I spent last week in Kentucky visiting my wife’s family. We had a very nice time, but whenever we go away for a few days, my mind keeps thinking about what I could be doing and how I might do it better. Inevitably, I ponder the blog. I’ve complained numerous times about not getting any visitors anymore. There are lots of reasons for this, but a big one is that WordPress and blogs in general just don’t get the traction they once did. When I started this site, blogs were popular; they were the cool thing. But that time has long since passed. People still run blogs, of course, and I suppose some of them are still popular, but the format has seen its day.
As far as I can tell, the cool new thing is newsletters. The kind of thing you get in your email inbox and read at your leisure. The most popular platform for this sort of thing seems to be Substack. Honestly, I don’t know a ton about it. I subscribe to several, and sometimes I read them. But mostly they just land in my inbox, where they sit for a while until I get tired of looking at them, and then I delete.
I do know that your posts also exist online in what really seems like a blog format. You can probably play around with those pages, but I haven’t messed with them. I know some of you receive an email whenever I post on this blog. All of which makes Substack sound not all that different than what I’m doing now. I actually started a Substack a while back just to kind of see how it worked a little. All I did was import this blog into it. It works very much like a blog.
I think the big difference is that you have better control over who sees what. Whereas WordPress allowed me to make the blog private or public, but that was for the entire site, not individual posts. With Substack, you can make one post public and another only available to subscribers. A lot of the ones I subscribe to have paid tiers. They offer certain posts for free, and others only give you a preview; then you have to be a paid subscriber to read. I don’t think I’d ever be popular enough to make anyone pay for what I’m doing, but I like that you can make certain posts private.
I’m, of course, thinking about the music. There is a possibility here that I could still write about movies and things in the free section and then share the music like I did in the old days in private mode. You might have to pay some kind of minimum subscriber fee, but I’d make that super small. But that’s a thought for much further down the road.
The reason I’m thinking about Substack now is that they do seem to be more popular now. And that could lead to more visitors. They also make it really easy to share posts. You can forward the emails to others or share them on social media, and the subscribe buttons are easy to find. In this day and age, that seems very important.
At the same time, I’ve had my old posts up on my Substack for a few months now, and I’ve gotten basically zero views. I don’t know if Substack can be found via Google searches or whatever. So this whole idea of mine may be trash.
So, here’s the thing. If I start posting to Substack, will you come? Will you subscribe? Would you prefer I move to that format, or would you rather I stay here? Do any of you have any thoughts on Substack in general?
themidnightcafe.org 
I’m ok with Substack. I don’t normally go to your blog as I get your emails with the same info so that might be a reason for low viewership, or maybe I’m missing things. I get a few Substack emails where I don’t pay for the upgraded paywall content but I’m not all that invested in them as it is.
I’m ok with Substack. I don’t normally go to your blog as I get your emails with the same info so that might be a reason for low viewership, or maybe I’m missing things. I get a few Substack emails where I don’t pay for the upgraded paywall content but I’m not all that invested in them as it is.
I have a few hundred subscribers to my email already. Trouble is I have no idea how many people actually read. Most folks subscribed when I was sharing music so I figure the majority of them aren’t interested in my movie talks. Some folks have unsubscribed. I assume many of the others just get my emails and then delete without reading but who knows?
I do the same with Substack. I subscribe to several but don’t always read. But I like having them in my inbox because I do sometimes read but I’d never remember to actually visit the sites.
I don’t know much about Substack. I’d be willing to sample it if you did it. I do like getting the messages to my email like you’re doing so yeah I guess my preference would be how it is now.
I hear that. I figure you are not alone in that feeling. I’m thinking I may try to dual post to WordPress and to Substack. Maybe try that and see how it goes.
I subscribe to several writers on Substack, although 95% of the time I’m reading the content in my email. It’s a nice platform when you visit the site or use the app, but I don’t end up doing that very often. I’d say for the subscriber, it’s pretty much the same experience with maybe some additional features on the platform.
That’s kind of where I’m torn. I think for most readers the experience would be mostly the same. At least for those who already get my emails. I have no idea if anyone would use the features to actually share my site with others. And I really don’t know if Substack connects to search engines and the like to let people find the site on their own…
I would subscribe, i do use substack, not that often i visit it, mainly because i follow a lot of the same people on Twitter etc. However i do like the format.
I feel like most people don’t really visit substack sites. You just get the emails and roll with it. I do follow one substack (The Reveal) where people do a lot of commenting and I think you do that via the site.
Hi Mat–Substack has real advantages, especially when they cross-promote their writers. I am a non-paying subscriber to only one newsletter so my exposure is limited but it works. If you post, I will subscribe. (Sounds like a line from a movie…)
Thanks. I do think there are some interesting features with Substack that you don’t get via WordPress. I just don’t want to lose the readers I already have. I may try posting to both for a while and see how that goes.
I think you’re right to an extent, but if you have someone that’s only on Sub stack that may be different. I do tend to forget about it, mainly because my world is usually my photography, and people i follow on Flickr. When i get an email through, i do have a scroll to see who else is posting what. I just don’t follow any photography stuff on Substack, in fact i have never thought of checking.
Mat,
I would be interested to take part. I very much miss your music contributions
Regards
Hildebrand
Mat, I like your thinking – that is, what is the best current way to reach people? Indeed, Substack seems to be the way right now.
To me, one of the main pluses of Substack is it notifies me when you post something new. I also got notifications about new things on your blog, but for some reason I notice Substack notices more (ha).
I just subscribed to your Substack and will look forward to what you post there.
I do think posting to both Substack and here has value. More than one way to get the good stuff. And once you’ve written the message, posting it in both places is probably pretty easy. And all of this SHOULD be easy – we don’t want to unduly burden you!
And as I said on a different thread here, I also LOVE the easy way you’re sharing shows again – the new method is so simple in terms of seeing shows and accessing them. Thanks a ton for that!
Thanks Noel. Substack does seem to be the way people share stuff now (or TikTok and YouTube which are definitely not for me LOL)
I’m still figuring it out. And it sticks trying to rebuild something. I’m terrible at social media and trying to reach people in those ways.
But I’m definitely enjoying the email thing.