1000 Subscribers: How Did We Get Here?

On how to grow your Substack and a celebration of 1000 Subscribers

Wow. I woke up this morning to 1001 Subscribers. There’s so much I want to say, and so much that I will go on to say, but very quickly, thank you. This has been an incredible journey so far, and I hope you’ll all stick with me for a little bit longer!

I’m gonna divide this post into two parts: the first will be how we grew to 1000, and the next will be a section where I’ll talk about myself, why I started this publication, and what’s to come next! So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

How cool is he btw? Had to level up the graphical side of things since we’re in the big leagues now. Anyway, how did we grow to this point where over 1000 of you have now clicked that wee subscribe button? There are three areas I tried to focus on.

1. Community

2. Consistency

3. Quality

Let’s break them down, with arguably the most important area first: community.

So many people write these kinds of posts, and I hate to break it to you, but they’re (largely) selling you a lie. Most of these “how to” posts come from publications built on Substack-growth content, and unless you’re churning out the same content as them, you’re gonna find most of the advice useless. I want this to be more of a broad, one-size fits all piece of advice, as it’s worked wonders for me, and for those who have reached out before and asked for advice, it seems to have worked for them.

You’re not gonna get anywhere on your own, sorry to tell you that. You can post notes and posts until the cows come home, but if you’re not actively engaging with others in your area/ comments, then you’re essentially chucking words out into the void and hoping that they alone make people want to come back. The reality is that content is a big part, but being active plays a quieter role in the background, and arguably, a far more important one.

It’s not hard. I’m not gonna hit you with the “respond to X amount of comments a day” nonsense, but respond to anyone who comments under your work. Whilst your reading other posts, comment on theirs as well. Did you find that note funny? helpful? weird? say it then! You don’t need to be writing bibles to people, but at least show that you appreciate them giving you their time, and likewise, show people that they too are not shouting into the void. This builds connections, which builds associations, which leads to collaborations, which, overall, brings more eyes and attention to your work. You’re no longer the weird person who’s occasionally sharing things and then disappearing: you’re now a figure in this corner.

I actually love him man haha OK, so now we’ve got you talking, good job! Next up: what are we talking about?

These gurus will always tell you to “find a niche”, ask “what does this post answer” or, my favourite, “what problem does this solve?”. The reality is that this is business talk, and we’re not a business just yet (we’ve only just got you talking!). Write about what you want to, and, if possible, try your best to keep each post somewhat related. You don’t need to be writing about Japanese cars from the 1960s to the 1990s for the rest of your days. Like cars? write about cars! Like books? write about books!

Next: how often? I can only speak from my experience, and my posts aren’t very long, so bare that in mind here, but I’d say weekly. Pick a day and time (it DOES NOT MATTER which day and time. Would you read something at this hour? if yes, there we go.) and stick to it!

The fact of the matter is that these gurus want to make it sound like growing on here is some game that they’ve mastered so they can sell you subscriptions or courses.

Write.

Show up consistently.

Don’t be weird.

There we go.

So, now you’re talking and doing so consistently! Good job! The final task is actually the simplest, so don’t worry your pretty wee boots!

If you want to grow on here, your posts need to be readable. No one’s expecting the second-coming of Shakespeare, but they do expect you to know the difference between “there” “their” and “they’re”. Grammarly is free: write a post, make sure it flows if you’re dividing it into sections, slap it into Grammarly, and BANG, you’re on your way to building something!

I don’t think this piece of advice merits it’s own section, so take it as a bonus for reading this far, but be realistic. What do you want? If you want to “blow up” so you can retire next year, then you’re better buying a lottery ticket. Can you make money here? yes. Will you live off of it? probably not! So keep that in mind when you’re setting up your publication.

Anyway, cheers for sticking around for my TEDtalk! You can click off now if you wish, but if you want to read me getting soppy on main, then you’re in luck!

I think it’s best to start with why I started this publication. There’s three reasons for that:

1. I wanted to build a community that I could come to whenever I needed to detach from the real world.

2. I wanted to break a stigma that has (and still does) play on my mind whenever I meet someone new.

3. I wanted to have fun.

I have Schizophrenia. I don’t share that with may people, let alone people I’ve just met. Part of that is my own worry that they’ll see me differently, and another part is because people have seen me differently once finding out about it. The most recent example was someone I met, once, finding out through a throwaway comment my friend had made when I wasn’t around. Not a negative comment, but it led this person to fly into a rant about how people like me are “dangerous” and how neglectful my friend was for “bringing someone like that” into her home. I’ve had people ask if I hear demons, if I think there’s bugs under my skin, and it’s even led to it being used against me when pursuing custody of my son.

The reality is that people “like me” are, for the most part, “normal”. “Schiz-posting” has done a number on public perception of this condition, and the horror stories that do exist are often seen as the norm, no matter how few there are in the grand scheme of things. Most of us are often scared and are just trying to navigate the world are us. We’re rarely violent, and, in fact, are often the victims of violence. I wanted this publication to show that people with schizophrenia do have something to say and that, often, unless stated, people would have no idea that we’re even dealing with this condition. There’s now over 1000 of you here, and 99.9% of you (reading this far) will have only just found out that I have schizophrenia.

Will this post break the stigma? no. But I hope that, in some small part, it helps to paint us in a better light than the media often does. I want to talk more about who I am now, so I’ll let golden boy take us there.

My name’s Aaron. I’m a father raising his son alone. I’m currently studying for a degree in philosophy, religion and ethics. I want to be a teacher. I love football (or soccer for you American lot). I love reading, specifically Dostoyevsky and works of Ancient Greek philosophy. Let me break this down a bit.

My mother chose the name Aaron after my Dad protested at her choice of Ethan (cheers faither).

At age 22 I found out I was going to be a dad. The following two years were turbulent, and without going into great detail, I spent nine months being abused in all manners of ways. I finally managed to get out of that situation, and at age 26 I was granted full custody of my son.

After escaping that situation I slept in the dinning room of my family home before moving into a homeless shelter. It was around this time that I was studying photography, but had fallen in love with philosophy. I can’t sleep in the dark now, and so would often have quiet history videos playing on my TV whilst I slept. These videos meant that my recommended page was full of things about history, art, and, most importantly, philosophy. These philosophy videos took my interest, so let’s touch on that next.

At age 21 I went to university for the first time. It didn’t last long, but I took a module in philosophy whilst studying for a degree in film production. I done one class, and once it was done called my best friend to tell him that “philosophy is just a load of nonsense! There’s no answers! Just “why’s”!”. So, when I started to put on these philosophy videos in the background, around three years after this class, I started to get it, somewhat. The honest truth is that it lead me to question life, existence, purpose, and that was exactly what I needed at that time. I bought three books from World of Books, and would take a copy of Human, All Too Human with me to college. I would read on the train there and the train back, and it got to the point that I had to stop as I’d be in class thinking about my book. Come the end of my course, I had two choices:

1. continue to study photography

2. pursue this new interest in philosophy

I took a few weeks to decide, and come the end, I enrolled in a degree through the Open University. It was the best decision I ever made. I love philosophy. Everything I do now is somehow related to it. I read about it. I watch videos about it. I listen to podcasts about it. I even dabble in my own theories! It would be a stretch to say that philosophy saved my life, but its given me a new perspective and life goal, and I think that’s close enough.

So how did we start on Substack?

I remember being sat in the kitchen of the home my partners family had rented out for a trip. I couldn’t sleep, and I wanted to write something, but I didn’t know what. Furthermore, I didn’t know where to write. I went through a few reddit posts, blogs, and the overall consensus was that Substack was the best option.

I began writing reflections, aphorisms, poetry and even short pieces of fiction. All of these existed on various other publications, and each one eventually became a graveyard. In August of last year, I started again. I posted a few short reflections, then moved onto essays, and in late October decided that, if I actually want people to read my work, then I’d need to stick around longer than a few weeks. I was (and maybe still am to some degree) someone that needs to see success or improvement quite soon after starting something new. Each publication I had ran before was met with a few views and not much else, and this lead to me feeling unmotivated to continue. I wanted this one to be different. I wanted to see what would happen if I actually kept posting, even if no one was reading. So, I done just that. I wrote a few essays, a fictional dialogue series, and slowly, people started to stick around. I then, in December, moved to the “my dearest” works (an advancement on the former series I was writing by the same name). Each Monday, no matter what, there was something. And not just a random idea with no thought behind it. These were (and still are) pieces that I devote time and thought to, and each post that goes out is one that I am genuinely proud of, regardless of the numbers. I’ve had pieces underperform, I’ve had posts do much better than I expected. But each one is a piece of me, and I’m just glad to have put them out.

The Sisyphus Club has become one of my favourite hobbies. When studying, travelling, anything really, I check-in to see how things are doing. Sometimes there are 80+ notifications. Sometimes there are none. But each time, I look at the wee logo, and I’m happy that I’ve managed to create something which brings me so much joy. I didn’t find it. I created it, and you guys came along and made it special.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to say a massive thank you. ✎𓂃𝐜𝐚𝐭 , Marie Rose 🥀, Dayana, Fiona🌻 , Lexis ✨ , Rey , caroline cherry , Georgia , emma 🐞⋆˚꩜ You guys have been here almost since the start, and although this extends to everyone, I want to say a huge thank you to you guys specifically for always showing up.

So, what comes next? The honest answer is that I don’t know! Whatever comes to mind! I will be turning on paid subscriptions now for a monthly piece (inspired by Halima ⟡ ˚.⋆ ) where I just talk about things I’ve been enjoying over the preceding month, from books, music, other forms of media, and also random thoughts and things I want to say that maybe don’t make it into longer pieces. The reason for them being paid is that they’ll be much longer posts, but they’re also very specific to me, and so I don’t want to just through them out into the inboxes of people that aren’t too interested in what I have to say outside of my regular posts!

Cheers for 1000 guys! Mon eh Sisyphus club!

Lots of love, forever and always,

Aaron.