Dispatch #5: What to focus on, tune out, and do this summer
Plus, breaking news, Notes Summer, the surprising pivot big Substacks are making, the most common Substack rumor, Substack's new Facebook-y feature, and more
Because you don’t need more Substack information; you need intel.
Breaking news
Substack has disrupted the system to benefit writers and creators again by facilitating sponsorships.
Join me this Thursday, 6/18, at 2:15 PM CT for An inside look at Substack’s brand partnerships: The how, where, when, and what it means for you.
I’ll share:
why I’m so excited about the way Substack has opened the platform to brand partnerships,
how it will benefit all of us (yes, even “small” Substacks), and
what’s been happening behind the scenes for the past year or so.
In the meantime, to clarify.
Sponsorships ≠ ads.
Sponsorships = a voluntary partnership that a Substack writer makes with a brand of their choosing to have a single article sponsored by said brand.
Sponsorships have been here for a long time; Substack is just connecting us to brands much the way sites like Paved do.
If you’d like to attend, become a paid subscriber below. I’d love to have you. The replay will also be available.
Note of the week
What to focus on
You’d think Substacks with a gazillion subscribers would be flaunting them. Au contraire. Substacks with hundreds of thousands of subscribers from different categories aren’t making their subscriber counts public, including Feed Me (Business), The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad (Literature), Sam Harris (Culture), Zoe Barrie (Food & Drink), Aaron Parnas (News), et al.
Maybe we should follow suit?
To bow out of the subscriber-number rat race, go to your publication dashboard → Settings → Privacy → Show approximate subscriber count → toggle off.
Answer this: If no one could see your subscriber count (or anyone else’s), what would you focus on? Focus on that going forward. And share in the comments below.
What to tune out
Every week, I bring you a behind-the-scenes view of what you really need to grow on Substack. To keep reading, join our live on how to make money from sponsorships, and take part in Notes Summer, become a paid subscriber:
