Is the Sweetness of Substack Finally Over?
And why we're moving our Road Life Adventure content to another platform.
Perhaps this article would be best published at my other website, but because our largest readership is mostly here, and we’re making some changes for the future, I think it’s appropriate to share my thoughts on Road Life Adventure.
We all know technology and platforms are incredibly diverse, even when they may be similar in nature. There are always pros and cons, regardless of where we choose to publish our digital content. And what works today might not work so well tomorrow.
Those of you who have walked the digital entrepreneur path have likely experienced the numerous joys and frustrations of building your business in the online space.
It’s a constant battle as platforms adapt to the market, algorithms and best practices change, and new technology emerges. But it’s nothing new. These challenges have been a part of my professional journey since 2004, when I started my first online business venture — though a lot has changed since those days!
Unfortunately, this scenario is how it is and always will be.
As I continue to read the ongoing discussions surrounding Substack, and there are many, it’s clear this platform is undergoing significant changes, and many writers feel it’s lost the “sweetness” it once had. I wouldn’t disagree.
The influx of celebrities and writers has taken priority over the rest of us, which sucks, but I don’t fault Substack for doing so. Their revenues are derived from the people who produce monetary results, and they cannot sustain a business long-term from those who write for free. Therefore, we shouldn’t expect equal treatment.
There’s also the great discontent about how this platform is now more like social media, thanks to Notes, or how leadership strayed into the multi-purpose content approach over written content only. Again, the goal of Substack is to be profitable, and if pivoting helps that objective, they have the right to do so.
As sour as this sounds, these aren’t my concerns, nor should they be yours either.
Rather, our focus should be on the items that can destroy our efforts to build our online businesses. These things include absolutely no customer support, a lack of greater control for SEO and promoting, publications disappearing with no warning, and other issues that can kill our livelihood.
That’s where we should draw the line in the sand.
If your goal is publishing for fun, it’s not paramount to worry about the business side of the conversation, though I would encourage you to never trust the platform and always make a backup of your work. It can be gone in an instant.
If your purpose is for future profitable pursuits, it would behoove you to consider the ramifications involved with the Substack-only approach and think through what will actually benefit you long-term so you can make the right choice.
Because Donetta and I want to build a sustainable future around the Road Life brand, we have to take these potential problems into consideration, and we have!
When we started writing about our travel adventures, it was only for our enjoyment, and despite being a veteran WordPress expert who made a hell of a lot of money on that platform, I initially decided to publish on Ghost, long before Substack. That’s a story I’ll publish on my other site, and yes, I publish in both places for now.
The gist of it came down to the following reasons:
Having greater control over our entire online investment
Getting customer support if we need help
Implementing better SEO practices for being found online
Creating a website that feels on brand for us
Offering various levels of membership and/or donations
Partnering with a platform that’s open source and a non-profit
While Ghost isn’t perfect, and isn’t free to use, it’s a damn good option for people serious about making money online with their digital content.
The downside is that they don’t have the built-in network like Substack yet, but they’re investing in it, so you’ll have to work harder to build your audience with other strategies, but honestly, you should be doing that anyway to grow your business.
All that being said …
We have decided to make our other website, RoadLifeMagazine.com, the priority and focus going forward for those reasons, and at some point, will redirect our RoadLifeAdventure.com domain name to that address since that is our brand identity.
However, this doesn’t mean we’re abandoning Substack either.
This platform is excellent for certain tasks and we’ve made some amazing friends here, not to mention, we love reading many of y’all’s work. So we will continue to post unique content here and link back to the main website for all other content.
For those of you who have subscribed here, thank you so much! We will automatically add you to that mailing list, which you can opt out of anytime, but we hope you will stay involved with our community as we build around that space.
Wrapping up, it’s a good practice for us to evaluate the tools that make our lives better and easier, and that fit our individual goals. There’s nothing wrong with Substack in my opinion, but there are deeper concerns we’re trying to protect ourselves against.
Sometimes you just have to adapt and improvise. 😉
If you’re currently on this platform and have considered the alternatives, or if you want to build an online business but need some advice, feel free to comment and ask questions, or you can even book a free call with me to talk it over. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years, as well as had some great successes, so you can lean on that if you need some help.
I’m eager to read more about your experiences on Ghost! I’ve been considering switching my site over from WP. Thanks for this update!