Day 5 - You don't need to pull a rabbit out of a hat!
To find good fit subscribers. 🐰 ✨
Ok folks let’s get back into it.
If you missed any of the previous posts they are here.
Today we are talking more about THE INVITATION to subscribe on our home pages. We know about buttons in posts like these…
Here’s an article on those from Substack.
There are a fair few ways to ask readers to subscribe if they land on your home page…
1. Your hero (pinned post)
Here are some explanatory posts on “Hero posts” you might find helpful…
2. Your top (most popular) posts
If you have these toggled on) from ‘website design’ - these can spark intrigue and have folks heading in to read. Make sure you have your subscribe buttons near the top and at the end.
3. The Invites to Subscribe banner
I love thinking about these because we are being asked what we want to say to;
Non subscribers
Subscribers
Paid Subs
Founders (if we’ve switched this on)
📈 You switch these on inside “website design” and edit them there…
4. Use this URL inside and screen shot the page too.
If you add /subscribe to your substack url, you’ll get to the page that looks like this…
The explanatory lines are editable from your settings.
If you use a screen shot of your /subscribe page in your about and/ or Hero post it can be helpful to people navigating Substack for the first time.
I’ve had SO many questions/ blocks to people subscribing over the years…
Do I have to pay to read your work? - No!
What happens if I want to cancel? - I can do that for you or you can pause.
How do I find everything? - here’s my a-z.
How do I turn off emails? - you want to allow push only.
Can I get less notifications from Substack? - yep.
Can I get less email from you? - yep you can toggle sections off.
Can I get a partial refund? - yes (if you allow these in line with your refund policy)
How do group discounts work? - you get 50% off if you subscribe you and a friend and they can pay you back
Etc etc etc
As a curator and editor on this platform you need to know the answers to all of these - good customer service is ESSENTIAL to running a successful paid newsletter. If it gets busy you might even think about a FAQ page?
Simplicity is key to success.
Have fun and let me know if you have any questions, relating to this topic?
Your action for today!
add subscribe banners - don’t overthink it - done is better than perfect!
NB - I’m not answering general questions or auditing anyone’s Substack as that’s what my
membership is for. You are so welcome to join us.This challenge is designed to give you tips and re-enthuse your energy for the unique design of your home page. Yay!
Claire
✨
P.S - Missed my joyful growth challenge or growth to bestseller challenge? You can buy the evergreen versions right here and get instant access to beautiful pdf workbooks, video tutorials and prompts. Have fun!
I just added this now - I missed so much - where do you recommend to start?
The video was so helpful! I should have watched that first.
I had some great progress with this challenge today!
I haven't picked a Hero post yet and I will need to do some more research and reading here before I compose a hero post.
I had no idea how to get back to that website design section but finally found it and changed it up. I changed my header style (to newspaper), turned on Advanced layouts to include the Subscribe banner and the List block showing recent posts with a list right-column.
For now, I haven't included the \subscribe anywhere else but now I know it's an option!
Thanks for all these great tips, Claire! This has already been well worth my time!