Welcome Cohort Heroes and Write of Passage Cohort Members!
This is where you write or revise your About page.
First, Cohort members, let’s recap what you’ve covered in the Substack Blueprint. You figured out your goals, how better to understand the platform and your purpose on it, and how to build a community of loyal subscribers by creating valuable content.
Now, you’ll communicate that content to potential subscribers and your subscribers in your About page and hero post.
This is such an important part of building your Substack. You can have all the great content in the world. And if we can’t communicate it clearly, people won’t subscribe because they won’t know what they’re subscribing to.
In this session (3.1), you’ll discover or solidify:
The What of your Substack, i.e., what subscribers get (posts, video, podcast episodes)
The Why, i.e., what they’ll take away and how they’ll be changed by becoming a subscriber
✦ Watch the video. Then scroll down to use the Substack About Page Template.
✦ There’s also a bonus on creating a hero post below
✦ If you’re new here, keep watching to learn more about the Cohort!
In this session:
Master Your About Page (00:59)
The Three Elements of Your About Page (01:44)
The Must-Haves for Your About Page (03:42)
Examples of Effective About Pages (04:09)
What is the Substack Growth Cohort (
This session is part of the Substack Growth Blueprint, which is part of the Substack Growth Cohort.
What is the Substack Growth Blueprint?
The Substack Growth Blueprint is the fastest, most effective way to:
be confident in what your Substack is and why people should subscribe,
grow your subscriber base,
create community,
earn an income, and
get exposure for your work.
It works.
I’ve tested the Substack Blueprint with over 500 Substack writers and watched them double and triple and septuple (and more) their subscribers, substantially increase their revenue, see real engagement, and (most importantly) feel confident in their Substacks and produce their best work.
They did this with this Blueprint.
What is the Substack Growth Cohort?
One year (which is what it takes to see substantial growth on Substack) with my expert guidance and the support of a group of highly motivated Substack writers.
It’s for veterans and newbies alike.
One-time payment of $385. ~$32/month.
You receive
Everything in the paid membership ($80 value)
Monthly Mastermind Cohort Calls to get ideas and my top tips and mastermind with other Substack writers ($2500 value)
Substack Success Blueprint (my signature!) to design, redesign, or touch up your Substack so you have the right foundation ($285 value)
Monthly Strategizing Workshops to get the most cutting-edge techniques to grow ($540 value)
The full archive of Substack Mastery and How to Write Online Workshops ($1200)
Join the Cohort:
✦ Paid subscribers:
✦ Free subscribers and those new to Substack Writers at Work:
Get the Substack Growth Blueprint only
Substack Growth Blueprint Sessions
🖥️ Newbies! Pre-Session: Substack Initial Setup
Session 1: Achieve Your Goals by Understanding Substack and Your Purpose on It
1.5 Tech: Substack Settings
1.6 Tech: Design Your Homepage
Session 2: Build a Community of Loyal Subscribers by Creating Valuable Content
2.2 Tech: Posting on Substack
Session 3: Attract Subscribers by Clearly Communicating Your Substack’s Value
Session 4: Set Yourself Up to Grow (!)
4.1 Notes Overview
4.3 Substack SEO
Completion: You did it! Thank you! What’s next!
The Substack About Page Template
This is the template I created after I met with Substack and they showed me their “ideal” About pages, i.e., About pages that work. It’s not meant to be prescriptive, just a guide. Feel free to improvise. Just be sure yours communicates your Substack’s value and why people should subscribe.
Writing your About page is a rite of passage on Substack. It will give you a sense for who you are, who your readers are, what you want, and how it might work on the platform. (Don’t worry. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Getting to know your Substack is an ongoing process.)
To get you started, take some time and free write in response to these three questions. Set a timer and write for just three minutes on each one:
What would the Substack/newsletter you’d want to receive contain and look like?
Fill in the blank: I write this Substack because __________ (Or I will write this Substack because __________)
Why a Substack and why now?
Who are your ideal subscribers? Don't think in terms of demographics; think in terms of wants and needs. What do they need? If you're hoping to monetize and scale, this is crucial.
What will you be giving your subscribers and helping them do via your Substack?
Use what you have to do the following.
Substack’s About page should be called the About your readers page. Here’s what Substack says about the About page: “This page should explain in detail the benefits of reading your publication.” It should include:
A photo and a welcome.
The benefits of reading your Substack, what subscribers will take away, and how they’ll be transformed by it (not what you do, e.g., not "I write about...")
Exactly what free and paid subscribers get (e.g., posts, workshops, voice memos, etc.) and why those matter
Headings and bulleted lists of what they get and how often you’ll email them:
Paid subscribers get... (both what they get, e.g., posts, and what they’ll get from it, e.g., responsibly reported journalism)
Free subscribers get…
A bit about you (only insofar as it relates to your newsletter)
A photo of you or your pets or something that represents you
Examples:
Poet Maggie Smith’s About page is ideal in terms of content, the way she addresses her readers, and the formatting (headings, bullets, etc.). It's a great About page and I love the way she 1) sets up with her philosophy and what the title means to her (graph 1), 2) answers the question 'Why this newsletter and why now?" (graph 2), 3) goes into what subscribers get and then the About Me sections, and 4) gives testimonials. Very clean.
And here's mine with the new emphasis on the yearly paid subscription, which is what digital media publishers are moving toward.
Bonus: The hero post
The hero post is a “start here/welcome” post that’s pinned to your homepage.
Hero post basics
The hero post shouldn’t just be more about you. This is about your subscribers and what they’ll get by being part of your Substack.
It can absolutely be a duplicate of your About page. Most people won’t go to both and if they do, they don’t mind. It’s less for them to read.
You can also use it as an opportunity to show them around your site and explain Substack a bit. You can see how I created an orientation video here.
Create your hero post
You want people to land on your homepage and meet you. That means having a Welcome page with an image (preferably) of you or at least some signifier that we’re on your Substack.
Create a new Welcome/Start here page or copy and paste your About page on a new post. Yes, just a regular post.
After you’ve posted it, go to Edit again.
Go to Settings in the lower right corner of the page.
Scroll down to Displayed publication date and backdate the post to just before your very first post. This will prevent it from appearing in duplicate. Close and return to the page you’re editing. (No need to save. There isn’t the option.)
Continue>Update now
On the post, click the three dots to edit again.
On the dropdown menu, select Pin on homepage. That will be the featured post.
Notes from this session:
The ‘What’: The type of Substack you chose and what subscribers get
Practical tips
Curated recommendations
Reporting
Literary/Artistic work
Teaching
Publication
The ‘Why’: What they’ll take away
The 9 things people pay for—with email or money:
Guidance–navigate a complex topic or challenge with help, which could be analysis/reporting
Accountability–motivate each other to make progress toward goals
Collective impact/output–pool efforts and achieve ambitious goals
Fandom–nerd out on our passion and marvel together
Skill development–hone our skills and improve at a craft/practice
Emotional support–share vulnerable experiences and develop resilience
Inspiration–find fresh stimuli and champion new ideas
Fun–experience more joy in our hobbies
Entertainment–great writing/thinking/ideas
What free and paid subscribers get
Your Goal→Kinds of Posts
Earn an income from paid subscribers: text posts, audio voiceover, podcasts, video/audio memos, workshops, challenges, community chat, community thread
Grow your email list to get people to your other offerings: text posts, audio voiceover, podcasts, community chat, community thread
Get exposure for your work: text posts
Write: text posts, audio voiceover
NEXT: Your short description, title, and bio
Join the Cohort:
✦ Paid subscribers:
✦ Free subscribers and those new to Substack Writers at Work:
✦ Session 3.1 Your About Page