Hey, I’m Tanya-a watercolourist playing with paints and making videos about it. I love to share the process and how we don’t have to be perfect. My notes and thoughts are sometimes fun and silly. Other times, inspirational and supportive for you as an artist navigating Substack. If that sounds like fun, click the button to join, then grab your art supplies and let’s create! Or grab a cuppa, chill and enjoy the vibes.

join the fun!

hello hello!

Welcome to another article with easy tips to grow your Substack account as an artist. If you didnt read the first post I highly suggest you do and implement those 5 simple but highly effective tips. I’ll bet you’ll see a difference right away.
(by the way, if you click the play article button at the top, you can hear me read this to you in my real voice )

today I’m going to share with you

1. how to customize your welcome email for new subscribers

2. how to welcome your subscribers with a personal direct message

3. why you should go live on Substack
   (don’t freak out if you’re an introvert, I have options for you!)

why am I doing this? Well like you, I'm an artist who moved over to Substack and was simultaneously impressed but also overwhelmed by the amount of options, tools and the confusing deep menus of the dashboard UI.
I like to call it Bag of Chips software as in “it has all that + a bag of chips” haha!

I quickly discovered there are a lot of fantastic people on Substack teaching you how to use it. Yet, there really wasn't anything geared specifically for us as artists. Nor was there a lot of specific detailed help outside of a paywall.

Lucky for me and maybe you - I’m deeply curious, pretty tech minded and good at figuring stuff out. Keep in mind that this platform is all about constant change and new features. It’s hard to keep on top of it when you’re just trying to figure things out! And likely, you have unsubscribed from Substack’s newsletter which has release notes of all of this jazz. So I’m going to give you my take on things in an easy way to help you right now - and keep it artist account focused.

🐝 Side note: me again. did you read the 1st post yet? Do yourself a favour, read it now. Those tips are the core of what will grow your Substack as an artist right away. Plus they give you an idea of how to use the platform. TIP: these pointers aren’t like other social media platforms. They are way more human. Ironical considering this is an AI driven platform. But you know, quiet anarchy and all that jazz.

Righto! Let's get on with it, you're probably saying! So grab yourself a cuppa and a notebook or open a text document to cut and paste and let do this!

3 MORE Tips for Artists to Grow Your Substack Account

1. customize your welcome email for new subscribers

For goodness sake, don’t skip this ! Know it or not, nothing gives off the air of “can’t be bothered” than signing up for a subscription only to get an email with Substack’s generic robot generated “You’re receiving free posts from [your name]. To get every post and other paid subscriber benefits, upgrade to a paid subscription…”

Doesn’t really create a warm feeling, does it? Why? Because there’s nothing special or unique there, nor does it give you any sense of welcome. And on top of it, you’re already being asked to upgrade. Yuck. So. Let’s fix that!

There are tons of ideas, fill in templates and suggestions out there on how to craft welcome emails. But in order, you'll want to include these basics:

• welcome message

• who you are and what your Substack/newsletter is about

• (dont skip this one!) what value people get by subscribing

• how often you’ll post / mailout / share notes / do live videos, etc.

• CTA (call to action) again, lots of options -but choose only one:
  read article / get discount on subscription / link to your archive / link to something you’re selling or promoting. You get the idea

2. welcome new subscribers with a personal direct message

Nothing says Oh my gosh there's a real human on the other end! than a personalized welcome message. It shares possibilities: human to human connection, being seen and connecting with like minded people

This is your way share your personality, build trust and engage one to one with your audience and share something they might be interested in. This is probably the most effective way to build relationships and grow your account.

BUT there are two important caveats!

1. you must personalize every message The whole point of this is to connect with people one to one. If you're going to cut and paste for everybody, it's going to be obvious. Instead take two seconds and find out their real name or interests and make sure you address them by it. Then if you're going to share basics you want to tell everybody who joins, you can cut/paste that. But you need that personalization touch otherwise there's no point doing it

2. stay away from “insta-selling”! it's the yuck factor again. don't tell me I signed up to your Substack only for you to try and sell me something first thing. Please! Instead, this is an opportunity to promote a feature, (your chat room, art challenges, your live schedule, links to your website or other socials etc. )
   If you do want to sell something, get consent! ASK first. People are subscribing to your Substack because they're interested in you and what you do. So if you ask them first if they might be interested in hearing about an offer - and they come back at you with a yes - friend, you are 100% ahead. Otherwise you’re just throwing it out there and potentially risking people unsubscribing.

3. go live on Substack!

This is your number one way to engage with your community, let people get a feel for what you do and your personality and grow your Substack.
That said, not everybody wants to be on camera. I get it. You are currently chatting with someone who had a picture of her cat as her avatar for over 10 years on social media. Because I didn't want to be seen. But I got over it. And now I really enjoy going live and its such a fun way to share!

But if the idea of being live freaks you out - the cool thing is - you're an artist!
You don't have to show your face, you just have to point your camera down at your desk. Or take people on a walk through of your studio as you're working. Or give them your insiders perspective. Do an art or sketchbook flip through. Swatch colours. And everybody loves to see work in progress or behind the scenes with artists.

Kay? No more excuses. Get out there, share your personality and watch your community grow!

there you have it, Three excellent tips to continue growing your substack as an artist. Let me know in the comments how it's going. Because I genuinely want to see you succeed. That's why I'm creating these articles for you, for free. one of the best things about the artist community on Substack is how we support each other, and I'm glad to be helping you out today.

There you go, 3 Simple Tips to Help your Substack grow
Tell me in the comments how it’s going. I’m cheering for you!
And if you found this useful, share with your artist friends. Let's support each other as we have a great time creating!

-Tanya

Substack References - aka Bot How To Guides

• How do I set up welcome emails on Substack? * remember what I said about bag of chips software? So of course they're gonna give you 4 different options!
  For now, focus on the welcome email to free subscribers then cut and paste your welcome message into all three options. You can fine tune as your account grows.

• Introducing direct messaging on Substack

• Getting started with Live Video on Substack

Did you read the first post yet? Do that now :)

Hey, I’m Tanya-a watercolourist playing with paints and making videos about it. Like you, I moved to Substack because I wanted to connect with other artists. You know, real people who like to talk with each other :) I love Substack, but the learning curve is real—even for a former IT gal. This space is my way of giving back by sharing fun, practical tips that truly work for artists like us. My goal is to help you enjoy your creative journey and manage your account with total confidence. If that sounds like the support you’ve been looking for, tap the button to join and lets create a community you love!”

join the fun!

hello hello!

I heard about the best idea lately. It’s fun, easy and a great way to see and be seen on Substack. Especially if you’re new to the platform and probably wondering why you’re not getting as many responses to your posts as you would like. Real organic growth takes time, but what really helps your Substack grow is when people interact with each other!

introducing The SHARE & SUPPORT THREAD 🤗

As a subscriber you probably know that you have access to our Community Chat room. So I’ve just added the SHARE & SUPPORT THREAD.

Drop a link to a note you shared this week that isn’t getting as much engagement as you want. Then click on two other people in the list and give them a little love - comment, share and support each other!

This is a great way for us to connect with each other, support other artists and enjoy the reciprocity of someone doing the same for you.

See you in there!

Access is free because I love ya, but if you feel like supporting the tons of free content I share with you, you can do that here: subscribe to Tanya Kucey Art

Subscribe now

Hey, I’m Tanya-a watercolourist playing with paints and making videos about it. Like you, I moved to Substack because I wanted to connect with other artists. You know, real people who like to talk with each other :) I love Substack, but the learning curve is real—even for a former IT gal. This space is my way of giving back by sharing fun, practical tips that truly work for artists like us. My goal is to help you enjoy your creative journey and manage your account with total confidence. If that sounds like the support you’ve been looking for, tap the button to join and lets create a community you love!”

join the fun!

My Substack account is growing steadily.

After 6 months I have a great community. It’s not huge, but it’s filled with people that are supportive, interesting and engaged! And I want the same for you.

One of the reasons I love Substack is because people generally don’t gatekeep information. And being of the same mind, I’m sharing some easy, actionable steps to grow your account. The following isn’t new information, but I tweaked it a bit for artists and it works for me.

Easy Ways to Grow your Substack that actually work

• post consistently at least one time a week. Write an article, share your work, talk about your inspiration, travel, process. All the art journey steps are things others want to hear about.

• immediately after posting go to your recommended feed and like 10 posts or notes
  * be selective! choose people you want to hear more from. see things your don’t like? click the three dots above a note and choose hide note. that’s how you curate your feed and get the content and people you want to engage with

• comment on 5 posts *BE GENUINE* write something insightful helpful supportive or genuinely curious. Cut/paste post and dash does not work! Its disrespectful. People notice. They won’t follow you back.

• contact at least one person through messaging with a supportive message, a question that you didn't want to ask publicly or strike up a conversation. Ask if they would like to do a collaboration with you of some sort. Doesn’t have to be a big thing, going live is awesome but if you’re shy then do a small writing or creative project. You’ll figure it out because you are, after all, a creative!

• avoid using a i . Especially as an artist because it translates into “can’t be bothered” . Like cut and paste comments, it is easily spotted and nobody wants to connect with a robot.

This is called community building and it works!

People just like you are on substack because they want to connect with REAL people.

If you’re on Substack thinking likes and follows translate into sales… well that’s older thinking. And did it ever get you the results you wanted? We can complain and get frustrated at what has not worked. OR we can try something new.

Take a chance - be your glorious self, share who you are as you are, right now. As well as images of your work or progress (we LOVE those) and of course your animal companions. Just sprinkle it all around in the notes and your account will grow organically.

And in the end, isnt it better to have 10 engaged people to connect with on Substack instead of 1000 followers and crickets on your notes or posts?

Have fun. Play around. BE YOU! And your account will grow naturally with people who really like you and your art.

ps: let me know in the comments if you give it a go and how it works! Or if you want to share your own growth tips with others.

Ready for the next step?