Saturday Morning Coffee ☕ #68

It's that time again.

➡️ My 1K Daily Writing Challenge - a 30-day email course designed to get you writing 1,000 words a day, every day - is almost ready! Join the waitlist here.

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Hey friend!

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⬇️ In case you missed it:

212: Start and Grow on Substack

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👀 Something you might like:

Want to write Notes that actually grow your audience?

Derek Hughes

gained 2,000+ subscribers in 6 months — now he’s giving away his secrets.

Grab his free Substack Notes Playbook and start writing Notes that convert. 👇

Want to work with me to grow your audience and generate more income? Here’s how.

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💡 Your questions, my answers:

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

1. What are the first steps you recommend one takes to start earning money with our writing?

First, understand yourself. Why do you want to want to make money writing? Is it to replace your job or earn a side income, or have you always been a writer and just want to monetise what you already have? What are your long-term goals? Can you see yourself still doing it after ten years?

Next, understand your audience. What are their struggles and pain points? What do they want to achieve? Why are you best-positioned to help them solve those problems?

Then, write content that bridges the two. Write to explore your own motivation and goals. Write to solve problems your audience are facing (or will face). Build trust. Nurture authentic connection. Always present people with a way to support you financially (as a paid subscribers, by purchasing a product, etc).

It takes time and consistent effort, but it’s worth it.

2. Have you found Notes to be actually worth the effort if you are trying to build your email list?

100%. Notes has always been one of my key growth drivers, alongside recommendations.

At the very least, posting regularly helps your audience get to know you better and understand a little more about why and how you can help them. They build trust. And the more you post, the more you increase the likelihood that some of your Notes will pop off and produce significant, often explosive growth.

3. How do you even start materialising an idea you had?

If a good idea comes to me, I usually scribble it down in the notes app on my phone, or in a Google doc. I’ll come back to it after a few days and dig deeper if it’s worth exploring.

But the best ideas materialise for me very quickly, and I’ll usually write them up straight away. They might end up in Notes or posts, or even in podcasts or YouTube videos. I’ll know an idea is especially potent if there’s an emotional component in it for me - that usually bleeds through in my writing.

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

Drop them in the comments! 👇

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🚨 Time-limited!

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

But it goes away in less than a week!

Make sure to grab it while you can, right here. 👇

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📖 This week’s juicy reading material:

• The Targeted Guest Post Strategy by

  Chenell Basilio

• Creating scarcity and urgency by

  Nick Bennett
  and
  Erica Schneider

• Paralyzed by potential by

  Jay Clouse

• How to Murder Your Niche (And Get Away With It) by

  Evan Kelly

• You are good enough. You know enough. You are ready by

  George Kao

• The Only Newsletter Guide You Will Ever Need by

  The Human Project

• How To Escape The Life You Hate (The Simple Habit That Changed Everything) by

  Derek Hughes

• Publishing is slow, so don't wait to write by

  Alyssa Matesic

• Why most Substack writers struggle to make a living (and how to fix it) by

  Wes Pearce

• You can just do things by

  Justin Welsh

• How I Hit $10K/Month On Substack Without a Single Paid Subscriber by

  Landon Poburan

• Social Media Truths Every Writer Needs to Understand by

  Benjamin Davis
  and
  Shelby Stretton

• You think too much by

  Marie Vandoorne

• I Made $20K in 8 Weeks, Quietly—Without Social Media. And You Didn't (Yet) by

  Elisabeth Worth

📖 Contributions from Paid Members:

• Why I Now Say: "I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just Creative” by

  Heléna Kurçab

• Letting Go of Food Guilt: How to Stop Feeling Like You’re Failing by

  Julene Cole

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📺 Something from YouTube:

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🗒️ Something from Notes:

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☑️ Go deeper:

• 6 Great Ways for Writers to Deal With The Comparison Trap

• These Undersaturated Platforms Are Absolute Goldmines for Content Promotion

• Another brief book update

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Have a brilliant weekend, gang! ⌛

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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 19,000+ readers: Get yourself in front of a highly-engaged online audience via email, podcast and social media.

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