I was also going to suggest link sharing to Twitter. Ultimately, it's your space to do as you wish and should be for your benefit. The fact that it can help others is a positive but not necessarily a guarantee. I enjoy reading your posts, and would be very interested in your ideas on how to revive rugby union.
You haven't been on Substack for very long, so I'm not sure that metric comparison works. If you consider the shelf-life and engagement value of tweets vs long form it may help you work out the return on effort for each. Personally, I'd be using Substack for the legacy archive and Twitter to direct people to it.
Great point as the shelf-life of posts lasts much longer on Substack via the Archive feature, and I really like your strategy Sarah! Use twitter to direct people to my longer form and more nuanced content here. Thanks!
Ultimately, you have to do what you think is right in alignment with your goal... to recharge the worlds batteries!
Is that a factor of views, or is it a factor of the right people seeing it? Does charging for it restrict views? Does it create more of a duty on the customers behalf and make them more likely to engage with your content? Does it give you more time to generate more content to reach more people? Are the views on twitter meaningful?
These are all valid questions and almost all the answers would be valid too... I think most people know within themselves what the right thing for them to do is, and I back you to make the right decision.
One perspective I'll offer is that when you make this decision, detach. Detach from today, this week, this year, and look towards where you want to be. This can help shed light on what's important and how you should make your decisions.
The other perspective I'll offer is that the art of writing, via substack, is unbelievably beneficial for my in ordering my thoughts. The paragraphs written, the paragraphs deleted, the copying and pasting sections around to help it flow, the re-reading... all of it helps me learn what I'm writing about, which is often just my thoughts... It's a powerful mechanism and one that should be maintained, even if you don't publish it.
Still unsure of the answers to your questions, but if we're to recharge the world's battery... we're going to need to build a large audience. So to do that, I'm going to keep up writing on both, but do blog outlines as threads on twitter first, then expand on them for the blog for the next month and see what happens.
I feel like you might be overthinking it, don't think and just do? :)
What does your gut say? or what's the first thing that comes to your mind? That's what I usually go with, I find I have lots of ideas in my head but then something might happen and it'll make one idea stand out more than the rest and I go yep, that's what I'll write about this week.
Oh I'll def be keeping substack, its more where do I channel my attention? The guts says "do both for now" and see what happens. Then double down on what's working!
Something on mental, physical health and resilience would be good.
I am also interested in ways to organise and manage priorities ie work, fitness and play. I see colleagues get the balance horribly wrong and they suffer.
Cheers Alex. Great topic and organising time to exercise in retirement is challenge... especially coming from a job where you're paid to exercise all day!
Ask yourself what audience you'd like to reach most and what you think you can keep writing about longer term.
Writing about mental health is likely to attract an audience who wants to read about that, while writing about running or rugby will likely attract a different crew.
But if you feel pigeonholed writing about one thing, then maybe consider writing about lots of stuff, under several categories that people can follow independently. E.g rugby, running, retirement, mental health.
I have been writing my own blog for about 8 years now. I started off writing about career strategy (got bored), then communication skills (felt a bit restrictive) then settled on leadership which felt broad enough to be able to write about lots of stuff based on my own experiences.
It took me a few years to work it out, but as some people have already said, writing is a great way to clarify your own thinking about a topic, so I think you'll find it valuable no matter where you go with it.
Over time, take note of the posts that resonate the most with people, and the topics you enjoy writing about the most. This will help steer your future direction too.
As for Twitter, I'd post your blog links there every time you post on substack, as well as other short random (non-toxic!) thoughts as you have them.
It does and it's great to hear how it's been a similar journey for you finding what you want to write about. I don't mind writing about mental health from time to time, but there's so much more I want to write about and don't want to be seen as some expert in being depressed. So I'm just gonna keep writing and see what happens. Cheers!
The only difference for me now compared to when I started is that now my writing directly supports / builds a following for my work so I have even more reason to keep doing it. But you never know, you might have the same thing down the track depending on where it goes!
Perhaps keep writing on substack, but sharing links to that on Twitter? Substack gives the freedom and space to fully articulate your thoughts and message, Twitter gives the reach to spread it?
Hi James. Yep, good strategy but I'm realising that sharing the content directly on twitter (vs a link to the content on another site) gets more engagement. More experimenting and writing to do!
I was also going to suggest link sharing to Twitter. Ultimately, it's your space to do as you wish and should be for your benefit. The fact that it can help others is a positive but not necessarily a guarantee. I enjoy reading your posts, and would be very interested in your ideas on how to revive rugby union.
Thanks Kim. Nothing is a guarantee and I think I'll be keeping up writing on both. Stay tuned for more Rugby Unions post once Super Rugby kicks off!
You haven't been on Substack for very long, so I'm not sure that metric comparison works. If you consider the shelf-life and engagement value of tweets vs long form it may help you work out the return on effort for each. Personally, I'd be using Substack for the legacy archive and Twitter to direct people to it.
Great point as the shelf-life of posts lasts much longer on Substack via the Archive feature, and I really like your strategy Sarah! Use twitter to direct people to my longer form and more nuanced content here. Thanks!
Write about whatever you want to write about. Wherever you want to.
Substack opens is a much more significant metric than Twitter impressions, though.
Yeah, but which do you think is best for getting a message out there and where it needs to be heard?
Both. Volume. Pump it out all over the place for a while. Analyse the data and make a call from there.
Ultimately, you have to do what you think is right in alignment with your goal... to recharge the worlds batteries!
Is that a factor of views, or is it a factor of the right people seeing it? Does charging for it restrict views? Does it create more of a duty on the customers behalf and make them more likely to engage with your content? Does it give you more time to generate more content to reach more people? Are the views on twitter meaningful?
These are all valid questions and almost all the answers would be valid too... I think most people know within themselves what the right thing for them to do is, and I back you to make the right decision.
One perspective I'll offer is that when you make this decision, detach. Detach from today, this week, this year, and look towards where you want to be. This can help shed light on what's important and how you should make your decisions.
The other perspective I'll offer is that the art of writing, via substack, is unbelievably beneficial for my in ordering my thoughts. The paragraphs written, the paragraphs deleted, the copying and pasting sections around to help it flow, the re-reading... all of it helps me learn what I'm writing about, which is often just my thoughts... It's a powerful mechanism and one that should be maintained, even if you don't publish it.
Still unsure of the answers to your questions, but if we're to recharge the world's battery... we're going to need to build a large audience. So to do that, I'm going to keep up writing on both, but do blog outlines as threads on twitter first, then expand on them for the blog for the next month and see what happens.
Please keep substack, I don't have twitter haha.
I feel like you might be overthinking it, don't think and just do? :)
What does your gut say? or what's the first thing that comes to your mind? That's what I usually go with, I find I have lots of ideas in my head but then something might happen and it'll make one idea stand out more than the rest and I go yep, that's what I'll write about this week.
Oh I'll def be keeping substack, its more where do I channel my attention? The guts says "do both for now" and see what happens. Then double down on what's working!
Something on mental, physical health and resilience would be good.
I am also interested in ways to organise and manage priorities ie work, fitness and play. I see colleagues get the balance horribly wrong and they suffer.
Cheers Alex. Great topic and organising time to exercise in retirement is challenge... especially coming from a job where you're paid to exercise all day!
Hey Ben,
Ask yourself what audience you'd like to reach most and what you think you can keep writing about longer term.
Writing about mental health is likely to attract an audience who wants to read about that, while writing about running or rugby will likely attract a different crew.
But if you feel pigeonholed writing about one thing, then maybe consider writing about lots of stuff, under several categories that people can follow independently. E.g rugby, running, retirement, mental health.
I have been writing my own blog for about 8 years now. I started off writing about career strategy (got bored), then communication skills (felt a bit restrictive) then settled on leadership which felt broad enough to be able to write about lots of stuff based on my own experiences.
It took me a few years to work it out, but as some people have already said, writing is a great way to clarify your own thinking about a topic, so I think you'll find it valuable no matter where you go with it.
Over time, take note of the posts that resonate the most with people, and the topics you enjoy writing about the most. This will help steer your future direction too.
As for Twitter, I'd post your blog links there every time you post on substack, as well as other short random (non-toxic!) thoughts as you have them.
My 2 cents, hope it helps!
Ben
It does and it's great to hear how it's been a similar journey for you finding what you want to write about. I don't mind writing about mental health from time to time, but there's so much more I want to write about and don't want to be seen as some expert in being depressed. So I'm just gonna keep writing and see what happens. Cheers!
Great stuff.
The only difference for me now compared to when I started is that now my writing directly supports / builds a following for my work so I have even more reason to keep doing it. But you never know, you might have the same thing down the track depending on where it goes!
Hi Ben,
Perhaps keep writing on substack, but sharing links to that on Twitter? Substack gives the freedom and space to fully articulate your thoughts and message, Twitter gives the reach to spread it?
Hi James. Yep, good strategy but I'm realising that sharing the content directly on twitter (vs a link to the content on another site) gets more engagement. More experimenting and writing to do!