It’s Time For a Pause Button, Substack.

It was nice while it lasted.

I’ve started this newsletter issue at least three times.

I feel like I’m breaking up a good relationship that happened at the wrong time.

I made a difficult decision to quit my newsletter on Substack ( put a pause on it) and move to Convert Kit.

My goal to keep myself healthy and sane is more important than any newsletter, business or money-making idea.

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How it started

I started on Substack this January with 0 subscribers.

After spending a year mourning my father's death and feeling lost, I desperately needed something to focus on.

Substack was so easy to start. Open your account and start writing.

The same was valid with Medium.

But, after a short time, I realised Substack is not an ordinary newsletter platform: if a newsletter and a blog have a baby, and they have a cousin - social network (Notes), that would be Substack.

I felt like I was cheating.

Substack is a great platform, but I’ve constantly felt like I’m cheating my audience. My central dilemma is:

If all my content is available to subscribers and non-subscribers, what is the value of my newsletter?

If I post the same newsletter here on Substack, send it to my readers and publish it on my blog, why would someone trust me with their email?

I know, many would say: you have a paid option and you can keep the content exclusive, and that’s true. But that way, you block your growth.

I still have a small community and didn’t feel like I wanted to charge them before they fell in love with my writing.

My idea never was to charge subscriptions but to make and sell my knowledge and digital products.

Lack of automation

Substack has some great features, and I found a fantastic and supportive community here. I learned a lot from

Russell Nohelty

Claire Venus

,

Joanie Adams

Rae Katz

Warren Brown

Linda @ Substack

.

But Substack indeed lacks very important features: segmentation and automation.

Look, Marketing Fairy started as my small side hustle.

• I have a 9 to 5 marketing job that I have to keep to comply with my visa conditions for at least three years.

• I have three kids and a really busy life

• I don’t have more than an hour or two daily to work on Marketing Fairy.

• I don’t have the luxury of working hours daily on my marketing.

So, I desperately needed something to keep my side hustle minimal and manageable and decided to move to Convert Kit and close this chapter.

Why ConvertKit?

I am a big fan of email and marketing automation. I use Active Campaign at my work to efficiently manage a 10.000+ list.

ConvertKit is affordable and perfectly crafted for creators like me.

Additionally their Creators Network gives you the opportunity to grow your network on autopilot (and if you combine it with Sparkloop, you can earn from recommending authors you like).

I moved my list there ( I hope they will like it).

If you want to join the party, you can subscribe here:

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p.s.

I tried really hard to make every issue packed with value.

So I won’t skip to pack this issue with some good, worth-to-click links:

🖋 Milanote: I found a great free tool for making creative briefs, mood boards, and all sorts of creative instructions. It has enough features on a free plan, it's easy to use, and you can export everything.

🖋 QuillBot Review: Is this AI writing assistant useful for writers (or only for students)

🖋 Viral Hook generator by Evan Kelly (I really like his minimalist NL, same as

Jamie - Minimalist Hustler

🖋 Launching: An honest insight into the first digital product launch on X by

The Solopreneur’s Express - Marlene Konu

And one personal:

🖋 Why I love living in Australia.

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I want to think and say this is just a pause.

I have so many things to say.

Some of them can be packed in the new Substack newsletter.

So, see you, friends!