What the… I think I went viral on Substack Notes
Now what?
Hello everyone!
Last week’s newsletter went out to around 10 people. Somehow I’ve managed to increase my subscribers to 180 since then and as far as I can tell, it’s mainly from one Substack Note I posted asking everyone where they’re currently writing from.
Quick update (July 21st): Since sending this email on June 11th, my free subscribers have jumped to 572 and I turned on paid. I’ve been a paid (freelance) writer for more than six years, but I’ve never been paid to write whatever I want. So as you can imagine, I’m psyched to have even two readers funding this newsletter.
The Note that went viral
While I had zero expectations and no intention of going viral, I’m blown away by the responses. Not only because I’m a nobody and new to Substack (slash still figuring out what the heck I’m doing here), but everyone shared beautiful photos from their respective cities and countries. It’s fun to see where everyone is from and how international the crowd is here on Substack!
People posted photos from the Netherlands (where I live) the US (where I’m from), Mexico, India, the Caribbean, France, Portugal, the UK, Greece, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, and the list goes on. THANK YOU to everyone who joined in on the fun and left a comment. If you didn’t see the Note, check it out at the end of this post. But first, coffee. Just kidding. ☕️
💡First, I’d like to know what you want to read about!
Themes I’m considering
I have a few drafts queued up, but I thought since I’m new here and you’re new to my little, teeny, tiny corner of the internet, I should probably ask what you’d like to read about. Of course, within my range of topics that I can comfortably write about. Here are a few themes I’m exploring for this newsletter:
Diary of a freelance writer. Unfiltered (and sometimes humorous) notes about my experience as a 6-figure freelance writer. How I get clients, how I grow my business, how I manage multiple projects and clients per month, how I ignore my boyfriend while I’m writing, etc. I likely won’t tell you exactly how to be a freelance writer (we’re all on our own journey), but I’ll share what has and hasn’t worked for me in the hopes that it will inspire you and spark ideas for how you can grow your freelance business.
Creative writing prompts. A monthly(ish) thread where I’ll include a creative writing prompt to help us think outside the box and explore different writing styles. I’ll share what I’ve come up with in the post and you can add your take in the comments.
Thoughts and feelings. This section will likely be personal essays or notes from me about life, living abroad, having a multi-cultural background (Dutch and American), what I’m currently curious about, and things I’ve recently read, listened to, or watched. I’m still not sure how comfortable I am getting extremely personal here. I’ll probably keep it light and funny, like I’ve done so far. But you never know. And I probably need to come up with a better name for this section — taking suggestions!
Interviews. An interview series where I’ll feature other creatives, freelancers, entrepreneurs, Substackers, and whomever else I find interesting (slash think you might find interesting). If you’re interested in getting featured, let me know in the comments below.
Your suggestion(s). I can’t promise I’ll incorporate the themes you suggest, but try me!
Wdyt?
How does this sound? Are you leaning more towards certain themes? Would you like me to write about all of them? Unfortunately, I (think) I can only list two options in a poll here, so please reply in the comments. If you’re feeling lazy, just write 1, 2, 3, or 4. And if you’re not feeling lazy, feel free to ask questions related to each of the themes or select #5 and elaborate. I look forward to hearing from you!
All my best,
Alexis
New here? I’d love for you to join me on this adventure!
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Ah, you made it to the end. Thanks for reading! Here’s the Note I mentioned.
Since posting this four days ago, I’ve gained around 170 subscribers. To be honest, I’m a bit skeptical because I’m curious how engagement will be. Are people actually going to open and read my emails? I hope so! But time will tell.
You went viral on Substack notes?
HOW?
please share. And let us know
What I don’t understand is why people subscribe to my Substack, even show enthusiasm for something I have written or the name of my Substack, but then it transpires that they already subscribe to 450 others. Are they REALLY going to read mine and, if not, why subscribe? Do people spend all day doing nothing but reading Substacks?