Edition Seventy Seven

The 11.54%.

We want our work to be seen.

We want fellow photographers and writers to look and read. Feel a connection with them. These connections form bonds completed by the act of subscription.

For a lot of people subscriber count, the little number somewhere in your profile carries a lot of weight. More often than not an obsession forms — striving to be at the top of the pile in terms of numbers.

Does the count of your subscribers carry as much weight as you think it does? When you reach your goal how has it changed your writing or your photography?

Data VS presence.

Subscriber count is data. These numbers prove a few things but they shouldn’t be the sole metric we use to gauge the quality of our writing.

Presence is the real star of the show.

What does presence look like online? It is more than a small green dot indicating you’re active. It is replying to comments. Engaging in discussions and highlighting interesting pieces while going through your feed. Sharing the works of fellow writers, photographers and artists.

This is presence.

I’ve spoken out against metrics and likes before, so this might sound a bit hypocritical. On a larger scale, these specific interactions are less about cold data. They are a more accurate indicator of who is active. Supporting your work.

Go to your Substack dashboard. Click on ‘Subscribers’ in the left hand side under the ‘Audience’ heading. Now click on ‘Activity’ to sort. Here you find a wealth of information on the subscribers to your newsletter. How many of the subscribers in the list read your newsletter? Are they “one star” active? How long they have been subscribed.

Stats for nerds.

Over the course of a year, my subscriber count has been growing. Out of the 234 subscribers there are 27 who are active and present: regular engagement in the form of likes, comments and restacks.

11.54%

Instagram used to be my platform of choice for sharing photos. I would stare at the gap between how many followers I had versus the engagement I received. Having around 1,2k followers, the low engagement disappointed me. Even today, my average engagement there (based on likes alone) sits at roughly 1.6%.

I never thought about the follower as a person. Instagram conditioned me to only see data points. Numbers and statistics. To focus on metrics instead of people behind the screen.

Understanding the life of a subscriber might be in order when it comes to engagement. Consider the volume of newsletters available. Couple this ‘contract to read’ with daily tasks, life events, jobs, etc. Interests evolve as we grow and explore our communities. A lot of people stop reading but they don’t unsubscribe. For my part, I’m subscribe to roughly 70 publications. These often happen on a whim — one interesting post and then I hit the subscribe button. In an attempt to be more mindful with how I consume online I often forego these subscriptions.

This can form the silent majority of your subscribers. In terms of numbers it’s a bonus but when it comes to activity the silent subscribers don’t carry real weight.

Beyond the data points.

Let’s slow down a little.

If our subscribers are mere data points, random button clicks then what is the purpose of it all? Why sit through the torment of finding an idea, shaping it, polishing it, reworking it and doing this five times over before clicking “send to everyone now” ?

11.54% is the why.

Subscribers who keep showing up - the 11.54% - start building a community. You see the same names pop up in the comments time after time. Liking your Notes, sharing your work, restacks. Start conversations around your photos. This leads to more ideas forming. Very quickly you discover another writer, and the cycle starts again. Rinse and repeat.

Send to everyone now.

You’ve probably read about the 1000 true fans business model.¹ It states you don’t need thousands of subscribers to be financially successful.

If your mindset isn’t related to financial gain you need even less: a group of subscribers there for what you are saying. They are the people you need in your corner when it comes to supporting your newsletter. It is about improving your connection to people via your craft. Those who share similar interests. Learning from each other. A genuine support without conditions or requirements.

In Closing.

Stop chasing numbers.

Focus on building connections through your work. The platform creators enjoy your successes more when it comes to racking up the subscriber numbers. For them it translates to attention² which translates to a bigger bottom line. But it isn’t likely to improve your photography or writing.

To the 11.54% — thank you for showing up. For reading, leaving comments and sharing. Without them, I suspect many good newsletters would go unread and undiscovered.

Data points look good to influencers, marketing departments and social media overlords. Yet they don’t inspire new thoughts, new photos or new essays. Conversations with like-minded individuals do.

Thanks for reading : )

1. https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

2. https://www.humanetech.com/youth/the-attention-economy