My first 100 subscribers

The highs, the lows, and the whys

Last week I reached 100 subscribers.

Trying to explain this to anyone outside of Substack brings this little achievement crashing back down to earth.

“Any money involved?” asks my dad, accidentally hitting a moot point.

“What happens next?” asks my brother.

I think there are many reasons why Substack is so exciting, but this screenshot from @LewisHolmes’s sums one of them up very well:

The dopamine hit when you get that spark of recognition from people ‘liking’, never mind commenting on what’s come out of your delicate brain is wonderful, confidence-boosting and makes you want more.

This is when you might start trawling for new subscribers and going to slightly grubby lengths to get them.

Or is this just me.

In my defence, I’m a marketing person, which means I love playing about and experimenting with different approaches, to see what works and what doesn’t.

What works: Being nice, authentic and genuine

What doesn’t: Video, using the notes to chat about things that aren’t writing related

It’s when I’ve tried asking real life people to subscribe that it’s felt a little dirty - I find it hard to explain why it’s important to me. At times I’ve felt like a politician trying to shore up support in a kind of “Can I count on you at the hustings?" way.

I haven’t kissed any babies, but I have said yes to social invites that I wouldn’t normally have gone to thinking, well at least I might chat about Substack and get a few sign ups. Surely the signs of an addict in the grip…

So at these points I wonder why I want subscribers in the first place? Is my ego really that fragile? Then I remember that there is a reason. I bet you’ll have one too. Assuming you feel you need one, which you might not of course!

In fact, I’ve seen really good writers on here who genuinely don’t feel the least bit affected by their numbers and I like that a lot.

Anyway, this next section is all about how and why I got into Substack. If you’re curious, please read on. If not, just subscribe will you - you’ll get my free guide to creating your own Substack logo 😁.

Earlier this summer I took some time off to write a memoir

Which sounds very grand, but it was the only thing I could reach for. I didn’t know about Substack, and I just really wanted to be able to get some of the inner workings of my mind onto the page. 

In my work life I write a weekly newsletter that takes a wry look at marketing in financial services and how to make finance less dry, dull and boring.

It's my absolute favourite thing to do because I get to be me: to be playful, creative and sometimes a little cheeky about this otherwise very serious topic.

But I was getting frustrated with not being able to write more personally, and thought a memoir would fix that.

I’d also read a few famous memoirs by millennials that I really didn’t think were all that. Surely there was a need for a Gen X version that would tell it like it really is?

Very quickly after starting to write said memoir I realised how hard it is - all those words, for one thing - so it’s very much hats off to those millennials and their memoirs👏🏻 . End of project.

I’d heard of Substack earlier in the year

I’d seen someone mention it on LinkedIn and not knowing what I was I took a look, hearted her piece, then subscribed and accidentally got her recommended stacks, which meant I was getting all manner of article in my inbox that I didn’t really want. So I unsubscribed from all of them and forgot all about it.

Before that though she emailed me thanking me for my support. That was very kind, but why did she care so much about one measly subscriber?! I didn’t really get it. All I understood was that it was something you could make money from if you had enough people following you, which sounded like a big project.

Then I went on a writing retreat which was where the idea of Substack came up again. The coach on the retreat explained what it was, but mainly talked about the paid part, saying the Stripe fees were a rip off, and that I’d be better off creating my own blog.

I had a proper look into it and realised it was just my kind of thing. So ignoring all her advice, I signed up on Sept 1. Then spent weeks obsessing over the name.

Childless dog lady

During this summer there was that now infamous JD Vance comment about childless cat ladies that I thought I’d home in on, this being one of the themes of my memoir. I was looking for something that would break the internet, cause a sensation and make me rich.  

I was delighted with myself, with the artwork, and bought a whole load of urls in case it turned into something else. I’m not sure what else that would be, but it would definitely need its own site and merch.

I sent my about page to a few friends and they said it was really good.

Then I saw it up in lights and felt a little, I guess you’d say ‘triggered’. I wasn’t really comfortable putting myself out there in this way. I’m actually not 100% ok with the fact that I’m single and childless at 48, although I’m honestly a whole lot better about it than I have been, so I put the idea of that, and the unborn branded tote bags, to bed.

So here we are with Faithiepop, which doesn’t really say an awful lot apart from the fact that it’s got my name in it and the pop bit adheres to my love of pop culture. 

But I’m so happy with how it’s turned out

I feel free to write exactly what I want and the interactions I’ve had as a result have been hands down the most amazing part. I love being in a kind of gang of people who seem to have joined at the same time as me. I think it’s because we all understand what goes into these posts and we know what it means to get support. (Which is understandably what real life friends and family might not get.)

It’s nothing like what it looks like from the outside though, because it’s not so much about the paid bit (although that would be fun to try) and it’s not really about the ‘big wigs’ - the famous names that are in here, which is who I thought I’d be reading the most. In fact when I see those people pop up, it seems so odd, like they’re in the wrong place. “Getouttamypub” I sometimes think, in a Peggy Mitchell from EastEnders accent. It’s the thoughtful pieces from regular folk that I really love reading.

But I still haven’t answered the question about why exactly I want more eyeballs on my stuff. Well, one of the other things I did this summer was enter some writing competitions. I cringe at the thought of this now, but there’s one thing I’m very grateful for, which is having to answer the question “Why are you entering this competition?”. My answer was simply: “To broaden my audience”.

And that’s what I remind myself of when I wonder why I’m so keen to get new subscribers. With more readers you have more people to share your perspective with, especially if you can say something you feel hasn’t otherwise been said. (And even if it’s been said before, it’s now you whose saying it, which makes it unique.) Sharing, connecting with others is really nice, and somehow it feels nicer with strangers because they don’t know you, so their feedback is genuine.

So even though it would be nice to break the internet, cause a sensation and become rich from writing exactly what I’d like to, once the dopamine has worn off, what would it actually mean? It would probably change the enjoyment factor, the community aspect, and become another job. 

But if anyone would like to run this experiment with me, then you know what to do!

Thanks to everyone who read, liked, commented or shared my piece last week ‘Smartphones and chimney sweeps’ I had some fascinating chats about it.

Have a lovely weekend all!