Thank you so much for agreeing to help me by trying out my new newsletter service! I massively appreciate your assistance with this.
I love Mailerlite, my current service. Problem is, I need to reduce my costs as much as I can and their service is not cheap! So I want to try moving to Substack, which is free for writers and offers a few extra features beside like chat and the ability for subscribers to talk to each other, too. Well, once I figure out that part! But it seems as if it could work like a combination of social media and a newsletter, in a nice way.
Buuuuut, the new system is very different. There’s quite a learning curve, which is why I need testers to check things work as they should.
First step is to sign up for my newsletter on Substack using the form below:
Their system defaults to highlighting the paid subscription (that’s how Substack makes their money, they take a percentage), but I don’t expect you to pay! My main weekly newsletter will always be free. Though I will be offering paying supporters some extra bonuses, no one needs to spend anything to get my newsletter. So, just scroll to the free option! You also don’t need to download the app if they offer that option to you.
After signing up, you’ll get a confirmation email. Click the confirm link, and it will probably redirect you to my Substack home page. I found that confusing and unexpected when I tested the system, and I added a post there letting new subscribers know what was happening!
That page is public, so I don’t share the subscriber gift link there. Next, you should receive a welcome email in your inbox with some information about me and my books, and the link to download my current subscriber welcome gift.
I hope so, anyway! That’s how it’s supposed to work. But as my testers, I need you to tell me if it’s not set up correctly before I try using this service to send everyone my newsletter. If you have any problems at all with the sign-up process or with getting that welcome email or if things look weird, please tell me. Just because it worked when I tested it doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.
That’s just the process for brand new subscribers. When I move everyone else over to the new service, thankfully they won’t need to do the sign-up process, I can simply add them. I hope you don’t mind as my test pilots doing that extra step for me!
Then next Thursday, I’ll try sending you my usual weekly newsletter via Substack, which will probably look a bit different but should have all the same information as the Mailerlite version. That is, of course, provided I did it all right!
On Friday of next week, I’ll send everyone who clicked through to this page an email asking how things went with the process. Please feel free to be totally honest. I’ll also have a special giveaway for those who complete the final survey, as a thank you for doing so much for me.
Thank you in advance. I value and appreciate your help!
Blessings,