What a supportive, genuinely written post. I’m an artist too and new to Substack, and I’m grateful for the info on how to do better connecting with peeps. I’m not great at Notes, to be honest, but I’m working on it. Thanks for the encouragement!
You're very welcome Jennifer. I appreciate your comment. Honestly once you get started with Substack Notes, it's a lot of fun! The best part is to think of it as a great way to connect with people as opposed to something you "have to do" to grow your subscribers. It's like a toy box: there's all sorts of goodies in there to play with. From restacking others notes you love, to sharing quotes, posting your own images or process videos, talking about what you're feeling, offering advice. When you do live videos Substack generates snippets that you can share as notes and the same thing with a podcast too. Lean in, have some fun and don't worry about being perfect.
you're most welcome! I think you're gonna enjoy it here because so many of us wanna connect and build community. I highly suggest getting your chat feature going - and of course making sure you chat people up with messages. and feel free to subscribe to my sub stack - it's free and you get access to the chat room and some cool peeps too
Hey Todd. Glad you found it useful and yes, making connections is exactly why so many of us are here. Thanks for taking s sec to say hey. Hope you have a fun year filled with great interactions and banter!
Thank you for generously sharing. Your tips reflect what folks are craving and really want which is a sense of belonging to a community once again. In person and online.
Hey Diana - thanks for commenting and I appreciate your point of view. I totally agree that there's so many of us wanting to connect. It's the push pull of social media though isn't it? That it's so attractive and seems so easy to find people but yet we're all here trying to do the same thing with scattered attention which does the opposite. I think part of why some stock is working so well is because many people are committing to being here and sharing how they really feel in their writing. Writing takes time. Reading takes time and the people that are wanting to do that are also the people that are creating our community. So glad to have you here and I'm really happy that you found this useful and actionable!
Thanks, Tanya. Good advice. It’s been a little slow for me these days. I guess I haven’t felt like posting the past few weeks since losing our dog. You’ve inspired me to post again.
First off I’m so sorry for the loss of your beloved companion. I know how that is and you should take all the time that you need. But if part of feeling better is reaching out and connecting and supporting others and sharing your work and you should totally do that. I’m glad you found this helpful, and I’m sure you will find lots of great people to connect with on Substack! Also, if you subscribe to my profile which is free – you have access to the community chat and there’s great people in there :-)
Hey! glad you stopped and found it helpful Its all about the good thoughts and supporting each other. More followers don't mean anything, but community - we have your back. welcome!
I’m new here and it’s really nice to see so many great people sharing knowledge in such a sincere and genuine way. I hope, just like you, to build a lovely community here that encourages learning from all sides. Thank you for the wonderful text. ✨
You are so welcome and thank you for taking a moment to read the article and to comment. I hope the tips work for you like they did for me and keep reaching out, it’s the best way to enjoy the experience which I think is what Substack is about more than focusing on getting a big following:-)
Great advice, thank you, Tanya. I've been a hermit hiding in my cave for so long, I've forgotten how to connect with the outside world. Being neurodivergent, its easy for me to stay in the shadows. But once in a while I'll venture out. Joining Substack seemed to be a good place to start. Its been a month of mostly speaking into the void. I was beginning to think Substack is for writers and not artists. But here you are, a light in the dark. A glimmer of hope. Good to see fellow artists emerging out of the woodwork.
Awwwh thanks!☺️ and from one fellow hermit to another – I totally feel you on all the levels. That’s exactly why I moved to Substack from IG . But I also really love connecting with and supporting other artists online. And it sounds like you do too. I also really recommend checking out the chat rooms for people you subscribe to. They’re a hidden gem that not a lot of people are accessing. I check in on mine every day and there’s been some really great people jumping in and out. Anyhow, thank you for taking a moment to reply and I’m glad the article is giving you a bit of inspiration to keep going.
Wonderful post, Tanya, great info and very encouraging. I want to reboot/straighten out my own art related Substack this year and I'll definitely remember your advice.
Thanks Debbie! glad you found it useful :) I think the ultimate take away is that there are so many little bells and whistles on Substack to play with. It's just a matter of easing off the stress of thinking we have to do it in one particular way. These methods definitely work but so do other ones when people are consistent. Let me know if you give it a go and how it works out for you!
Hi Olivia! You’re welcome and I’m glad you found it helpful. Let me know how it goes :-) at the very least you’re going to have a fun time connecting with people and don’t forget my favourite tip: if you were seeing content in your feed that you don’t like, just click the three dots to the top right of a note and choose “hide note “. it will disappear but so will a lot of other posts with that type of content. It’s the best way to curate your feed that I have found
Hey, you’re most welcome! I’m really glad to be helping other people with tips I also found useful. And I’ll share that one of the things. I also love about Substack is that it doesn’t turn into rabbit holes. You can actually engage enjoy soak up the moment read the conversation support people. All the stuff.😊
This is the first advice I've come across that actually feel doable and not like I'm in over my head. Thank you.
yea! Thats exactly what I wanted to do - thank you for letting me know and do tell me how it works for you!
Will do!
Totally agree. Doesn’t feel overwhelming either 😅
What a supportive, genuinely written post. I’m an artist too and new to Substack, and I’m grateful for the info on how to do better connecting with peeps. I’m not great at Notes, to be honest, but I’m working on it. Thanks for the encouragement!
You're very welcome Jennifer. I appreciate your comment. Honestly once you get started with Substack Notes, it's a lot of fun! The best part is to think of it as a great way to connect with people as opposed to something you "have to do" to grow your subscribers. It's like a toy box: there's all sorts of goodies in there to play with. From restacking others notes you love, to sharing quotes, posting your own images or process videos, talking about what you're feeling, offering advice. When you do live videos Substack generates snippets that you can share as notes and the same thing with a podcast too. Lean in, have some fun and don't worry about being perfect.
Let me know how it goes!
Thanks Tanya. Appreciate the additional info and advice. Look forward to learning more about you and your work. Have a fantastic week!
This is wonderful advice, Tanya! Thank you!
Thanks Kathy. Let me know if you try it out and how it goes.
Hi Tanya! Thanks for this great post. Being a creative and looking to build community- i appreciate your approach. Happy new year!
you're most welcome! I think you're gonna enjoy it here because so many of us wanna connect and build community. I highly suggest getting your chat feature going - and of course making sure you chat people up with messages. and feel free to subscribe to my sub stack - it's free and you get access to the chat room and some cool peeps too
Yep, you nailed it right there at the end. 10 engaged connections is better than a thousand drive-by followers.
Hey Todd. Glad you found it useful and yes, making connections is exactly why so many of us are here. Thanks for taking s sec to say hey. Hope you have a fun year filled with great interactions and banter!
It is genuine, easy and I can imitate that on my account. The only difference is that I have a dog.
Realistic advice. How refreshing. 😊
Thank you for generously sharing. Your tips reflect what folks are craving and really want which is a sense of belonging to a community once again. In person and online.
Hey Diana - thanks for commenting and I appreciate your point of view. I totally agree that there's so many of us wanting to connect. It's the push pull of social media though isn't it? That it's so attractive and seems so easy to find people but yet we're all here trying to do the same thing with scattered attention which does the opposite. I think part of why some stock is working so well is because many people are committing to being here and sharing how they really feel in their writing. Writing takes time. Reading takes time and the people that are wanting to do that are also the people that are creating our community. So glad to have you here and I'm really happy that you found this useful and actionable!
Thanks, Tanya. Good advice. It’s been a little slow for me these days. I guess I haven’t felt like posting the past few weeks since losing our dog. You’ve inspired me to post again.
First off I’m so sorry for the loss of your beloved companion. I know how that is and you should take all the time that you need. But if part of feeling better is reaching out and connecting and supporting others and sharing your work and you should totally do that. I’m glad you found this helpful, and I’m sure you will find lots of great people to connect with on Substack! Also, if you subscribe to my profile which is free – you have access to the community chat and there’s great people in there :-)
Thanks so much for your kind words, Tanya. Fortunately, I’ve had a call for art project (for my local arts alliance)
that I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks and the submission dates are this Friday and Saturday. The final painting is near completion, so I’m
Almost scrolled past this as another 1 of thousands "growth posts" but..it isn't, it's just straightforward and good thoughts and advice - cheers :)
Hey! glad you stopped and found it helpful Its all about the good thoughts and supporting each other. More followers don't mean anything, but community - we have your back. welcome!
I’m new here and it’s really nice to see so many great people sharing knowledge in such a sincere and genuine way. I hope, just like you, to build a lovely community here that encourages learning from all sides. Thank you for the wonderful text. ✨
You are so welcome and thank you for taking a moment to read the article and to comment. I hope the tips work for you like they did for me and keep reaching out, it’s the best way to enjoy the experience which I think is what Substack is about more than focusing on getting a big following:-)
Great advice, thank you, Tanya. I've been a hermit hiding in my cave for so long, I've forgotten how to connect with the outside world. Being neurodivergent, its easy for me to stay in the shadows. But once in a while I'll venture out. Joining Substack seemed to be a good place to start. Its been a month of mostly speaking into the void. I was beginning to think Substack is for writers and not artists. But here you are, a light in the dark. A glimmer of hope. Good to see fellow artists emerging out of the woodwork.
Awwwh thanks!☺️ and from one fellow hermit to another – I totally feel you on all the levels. That’s exactly why I moved to Substack from IG . But I also really love connecting with and supporting other artists online. And it sounds like you do too. I also really recommend checking out the chat rooms for people you subscribe to. They’re a hidden gem that not a lot of people are accessing. I check in on mine every day and there’s been some really great people jumping in and out. Anyhow, thank you for taking a moment to reply and I’m glad the article is giving you a bit of inspiration to keep going.
Oh great, thanks for the tip, Tanya, I'll check it out for sure!
Wonderful post, Tanya, great info and very encouraging. I want to reboot/straighten out my own art related Substack this year and I'll definitely remember your advice.
Thanks Debbie! glad you found it useful :) I think the ultimate take away is that there are so many little bells and whistles on Substack to play with. It's just a matter of easing off the stress of thinking we have to do it in one particular way. These methods definitely work but so do other ones when people are consistent. Let me know if you give it a go and how it works out for you!
Thank you for this! I’ve had my Substack for a year but only just started to post weekly and commit in December and advice like this is so helpful :)
Hi Olivia! You’re welcome and I’m glad you found it helpful. Let me know how it goes :-) at the very least you’re going to have a fun time connecting with people and don’t forget my favourite tip: if you were seeing content in your feed that you don’t like, just click the three dots to the top right of a note and choose “hide note “. it will disappear but so will a lot of other posts with that type of content. It’s the best way to curate your feed that I have found
It’s so true! Even just carving out half an hour to engage with other posts and artwork slowly makes a difference. Thanks for a helpful read!
Hey, you’re most welcome! I’m really glad to be helping other people with tips I also found useful. And I’ll share that one of the things. I also love about Substack is that it doesn’t turn into rabbit holes. You can actually engage enjoy soak up the moment read the conversation support people. All the stuff.😊
These are great ways to connect. Thank you! I’m going to focus more on this in 2026. 🌺🎨
Hi Emily. Thanks I’m glad you enjoyed the article and let me know how it goes for you.
Thank you that's really helpful! I've been wondering whether to start a substack, and I appreciate your wisdom and tips!
Thanks! i've definitely had a lot of fun with sub stack, and I bet you will too :)