101 Paid Subscribers

Start a Bestselling Substack

On May 23, I’ll be doing a creative sprint that show’s you how to start a bestselling Substack, that means securing 101 paid subscribers to your Substack publication.

Now for expert Substack advice, you should ask the experts like

Claire Venus ✨

and

Sarah Fay

, I’m not here for that. Instead I’m going to give you the steps (and missteps) I followed to build multiple bestselling Substacks.

My goal is to help you get there fast.

And that means focusing on a few things that will give you that result, without becoming an expert!

Why I’m writing this series…

Readers are asking for it.

I get the unique opportunity to interact with many of the readers from this publication throughout the week. In the chat, comments, via email or in 1-1 strategy calls. And one thing that has been coming up a lot are questions around Substack.

Day by day more and more illustrators and creative people are coming on substack. And they have different reasons, but inevitably they will arrive at this goal of becoming a bestseller.

Now there are thousands of ways to do it, but I’m willing to bet you don’t want a thousand ways, you want one way that has been proven to work again and again. The steps or templates that allow you to plug in your experience and your unique contribution to get you that result.

This is what the next Creative Sprints is about.

But first, I want you to think about…

What it would mean to you to be a Substack bestseller?

There will be exercises in the end, and before we even get to the how to stuff, there is going to be some internal work we need to do. And that’s what we’re working on today.

I can give you a list of how to’s, and I will.

But without doing the internal work it’s unlikely you will follow through on the list. So slow down and think about what it will mean to you to become a Substack Bestseller.

Imagine, a year from now, 18 months, or 6 months. How would it feel to have that badge next to your profile? Those strip notifications coming in every other day. What would you enjoy about that accomplishment?

Is it status?

The income?

The connection?

The contribution?

Is it the flexibility?

Being a Bestseller the way I’m going to show you, equates to about $10 000 a year.

That’s what you could earn illustrating a picturebook. It could also be a thought of a dream holiday. Or more exciting date nights. Or bringing in income in the ‘spare’ moments of being a stay at home mom. (And in my case, dad). It could mean capital to start investing in the future. It could fund an expensive hobby.

And that’s just the money.

What will it mean to you to be a leader in a community of your choosing?

What will it mean to you to have a way to share your precious life experience?

Imagine having hundreds or thousands of new friends who support your work because your work supports them.

Are you sold yet?

To me the metric, the badge, and even the money is not the real point, it’s a tool.

In the beginning my goal was 100 free subscribers, then 10 paid subscribers, then 100. But what I quickly realised is that to reach each new milestone, I had to grow.

And this is what makes me chase milestones now.

It’s not the milestones itself that are important, what is important is they serve as a way of keeping score of my growth. It’s a different skill to write for 50 people as it is to write for 8000 people. You need the skill first to get the result, so the reason I do it is I’m after the skill.

And it’s not just writing skill.

It’s growing in every area of your life.

That is the reason I write every day.

I’m involved in a number of Substack publications and the reason for each is the same, each to them represents an area in my professional life I want to grow in. Consistency, Skill, Community, Adventure.

Don’t get Busy, Get Focused.

What stops people from writing, before they start — or even after they start for awhile, is writing seems like another thing to do.

A chore.

There are so many ways to get busy with your Substack. But if you can get focused. You can get a best selling substack spending 20 hours a month. (I can almost hear you gasp.). Let me show you how I do it. But first, an assignment.

TEN MINUTE ARTIST PROMPT

What will it mean to you to become a Substack Bestseller?

What will it mean to you to have 101 paid subscibers?

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What is one area you would really like to focus on?

___________________________________________

What area of your life do you want to grow in?

_______________________________________

What could $10 000 a year mean to you?

___________________________________

Why do you want to be a Substack Bestseller?

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

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This prompt is FREE, but it’s also a requirement for anyone doing the Creative Sprint: Start a Substack Bestseller. This 5-Day Creative Sprint will go out to paid subscribers starting May 23.

And to make sure you get started and don’t procrastinate and eventually forget about it, I know you need more than an email! So, I’m going to ignore my stage fright and show up for you in a group zoom call where I will go through the material with you in 5 Quick Slides, do the exercises together and some Q&A. (Yes this is insane value for the price of the subscription, so grab it!) An yes there will be a replay!

⭐️ PS: Share your answers and ask me ANYTHING in the comments, I will answer every single question. Sometimes all you need is an answer to your burning question.

I won’t hold anything back, I’m happy to give away the whole Creative Sprint in the comments if you ask the right question. And the right question is not a test it’s just what you absolutely need to know or are not sure about. I know I talk to you in other places too, but if you have a question — ask it here, it helps the community!