This is super helpful Adrienne. Thank you. One question I have is this: if I follow your instructions below and recommend a publication, will it automatically send an email to my subscribers telling them I'm recommended that publication? I really DON'T want that to happen. I thinking about overhauling those publications I recommend and I don't want a big email blast going to my subscribers. Can you let me know and/or let me know if there's a way for that NOT to be the case?
Hi James, unfortunately we don't seem to have control over when or how often Substack sends out that email. My understanding and experience is that Subscribers are not immediately notified every time you create a new recommendation but that occasionally they'll get an email saying something like "check out these substacks that people you subscribe to are recommending" - more of a digest than a notification.
The people you decide to recommend will get a notification telling them that you've started recommending them.
This is a valuable perspective, especially because it's easy to equate subscriber growth with engagement. I appreciated your distinction that recommendations are introductions, not relationships. That simple shift in thinking explains why subscriber numbers and open rates don't always move together.
I also liked your emphasis on audience alignment over raw growth. It reminds us that a smaller community of readers who genuinely connect with our work is often more meaningful than a much larger list of passive subscribers.
A thoughtful article that encourages writers to think beyond the numbers and focus on building lasting relationships.
Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. I find that if we don't make that distinction, it can become discouraging to consistently post content that gets very little engagement.
I have been able to build a very strong group on Substack in six weeks, and Recommendations were an important but not critical part. I wish I had known about them sooner, and I wish they were easier to analyze and adjust.
If you go to your growth tab on your dashboard, it will tell you how many visits and subscribers are as a result of recommendations. And you can also filter your subscriber list by subscription source, and then you can add a couple of display columns to show the quality of those subscribers, like emails opened, links clicked, and activity.
I’m glad it was helpful, and thank you for subscribing. All of my posts are pretty similar - on using Substack effectively, so hopefully you’ll find it continues to be helpful. I have a guide that contains links to my starter posts on using Substack if you’re looking for more help: https://adriennecoach.substack.com/p/substack-beginner-guide-start-here
This is super helpful Adrienne. Thank you. One question I have is this: if I follow your instructions below and recommend a publication, will it automatically send an email to my subscribers telling them I'm recommended that publication? I really DON'T want that to happen. I thinking about overhauling those publications I recommend and I don't want a big email blast going to my subscribers. Can you let me know and/or let me know if there's a way for that NOT to be the case?
Thank you so much in advance.
Hi James, unfortunately we don't seem to have control over when or how often Substack sends out that email. My understanding and experience is that Subscribers are not immediately notified every time you create a new recommendation but that occasionally they'll get an email saying something like "check out these substacks that people you subscribe to are recommending" - more of a digest than a notification.
The people you decide to recommend will get a notification telling them that you've started recommending them.
Got it. Thank you so much and thank you again for the educational post.
شكرا على هذه النصيحة الثمينة
This is a valuable perspective, especially because it's easy to equate subscriber growth with engagement. I appreciated your distinction that recommendations are introductions, not relationships. That simple shift in thinking explains why subscriber numbers and open rates don't always move together.
I also liked your emphasis on audience alignment over raw growth. It reminds us that a smaller community of readers who genuinely connect with our work is often more meaningful than a much larger list of passive subscribers.
A thoughtful article that encourages writers to think beyond the numbers and focus on building lasting relationships.
Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. I find that if we don't make that distinction, it can become discouraging to consistently post content that gets very little engagement.
I have been able to build a very strong group on Substack in six weeks, and Recommendations were an important but not critical part. I wish I had known about them sooner, and I wish they were easier to analyze and adjust.
If you go to your growth tab on your dashboard, it will tell you how many visits and subscribers are as a result of recommendations. And you can also filter your subscriber list by subscription source, and then you can add a couple of display columns to show the quality of those subscribers, like emails opened, links clicked, and activity.
Interesting enough that I subscribed. Definitely looking for more of the same, or similar. Thank you.
I’m glad it was helpful, and thank you for subscribing. All of my posts are pretty similar - on using Substack effectively, so hopefully you’ll find it continues to be helpful. I have a guide that contains links to my starter posts on using Substack if you’re looking for more help: https://adriennecoach.substack.com/p/substack-beginner-guide-start-here