Substack Diaries: The impact of recommendations
June 2024 recap and numbers
Gratitude spotlight: Thank you to the lovely
from for upgrading.💕
I noticed that in May and June, over 50 percent of my new subscribers came from recommendations! (Thank you so much for joining! Welcome! 👋 I get really excited when I see new subscribers coming from another writer's recommendation. It means that writer is reaching more readers, which is so exciting!!)
often talks about the power of recommendations and sets time aside time every month to write recommendations. She has gained over 3,000 subscribers to Sparkle on Substack through recommendations alone!Now, obviously, she has great content and generously connects with her readers, but I’m coming to understand how impactful this tool is!
Here’s some recommendation advice from my previous Substack diaries:
I’m super curious. Do you subscribe to recommended publications? And if you do, do you tend to subscribe to them without checking it out first?
Monthly check-in
Things I tried:
I experimented with adding Ko-Fi and Buy Me A Coffee links to my newsletters. I’ve never done a one-off tip/donation/payment option, so decided to give it a go. I haven’t had anyone use it yet, but it was great to test out both of them and see how super easy they are to set up.
I tried a custom button that links back to Ko-Fi:
I also tried writing this at the bottom of a newsletter that links to Buy Me a Coffee:
My content is completely free, but you can buy me a hot chocolate by following this link!
I got this wording from
after seeing it in her About Page. I get a lot from her Slow Sunday Letters and since she doesn’t have a paid subscriber option yet, I was really happy when I found a “Buy Me a Coffee” link on her About page! I asked if I could use similar wording and she graciously agreed.
What I learned:
In some cases, you can see what Note converted people to subscribe. If you get email notifications when someone subscribes, you may have noticed that you can now click on “Note” and it will bring you to the Note that converted that subscriber. (A lot of mine only show “Substack App still)
If you’re having difficulty tagging someone, go to their profile for their handle.
When you tag a writer, they will get notified that you have tagged them in your newsletter or Note (at this point in time, you can’t tag someone in comments).
You tag a writer by using their handle. Often you just start typing their name with an “@” in front of it.
However if, like me, if their name is taken, they may have chosen another handle.
If you can’t tag a writer easily, just go to their profile to see what their handle is. (Note: not everyone knows where to find it, so think carefully about your handle.)
I had forgotten that my handle is “@musingsbymika”. I may look into changing it in the future. It’s easy to do, you just go to “Edit profile”.
You can now see your read history! On the Substack app homepage, across the top you will see a list of newsletters from publications you subscribe to or have saved. Swipe right on that row and you will see the history of newsletters that you’ve read!
What I’m struggling with:
Feeling like a real newbie when it comes to operating a Substack with a paid subscription with no paywalls. It’s been a month since I turned on the paid subscriptions. I have been challenging myself to experiment with different wording at the bottom of my newsletters. Sometimes I mention the opinion to upgrade, sometimes I don’t mention anything. Sometimes I leave a link to one-off payments, sometimes I leave it off. I would love to know what you do.
June (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: 1326
Started: 0
April-Nov: 7
Dec: 20
Jan: 163
Feb: 196
Mar: 175
April: 161
May: 355
June: 244 loooovely people joined! 🥰 Thank you and welcome! 👋
Total posts: 26
Apr: 1
Oct: 1
Dec: 6
Jan: 5
Feb: 4
Mar: 4
Apr: 4
May: 5
June: 4
I’ve been posting every week since the start of December. I took a week off in March.
Total recommendations: 118 (25 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 AMAZING subscribers recommended musings by mika, thank you, thank you! 🥰 (I also received 7 new written recommendations, which was so generous and kind💕)
Total subscribers from recommendations: 493
Jan: 6
Feb: 14
Mar: 50
Apr: 78
May: 151
June: 181 of you joined through recommendations in June! 😱
Total paid subscribers: 10
May: 4
June: 6 of you decided to upgrade! It means more to me than you know. 🥹
Total net revenue: US$262.35
(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
✍️ Let me know in the comments: What’s been your experience with Recommendations? How do you decide which publications to subscribe to—do you explore their content first, or do you jump right in based on a recommendation?
musings by mika is a free weekly newsletter, but if you found this 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$34/£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 next?
July 2024: Why numbers don’t tell the whole story
Want to read what happened before?
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?
Nice recap, I always find these interesting. Here are my contributions to your calls to action.
Re: Do I subscribe to recommended pubs without checking them first? No. I struggle with inbox overwhelm as it is so I'm very selective about what I subscribe to.
Re: Tipping options. I wholeheartedly support this movement. Possibly because I worked in the service industry for many years and I see tipping as a normal occurrence. I use it sparingly in my Unstack Substack pub (like maybe once every 4 or 5 posts) and it seems to attract at least one tip each time. With today's post, someone tipped me $25!! So, I say ALWAYS leave the option open because you never know who will appreciate your writing and feel inspired!
I'm not sure if you ever saw this post I wrote about tipping but the comments are MANY and opinions vary widely! https://unstackit.substack.com/p/stop-feeling-awkward-asking-for-tips
Lovely to be here, Mika. I heard about you from @leannecrestingthehill