Hey so what is a best practice for cross-posting? Where is it best to post first actually? Some people say first on your own website and then the other platforms.. I’m getting confused
Kristina--I am on both platforms, but realized today that I must pay for every subscriber I want to follow in depth on Substack (unlike Medium)--which is rather costly if I have more than two such people in mind on Substack, which I do! Also, I am a writer with 34 Indie books in genre fields, but do not have courses or a podcast. (I do have my own email list on MailChimp I send to once a month that gets minimal engagement.) So what on earth could I offer on Substack for a newsletter that would make a paid subscription to my Substack newsletter seem worthwhile to readers? However, given Medium now pays only pennies per article as of January 7th, it makes being on Medium questionable--but you seem to be thriving there--have you not noticed the drop in the Partner program revenue like so many of us have??
Hi Regina, The key is building a "flywheel" (as I shared in the story) to make these platforms work together. I love the recurring income from Substack, and I also vote with my wallet for my favorite writers. Instead of paying hundreds of thousands for traditional publishing routes, I get to support amazing indie writers like Walter Rhein or
You’re in a unique position with 34 indie books—there’s so much you could offer on Substack! Consider pairing paid and free content, just like your favorite writers do. For example:
- Free tier: Share behind-the-scenes stories, your writing process, or reflections on your books and the indie publishing journey.
- Paid tier: Offer exclusive serialized content (new books, bonus chapters, or short stories), writing tips, or even host a monthly live Q&A or AMA with your readers.
As for Medium, while the Partner Program revenue has dropped for many, I’ve seen success by focusing on creating valuable content and using Medium as a top-of-funnel platform to bring readers to my Substack or email list. Think of Medium as a discovery tool: readers find your work there, and then you invite them to join your Substack for more direct, deeper engagement.
It sounds like you already have a foundation with your MailChimp list. The next step could be showing your readers why it’s valuable to subscribe to your Substack. Share a mix of free and premium content to build trust, and over time, they’ll see the value in becoming paid subscribers.
I hope this helps clarify things! Your writing has so much potential to build a community that’s excited to support you on Substack. Trust me. All you need to do is take action and get on Substack and start writing :) Hugs, Kristina
Has Medium changed so that people are only getting pennies for their articles? I wanted to try Medium as well as Substack, but when I read that, I thought I had missed the boat.
Hi Rose, you can absolutely still earn money on Medium! I see it firsthand with my tribe members—generating meaningful income there is very much possible. The key is creating high-quality content and understanding how to leverage Medium’s Partner Program. For this we have masterminds inside the Club or the Medium Bootcamp. Inside the Club as an annual member, you also get access to Medium School. A course about how to start on Substack.
What I love about Substack is the recurring income potential from paid subscriptions, which provides more stability over time. That’s why I always recommend writing on both platforms. Medium is great for gaining exposure, reaching a broader audience, and earning based on reads, while Substack is perfect for building a loyal community and earning predictable, recurring revenue.
You haven’t missed the boat—both platforms are thriving, but success depends on consistent effort and finding your unique voice. Hope this helps.
"There’s no such thing as duplicate content on the web, so you don’t have to set a canonical link." - It is called plagiarism, yes you can even plagiarize your own content and it will hurt your SEO on search engines and social media. Quite a few writers cross-post between these two platforms verbatim and it is a bad habit.
Over and above that, changing your domain also hurts your SEO as you start with a DA of 1 which is nothing compared to having a subdomain on an already established domain like substack.com which already has a DA of around 92.
Hi Hein, and everyone reading this, please check out my interview with a Google knowledge panel. We talk about this and he supported my opinion on this. I work with digital consultants etc. and they all say the same. The biggest Medium writers first share their stories on their website and then on Substack or Medium :) So they are ALL doing it. Many are afraid. Do something different. You'll see results.
I am talking about your newsletter's custom domain, it is only 17% compared to using it as is and taking advantage of Substack's domain with a DA of 92% which will get you a helluva lot bigger traffic load from search engines. On top of that, you have way too many super-low-quality backlinks to this domain. See the link: https://ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker/?input=www.onlinewritingclub.com
Hello Kristina. I help entrepreneurs thrive in business... From idea, niche(s), business plan, social media profiles/ business pages, building a website and a blog (both are important), setting up domains, hosting, organic growth (SEO, content, engagement, etc.), paid advertising, the AIDA model, building different levels of monetization, profit, retention, etc.
Remember, having a subdomain like my three newsletters have, is virtually the same as having a unique main domain, the difference is they are subdomains on the main domain Substack.com (already well-established with a very high DA) so as long as you do your SEO well, you will rank high in search engines and this will drive a lot more traffic to your newsletters instead of just relying on your content and engagement within Substack itself. You should leverage SEO for exponential publicity outside of this platform, it can potentially grow your following and subscribers much faster.
I haven't started on Substack yet, even though my banners, logos, and most related things and the publications' settings have been set up mostly. I still have some minor tweaks to make and I am in the planning phase with my bundle offer, content, etc. I already have a list of drafts practically ready.
I know about the high DA of both. Still not sure what you want to say. That's the beauty of writing on both. That's why we get seen. THat's why it's smart to be on both. Hope this helps.
Here is my newsletter's DA, it is exactly the same as substack.com because it is on a subdomain. The biggest mistake you can make is to create a custom unknown domain, it will take years to get to 92% DA like mine is now. The best part is, I only have four backlinks but my articles will rank 50 times quicker than a custom domain's DA will ever do without any effort.
Similar to Medium, you're right... hm... on the other side if I don't do it now,.... but you#re right. I need to be smarter about it. Any tips on how to educate Google that my custom domain is a trustworthy source (besides organic backlinks or buying backlinks)
Don't ever buy backlinks, that is black-hat SEO and will hurt your rankings terribly. There is no quick fix to let Google know your custom domain is trustworthy.
You're welcome to chat with me via PM. SEO is only one very important part of your business. Multiple facets play strong roles in growing your business.
Great that you tuned in, Jeff! Where are you on your Substack journey? Just checked your Substack. Maybe you have a guest post you'd like to write for the Club?
Hey so what is a best practice for cross-posting? Where is it best to post first actually? Some people say first on your own website and then the other platforms.. I’m getting confused
Hi Gabriela, guess the Bootcamp covered it ;)
Kristina--I am on both platforms, but realized today that I must pay for every subscriber I want to follow in depth on Substack (unlike Medium)--which is rather costly if I have more than two such people in mind on Substack, which I do! Also, I am a writer with 34 Indie books in genre fields, but do not have courses or a podcast. (I do have my own email list on MailChimp I send to once a month that gets minimal engagement.) So what on earth could I offer on Substack for a newsletter that would make a paid subscription to my Substack newsletter seem worthwhile to readers? However, given Medium now pays only pennies per article as of January 7th, it makes being on Medium questionable--but you seem to be thriving there--have you not noticed the drop in the Partner program revenue like so many of us have??
Hi Regina, The key is building a "flywheel" (as I shared in the story) to make these platforms work together. I love the recurring income from Substack, and I also vote with my wallet for my favorite writers. Instead of paying hundreds of thousands for traditional publishing routes, I get to support amazing indie writers like Walter Rhein or
You’re in a unique position with 34 indie books—there’s so much you could offer on Substack! Consider pairing paid and free content, just like your favorite writers do. For example:
- Free tier: Share behind-the-scenes stories, your writing process, or reflections on your books and the indie publishing journey.
- Paid tier: Offer exclusive serialized content (new books, bonus chapters, or short stories), writing tips, or even host a monthly live Q&A or AMA with your readers.
As for Medium, while the Partner Program revenue has dropped for many, I’ve seen success by focusing on creating valuable content and using Medium as a top-of-funnel platform to bring readers to my Substack or email list. Think of Medium as a discovery tool: readers find your work there, and then you invite them to join your Substack for more direct, deeper engagement.
It sounds like you already have a foundation with your MailChimp list. The next step could be showing your readers why it’s valuable to subscribe to your Substack. Share a mix of free and premium content to build trust, and over time, they’ll see the value in becoming paid subscribers.
I hope this helps clarify things! Your writing has so much potential to build a community that’s excited to support you on Substack. Trust me. All you need to do is take action and get on Substack and start writing :) Hugs, Kristina
Sent you a DM!
Has Medium changed so that people are only getting pennies for their articles? I wanted to try Medium as well as Substack, but when I read that, I thought I had missed the boat.
Hi Rose, you can absolutely still earn money on Medium! I see it firsthand with my tribe members—generating meaningful income there is very much possible. The key is creating high-quality content and understanding how to leverage Medium’s Partner Program. For this we have masterminds inside the Club or the Medium Bootcamp. Inside the Club as an annual member, you also get access to Medium School. A course about how to start on Substack.
What I love about Substack is the recurring income potential from paid subscriptions, which provides more stability over time. That’s why I always recommend writing on both platforms. Medium is great for gaining exposure, reaching a broader audience, and earning based on reads, while Substack is perfect for building a loyal community and earning predictable, recurring revenue.
You haven’t missed the boat—both platforms are thriving, but success depends on consistent effort and finding your unique voice. Hope this helps.
"There’s no such thing as duplicate content on the web, so you don’t have to set a canonical link." - It is called plagiarism, yes you can even plagiarize your own content and it will hurt your SEO on search engines and social media. Quite a few writers cross-post between these two platforms verbatim and it is a bad habit.
Over and above that, changing your domain also hurts your SEO as you start with a DA of 1 which is nothing compared to having a subdomain on an already established domain like substack.com which already has a DA of around 92.
Hi Hein, and everyone reading this, please check out my interview with a Google knowledge panel. We talk about this and he supported my opinion on this. I work with digital consultants etc. and they all say the same. The biggest Medium writers first share their stories on their website and then on Substack or Medium :) So they are ALL doing it. Many are afraid. Do something different. You'll see results.
I am talking about your newsletter's custom domain, it is only 17% compared to using it as is and taking advantage of Substack's domain with a DA of 92% which will get you a helluva lot bigger traffic load from search engines. On top of that, you have way too many super-low-quality backlinks to this domain. See the link: https://ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker/?input=www.onlinewritingclub.com
Hello Hein, we all start at 1. At least it's 17 haha ^^ Are you a SEO expert? Maybe you could write a guest post about this! You have 92.
Hmmm one reasin AGAINST a custom domain, But the idea was to build something on my own. Would love to chat.
Hello Kristina. I help entrepreneurs thrive in business... From idea, niche(s), business plan, social media profiles/ business pages, building a website and a blog (both are important), setting up domains, hosting, organic growth (SEO, content, engagement, etc.), paid advertising, the AIDA model, building different levels of monetization, profit, retention, etc.
Remember, having a subdomain like my three newsletters have, is virtually the same as having a unique main domain, the difference is they are subdomains on the main domain Substack.com (already well-established with a very high DA) so as long as you do your SEO well, you will rank high in search engines and this will drive a lot more traffic to your newsletters instead of just relying on your content and engagement within Substack itself. You should leverage SEO for exponential publicity outside of this platform, it can potentially grow your following and subscribers much faster.
I haven't started on Substack yet, even though my banners, logos, and most related things and the publications' settings have been set up mostly. I still have some minor tweaks to make and I am in the planning phase with my bundle offer, content, etc. I already have a list of drafts practically ready.
Sorry, what's a DA?
Hi Rose, please see my reply above :)
Hey Rose, DA is domain authority.
I know about the high DA of both. Still not sure what you want to say. That's the beauty of writing on both. That's why we get seen. THat's why it's smart to be on both. Hope this helps.
Here is my newsletter's DA, it is exactly the same as substack.com because it is on a subdomain. The biggest mistake you can make is to create a custom unknown domain, it will take years to get to 92% DA like mine is now. The best part is, I only have four backlinks but my articles will rank 50 times quicker than a custom domain's DA will ever do without any effort.
Here is the link to my newsletter: https://ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker/?input=profitcatalystsynergy.substack.com
Similar to Medium, you're right... hm... on the other side if I don't do it now,.... but you#re right. I need to be smarter about it. Any tips on how to educate Google that my custom domain is a trustworthy source (besides organic backlinks or buying backlinks)
Don't ever buy backlinks, that is black-hat SEO and will hurt your rankings terribly. There is no quick fix to let Google know your custom domain is trustworthy.
I would change your publication domain from onlinewritingclub.com to onlinewritingclub.substack.com and you don't have to pay for a domain as it is a subdomain situated on Substack's domain.
You're welcome to chat with me via PM. SEO is only one very important part of your business. Multiple facets play strong roles in growing your business.
Sounds like you've had an amazing journey & you are still going.
Best of luck with the boot camp...
I cannot afford.
Thanks. I always try to make it super affordable. You can DM me if you want.
You are amazing
Hello Karen! Thanks :)
I can't find you on the list for the Bootcamp, Karen. So I guess it didn't work. Will send you a DM and will send you the invite later.
Sent you the replay and invite to the hub and everything yesterday. Did you see it and can get in?
You are the substack angle. i am looking forward to the boot camp
Do you mean angle? ^^ Or angle?
YAY! Gonna be amazing. I'll send you a DM re the Bootcamp, Karen
My pleasure. And thanks for the mention. And cool article…
Great that you tuned in, Jeff! Where are you on your Substack journey? Just checked your Substack. Maybe you have a guest post you'd like to write for the Club?
I’m working on a couple new things now so I’ll send one of those posts when complete - thank you :-)
Super!
Awesome