ENTICE - Offer Clear Value and GROW

Readers come through the Substack Door because they want to feel better, understand more of their world, or reduce their fear of something.

Promise value … but, ONLY if you can deliver it!

Seth Godin says: “But real security lies in creating value.

Creating value isn’t easy, but it’s resilient and generous and often profitable.”

Page 22, Substack Field Guide #2:

It’s easy to talk about value, but what does that mean and how do we do it here in this two dimensional space of Substack? One afternoon I sat down and tried to reduce “value” to a table of things that readers (all of us) want. There’s probably as much left out as made it into this table … so you may want to create your own Values Table.

What Do We All Want?

Which of these values do you want to deliver to your readers? I wound up choosing:

Competent (with the elements of Substack) … which I then changed to Confident.

Purpose (help people recognize their creative potential and raise their voices in a world that needs more of us speaking up).

Abundance (understanding how to use a simple marketing process to grow Substacks while creating a balanced value proposition … i.e. income).

I formed this into a statement that I keep at the top of my post drafts as a reminder:

Purpose: Provide Substack Authors with an understanding of a simple marketing process linked to critical Substack elements for faster and more reliable subscriber growth and success in having their voices heard.

Once you have a clear idea of what value you want to offer your readers, you’re ready to rework you Substack Title, Bio-profile, and Short Description. Review page 13 of Substack Field Guide #2.

Exercise: Find 3 Substacks that might be role models for what you’re trying to accomplish. (Hint: Search Substack on some search terms that you might share.) Study them to see what value they are offering and copy their Big 3s into this format to compare with your own:

Title:

Bio- Profile:

Brief Description:

(Tip: the easiest way to copy the brief description is to add … /welcome … after the Substack name … example: gratitudemojo.substack.com/welcome) … and then you can cut and paste.

Next look at the opening lines of their About Pages: Here are some examples … think about how they are handling their value proposition:

Charlene Storey, Haver & Sparrow

If you’re into slow & creative living you’re in the right place. I’m Charlene and I’m so delighted you’re here! *brews a pot of tea and fetches biscuits*

Haver & Sparrow is a corner of the internet that feels like my kitchen table - a cosy space for us to gather with a mug of tea to talk for hours. I share stories & photographs of everyday magic, memories, little moments of island life, and reminders to keep looking for the light.

(See her celebration bonus for you below.)

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Shalom Auslander’s Fetal Position

Welcome to Fetal Position, your home for 24/7 news and political analysis.

Just kidding.

News and politics are why I'm in the fetal position in the first place. That and God.

And existence.

And death.

And sex.

And Paul Rudd.

More about Rudd later.

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Tara Penry, Enchanted in America

Hello! You’ve found your way to a website and newsletter about books so wondrous they shake up the way people relate to people. While this all sounds very serious, there is a risk of humor breaking out at any time.

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Bonus from Charlene Storey, Haver & Sparrow who just crossed over the magical 1,000 subscribers line (in 6 months) and offers her feelings about her Substack journey. Here is an overview, or you can read the full post here:

• Sharing your voice will increase your confidence so feel the fear and do it anyway

• Let yourself be vulnerable but have some boundaries to protect your peace

• Falling in love with the art of storytelling makes the discipline of writing easier

• If in doubt keep it simple and remember there’s no need to do it all

• Serve the community in front of you and they’ll bring people to the party

• Allow yourself to be optimistic about the future and the opportunities here

Charlene also generously opened up her paid archives to share these posts about what she’s learned along the way:

• Using Substack Notes to make connections and grow your community

• Why we need to celebrate our achievements even when it feels vulnerable

• Curating your Substack: preserving your peace while growing your community

• Creating a writing space without a desk

• Growing a Substack community is more than just a numbers game

Values Exercise: now go back and relook at your own Big 3 and About Page. Do you have any thoughts about reworking them? Would love to hear from you.

NEW! Substack Field Guide Study Group

Immediately following this post you will receive a weekly discussion thread focused on a question about building your Substack … a place to ask questions, make suggestions about what you would like to know more about, share your wins and bright ideas, and, generally hang out and learn with other Substackers.

Field Guides will be published every fourth Wednesday of the month and the discussion group the following week will be free for all subscribers and give everyone a chance to ask questions and celebrate wins. Those free discussion threads will focus on creating value and gaining greater understanding of Substack elements and features. They will be perfect for newer Substackers.

And remember … Substack Field Guide #2 is now available.

In the meantime …

“We need to take feedback to heart without taking it through the heart.”

— Lynne Snead