Saturday Morning Coffee ☕ #63

Bleu de la bleu, de la blu bla bleu.

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Hey friend!

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👀 Something you might like:

Substack System is a step-by-step roadmap to build, grow, and monetise a thriving Substack publication with proven and actionable systems.

In the 70+ videos of this course, you’ll learn how to:

• Write Viral Notes: Capture attention and drive subscriber growth

• Build Your Audience: Attract readers who truly appreciate your work

• Create A Thriving Publication: Set your publication up for success

• Grow Your Paid Substack: Turn readers into paying subscribers every month

• Boost Subscriber Growth: Use effective growth strategies to reach more readers with less effort

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💡 Your questions, my answers:

I received a couple of questions in this week’s Q&A Chat thread - here’s my stab at answering them:

1. How do you decide when is the right time to move from free to paid? Do you need to post something daily, weekly monthly or can you vary the postings? I am guessing you need a publishing schedule for the topics/subjects - is there a template or do you just use a spreadsheet? How far do you plan ahead?

My personal advice on this is always the same: turn your paid tier on right from the start.

Even if you’re not offering very many extras to begin with, there’ll always be someone out there who wants to support you based purely on your free content. Turn it on and decide later what you want to paywall, if anything.

Rhythm is more important than frequency. That is, if you’re posting once a week, always post once a week; if once a month, always once a month. Don’t post like crazy one week, burn yourself out, and not post at all for the next fortnight. Readers appreciate consistency and reliability.

I don’t plan overly far ahead - rarely more than the next quarter. And even then, my plans are always extremely fluid. But it definitely helps to have ideas banked so you don’t end up feeling overwhelmed and, consequently, discouraged.

Will my realness keep me from making a living? I see so many put a positive spin on hard stories but I’m actively working on being able to sit with the darkness so I can move through it. Avoidance is a silent killer. How do I strike a monetizable balance? Do I have to strike a balance at all to make a living?

Such an interesting question!

I’m a big believer in sharing the bad with the good - readers gravitate to authenticity, which breeds trust, which leads to goodwill (and, eventually, financial support). Your “realness” is more likely to help you make a living than shying away from it.

I would 100% read an article about what it means to “sit with the darkness”, too. That’s solid stuff.

Any thoughts on these questions/answers? Do you have any of your own?

Drop them in the comments! 👇

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🙂 Can you support me?

Paid subscriptions make up the bulk of my revenue as a writer. The more paying subscribers I have, the more time and effort I can invest in Substack. That’s more time spent writing articles, recording podcasts and videos, running webinars, and creating digital resources designed to help you succeed.

On the flip side, if I don’t get enough financial support, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain my presence here. I’m a one-man band, after all.

So if you enjoy my work and can afford to support me as a paid sub (and want to keep me on Substack for the long-haul), do consider upgrading to my paid tier. The sheer amount of content, insight and ongoing support you’ll receive will pay for your subscription many times over, especially if you become an annual subscriber.

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📖 This week’s juicy reading material:

• How to Build a Course Machine on Substack by

  Sean Mize

• 10 Ways to Write Like YOU, Without the Fear, the Filter, or the Factory Programming by

  Dre Beltrami

• How Long Should Your Newsletter Really Be to Keep Readers Engaged Until the End? by

  Waqas

• 4 Steps to Transform Fear to Fascination: How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Future by

  Janet Ridsdale
  and
  Srini Vijay, PhD

• DPW #014: How to Write a Book on Substack Notes by

  Jamie Northrup

• This mistake will cost you everything by

  Orel Zilberman

• The 10 types of posts and how to use them by

  Neal O'Grady

• How to Self-Promote When You Hate Self-Promotion by

  Michael Thompson
  ,
  John Pucay
  and
  Darius Foroux

• How to Protect Your Focus Without Burning Bridges by

  Nir Eyal

• Starting Over on Substack: My Honest Restart Story by

  Katja Groesser

• Welcome to the Book Graveyard by

  Beth McMullen

• Building Your Author Brand by

  Kristen Weber

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📺 A good video:

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🗒️ A good Note:

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☑️ Go deeper:

• Behind The Scenes With TV Writer and Showrunner Michael Jamin

• After 60 Days on Substack, I Think I've Found the Best Platform for Writers

• Use The ‘3 What, 3 How’ Framework for Writing Advice Posts on Any Platform

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Have a brilliant weekend, gang! ⌛

PS. You can read all previous editions of Saturday Morning Coffee here, and you can upgrade your subscription here.

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🤷‍♂️ What’s next?

I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s how I can help:

1. Start Your Podcast on Substack: A complete course guiding you from concept to launch, based on everything I’ve learned so far during my own podcasting journey. Learn to plan, brand, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast while building an audience. Perfect for creators eager to share their voice with the world.

2. Sustainable Scalable Social Strategy: This 6-part, online, self-driven course will guide you through the same process I used to develop a strategy for my social media management. When you finish, you’ll have a sustainable social strategy in place that will help you scale your business properly.

3. One-To-One Coaching: Live coaching sessions over Zoom plus a full video audit of your Substack publication. Ideal for those who want to grow their online presence, identify their key strengths, and develop a long-term business strategy. Upgrade to VIP Membership for full access.

4. Promote to 18,000+ readers: Get yourself in front of a highly-engaged online audience via email, podcast and social media.

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