This is so thoughtful and helpful, thank you! FWIW, I think you owe your Substack success to finding your voice and living it out. You are that rare combination of no-nonsense and deeply caring. It's trustworthy.
Fantastic article Kristen. Refreshingly honest, and that's why I'm a subscriber. You put your heart and soul into this and it shows. I'm here for the long haul and can't wait to hear more about how the book is going and the move to Italy!
Thanks Kristen for the Substack lesson - I'm not a writer (yet) but Substack might be something for me in the future as I enter the next chapter of my life. It was so encouraging to hear your thoughts on social media. I'm not on IG or Twitter and only nominally post or read anything on FB. LinkedIn more often due to my professional work. Social media feels like a time suck to me without any upsides other than making one feel bad for what they are not accomplishing or doing.
Happy to be a subscriber and look forward to more goodies!!! Keep on writing - it makes my day.
I’m a big believer that we should only do things but light us up and I don’t know anybody who is really lit up by social media. It seems to make most people feel worse about themselves, and also just be a way to waste time. Thx for being here Susan!
SOOO happy to read this post and huge congrats on the move. As you know, I'm only here because of you, so I love reading the nuts and bolts of how it all happened. Fascinated by that Instagram link think, btw.
This is so fascinating on social media. Reminds me of when I was trying to get our friend Greg voted onto our local council - we really needed a good, independent, ethical person to get in. To campaign we letterboxed our entire area ourselves with a brochure about what he stood for, had about 6 banners around the place (others had 100’s) he went to railway stations every morning to hand out brochures.
The day before the election I made the mistake of going on a local Facebook site which was discussing the election. It was so awful and so incredibly aggressive that my heart sunk and I just knew we were going to lose.
On election day about 15 of us handed out all day at voting booths. We talked and talked to people about the issues facing our area while handing out.
That night the votes came in and as my husband and I looked at our computer we realised Greg had won - he smashed it! The awful guy on facebook did so badly.
I remember ringing Greg - he was at home watching The Little Mermaid with his niece who was visiting from the US and he had promised her he’d watch it! I told him you’ve won and he said - You are kidding me!
He’s been great on our local council.
But I needed this reminder as there’s an issue I’ve been involved in recently and someone asked me to go on Facebook and “educate people about what was going on”. I ended up interacting with stupid blokes who were not interested in facts and it was awful and took all my energy from actually doing something positive.
I hate social media and will stay away. Thank you Kirsten for the reminder.
Such a great story. I think that sometimes social media can be important in spreading the word/raising awareness—like w Me Too or BLM—but a little goes a long way. Also, the social media sites have really messed with the algorithms in the last few years so that if you’re not on there all the time, almost nobody sees what you post. The cost of spending all that time on social media isn’t worth whatever whatever benefit I would get from it professionally.
It definitely can spread the word, no doubt about it, if you can manage to ignore some of the ignorance of people who appear to thrive in its dark recesses. I've got to say after putting up my comments on that recent issue, the local council changed their statements on their website about ten minutes later. Unfortunately they give it more attention that it deserves as well.
Hi, Kirsten - I have been a free sub for roughly a handful of months, maybe less. I can't remember how I first found your work, but I did not know you from your prior career. But I've continually been impressed with your work. You engage with interesting people. You write about topics that matter to you. You make us really *think* about the ways we live and behave. You even inspired me to totally drop my former career for any writing topics like you did with politics.
It's been a great experience. Upgrading to a paid subscription makes me excited for what's to come from you. Congrats on the 10k milestone and here's to many more ahead!
Thanks Kirsten. I have really appreciated your writing. You are in fact the first person I have paid for. Keep up the good work. I look forward to hearing more about your move to Italy. I moved to Thailand about a decade ago, for very similar reasons, and it has reformed my understanding of what it means to be a human in this world. https://gregorypettys.substack.com/
This is first newsletter I have decided to pay for in recent months. The combination of honesty and basic, real and experienced-based advice on writing and audience building is excellent. Keep up the great work Kirsten!
Thanks for sharing all this advice Kristen. There should be a name for people on Substack like you who are generous with their time and intellectual capital to other writers and their readers. I can't think of anything clever.
Thanks Kirsten for sharing with us a look inside the life of a Substack writer. Congratulations on reaching 10K subscribers! Although I do not know you, thanks to your wonderful writing, I feel as though I do know. You are a gifted and talented person who has a great heart. Bless you!
BTW, early riser, or you couldn't sleep? (or maybe you're in Italy and responding at a "normal" time? :-D) I'm always up by 3 am - have had an early shift since starting at the government 18 years ago. I love it! People think I'm crazy getting up so early, but I thrive on this incredibly quiet solitude (my "tea time") to start every day.
I love this post. I'm a numbers guy and enjoy interpreting them to form the stories they tell, so I enjoyed reading about your story on Substack. Every time you post, I feel like you're sending me a small gift I'm sure to enjoy. Thank you for brightening my days!
Oh good I can’t thank you enough. I just started my newsletter, been working as a writer, artist and facilitator for so long and never thought about substack. I am so nervous and scared but I really want to create a community here … I hope my newsletter will reach people. Again thank you so much !
This is so thoughtful and helpful, thank you! FWIW, I think you owe your Substack success to finding your voice and living it out. You are that rare combination of no-nonsense and deeply caring. It's trustworthy.
thank you Kelly! It does seem that once I stopped doing what I was “supposed” to do, it started to fall into place and my
people started finding me. 😍
Fantastic article Kristen. Refreshingly honest, and that's why I'm a subscriber. You put your heart and soul into this and it shows. I'm here for the long haul and can't wait to hear more about how the book is going and the move to Italy!
Thank you Sally that means so much to me!
Thanks Kristen for the Substack lesson - I'm not a writer (yet) but Substack might be something for me in the future as I enter the next chapter of my life. It was so encouraging to hear your thoughts on social media. I'm not on IG or Twitter and only nominally post or read anything on FB. LinkedIn more often due to my professional work. Social media feels like a time suck to me without any upsides other than making one feel bad for what they are not accomplishing or doing.
Happy to be a subscriber and look forward to more goodies!!! Keep on writing - it makes my day.
I’m a big believer that we should only do things but light us up and I don’t know anybody who is really lit up by social media. It seems to make most people feel worse about themselves, and also just be a way to waste time. Thx for being here Susan!
SOOO happy to read this post and huge congrats on the move. As you know, I'm only here because of you, so I love reading the nuts and bolts of how it all happened. Fascinated by that Instagram link think, btw.
😘 💋
This is so fascinating on social media. Reminds me of when I was trying to get our friend Greg voted onto our local council - we really needed a good, independent, ethical person to get in. To campaign we letterboxed our entire area ourselves with a brochure about what he stood for, had about 6 banners around the place (others had 100’s) he went to railway stations every morning to hand out brochures.
The day before the election I made the mistake of going on a local Facebook site which was discussing the election. It was so awful and so incredibly aggressive that my heart sunk and I just knew we were going to lose.
On election day about 15 of us handed out all day at voting booths. We talked and talked to people about the issues facing our area while handing out.
That night the votes came in and as my husband and I looked at our computer we realised Greg had won - he smashed it! The awful guy on facebook did so badly.
I remember ringing Greg - he was at home watching The Little Mermaid with his niece who was visiting from the US and he had promised her he’d watch it! I told him you’ve won and he said - You are kidding me!
He’s been great on our local council.
But I needed this reminder as there’s an issue I’ve been involved in recently and someone asked me to go on Facebook and “educate people about what was going on”. I ended up interacting with stupid blokes who were not interested in facts and it was awful and took all my energy from actually doing something positive.
I hate social media and will stay away. Thank you Kirsten for the reminder.
Such a great story. I think that sometimes social media can be important in spreading the word/raising awareness—like w Me Too or BLM—but a little goes a long way. Also, the social media sites have really messed with the algorithms in the last few years so that if you’re not on there all the time, almost nobody sees what you post. The cost of spending all that time on social media isn’t worth whatever whatever benefit I would get from it professionally.
It definitely can spread the word, no doubt about it, if you can manage to ignore some of the ignorance of people who appear to thrive in its dark recesses. I've got to say after putting up my comments on that recent issue, the local council changed their statements on their website about ten minutes later. Unfortunately they give it more attention that it deserves as well.
Thank you for this. I vow to give up on social media and focus on writing and reading. Thank you so much!!!!
Hi, Kirsten - I have been a free sub for roughly a handful of months, maybe less. I can't remember how I first found your work, but I did not know you from your prior career. But I've continually been impressed with your work. You engage with interesting people. You write about topics that matter to you. You make us really *think* about the ways we live and behave. You even inspired me to totally drop my former career for any writing topics like you did with politics.
It's been a great experience. Upgrading to a paid subscription makes me excited for what's to come from you. Congrats on the 10k milestone and here's to many more ahead!
Thank you for sharing this background Colin. It means a lot to me. I’m so glad the writing is resonating and so happy you are here!
Bold, brave, beautiful. Thank you for sharing your experience on substack, Kirsten! It’s a great reality check 🙏
Thx Jen!!
Thanks Kirsten. I have really appreciated your writing. You are in fact the first person I have paid for. Keep up the good work. I look forward to hearing more about your move to Italy. I moved to Thailand about a decade ago, for very similar reasons, and it has reformed my understanding of what it means to be a human in this world. https://gregorypettys.substack.com/
Thank you for supporting me! 🙏
This is first newsletter I have decided to pay for in recent months. The combination of honesty and basic, real and experienced-based advice on writing and audience building is excellent. Keep up the great work Kirsten!
Wow thank you Ian! That really means so much to me
This is great! Thank you for sharing your journey so transparently! I feel inspired and motivated to keep on keeping on.
I’m so glad!!
Thanks for sharing all this advice Kristen. There should be a name for people on Substack like you who are generous with their time and intellectual capital to other writers and their readers. I can't think of anything clever.
Awww thx David!
As always, so transparent and helpful. Thank you! ✨
Thanks Kirsten for sharing with us a look inside the life of a Substack writer. Congratulations on reaching 10K subscribers! Although I do not know you, thanks to your wonderful writing, I feel as though I do know. You are a gifted and talented person who has a great heart. Bless you!
You are so kind John. TY🙏
Congratulations for the growth of Changing the Channel! I'm so happy to have discovered you and your writing!
Thx Jen!!
BTW, early riser, or you couldn't sleep? (or maybe you're in Italy and responding at a "normal" time? :-D) I'm always up by 3 am - have had an early shift since starting at the government 18 years ago. I love it! People think I'm crazy getting up so early, but I thrive on this incredibly quiet solitude (my "tea time") to start every day.
I’m in Italy 😍
Enjoy!!!!
I love this post. I'm a numbers guy and enjoy interpreting them to form the stories they tell, so I enjoyed reading about your story on Substack. Every time you post, I feel like you're sending me a small gift I'm sure to enjoy. Thank you for brightening my days!
Thank you James that is such a nice thing to hear!
Oh good I can’t thank you enough. I just started my newsletter, been working as a writer, artist and facilitator for so long and never thought about substack. I am so nervous and scared but I really want to create a community here … I hope my newsletter will reach people. Again thank you so much !
It’s normal to be scared—everyone feels that!