When Your Substack Notes are Not Noted.
Stop writing notes that fly away with the fairies - 11 min read.
You know how you’re always learning something new in life, right?
Well once upon a time, unbeknownst to me was this enormous NOTES issue that I don’t know how I missed and I want to share it with those who are fairly new here on Substack to save you time.
Thanks to those who have asked I speak about it because it is a hidden pothole.
➡️If you are using a notes scheduler and believe your notes are in order, then be sure to take another look.
Slots that appear to be right might just be letting you down by setting off the NOTES THROTTLER!!
Heard of it? Neither had I.
When you think about its name it sounds unnervingly like some evil from a horror film, but it needn’t be.
And that’s why I am taking the time to let you in hopefully early enough in your own writing journey on Substack.
What it means is a whole lot of your notes might actually be flying away into thin air because the system has deemed them as too much to digest. (burp)
Yes, really.
Perhaps you have been trying to coincide your time slots in your chosen notes scheduler to meet the reading needs of a different time zone to your own and that’s great.
Perhaps you have been aiming for a few too many zones even because readers are requesting better accessibility.
If this sounds like you then you may have doubled on time slots that match two or more audiences without intention.
No, that’s impossible.
Until it happens.
What this does is clog your scheduler and it may eventually end up telling you that certain notes cannot be scheduled leaving you scratching your head. And, I must add, this can happen especially if you have been dancing with your chosen scheduler and a hundred other things simultaneously while trying to meet work deadlines.
You are running on low and it doesn’t occur to you at the end of the day just before you leave to slump at home on the couch.
Just another day at the office, right?
Of course, you may initially read this concerning your scheduler and think, ‘'Oh, that shouldn’t matter, if I’m reaching more people.‘'
And that’s why this whole scenario is super interesting.
In theory this might be true of you, but if it is also not an audience who is interested in what niche you share-say in Egypt-when you share valuable insights for the stock market in Ireland for the Irish……rest on that for a moment…..then you might be working hard but to no avail.
It sounds amusing actually.
And it is in part but only if you catch this slip up early on without wasting countless days sending voice out to limbo.
In laymen’s terms: You may have been waving to a lot of eyes that don’t care.
Heavy Discussions:
There is a lot of discussion and advice provided on Substack about how to make your notes work.
And that’s ok, it’s even greatly helpful if somebody else’s advice works for you too, but at the end of the day, your writing and sharing journey on Substack must be your own.
The idea is not trying to sound like everyone else, after all, who wants repeated regurgitated reads?
Do you?
That’s just messy.
We all have too much of that swirling about our heads as it is and we end up swamped in a case of too many cooks in the kitchen and nobody getting to quietly enjoy pie.
What’s Been Happening:
Ever seen those eating contests of people stuffing themselves sick in an attempt to break a record?
That’s how our age of information can be if we let it.
Those that have eaten their fill and managed to keep the bloat?
Onlookers are left thinking, ‘‘Wow, what a superhuman’'.
Then the purge comes and we all get drowned in…. Content.
When you are just starting out and you keep finding yourself awash in barrels of content of what others have consumed and done, then you can be left with the idea that you also have to do and be the same in order to become ‘superhuman’, or in other words, a successful writer. You dont.
You will have come across streams of thought and encouragement to ‘'Keep going, that the ‘writing-into-the-void’ is bound to end when you are about to give up.
You are told when you feel that way to ignore it. Plough on.
You have to stay the path because somebody in a lonely corner someplace is hanging out for your every word. Is waiting for even your one note out of 500 notes.
Are they?
What if that person can’t actually see you to start with because your words are floating adrift overseas?
What if they can see you but you make no sense in what you write?
What if your lived experience of being a refugee and a ghost writer mean diddly squat to the remote Buddhist community you’ve been swamping who want to embrace simplicity and meditation instead?
What if your solutions, advice or coaching are like yelling at the tigers over the fence at the zoo, and all the caretakers can envision is shutting you up?
That’s why knowing your niche matters and understanding your reader is vital to not only save you precious working time, but so you can get down to what you love doing sooner without the roundabouts.
Once you have established these two components when writing on Substack then you can issue your notes intentionally.
Remember:
One blind person means a whole realm of the blind down the track as well.
Get it right early.
But don’t go thinking mistakes won’t be made. They are already destined as a natural part of life and if you are fairly new onboard the Substack train then do be prepared to accept you will make a lot of mistakes in your first year.
But it also means you can try and avoid some of the mistakes from those of us who have been there and are happy to save you the burden.
What Nobody is Telling You:
I see this all the time:
Writers who have been rewarded with paying subscribers in just six months.
-Amazing.
But that is six months on Substack.
And six months with an audience built over a few years on another platform now imported over if we are speaking of 1000 and up.
You may have missed that fact.
Others, the 12–18-month benchmark, some later then that.
It comes in all shapes and sizes and unfortunately one size does not fit all.
-Even if you are paying hundreds of dollars for advice on top of subscriptions?
You got it, even then.
That’s why the right subscription should cover quality content with anything else to purchase not crammed down readers necks in the process.
Talk about indigestion.
Let’s Get the Chewy Quick Eze Out.
Readers like to choose if and when.
And that’s because advice comes with a limit to how much we can realistically digest in a helpful way.
Not many writers will talk about that fact when they’re trying to sell it.
Advice can be helpful for sure, and a hopeful shortcut to getting ahead yourself, but what is not pointed out so often, is the limiting black line on whatever advice you purchase, particularly when writing online.
Much advice rests on the rise of hope, the promise of more, the vision of a life of comfort. If you are not careful, ‘act now campaigns’ that work on a sense of urgency will keep opening your cash tin for you and before you know it, you’ll be left lying awake restless at night about all the greasy fingers you did not authorize to take from you if you were in your right mind.
I have seen this happen to quite a number of writers who started with wild hopes but were handed burnout and a lone coin circling their tin.
It does not have to happen to you, so don’t let it.
It’s good to keep in mind as you go that advice is helpful yes, but only if it is a right fit for what your end goals are.
And advice has a hidden black line enclosed where you are left to drive your own way out into the deeper part of the woods called experience.
Your lived experience that you have gathered for free is what is most valuable, not somebody else’s version of a dream you should try to squeeze into.
Again, while advice can be seriously helpful and there are some excellent advisors on Substack for one, I recommend that you know yourself, your goals, your budget and what you can realistically offer.
Working above these things will only gravely disappoint because setting the margin incredibly high to begin with then obsessing over what that’s going to look like after you fork out a few thousand dollars to get you there, is like standing on quicksand and hoping to build a tower.
This is not saying do not have big goals. By all means have them. But take the time to work out strategic plans to reach each one, as you go.
Once you reach your first goal and have proof of success then move on to the next.
Only buy products that will help you do that at each stage, not before.
As you move forward and learn from experience, the echoes from advisors heard distantly sounding behind you if you are brave enough to venture on into the unchartered forest of your own journey, remember you will make some mistakes sure, but a gradual approach as you go alone will ensure you gain what you need.
All entrepreneurs are alone at first.
And if that’s the vision you have taken for yourself it’s better to understand its truth.
You must become the navigator of your own path.
Nobody else can do it for you.
We see the scenario all too often of some writers giving up and out when this hard realization finally peaks, but up until that point there remains the constant trickle of advice and encouragement that they are not alone, with emails and guidelines and ideas to enforce, if only they do this or that.
Having a head filled with too much only hinders your journey.
And in the end, some are left feeling stripped of money and time because a dawning always comes. And yes, those that give up, do so out of feeling spent, literally.
The good news is that really doesn’t have to be you as I’ve mentioned.
You do not need to become somebody who was, then was not, based on other people’s pathways.
My advice is simply to find you own.
Do this:
- Connect with real writers who offer value because they actually care.
- Collect what’s needed, not wanted.
- Be realistic in your expectations.
- Learn from the success of others but also keep it true to your own focus.
Keep in mind that most of today’s advice is synthetic guidance generated by A.I which may not have even happened to the writer who claims it as though their own so knowing your own set of cards matters before you play.
Don’t be fooled.
Hundreds of ‘likes’ do not show the real metrics of a writer’s success.
Successful writers have built their own castle and allowed a slow burn; their supporters are mostly invisible to others and are die-hard fans, no need to broadcast, it just is.
When you are just starting out try and keep this in mind.
Time on a writing platform should not cost the earth unless you are recklessly forking it out to other writers selling dreams like candy floss.
Pick and choose who and what you will pay for carefully.
Does it align with your own goal, or have you been pulled and stretched in every which direction so much, that you can no longer remember your first vision and now find yourself stumbling forward after other success stories like you’re possessed?
Don’t fall into that trap because eventually that’s when we see those who decide they, can’t.
Writers who can’t write, can’t think, can’t create anymore.
Oh boy.
But is that really true, the ‘can’t’ or have they simply not learned the act of resilience by way of experience for themselves yet?
I don’t want to now add to the hordes of endless advice out there, particularly when you are looking for some simple suggestions and have your own plan ready to execute.
Did I not talk about that yet?
Well, it’s a fact.
You do need to have an idea of what you want to establish as far as your own writing goes, or you are bound to keep walking the advice treadmill.
Get that part clear before trying to match up any advice with what your end vision is.
That’s important.
Because if you don’t have a clear idea, then you cannot possibly apply the necessary tools or guides effectively to assist you along the way, and I am sure you would prefer to avoid any more endless spending on countless courses and workshops that don’t even fit a nice floor to ceiling bookshelf if we were to convert it all.
These applications only matter when you know first where you are going.
Only then can YOU choose what will be both insightful and helpful.
As we have noted, sometimes mistakes are bound to be made and money wasted, that’s inevitable, but I’m here to cut to the chase, not sell you something you don’t actually need.
What you will receive with your subscription is practical ideas that you get to choose how you will apply in your daily life for improved self-mastery by way of stoic pragmatism.
What I will emphasis here is one thing that some advisors will mention occasionally as far as the act of it goes when contributing to Substack -
Patience.
But there is more to it then just the act of showing patience.
It is the art of patience.
True patience must be something that you can offer yourself before you can give it to others.
It means more then quietly waiting on the park bench for the Cafe’ to catch up with your lunch order when the line is huge.
That type of patience is the act.
Think about this:
To have the art of being patient, you must learn to take your failings along with the wins as though equally significant.
Xavior Geis
Sound daunting?
It might because nobody likes to fail.
Nobody wants to feel like their hard work is not paying off.
When you see areas where you have got it wrong, then yes, you will be frustrated because the process has taken energy from you and it can leave you feeling cheated, but the opposite is actually true.
You just need to learn to see it.
When things go wrong, instead of throwing your hands up in the air and deciding to sulk and drown yourself in a bourbon on ice or something like it - maybe stuffing yourself with pizza? I don’t know, but whatever your comfort blanket looks like - try not to lose yourself in it and give up entirely.
Things go wrong for absolutely every single one of us.
It’s to be expected.
When that happens for you, how about seeing the let-down as an opportunity to grow?
In this article I have started by talking about Substack notes as way of example because those on board at Substack mostly enjoy the platform and along the way will encounter some frustrations as they learn what works and what does not.
But no matter what platform you contribute to or what magazine you write for or any other space you operate in, the principle is the same.
So, let’s say you have been feeding off every advice from 1000 different writers for months and months and have already spent too much money on resources, what about that?
You’ve searched aimlessly it feels for what that might be.
You feel blindsided.
All the advice under the sun but somehow the smallest thing can be missed…
and that’s where we come back to something like being throttled by the Notes Throttler and why it’s good to be aware of it.
What Endless Advisors say to Keep you Hooked.
‘'Keep going, post 2-3 essays weekly, with 3-5 notes per day, engage, restack, comment, repost, repurpose, email, invite, support, like, etc. etc.
And then:
“Keep posting because of that lonely reader somewhere.”
Well, that might be true.
I mean, it’s possible but it is more likely true that somebody has benefited or enjoyed a mere word or two that you’ve put out into the world only once or twice in maybe two months.
Sound familiar?
If you are not being properly heard, properly appreciated then there could be a good reason for it apart from the normal rhythms of the algorithm.
Until you locate what that is, it’s probably a good idea to avoid spending even more cash on so-called dream solutions.
Hence the example of an easy oversight such as something like an unseen notes backlog on Substack.
It’s a no brainer.
If your notes aren’t reaching anybody then no so-called words of wisdom from the few elites will make an ounce of difference and all your good energy will keep on running down the drain.
Writing on Substack like anywhere else requires a system.
And that takes time to figure out so let yourself take that time, don’t try to force feed yourself and fall down before the threshold arrives.
In conclusion:
If you are serious about your writing and don’t want to simply pussy-foot about hoping somebody might notice you on your platform of choice in a year or two - with a hoorah no less to those that did just that and are now sipping champagne for breakfast; in reality a very miniscule company - then take on the art of patience for yourself and by heck do it your way.
Make mistakes, fall down, get up, travel back, flop forward, whatever is your unique groove then try it out and begin.
Don’t overthink it.
In a nutshell:
1: Avoid spending untold hundreds, even thousands of dollars on every which advice that is made to sell you a dream.
2: Ensure that what you do invest in along your journey is legitimate and will actually help you reach your goal.
3: Be clear on what your own end goal is first.
4: See the larger picture. Somebody else’s success is never going to be exactly yours so don’t waste time trying to buy the idea of what that success should look like.
5: Have a clear idea of what you hope to achieve. Is it simply improved connectivity to make a difference for others through free writing or is it monetary support for professional contributions you could make? What it is will depend on what you can reasonably maintain and actually offer.
6: If your goal is to simply top your salary up a bit then rest on that because success has a nice way of paving itself out sometimes once you have your stones in place and the outcome can be better then expected.
7: Setting reasonable, achievable goals while allowing for slip-ups along the way actually propels success as long as you keep determined to make small improvements each day. This is because you avoid setting too high a margin that unless reached means you fail. This is a mistake.
8: If you are able to write one note a day and just one longer form piece per week then you are doing quite well, so don’t go stressing that you can’t keep up with the volumes of what some writers may indicate is necessary for success on Substack such as 5-7 notes per day and 3-4 long-form posts each week.
This advice is only applicable if you are a seasoned content creator and possibly have others you are partnered with to help navigate your business’s roles but if you are working alone and writing as a hobby then scrap that advice. It doesn’t make sense to try and apply it, so don’t.
Keep it real.
You won’t know how your art of patience will eventually pay off.
Oh, and don’t forget to let your notes scheduler breathe as you go. 🤔
Your audience will breathe more freely too.
Here’s to you,
Xavior.