Since switching to Ghost, I saw my open rates go up almost double what they were on Substack, but since I have to pay per subscriber, I do cull my list every quarter. I filter people who haven't opened a single email or clicked, then email them to ask if they still want to be on my list. The first time I did this was eye-opening. Quite a few said they use an email provider that doesn't track opens, like you mentioned. Others said they read via an RSS feed. Many bounced back because the email was inactive or inbox was full.
Very relatable. This happens every time I do it, and my rss has been broken for months. So my rates are down. I am actually moving to ghost this month. They are building my site right now. Like it?
I really like Ghost after seven months. While the transition was pretty seamless, it still took subscribers a little while to get used to the change, so it takes a lot of hand-holding, screenshots to show how to comment, sign in to change their account,etc, especially people who are used to having everything on Substack. I get a lot more responses through email now because I think some just still don't know how to comment on Ghost. I'm fine with that, but something I noticed. Ghost also didn't have an automated welcome email setup until recently, and I think that hurt. It's better now that they do, in terms of retention.
I remember reading that you've changed the name of this particular Substack a few times-could it be that because Hapitalist is still new and you may need to wait about 6 months to a year to be able to truly compare and contrast with past successes and failures?
(Side note: I could be misremembering about reading about the past name/domain changes)
Yeah. I mean yes, but the recommendation engine specifically is filled with people who are brand new to any ecosystem, and the slowdown was coming before the change. Part of why I made the change is because I saw it slowing. There are still 649 people recommending me.
I also have a redirect of my old site so all that traffic should be redirecting.
So, yeah, but not to the extent it is. I think I mentioned both of those in the second half of the article, but maybe not enough. Am I missing something?
I think you just described a symptom of late-stage capitalism.
Well I did write a book called How to Thrive as a Writer in a Capitalist Dystopia, so it’s very on brand.
Since switching to Ghost, I saw my open rates go up almost double what they were on Substack, but since I have to pay per subscriber, I do cull my list every quarter. I filter people who haven't opened a single email or clicked, then email them to ask if they still want to be on my list. The first time I did this was eye-opening. Quite a few said they use an email provider that doesn't track opens, like you mentioned. Others said they read via an RSS feed. Many bounced back because the email was inactive or inbox was full.
Very relatable. This happens every time I do it, and my rss has been broken for months. So my rates are down. I am actually moving to ghost this month. They are building my site right now. Like it?
I really like Ghost after seven months. While the transition was pretty seamless, it still took subscribers a little while to get used to the change, so it takes a lot of hand-holding, screenshots to show how to comment, sign in to change their account,etc, especially people who are used to having everything on Substack. I get a lot more responses through email now because I think some just still don't know how to comment on Ghost. I'm fine with that, but something I noticed. Ghost also didn't have an automated welcome email setup until recently, and I think that hurt. It's better now that they do, in terms of retention.
I’ve given up on my open rates, but I’ll probably do a small culling.
And I'm just starting out with email. Should we be worried?
Or, to rephrase... How worried should we be? 😕
What do you recommend as the best tactic re: email? Do we continue to cull our lists?
You have a lot of giveaway subs so probably. It’s not a clear cut answer.
I remember reading that you've changed the name of this particular Substack a few times-could it be that because Hapitalist is still new and you may need to wait about 6 months to a year to be able to truly compare and contrast with past successes and failures?
(Side note: I could be misremembering about reading about the past name/domain changes)
Yeah. I mean yes, but the recommendation engine specifically is filled with people who are brand new to any ecosystem, and the slowdown was coming before the change. Part of why I made the change is because I saw it slowing. There are still 649 people recommending me.
I also have a redirect of my old site so all that traffic should be redirecting.
So, yeah, but not to the extent it is. I think I mentioned both of those in the second half of the article, but maybe not enough. Am I missing something?
Google had already killed it before generative AI.
I don’t agree with that. Nor did I say generative ai killed it. Did you even read the article?