5 Ways to Market Your Substack Without Social Media*
5 Ways to Market Your Substack Without Social Media*
Scalable Offline Marketing Still Works
*Traditional social media outlets outside of Substack. (This article was first published on Medium.)
Social media drives me nucking futs 🤬
If you get my drift.
Elon Musk elevated hate to a new high on Twitter, all in the name of free speech.
Zuckerberg doesn’t care about our privacy, despite what he testifies to Congressional panels.
I had to quit Instagram because I attracted hundreds of busty women posing interested in chatting me up (likely lonely incels)
LinkedIn is a wasteland of frustrated employees who are bubblegum cheery about a new position that will make them miserable in another six months
How did we market our writing before social media?
It’s not like businesses didn’t thrive before Facebook ads and Twitter became purulent pimples on the face of commerce.
No, we did it the old-fashioned way.
“So, gather ‘round you young whippersnappers, and let GrandDad Baz tell you we used to do it back in the day.”
5 Ways to Market Your Substack Without Engaging the Social Media
Just because you run an online business doesn’t mean you have to cozy up to potential customers on social media.
Here are five proven ways to grow an online business without buying ads or whoring yourself out on social media(sorry, radical honesty moment there).
1. Ask for Referrals.
Business coach Luisa Zhou postulates that only 11% of sales professionals routinely ask for referrals. Those that do state that 78% of all referral leads are solid and most convert into customers.
Asking for a referral is as easy as sending an email to your list and perhaps offering a 10% commission for any converts to your programs. The automatic co-subscription options on Substack, Medium, and via email boosters like SparkLoop try to fill this gap.
However, a dedicated email that is succinct and straightforward, with the right incentive, could make all the difference.
On Substack: Referrals are built in, if you opt in. They reside in your settings where you can enable tiers, too.
2. Guest Posting.
On Medium, this is easy: submit your stories to publications like Working Writers, Practice in Public, or CREATIVETECH Friends.
Publications provide you with exposure to a larger group of readers. Most will turn your stories around or get back to you with edits in a few days.
If you can’t wait that long, consider starting your own publication.
On Substack: You can have another author guest post on your substack and add their byline.
3. Podcast Interviews.
Getting booked for a podcast interview is pretty easy. Send a simple pitch email to a podcaster you like and subscribe to.
Outline how you believe an interview would positively impact their listeners. Remember, this isn’t about you, it’s about their listeners and helping the podcaster look better for having interviewed you.
Here’s what you need to have prepared:
Your business’s elevator pitch — “I help (your target audience) who experience (their painful challenges) to finally achieve (desired positive outcomes).
Anecdotes of helping past customers/clients
Any helpful stats or figures that the host can use in the intro
A special offer (set this up in advance) only listeners to the podcast can access through a special link
On Substack: Search Substack for publications with a podcast and narrow your search for those with multiple episodes and where your expertise could positively impact their audinece.
4. Email Marketing.
You’ve got an email list, right? It’s your business’s most valuable asset. Make sure you are taking care of it like it was your newborn.
Your subscribers expect you to reach out, but they don’t want to be overrun with emails. No one else is going toot your horn, so do it… often. Offer a new lead magnet for free. Just send it to them without any expectation.
A concept called reciprocity maintains that if I do something kind for you, you will naturally feel obligated to repay me somehow. You may or may not act on that feeling. Either way is fine.
What is important is moving the reader to feel this way. It’s not manipulation, it’s salesmanship. Their gratitude can wait.
Gratitude has a long shelf life.
5. Write a Short-Form Book (SFB).
You can publish a short-form non-fiction book of less than 5,000 words or 50 printed pages in a few weeks of dedicated writing.
SFBs are a rapid way to establish credibility and expertise in your chosen niche. They’re also great qualifiers and reasons for booking a podcast interview.
You can write a book a month like J.R. Heimbigner and others, and you’ll have a collection of assets to list for sale on your website, Gumroad, etc. SFBs can have a very long tail for generating revenue.
Will you look at that… no social media, and we didn’t even mention Substack Notes!
There you have it—five ways to market your Substack without having to bow to the gods of social media algorithms:
Ask for and use Substack’s built-in referral options
Guest post on another Substack
Approach a Substack podcaster for an interview (remember to bring the goods) - additionally, create a podcast on your Substack
Communicate with your subscribers, and don’t be afraid to send them emails, polls, hosted chats, chats for paid subscribers, etc.
Consider writing and marketing a short-form book to expand your reach
What about you?
How can you expand the reach of your Substack without relying on social media?