Making Substack the Center of a Writing System

Focusing Distractions with Complexity

With all of the options writers and content creators have now, finding the right one for each system sometimes takes experimentation. Flops and failures often come with such brimming efforts of zeal, yet the glimmer of hope remains in pictures of automated simplicity.

In the beginning, things were simple; then came the expansion, the maintenance, building, creating, researching, and other such effort and time into what can only be called a writing system.

Organizing this complex miasma of disparate platforms, the writer (insert content creator as needed) has become a blogger, marketer, promotor, maintenance tech, and organizing master. The actual writing is pushed to the side.

Finding Balance

Each writer organizes their system differently according to their needs and abilities. I’ve always admired someone who focuses on one platform and doesn’t get stretched too thin. We can get distracted by constantly expanding and trying new things.

What’s needed is the time to write with a clear head space not cluttered with widgets and feeds. For example, I’ve been subjecting myself to some blogging work and now I’m writing about it. If my writing system were balanced and working orderly, I would write about a topic outside of the enigmatic writing about writing topic.

Not to worry, this is a strategic writing piece, helping writers get organized to create a balanced writing system that gains traction mostly through automation.

Simple. Effective. Routine.

The creative part can then be reserved for writing, etc.

What About Substack?

I created a Substack account around four years ago; since, it has been a relatively insignificant part of my writing system.

This has changed. As I’ve been working on my writing system more in the off-season, I’ve gained more analytical and technical insight into my efforts. For instance, trying to get a popup screen on a website with a free book offer for an email subscription. Importantly, drilling down on view and read data for each blog.

See, for the last decade, my blogs have been the center of my writing system — for better or worse. Mostly, they’ve been neglected in lonely shadows online, yet that was the strategy.

While I will continue to write original articles on my blogs, they will not be the main target of my “sales funnel.” Substack will replace them.

What Substack offers is a popular platform that people trust. Both creators and readers are on the quality reader app or desktop website. They allow people to follow your newsletter for free or pay a subscription. Creators can put up paywalls on content or have it all be free.

Substack offers me a platform like Patreon, yet with a great app, a platform that is much easier to use, has more functions, looks better, and doesn’t censor people so quickly. Substack is like a mix between Medium and Patreon.

What Substack offers me is a place where I can combine all of my writing, video, podcasting, and music efforts online in one place.

It makes it easy for people to support my (mostly) writing efforts and get updates from all of the dozen or so platforms I write and create content for.

Conclusion

I spent some time in blogger tech mode today, updating my writing system to integrate Substack as the conversion prize of my “sales funnel.” For instance, I replaced my website link with my Substack link in profiles across all writing and social platforms.

Substack has become where I send people because it is more popular and reliable than my blogs. I will still write original content on my blogs, yet building up my substack has more potential for growth, interaction, and profit.

While I still work at making money with writing platforms and my books, having a platform where followers can find my consolidated online creative efforts and give support financially is perfect for what I need.

Now, I can get back to writing.

Hey, if interested, follow me on Substack:

Robbie Newport's Newsletter

Originally published at Medium in New Writers Welcome

Comments

3 Ways Small Brick and Mortar Businesses Can Leverage their Websites

Not every modern business is tech-savvy and proficient with digital marketing; in fact, 36% of America's small businesses don't even have a website ; and many of those that do, have nothing more than a lonely website in the shadows. While this is a good start, this type of strategy isn't going to attract many website visitors. The good news is, it doesn't take a marketing genius to start gaining traffic to a business's website, yet it does take some time and effort to develop and execute a viable digital marketing strategy. In an effort to help, let's examine 3 ways small brick and mortar businesses can leverage their websites. 1. Optimize the Website's Sales Funnel: The first thing businesses need to do is optimize their website's sales funnel to make conversions . For brick and mortar small businesses like retailers, restaurants, event centers, etc., gaining a visitor's email is a conversion; for small businesses offering professional se...

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6-12 (KJV) Have you ever wondered what people are living for each day, when we are among others in the city, shopping, eating, driving around? How many of them are content with what they have, how many of them are interested in the truth of life and this world? How many are just living simply to fulfill their lusts and vain desires? Well, these scriptures in 1 Timothy really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the nature of mankind. Let’s look at the full passage: 1 Timothy 6: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 Having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrow...

Al-Anon and twelve step programs are a lifeline

The self-help arena is massive and usually new age in nature, yet the path to truth starts with a desire for the truth about ourselves. What makes us who we are? Growing up, I was introduced to Jesus and the Holy Bible, it was a part of my life in some measure, and I’m very grateful for this. I’m not sure how much of my personality and values come from those early introductions to the Christian faith, yet I believe it helped me grow a conscience. Besides a testimony about myself, I want to write about how group counseling can help a person grow, and how the literature of Al-Anon, AA, and other twelve step programs can help us gain insight into why we feel the way we do, why we behave or think the way we do. I don’t think we understand how much alcoholism and drugs affect our lives, how deeply it shapes our perception about ourselves and others. Much of how we interact and deal with others is based on what was lacking in our families and growing up. Many times, we are stunted and unable...

What Does the Future Look Like in Ten Years?

Tech will rule nearly everyone all the time. Ten years isn’t a very long period of time, yet with online technology exponentially growing, it is a long time for things to change. Already, look at what we’ve seen change since the smartphones came out in 2010! In just 16 years, our country doesn’t even resemble itself from before. This is the period of time when the Z generation came of age as well, around 2020, which also has changed things drastically. In ten years (2036), the Alpha generation will be 11-26 years old, therefor coming of age. This will change things drastically again, as this generation is the first to never know a world without a smartphone. The online world, smartphones, and smart tech, is ruining people’s character. Social media, social engineering, is ruining people’s values. The younger generations mostly have bad characters and will only get worse as technology becomes even more prevalent (the destruction of the Biblical family by feminism is key for this to happe...

Business and Society Articles

Search This Blog