Wheel out the cake!
Today is exactly four months since my first post on Substack!
That’s one third of a year, for all you mathematicians and fraction fans!
To be honest, I was thinking I’d be at the ‘Yay, 100 subs!’ stage, but it flew past so quickly I now find myself at the ‘Double-Yay, 200 subs!’ stage!
Blimey! How did that happen, and will I run out of exclamation marks!!!?
The recap
For all you newbies (welcome aboard!) here’s the back story of the first 3 months, at the end of which. I was up to 67 subscribers, so I’ve trebled-up in the last month! Nice.
Let’s get to the numbers, here are my favourite six figures1 to share with you, after my first four months, since launching Off on a Tangent with Kate Darracott:
207 (up 140) = all subscribers
32 (up 9) = posts published (twice weekly publishing schedule maintained)
497 (up 318) = top number of views for one post (6-figure journey – Part 1)
45 (up 29) = most likes on a post (6-figure journey – Part 1)
18 (new entry) = Number of countries ‘Off on a Tangent’ is read in
3,030 (new entry) = 30-day views
Note 1: Yep, I know, I’ve done it again… here’s my logic… Substack has millions of readers on the platform, and only 500 of those have seen my original post, so that leaves a lot of fresh eyes to really appreciate the mastery of that headline.
Also, by going with the Part 1, 2 etc format, it handily helps the reader move through the Series, so over time, people can just pick out the one that’s closest to their own growth stage… or the earlier one, to make them feel smug about their own superior growth journey.
That last one slightly blows my mind, 3,020 views in the last 30 days, that’s 100 reads per day!
Hopefully that equates to at least 73 chuckles, 4 guffaws and a dozen eye-rolls.
The journey
Here we go with the pretty graph, which I’m thrilled is now looking like something I wouldn’t want to walk up… and Mr.D would happily cycle down, at top speed.
Mind out for 11 Feb, we don’t want any more broken ribs!
The significance of ‘over 100’
My latest Substack BFF
said that once you get over 100 subscribers, Substack pushes your posts out past your direct following, so growth should speed up after that.This certainly seems to have been the case, as you can see from the graph [pushes glasses further up on nose and gets out imaginary laser pointer] the upward trajectory post- and pre- 100 subscribers are substantially different.
I think my behaviour on Substack has been roughly the same, (i.e. frequency of posts, number of Notes deployed and Comments left on other Stacks) since 19 Jan, so maybe it is a thing!
Slow and steady
I headed into February all optimistic, and continued to add at least one subscriber every day (as per my new Micro Goal) until… 4 Feb, which I now refer to as ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday2’.
Try as I might (and I was commenting all over town until 23:55), but no new subscribers that day. 🥲
However, in the interests of saving the planet, I have recycled that Micro Goal into a new one based on the streak of growth.
So the streak that ended on 3 Feb was 16 days. It started again on 5 Feb and currently stands at 28+ days. Huzzah!
Going global, baby!
I really do enjoy the analytics side of Substack, it fills the void of relentless data-checking that used to start and finish my e-commerce days.
As my subscriber numbers have grown, so has my global coverage!
I love the World and US maps, which show that my Substack is read in over 18 countries! Wow! That’s amazing!
I’m also fascinated by the US subscribers who are spread over 27 states!
Given there’s only 50 states in total, this data allows me to make sweeping statements like ‘My Substack is now read across most of the US’. Tee hee!
Later posting times
You may or may not have noticed, that my posting times have crept to later in the day.
I could at this point bang on about ‘testing different deployment times’, which is a solid reason, but the reality is that I’m getting a bit Last-minute Larry when it comes to putting my posts together.
I’m not sure if it’s Slack Alice tendencies, or that I enjoy the thrill of working to a deadline (which I have done for most of my professional life), possibly a bit of both… at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
3pm does seem to be a popular time to post though! The ‘pm’ posts have generally outperformed the ‘am’ posts on launch day.
Obviously one could drill down and try to establish whether, for example, MAFS fans are more likely to read a newsletter in the afternoon or morning, but I can’t be arsed with that kind of analytical fuckery any more, so we’re just going to stick to sweeping statements for now.
Another factor could also be because of the global spread. I now have more subscribers in the US (43%) than the UK (38%) and the later posting time, not only gives the lovely peeps in Blighty something to distract themselves with around 3pm, but the Americans can also have something to read with their morning coffee.
So I think I’ll stick with afternoons (GMT) for now… unless I encounter ‘production issues’ which will result in me pretending to ‘test the evening response rate’, while frantically putting the finishing touches to a post.
Micro Goals update
I’m still charting my Micro Goals, as per this post, and will have a full update for you soon.
With that in mind, if you haven’t already done so, can you please ‘Like’ this Note:
So I can tick off another Micro-Goal, it’s currently at 99 Likes, which is equally amazing and frustrating all at once!
Thank you muchly
I’m having so much fun creating these posts, and swanning around like some high-powered Editor with total creative control, but of course, without you, I’d just look like some crazed loner, so I am truly grateful for your support with this little project.
Thank you so much!
K8x
PS: Please ‘❤️’ below if you enjoyed this post, it not only steadies my nerves, but also helps others find it.
PPS: If you’ve only just joined us and aren’t sure who I am or why I’m here, here’s a quick introduction:
Yep, I know, I’ve done it again… here’s my logic… Substack has millions of readers on the platform, and only 500 of those have seen my original post, so that leaves a lot of fresh eyes to really appreciate the mastery of that headline. Also, by going with the Part 1, 2 etc format, it handily helps the reader move through the Series, so over time, people can just pick out the one that’s closest to their own growth stage… or the earlier one to make them feel smug about their own superior growth journey.
Those of you paying close attention will know that Sunday is a posting day too! Not even a nibble.
Glad you found it useful, good luck with your Substack!
Just try lots of different things to see what works best and what you enjoy the most! 👏😘
I think you’ll find Mr D likes even steeper curves than that so you’d better keep rampin’ it up!!!