With all respect, why would we want Claire and Russell telling us how to do things? I have followed them both and the past and perhaps I misunderstood the concept of Smallstack as I didn't expect people that already dominate the Substack scene pretending to be experts about everything would be part of the vision here. So, why Claire and Russell, why not someone more interesting and small? This is a cool project I'm just a little disappointed to see them invading yet another space.
MaryClare, I think you’re bringing up a really good question here about why we’re partnering with Claire and Russell, and I’d like to tell you a story.
In the first few days when I started SmallStack, things grew wildly fast, and I was quickly feeling overwhelmed. A few people reached out to congratulate me, but Claire Venus went a step further and contacted me directly to ask how I was and if I needed any help. I was pretty shocked to hear from her, and I was really flattered. But I didn’t know how to accept her help or even what to ask for at that time. She listened to me as a friend and colleague, and I felt supported.
Fast forward another few weeks and Robin C and I knew we needed a way to reach other folks who could find the benefit of joining SmallStack. After all, we know there are loads of smaller publications out there who could use community and support and all the great feelings we have here on SmallStack. Surely a lot of them have looked to Claire Venus and Russell Nohelty for that wisdom. It took some courage to ask Claire for help, and I was worried she might say no. But she didn’t. In fact, she expressed gratitude for being able to help others in the same fashion as she was helped when she was new and growing.
Claire and Russell may feel like big names to you, but as I have reminded the rest of the Team around me, we all put socks on the same way. SmallStack is a bridge between their bigger voice and our growing community, and all of the folks out there looking for us deserve to find us. Sometimes asking for help is hard, but we’re willing to take those risks to help everyone here succeed. After all, as SmallStack grows, we all grow together.
Claire managed to get to you, see. She knew how to insert herself somewhere new and take over there too. You think she offered to help because that's part of how these so called experts operate. :) She offers nothing but the same stuff different day.
I think I'm just disappointed because it sounded like a cool new thing but now it's just the same thing as elsewhere with the same "experts" dominating. SmallStack seemed different, I was so excited. It was going to be cool. I must have really misunderstood so that's just my disappointment talking. I guess I'll hang around and see how it goes but it's no longer that fresh, cool thing that sounded so promising.
It's my fault for not understanding but it's certainly a huge let-down. Still, I wish you well. I was going to apply for the volunteer pool at some stage but since it's so different to what I thought it was then I will sit back and let everyone else have fun. I hope it works out for you, though, because I want to see everyone succeed.
It does seem like I'm not the only one that misunderstood what you are doing here, maybe that would be worth your clarifying, although bringing those two in might be all the clarity the others need to. It's such a shame.
I'm sure there are a huge amount of people excited, so good luck! :)
MaryClare, I really do hope you stick around. We've got great things happening here, and it's absolutely worth being part of it. Sounds to me like you need to see some proof in action, and that's what we're here to deliver.
I am here for now, but if "experts" are the direction you're going in, it's not my style. I'm already tired of seeing them everywhere else in Substack. They have nothing of substance to offer. That's not really something I was interested in being part of. I thought this space would be cool and different which is why I was all for it. I hope it gives you what you want rather than ruins it for you but I have my doubts. I hope I'm wrong about them ruining it, because I'm on your side. That's another reason I'm so disappointed Claire got to you, because I AM on your side and now she's here to ruin what seemed like a great thing. Anyway, have fun. I'll wait it out a while and hope I'm wrong. Good luck.
I think we need more openness about the fact that this is fantastic marketing for Sparkle on Substack, etc., too - we are their target audience. It's totally understandable that they can't work for free and I think most people here would understand that. We get stronger positioning and they get potential customers - I think we just need the exchange to be clearer, rather than just talking about "helping". That's part of marketing of course too but I think small substackers need/deserve more openness here.
Yes, some of us can see through marketing code. It's not about helping it's about looking good. Anyway, it is what it is. This new direction is just icky to me. Ah well.
I'm staying hopeful - if the openness is there, I'm alright with the exchange. And maybe it'll come once the initial marketing push is over. How weird, I though everyone reads marketing code like that, but maybe not! Marketing has been part of my work for a good few years so maybe it's just a case of not realising what you know!
I feel like whole fiasco was a bait and switch, and that I was duped. In short, I fell for it. A lot of marketing begins with the premise that people are stupid and will fall for it, and that's what happened here. I am angry I was stupid enough to fall for this. Sigh.
MaryClare, I appreciate you bringing up these questions. I hear your frustration and hope we can pleasantly surprise you. My only request for you, and for the entire SmallStack community really, is to please be kind in this space. There are real humans behind the screen, and everyone here deserves to be treated with kindness and respect.
I don't believe I've been unkind, in fact I've been super careful to be respectful with my disappointment. Ultimately it's your project not mine and I hope it works out for you.
I wondered the same thing as MaryClare. They are quite large. It’s not necessary to be mine, and I’ve recently crossed the 100 subscriber mark, but I’ve started a 3-part series called Amateur to Ace: Going Pro on Substack. It’s for beginners who want to take it up a notch at a time. Very self deprecating and very candid about the process. It’s also about asking some of the ‘pros’ for help like @kristi keller who’s a digital assistant with lots of free advice on her Unstack Substack site and very reasonable rates for doing some of the back office stuff for authors who want to focus on creating. I’ve posted 2 of the 3 articles and the final will be out this weekend with before and after pics and performance stats. I’m sure others in the small stack community have experience in this space, so again, no need to be me but going straight to giants and superstars is not only intimidating but also could be off the mark for those who simply want to create without necessarily earning their full living from it. Thoughts on this?
Yes, Russell is cool and I read his stuff sometimes but I must have misunderstood the mission here because I wasn't expecting the same old stuff for marketing messages.
Cori, first off, congrats on such an awesome growth milestone! Second, we are actually leveraging our "small" community as partners in our promotion. If you read up on our Seed Pod concept, that's exactly what we're doing! Crowdsourcing solutions is such a brilliant way to lift all of us up together.
Aug 6Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Erin Mercer, Robin Taylor (he/him), Cheshir
I’m loving this! Especially the seed pods concept❣️❣️
A question about the Seed Pods: will you be suggesting a topic or a theme that those of us who write on that topic can jump in on to write about? And then before we hit publish, Will you be sharing the other small stackers names so we can include them in links?
A lot of us need visuals! We won't have those ready until just prior to launch, so stay tuned. And I think you know we have a real soft spot for librarians! If you haven't done so yet you can still submit your publication for listing in our library. It'll be open through Friday this week, and then we will reopen it again soon.
Aug 7Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I like the seed pod idea! It's a concept that has worked for people on other social media channels and I'd love to try it here. Especially if I can get to know writers with similar interests at the same time ❤️
Yay! Thanks so much for inviting us over to your place Robins!
We’re so happy to share the fun with you, Claire!
Claire, we are thrilled and so excited to host you!
WOW!!! You all are really cooking.
If you need event volunteers, please let me know:-)
Nneka, you’re the best! Thank you!!
Thanks Nneka! We're super excited and so glad you're here!
Looking forward to this!
Haha “Erin….and another Erin”. 💕💕
I think we should really highlight “the Erins” more often. It’s very fun!
I’m here for the Erins vs Robins arm wrestling match 🍿
Let's get one thing straight: I would lose. Badly.
😂 😂
Okay but that's a genius publicity stunt!
A slight modification from Robin C’s “easeful” marketing strategies though 😂
Nice job team SmallStack!!! 🥞
With all respect, why would we want Claire and Russell telling us how to do things? I have followed them both and the past and perhaps I misunderstood the concept of Smallstack as I didn't expect people that already dominate the Substack scene pretending to be experts about everything would be part of the vision here. So, why Claire and Russell, why not someone more interesting and small? This is a cool project I'm just a little disappointed to see them invading yet another space.
MaryClare, I think you’re bringing up a really good question here about why we’re partnering with Claire and Russell, and I’d like to tell you a story.
In the first few days when I started SmallStack, things grew wildly fast, and I was quickly feeling overwhelmed. A few people reached out to congratulate me, but Claire Venus went a step further and contacted me directly to ask how I was and if I needed any help. I was pretty shocked to hear from her, and I was really flattered. But I didn’t know how to accept her help or even what to ask for at that time. She listened to me as a friend and colleague, and I felt supported.
Fast forward another few weeks and Robin C and I knew we needed a way to reach other folks who could find the benefit of joining SmallStack. After all, we know there are loads of smaller publications out there who could use community and support and all the great feelings we have here on SmallStack. Surely a lot of them have looked to Claire Venus and Russell Nohelty for that wisdom. It took some courage to ask Claire for help, and I was worried she might say no. But she didn’t. In fact, she expressed gratitude for being able to help others in the same fashion as she was helped when she was new and growing.
Claire and Russell may feel like big names to you, but as I have reminded the rest of the Team around me, we all put socks on the same way. SmallStack is a bridge between their bigger voice and our growing community, and all of the folks out there looking for us deserve to find us. Sometimes asking for help is hard, but we’re willing to take those risks to help everyone here succeed. After all, as SmallStack grows, we all grow together.
Claire managed to get to you, see. She knew how to insert herself somewhere new and take over there too. You think she offered to help because that's part of how these so called experts operate. :) She offers nothing but the same stuff different day.
I think I'm just disappointed because it sounded like a cool new thing but now it's just the same thing as elsewhere with the same "experts" dominating. SmallStack seemed different, I was so excited. It was going to be cool. I must have really misunderstood so that's just my disappointment talking. I guess I'll hang around and see how it goes but it's no longer that fresh, cool thing that sounded so promising.
It's my fault for not understanding but it's certainly a huge let-down. Still, I wish you well. I was going to apply for the volunteer pool at some stage but since it's so different to what I thought it was then I will sit back and let everyone else have fun. I hope it works out for you, though, because I want to see everyone succeed.
It does seem like I'm not the only one that misunderstood what you are doing here, maybe that would be worth your clarifying, although bringing those two in might be all the clarity the others need to. It's such a shame.
I'm sure there are a huge amount of people excited, so good luck! :)
MaryClare, I really do hope you stick around. We've got great things happening here, and it's absolutely worth being part of it. Sounds to me like you need to see some proof in action, and that's what we're here to deliver.
I am here for now, but if "experts" are the direction you're going in, it's not my style. I'm already tired of seeing them everywhere else in Substack. They have nothing of substance to offer. That's not really something I was interested in being part of. I thought this space would be cool and different which is why I was all for it. I hope it gives you what you want rather than ruins it for you but I have my doubts. I hope I'm wrong about them ruining it, because I'm on your side. That's another reason I'm so disappointed Claire got to you, because I AM on your side and now she's here to ruin what seemed like a great thing. Anyway, have fun. I'll wait it out a while and hope I'm wrong. Good luck.
I think we need more openness about the fact that this is fantastic marketing for Sparkle on Substack, etc., too - we are their target audience. It's totally understandable that they can't work for free and I think most people here would understand that. We get stronger positioning and they get potential customers - I think we just need the exchange to be clearer, rather than just talking about "helping". That's part of marketing of course too but I think small substackers need/deserve more openness here.
Yes, some of us can see through marketing code. It's not about helping it's about looking good. Anyway, it is what it is. This new direction is just icky to me. Ah well.
I'm staying hopeful - if the openness is there, I'm alright with the exchange. And maybe it'll come once the initial marketing push is over. How weird, I though everyone reads marketing code like that, but maybe not! Marketing has been part of my work for a good few years so maybe it's just a case of not realising what you know!
I feel like whole fiasco was a bait and switch, and that I was duped. In short, I fell for it. A lot of marketing begins with the premise that people are stupid and will fall for it, and that's what happened here. I am angry I was stupid enough to fall for this. Sigh.
MaryClare, I appreciate you bringing up these questions. I hear your frustration and hope we can pleasantly surprise you. My only request for you, and for the entire SmallStack community really, is to please be kind in this space. There are real humans behind the screen, and everyone here deserves to be treated with kindness and respect.
I don't believe I've been unkind, in fact I've been super careful to be respectful with my disappointment. Ultimately it's your project not mine and I hope it works out for you.
I wondered the same thing as MaryClare. They are quite large. It’s not necessary to be mine, and I’ve recently crossed the 100 subscriber mark, but I’ve started a 3-part series called Amateur to Ace: Going Pro on Substack. It’s for beginners who want to take it up a notch at a time. Very self deprecating and very candid about the process. It’s also about asking some of the ‘pros’ for help like @kristi keller who’s a digital assistant with lots of free advice on her Unstack Substack site and very reasonable rates for doing some of the back office stuff for authors who want to focus on creating. I’ve posted 2 of the 3 articles and the final will be out this weekend with before and after pics and performance stats. I’m sure others in the small stack community have experience in this space, so again, no need to be me but going straight to giants and superstars is not only intimidating but also could be off the mark for those who simply want to create without necessarily earning their full living from it. Thoughts on this?
Yes, Russell is cool and I read his stuff sometimes but I must have misunderstood the mission here because I wasn't expecting the same old stuff for marketing messages.
Cori, first off, congrats on such an awesome growth milestone! Second, we are actually leveraging our "small" community as partners in our promotion. If you read up on our Seed Pod concept, that's exactly what we're doing! Crowdsourcing solutions is such a brilliant way to lift all of us up together.
Thanks to the Smallstack crew for all this work! I’m already imagining a possible Seed Pod.
Love it! Music to my ears!
I’m loving this! Especially the seed pods concept❣️❣️
A question about the Seed Pods: will you be suggesting a topic or a theme that those of us who write on that topic can jump in on to write about? And then before we hit publish, Will you be sharing the other small stackers names so we can include them in links?
Hi Teyani, great question! We are still putting the plans together, but we promise we'll share more information soon!
This is fantastic and incredibly generous! Thank you for all your hard work! Enjoy Claire Venus' podcast!
I don’t know where to start but want to make a *Seed Pod* ((however, whatever)) also, I’m an ex-public librarian so this library sounds interesting.
I’m a visual learner/thinker …are there screenshots?
My two publications are:
• MorningPoems Newsletter/Podcast
featuring readings from my primary catalog of 787 poems (and I’ve written over 1400)!
• Visual Liquid featuring poetry/art/photography by others and it’s taking submissions.
A lot of us need visuals! We won't have those ready until just prior to launch, so stay tuned. And I think you know we have a real soft spot for librarians! If you haven't done so yet you can still submit your publication for listing in our library. It'll be open through Friday this week, and then we will reopen it again soon.
Whoooweeee. All y'all been busy! Love all these ideas, too. Thanks for the exciting update! 🔥🔥🔥
Thanks, Lani! We've been working hard AND having a blast!
You’re welcome, Lani! We’re excited, too!
Love the Seed Pod idea!
Thanks Sara, me too! 😊
I love the Seed Pod idea! Thank you for all you are doing to bring this community together.
I’m so, so, so excited for Seed Pods! Thanks for part of this community, Lisa!
Sounds like a great idea! I actually like being small, however...
I like the seed pod idea! It's a concept that has worked for people on other social media channels and I'd love to try it here. Especially if I can get to know writers with similar interests at the same time ❤️