26 Comments
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Regina Duke's avatar

Wow—this is gold. Thank you for laying out such a clear, actionable roadmap. I’m especially excited to test the VIP Reader Outreach and rotating recommendations. The reminder that hidden features = hidden growth is the nudge I needed. 🙌

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Hi Regina, I'm so glad this resonated with you! :)

We're hosting a free masterclass tomorrow, which I think might also be interesting for you: https://go.writebuildscale.com/substackmasterclass

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Anne Lewis's avatar

Ideas are terrific. But what happens when everybody’s using them?

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Sinem Günel's avatar

If everybody would use them, everybody would reach more of the right people they're targeting. But since everybody is capable of serving a slightly different audience, the pie would just get bigger for most people.

Realistically, all this information is already available for anyone, yet most people are not willing to actually implement those ideas. This means that those who do can benefit from them tremendously. :)

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Anne Lewis's avatar

Makes sense.

I admire your enthusiasm

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Anne Lewis's avatar

Now this is thoughtful Substack comment!

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Sinem Günel's avatar

I appreciate that Anne! Honestly, I don’t believe doing this kind of work is possible without enthusiasm - there are a lot of challenges, sure. But any career, job or business has its pros and cons. You have to believe in the upsides more than you fear the possible downsides to create with joy and confidence :)

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Real Estate Rebel in Heels 👠's avatar

Great info! Thank you

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Hi there, thank you so much! I'm glad this resonated with you! :)

We're hosting a free masterclass tomorrow, which I think might also be interesting for you: https://go.writebuildscale.com/substackmasterclass

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Lynn J. Broderick's avatar

This is so helpful. Thanks for sharing!

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Hi Lynn, thanks for the lovely comment. I'm really glad this resonated with you! :)

I'm hosting a free masterclass tomorrow, which I think might also be interesting for you: https://go.writebuildscale.com/substackmasterclass

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Sharyph's avatar

This is a solid breakdown... I really like your annual campaign.

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Ana M.'s avatar

When I was a band leader, we used to call your first-listed item "100 real fans". These were the ones would would buy a tee, wear it to your show, and buy the live recording from the sound board. They were great! Now that I'm building Ishmael Interactive, I'm sooooo excited to find the first "100 real fans"— which is part of the reason I'm attending your Masterclass on Thursday! If there's no show and no sound board, how/where do you meet them lol!?! I'm very excited to learn from you :)

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Sinem Günel's avatar

I love that comparison, Ana. That makes so much sense!

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Janice | Travel & Photography's avatar

Great post, such a great idea to look at engaged subscribers. I didn't even think of that!

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Tara Lassiter's avatar

Thanks for pointing out how to find our 4/5 star followers. It'll come in SO handy. The analytics on Substack tickle my brain in the best way.

I've instated a Thank You Thursday habit in my business over the last few months. I pick a handful of my most engaged followers/subscribers on each platform & reach out just to say thank you. It's a simple act that compounds when done consistently.

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Melanie Schröder's avatar

Very helpful! Thanks for this article! :)

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Hi Melanie, thank you so much. I'm glad this was useful! :)

I'm hosting a free masterclass tomorrow, which I think might also be interesting for you: https://go.writebuildscale.com/substackmasterclass

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Calvin | The AI Retail Insider's avatar

Really useful thanks, particularly like the part about SEO, I wasn’t aware of this and will be using it in the future

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Sinem Günel's avatar

I'm glad this was helpful, Calvin! :)

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June Tara's avatar

This is so helpful! Thank you!

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that, June. Thanks for the feedback! :)

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Leticia Penha's avatar

I love tip number5! Great content as always.

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Sinem Günel's avatar

Yay, I'm glad this resonated with you, Leticia! Thank you! :)

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SHAYA's avatar
7dEdited

Thank you very much. 🌹 I have another problem, and I can't find the right answers when it comes to bilingual publications. Is it better to set up two separate Substacks, because somehow it doesn't really work bilingually when I focus on two languages?

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Anna Leggett's avatar

Substack has so many great features but it's hard to find out about them all. Thank you for sharing some great starter points for growth and engagement here. Much appreciated.

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