I thought this was a great episode and I am looking forward to hearing more about what you're big secretive plans are as they develop. I do think going deep, not wide on Substack is worthwhile.
Thank you! I have a LOT of stuff bubbling right now. I keep running out of room to write it all in my weekly planner. It's a lot to keep up with, but it's all pretty exciting!
Congrats! I wonder how mailchimp will react as this seems to be a foretelling of whats to come for them. Anything they do will be good for users.
And also if substack keeps growing, would they eventually need to modify their free (non subscription) users? or if the number of paid newsletters will be enough to carry the free services
I'm afraid Mailchimp rested on their laurels and paid the price. They were the 800-pound gorilla for years, and truly, they could have innovated any of the things that Substack came out with over the past 18 month. But they got too comfortable. It's a good lesson for any self-employed artist!
As far as Substack needing to modify their free users, I'm not sure anyone could confidently answer that outside of Substack's management.
Agree. And substack will just look me in the eye, put its hand on my shoulder and ask me kindly “why wouldn’t you offer a paid subscription to your newsletter?”
And oh boy I have lots of useless excuses so its time to get back to work!
I think Mailchimp has a lot of bells and whistles that us creators don't need but might be very important for those who run a webshop. (Likes sales funnels and other things I know little about because I don't need them.) Keeping my fingers crossed that Substack will stay free for those who are not bringing much or any money in...
No. As a matter of fact, we'll be talking about that on ComicLab #321. It all comes down to effort. I replaced the Evil Inc Mailchimp newsletter with a Substack one. I'm using much the same effort, with the addition of posting some of the content that I'm already producing to post on social media (Twitter, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, etc.). Very little extra effort. My second Substack, The Webcomics Handbook is essentially a mirror of Webcomics.com. Nearly zero extra effort.
If that effort were the equivalent to launching on a Patreon clone — with all of the audience-building, patron management, content planning, etc. — I'd avoid it. Particularly because in that case, I'd be doing some *very* diluted messaging.
"Join us on Patreon... or Subscribe-o-matic... or Koffee... or ..." (You get the picture.) It's a weak pitch.
But the content I'm offering on the Evil Inc Substack is very different than the stuff on The Webcomics Handbook Substack, and both of which have very little crossover with my Patreon. So my messaging can remain pretty much focused.
I thought this was a great episode and I am looking forward to hearing more about what you're big secretive plans are as they develop. I do think going deep, not wide on Substack is worthwhile.
Thank you! I have a LOT of stuff bubbling right now. I keep running out of room to write it all in my weekly planner. It's a lot to keep up with, but it's all pretty exciting!
Now THAT is the stuff to share! The Brad behind the Brad. The paper Brad! :p
Congrats! I wonder how mailchimp will react as this seems to be a foretelling of whats to come for them. Anything they do will be good for users.
And also if substack keeps growing, would they eventually need to modify their free (non subscription) users? or if the number of paid newsletters will be enough to carry the free services
I'm afraid Mailchimp rested on their laurels and paid the price. They were the 800-pound gorilla for years, and truly, they could have innovated any of the things that Substack came out with over the past 18 month. But they got too comfortable. It's a good lesson for any self-employed artist!
As far as Substack needing to modify their free users, I'm not sure anyone could confidently answer that outside of Substack's management.
Agree. And substack will just look me in the eye, put its hand on my shoulder and ask me kindly “why wouldn’t you offer a paid subscription to your newsletter?”
And oh boy I have lots of useless excuses so its time to get back to work!
I think Mailchimp has a lot of bells and whistles that us creators don't need but might be very important for those who run a webshop. (Likes sales funnels and other things I know little about because I don't need them.) Keeping my fingers crossed that Substack will stay free for those who are not bringing much or any money in...
No. As a matter of fact, we'll be talking about that on ComicLab #321. It all comes down to effort. I replaced the Evil Inc Mailchimp newsletter with a Substack one. I'm using much the same effort, with the addition of posting some of the content that I'm already producing to post on social media (Twitter, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, etc.). Very little extra effort. My second Substack, The Webcomics Handbook is essentially a mirror of Webcomics.com. Nearly zero extra effort.
If that effort were the equivalent to launching on a Patreon clone — with all of the audience-building, patron management, content planning, etc. — I'd avoid it. Particularly because in that case, I'd be doing some *very* diluted messaging.
"Join us on Patreon... or Subscribe-o-matic... or Koffee... or ..." (You get the picture.) It's a weak pitch.
But the content I'm offering on the Evil Inc Substack is very different than the stuff on The Webcomics Handbook Substack, and both of which have very little crossover with my Patreon. So my messaging can remain pretty much focused.