghost charges nine dollars per month and takes none of your revenue. This makes the platform highly scalable. You also get custom email addresses, domains, and access to a referral program. 

Substack Vs. Patreon 

Patreon is a subscription platform allowing creatives to charge for their work. The platform looks like a social media feed to users, and they get to scroll through the work of everyone to whom they subscribe rather than trying to go from place to place.

Patreon’s biggest perk is its tiered package option. You can provide people with various options to appeal to their budget and how much they want from you, all from one location. For example, at a $1 level, you could send subscribers one newsletter per week. At a $5 level, you could send them two newsletters or a newsletter and access to a video.

Patreon plans range from five to 12 percent of your monthly income plus processing fees of 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. 

Substack Vs. Medium 

Medium is well-known for being a haven for creatives who simply want to make their voices known, and much of it is free to access. As a bonus, Medium articles often rank pretty well SEO-wise.

If you upgrade to a paid Medium profile, you can charge for some or all of your content.

Rather than any kind of flat fee or percentage, Medium pays based on “reading time.” The more time people spend reading your content, the more money you make. You can also get paid by referring people to the platform through your unique code. 

Substack Frequently Asked Questions 

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Substack. 

Is it free to access Substack?

Substack is free to write newsletters and build a following on. It only costs money when you upgrade to paid and start to generate revenue from your subscriptions. 

Can I advertise on Substack?

Substack does not run ads. The only way Substack makes money is through their cut of subscription fees.

Should I make a Substack?

Only you can answer this. Do you have great content ideas? Do you have a small following that you can nurture and grow? If yes, starting a Substack could be a great way to grow that following and eventually profit from it.

Does Substack own your content?

No. You retain ownership of everything published on Substack. While you cannot export content out of Substack once you publish it, you maintain ownership even if you use a different platform later.

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All About Substack: Conclusion 

Building a following is not an easy task, and that’s why we offer assistance to marketers and creatives looking to build or grow their following quickly. 

Whether you’re going it alone or getting help, you need to be consistent and patient as you grow the following. Of course, building an email list is easier said than done, but with some hard work and focus, Substack could help you get your writing career off the ground.

What advice do you have for new writers wanting to build a following on Substack?

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Introduction to Level 4 of Udemy Course From Zero to Substack Hero

Section 21: Mastery and Beyond on Substack Source link to the image For those who missed, I shared the scripts of 20 sections covering levels 1, 2, and 3 of this exciting course. Today, I will provide a quick intro to Level 4 of From Zero to Substack Hero, which will be available on Udemy soon, but I have already uploaded the videos to my publication on Substack for members. Level 4 of our…