Substack Diaries: Why showing up matters in our creative journey
September 2024 recap and numbers
This month, my podcast interview with
went live! I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous—it often feels easier to just stay quiet and safe than to put yourself out there. I find that when I try something new, I get that familiar vulnerability hangover.I think, one of the hardest parts of Substack is staying motivated to keep writing as you slowly build your audience. Early on in my Substack journey, I wrote these two posts:
They have no comments. Zilch, Nada! Thankfully, I didn’t let it stop me from writing and showing up.
Currently, the podcast post has 4 comments and 2 of them are mine!
So, does that mean the podcast wasn’t a success? Absolutely not. The value of our work isn’t measured by likes or comments. I am so proud of myself for feeling the fear and doing it anyway!
Writing into the void is hard. I get it! You pour your heart out, and sometimes it feels like nobody's listening. But we keep creating anyway—because it's the act of creating that matters most. Keep going. Someone out there needs your words.
Monthly check-in
Things I tried:
I did my 7-day Gentle Reset on Notes again, and it was really helpful to me and it seemed to help others too. (I think I might do another Gentle Reset, so keep an eye on Notes).
I checked out what Substack Lives were all about. I also wrote my thoughts about it.
Engagement for podcasts is so different. I found out that people don’t tend to leave comments on podcasts in the same way they do with posts. So, it meant a lot that
, , and decided to share the podcast on Notes and left such lovely comments!
What I learned:
The world doesn’t fall apart if you delay your posting schedule. As most of you know, I’ve been unwell and I have delayed a couple of of my posts by a few days. As a graphic designer, it is really, really important to meet deadlines. However, on Substack, since I am producing a free publication, I have given myself permission to not publish something if I’m not in a good headspace. It keeps Substack from feeling like a chore, and it makes the writing better because it isn't forced. (If you're curious, I don’t announce the delay, and it’s worked out just fine.)
What I’m struggling with:
Understanding which stats to ignore and which stats to take notice of. In our dashboards, it tells us how many new subs you get from a post. The stats from my Substack Diaries series are showing me that they don’t tend to convert to free subscribers. (1 free subscriber in Aug, 3 in July, 2 in June etc etc). However, the engagement is really good (40 comments in Aug, 45 in July, 57 in June). I love writing them and I think it’s nice to document my journey and let you see behind the scenes. I’m not sure if I need to change anything or just continue the way things are.
September (real) numbers
I love it when people open up about their journey, especially the nitty-gritty details of starting something new. Here's me, sharing it all, stepping into the Substack world with no email list to my name.
Total subscribers: 1,987
Started: 0
April-Nov: 7
Dec: 20
Jan: 163
Feb: 196
Mar: 175
April: 161
May: 355
June: 244
July: 194
August: 269
September: 198 loooovely people joined! 🥰 Thank you and welcome! 👋
Total posts: 46
Apr: 1
Oct: 1
Dec: 6
Jan: 5
Feb: 4
Mar: 4
Apr: 4
May: 5
June: 4
July: 4 (including a guest post with
about my thoughts on Being Enough)August: 4
September: 4 (including my first podcast with )
Total recommendations: 141 (30 written recommendations)
Dec: 1
Jan: 14
Feb: 15 (2 new written recommendations)
Mar: 13 (4 new written recommendations)
Apr: 18 (4 new written recommendations)
May: 36 (8 new written recommendations)
June: 21 (7 new written recommendations)
July: 6
August: 11 (4 new lovely written recommendations)
September: 6 AMAZING subscribers recommended musings by mika, thank you, thank you! 🥰 (1 new lovely written recommendation)
Total subscribers from recommendations: 905
Jan: 6
Feb: 14
Mar: 50
Apr: 78
May: 151
June: 181
July: 161
August: 108
September: 143 of you joined through recommendations in September! 😱
Total paid subscribers: 15
May: 4
June: 6
July: 2
August: 3
September: 2 of you decided to upgrade! It means more to me than you know 💕 (-2: 1 left Substack completely, 1 stopped monthly subscription)
Total net revenue: US$442.95
(After 10% Substack fees, 2.9%+30 cents per transaction Stripe fees)
May: Net US$86.43, £67.53, NZ$139.30
June: Net US$175.91, £137.86, NZ$287.62
July: Net US$32.72, £15.15 NZ$54.95
August: US$88.26, £67.15, NZ$141.67
September: US$59.63, £45.47, NZ$96.84
✍️ Let me know in the comments: How was September? How is your relationship with comments or lack of comments?
If you’ve found the Substack Diaries helpful, and you’re in a position to do so, here is the link to upgrade (currently NZ$55 a year (as of today US$35/£27)). If you are unable to, or are happy to stay on the free subscription, that is totally ok with me too! I’m just glad you’re in our supportive community.
Want to read what happened before?
August 2024: Unexpected delights
July 2024: Why numbers don’t tell the whole story
June 2024: The impact of recommendations
May 2024: How May became a month of transformation
April 2024: One year on Substack (kind of)
March 2024: The power and pressure of celebrating milestones
February 2024: Dashboard detox: Avoid the ups and downs of subscriber growth
January 2024: How the heck did I jump from 27 to 180 subscribers?!
December 2023: What do you do if you're not growing as fast as others?
November 2023: The turning point: Resurrecting and restarting my Substack
April 2023: Did I just have a mini meltdown from setting up Substack?
The comments on the podcast were only possible for paid subscribers, otherwise I totally would have left a comment. I really enjoyed listening to your story. You definitely didn't sound nervous at all. Hope you're feeling a bit better by now!
Hey Mika, hope you're feeling well or better. By a curious coincidence I just posted a note asking how to do comments. The thing is: I often "just" leave a like. I would love to leave comments on everything I read, just as pure appreciation for the work the author has put in, and I know I looove comments on my own work. The reasons why I don't are several: sometimes I'm too struck by the work, I feel like I have nothing meaningful to say about it without dragging it down, that explaining in detail what I liked and what it did to me is pointless and will only devalue it - and only writing "I loved it" is too generic and meaningless to leave as a comment. Sometimes, especially with more popular posts, I find that anything I might say has already been said by other people commenting, that there is no point me writing the same thing again. Sometimes I have to think about it - go away, mull it over for a few hours or days, digest it. And yeah,I might have something to comment after three days, but the reality is, that I don't go back and do that.
So... I don't know... are emojis an acceptable way to comment if I'm out of words? Is it nicer to write something, even if it sounds quite generic, than to be silent? I'm honestly asking. What do you think?