It’s a cultural instinct to wait to get picked. To seek out the permission and authority that comes from a publisher or talk show host or even a blogger saying, “I pick you.” Once you reject that impulse and realize that no one is going to select you–that Prince Charming has chosen another house–then you can actually get to work.
Make your art, share your music, take your photos and then make your shot.
I write about newsletters – what you’re doing is probably a lot more interesting.
If no one asked you to share your 10 favorite things of the year in their publication, feature yourself on your website.
There’s no underground / alt flea market in your area? Make your own (a buddy and I are working on a pop-up flea market for musicians to unload their unused gear).
Wish you had a community of art freaks to hang out with? Start your own.
The technology is there (Zoom, Google Meet, Discord), you just need to ask some people to come hang out.
Because just posting and talking about what you do only goes so far, mostly because that’s what everyone else is doing.
We publish, post, and repost, hoping to get picked.
Pick your people, build a community, grow together.
Published On: December 23, 2023Categories: Social Media
I’ve been talking to a lot of you about setting up newsletters, and the biggest challenge seems always to be, “How do I get my followers on Instagram to subscribe to my Substack?”
When you set up shop at the mall, yes, you’ll have lots of foot traffic, but you’re also bound by the rules of the mall – opening hours, delivery schedules, branding, etc.
But look at you – your food stand built quite a following and you expanded.
You set up shop in a nice downtown space – you set the hours, the vibes, the branding, and the music that plays while serving your customers.
Now, as a business owner like that, how much time will you spend at the mall?
Sure, some of your old customers are there, but you’ve probably got a handful of customers coming into your shop daily, right?
You could return to the food court and hand out some flyers – “Hey, visit us downtown!”
But… you’ve got a business to run. You’ve got customers!
So, to get away from the restaurant analogy – you’ve got an email list. You might have 25 people on your list. You might have 250, 1000, or 5000.
Sure, many people clicked FOLLOW on Instagram, but how much effort are you willing to invest to get them to your website?
People downloaded Instagram to be on Instagram.
Yes, we discover people, brands, art, and music from Instagram, but many of us haven’t bookmarked every website or subscribed to every email list (most folks on Instagram don’t even have email lists).
If you genuinely want to escape social media, the best course of action is to make some “WE MOVED” signs and schedule them for your various social media platforms.
Or, you could do what I did this past week and post twice on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Let’s see how that worked out.
I got 320 views total on LinkedIn (two posts), and 222 views on Instagram.
As you can see above, from my 542 views I got 14 people (users) to visit Social Media Escape Club, which is a 2.5% conversion rate.
But I fought for those clicks – I DM’d almost everyone who LIKED the IG stories, and gave them a link to the post I was promoting.
The result: two new subscribers (and one upgraded to a paid subscription).
I had a nice exchange with songwriter olivia rafferty recently, who said they’re hesitant to leave Instagram because as a musician you must be on social media – it’s the rule!
I asked how many actual opportunities came from all that time they spend on social media.
As a musician, I post on social media so that people find my music and go, “nice! I want to listen to this artist and buy her merch and come to her shows.” So I try to stay active on Instagram. But looking back at the last year, the biggest successes I’ve had have come from funding, emails and live shows. None of them came from opportunities facilitated by social media.
I am not telling anyone to burn their social media accounts to the ground.
But… what’s the opposite of uploading content to social media that 85% of your fans won’t even see?
Social Media Escape Club gained 100 subscribers in the last month, and just four of them came from Instagram.
Instead of putting all our marketing eggs into the social media basket and increasing shareholder value for Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, let’s find new ways to meet our fans that are sustainable, and leave us energized.
Go to a show, start a club, learn a new skill, read a book, host an event – opportunities exist outside of social media.
I posted everywhere, begging folks folks to find, capture via screenshot, and share. I rewarded each person who helped with 3 months of complimentary membership.
Getting people on Instagram to do anything is hard, so you have to get creative.
Beth went from 150 Substack subscribers in November 2022, to 3,000 almost a year later (and nearing 200 paid subscribers).
You do that by building a real connection, not by just saying, “Join my newsletter for updates.”
And remember – this took a year.
Make sure you figure out a way to connect in a sustainable and energizing way. If it’s pure pain and misery, you’ll end up quitting the quest to get your social media followers to your email list.
Three Simple Ways To Start Connecting With Your Fans
Reply to the people in your comments in a sincere, human way
DM someone who liked a recent announcement (and include a link to what you’re promoting)
Reply to a fellow artist’s post and celebrate their wins – their fans will see it and maybe check you out – and that artist will appreciate your support!
Comments, replies, engagement – whatever you want to call it; do things that don’t scale for a few minutes a day, and see what happens. Like Neil mentioned above – do this with just three people a day, or just start with one!
If you want people from Instagram to subscribe to your Substack, understand that you are competing with an app built by a company with over 60,000 employees.
The motivation of Meta employees is to keep you scrolling, engaged, and plugged into their ecosystem of products – Instagram, Facebook, DMs and messages.
Your fans on social media are navigating an unending fast-food drive-thru experience, sitting comfortably in their vehicle, all while algorithms serve them as much content as they want through their digital window.
That’s what you’re up against, so trust me when I say the following ain’t gonna cut it:
“I’m writing on Substack now. Click the link in bio to sign up.”
“I’m starting a newsletter. Sign up to get updates.”
“Hey, social media sucks. Sign up for our email list.”
Like the Merovingian says in The Matrix Reloaded, “this is not a reason, this is not a why.”
