Sparkle on Substack

Welcome back to another episode of Sparkle on Substack, hosted by Claire Venus!

FIRSTLY - thank-you SO much for supporting my work and being part of the community here on Sparkle.

In today's episode titled "The Growth Episode,"we go on a journey of my recent “successes” and deep into some personal reflections on the platform.

I’m sharing the joy and excitement of reaching 1000 subscribers on Sparkle on Substack and how it felt WILDLY different from my previous experience to hitting the same milestone on my first publication Creatively Conscious.

I also discuss the hybrid nature of Substack, where readers engage both through email and the Substack app and the power of social media in celebrating success and milestones.

There’s a TOP TIP at the end of this episode and the video with screen share and captions is here. You can view the transcript on Substack desktop.

Listen to the other episodes of Sparkle on Substack in the collection here.

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Thank-you all so much for being here and supporting my work! Let’s sparkle on Substack!

Claire x

“Substack has brought back a feeling of possibility.

There are so many like minded, lovely people out there that I've never, ever come across on a single other platform in all the years of being on them. And suddenly I've come on Substack and they're all here, and it's like, wow, this is really nice."

Sarah Raad

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Sarah Raad is a creative coach and mentor who specialises in working with creative women in small businesses.

As a coach, she focuses on both the mindset and strategic aspects of their businesses. Sarah's clients include a wide range of creative professionals such as illustrators, jewellery designers, garden designers, branding experts, and fellow coaches.

She helps them explore their potential, redefine what is possible for their businesses, and guides them in areas such as pricing, products, marketing, visibility, and income generation. Sarah also conducts group coaching sessions in addition to individual coaching.

I am proud to call Sarah Raad a friend.

Sarah took my Substack masterclass back in March and we voice noted endlessly about how to make Substack work as part of our business eco-systems. It’s not easy but it is possible for service providers - we are right to ask questions first before getting starry eyed over the lovli-ness of Substack. We both worked in the cultural sector in the same city; Sarah in marketing and me in festivals and events and yet we never met in person until earlier this year! Sarah has a no nonsense approach to Substack, to marketing and to business - I’ve learnt so much from her.

Podcast overview…

Here is the timestamped overview to give you an indication of the content in our podcast call/ interview together;

[00:00:40] Coaching creative women, focusing on mindset.

[00:04:07] Cultural organisations need transparent spending. Marketing obstacles are often self-imposed.

[00:08:05] Social media gives us a platform. Important to know audience; build networks. Marketing is essential for small businesses.

[00:11:06] Focus, consistency, and co-creation on social media.

[00:15:26] Social media noise deafening, moved to Substack.

[00:18:08] Substack is interesting, unlike social media.

[00:22:13] Lost in Instagram echo chamber, limited reach. Substack offers deeper connection, talent showcase.

[00:29:16] Self-expression and the impact of likes. Supportive community on Substack. Spaciousness and generosity in sharing content.

[00:33:19] Substack Notes fosters thoughtful and interesting content.

[00:35:53] Stay true to your community, embrace Substack.

[00:40:38] Platforms like Substack allow users to build a mailing list, unlike Instagram or Twitter where followers have little value. It's important to focus on building a list for monetisation.

[00:44:30] Substack offers diverse platforms without algorithmic issues.

[00:49:16] Membership growth plans, evergreen content creation. Nice community.

[00:51:39] Substack: A beacon of inspiration and generosity

[00:54:51] Substack needs balance in user strategy, encourage readers.

If you’d like to read our transcript it’s here or if you’re reading on desktop you’ll see a tab to open it. If you’d like to watch our video recording, it’s here.

Hope you enjoy this episode and it give you lots of space to own your unique creative path and sparkle up your Substack!

Find Sarah online. She currently has ONE space in her group coaching programme if you jump in now.  Here’s the scoop; Believe & Achieve is a group programme which combines weekly group coaching, 1:1 Voxer coaching, co working and quarterly goal setting sessions to keep you on track with achieving your goals and also supporting your mindset to believe that you can! www.sarahraad.com/believe-achieve

Find Claire online.

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I can’t tell you what an honour it was to interview online creative entrepreneur Leonie Dawson.

They are quite simply the most congruent person I’ve ever met and I don’t say that lightly - the internet can be a confusing place!

We chat here for 50 minutes (Australia to UK) about Leonie’s incredible journey with creativity and her online business, creative flow, personal practise, showing up online and so so much more.

Leonie doesn’t have Substack but you can head to their website for ALL the gifts and to learn more about them.

In a nutshell, the reason I was so so happy that timing worked out for them to be my first guest was for a few reasons;

* They have a mailing list of over 50k and have been blogging and loving the internet since 2004!

* I’ve been learning with Leonie for 3 years now and they have propelled my confidence in my creativity, helped me with money stories see my business to a new way - I’m forever grateful.

* Leonie is VERY unique in her approach to showing up and sharing online and that’s why I’ve chosen to share this episode with you here. She doesn’t have Substack but that’s kind of the point.

* They work 10 hours a week and in our recent coaching call together they reminded me that working part time isn’t an excuse not to grow your business. I’m working on that!

There’s a 20 year history of blogging, direct source to the universe, creative flow and a ridiculously generous sharing of her gifts.

The reason I wanted to share this interview with you here and right now is because I think Leonie is to creative businesses what Substack is to us writers and creatives - generous beyond limit!

It’s a rare and beautiful thing!

Here is the timestamped overview to give you an indication of the content in our podcast call/ interview together;

[00:01:48] Talking sh*t on the Internet, goal workbooks, courses.

[00:05:51] Started first blog in 2004, obsessed with writing.

[00:08:10] Art journaling in school and the permission slip that led to blogging.

[00:11:35] Permission to create, escaping social media “rules”.

[00:15:17] Beautiful journaling during pandemic brought so much joy and insight.

[00:21:14] The How to - scheduled time, prioritise tasks, and recycle content.

[00:24:01] Fuelling business and enjoying life.

[00:28:47] Being enchanted by early message boards, blogging success.

[00:34:09] Finding ease in authenticity, online struggles. Gratitude.

[00:37:16] Boundaries online - keeping family private and no sharing personal struggles.

[00:38:51] Being open about therapy and personal struggles.

[00:42:57] Podcast: No editing, jingle, preparation, topic. Just me.

[00:48:57] Grateful for insight, magic, beautiful conversation and community.

If you’d like to read our transcript it’s here or if you’re reading on desktop you’ll see a tab to open it. If you’d like to watch our video on youtube it’s here.

Hope you enjoy this episode and it give you lots of space to own your unique creative path and sparkle up your Substack!

Find Leonie online.

Find Claire online.

"I got a deeper connection with more people who were using the Substack platform very deeply, quite quickly. And that meant that they were very supportive of my work and my journey because they got to know me for me."

Claire Venus

Hi! If you’re new here I’m Claire. I’m an Engagement Consultant and Mentor for the Arts and Heritage sector and I write Creatively Conscious here on Substack.

I also teach creatives who also like to write how to use the platform over atSparkle on Substack. I live under dark skies on the Northumberland Coast with my family and 6 pet chickens.

✨Thanks for listening and for supporting Sparkle on Substack. ✨

I’m not trying to be over vulnerable or over apologise here but I am on a journey here with you and my podcasts are shaped and informed by what you’d like to see/ hear so do let me know what’s helpful as you sparkle up your Substacks!

I’ll level with you - my inner critic is AWFUL to me about my podcasting.

Some days I think I’d rather not do it but it’s an up-level to show up and I know they resonate so here I am.

I know to get better at it I just have to keep showing up, keep learning, keep working with experts so that’s what I’m doing.

I’m not BRILLIANT at podcasting (yet) but one day I could be and this is why I’m sharing my journey in real time with you.

I’ve done a lot of work to get to this point and not feel like I want to pull it all down - we all have our path to walk. More on that here.

In service, I bring you my second Sparkle on Substack episode and thank-you for your support!

I’ve made the transcript of this podcast in Substack ‘s new transcript software and I can confirm like most things they make it’s EXCELLENT. Pretty accurate with my North East accent!!

In some other clever software I’ve made some time stamped chapters for you;

[00:01:45] Goals informed by experience, multiple Substack publications.

[00:08:42] Simplifying content, focusing on single posts.

[00:20:09] Three publications honour different parts of me, as a creative, as an engagement consultant, mum and businesswoman, connecting with others in real time.

[00:24:57] Strong connections and outreach build Substack success.

[00:27:18] Substack promoted my work, gained subscribers, expanded presence.

[00:29:41] Slow growth, positive response to publication.

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If you are a member here at Sparkle on Substack, you can listen/ watch 3 guest podcasts too ahead of them being released early October. I have Writers at Work with Sarah Fay , Sarah Raad and Leonie Dawson as my first guests!!

To watch the podcast episode above in youtube with screen sharing, click here.

See you next time and please feel free to ask more questions on growth below…

Claire x

Show Note Mentions

* Keris Stainton over at The Ladybird Purse - there’s currently a special offer for 3 months of her membership for free - click here. (expires end of Sept).

* My other publications; Creatively Conscious and Company of Two with Laura Oldfield

* Paid communities I recommend to hone your writing work here; Writers at Work with Sarah Fay and Hi Friend with Cait Flanders

* My Linked in group for Substack writers.

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Save this post to listen to later if you’d like. There are no fancy jingles - it’s just me having a chat with myself (and hopefully with you) about my journey here and what my plans for this space are.

I’d love to hear from you on what brought YOU to Substack in the comments.

Sending sparkles for the rest of your Sunday ahead!

Claire x

PS - If you want to jump into creative co-working this week or on 31st Aug all the details are here and the zoom link is behind the paywall.

The recording will be posted within 24hours (or so) after the call for paid subs.

PPS - Podcasts will be released every other weekend. You can read more about this space on my welcome or about pages.