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Sam Messersmith's avatar

you had me at bakery and unfinished thoughts.

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Heidi White's avatar

This piece has a lot of helpful info. As a writer who has been on here a year (with just 87 subscribers), who does post and engage on notes, I often feel like I am putting my words out into a black hole. It is disheartening. I write because I must but it would sure be nice if I *knew* people were reading.

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Sam Messersmith's avatar

For perspective.. It took me 1 year and 7 months to get 40 subscribers. Forty! It took about 40 days from there to gain 100 followers. Almost 2 freaking years to reach 100. Then the growth has been exponential. You do seem to be rewarded by the algo-gods when you hit 100. You are so close! And you are doing better than I was at that stage. Keep the faith. People are actually reading even if you don't get written responses, trust me.

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Heidi White's avatar

Thank you, Sam. That friggin’ Debby Doubter is a relentless bitch. Today, you helped keep her at bay. #keepingthefaith

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Teri Leigh 💜's avatar

With the exception of Creator Retreat being the culmination of my entire career, I am most proud of my two teeny tiny publications with under 200 subs. They have 20% engagement and I honestly can’t remember when either one of them had an unsubscribe. They are slow steady authentic growth and community building at its best.

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Teri Leigh 💜's avatar

with 87 subs…what is your engagement percentage? That’s the one metric I do really pay attention to. If you go into any post and look at the stats, there is a tab you can click that gives you the engagement rate. My smaller pubs (Hobbit and the Owl & Words Are Spells) have engagement rate around 20%…which means that 20% of subscribers are engaging (likes, clicks, comments, reading to the end). When I do the math, that’s about 30 people that are actively involved in my stuff as a community. I feel pretty good about that.

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Heidi White's avatar

Thank you, friend. I will take I look through that lens. I appreciate you!

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