No, I don’t call it quits. Quite the opposite.
Hi friends,
this is Burk.
Let me first say thank you a million times to all the readers who have been following me for years. On Medium, here on Substack, on Twitter/X, or anywhere else.
It’s been a pleasure. I couldn’t have done it without you.
As you may know, I am now a full-time content creator, doing the things I love all day every day.
This brings opportunities, more time to reflect, and therefore… some ideas for changes.
It’s that time.
Re-re-brand
A few months ago (time flies), I rebranded my newsletter from a simple “by Burk” to this “SoloCreator” brand.
With it, I changed the format from long-form content to only snippets or excerpts of my longer stories with a link leading to them.
During that time – the last few months – I’ve noticed a few key things:
Engagement is okay, but not great (it had been in the past)
Open rates declined
Click-rates didn’t grow, although they should have with this link format
That made me think.
Format
Firstly…
Maybe this formatting isn’t the best option. Perhaps my readers, you, don’t want to be redirected away from this Substack publication (and the Substack app experience) to a website with pop-ups, cookie banners, and more to read the entire story.
Which is completely understandable. I wouldn’t, to be honest. I love the Substack universe. The website, the app, the newsletters that come in the app, and not via mail. It’s a great system.
So, I will honor that system (again) by sharing complete and full stories within each issue. As it was before. The name “SoloCreator” will stay, however.
Secondly…
Sponsors and ads are a huge thing.
And controversial.
I have the opportunity to display more and more ads and sponsors. My newsletter has been growing nicely in terms of subscribers.
But with great power comes responsibility. I don’t want this to end in a never-ending stream of ads and sponsored content.
That’s why I will rethink and change the way I use and show ads/sponsors in my newsletter. From the amount to the quality and everything in between, so you can be assured that when I advertise for something, it’s a great deal! I promise!
I think these two ideas (format & ads/sponsors) fit me and my goals better.
So, this is issue number 100 of “SoloCreator.
A lot more to come, and I promise it will be awesome.
One more thing
With this new format, I will also rethink the time slot.
Tuesday is a good day. But I hate being confined by one publishing date each week. Sometimes I want more (or less), and sometimes I want to publish a new thing right away and not wait a few days to get it out.
Writing should be spontaneous, shouldn’t it? Well, publishing too, occasionally.
So, I’ll think some more about that.
Closing
To close, thank you all again so much. I love reading & I appreciate every reader!
All the best,
Burk
P.S.: I just launched a new Substack called “Essays by Burk”. This will house long-form stories about history, politics, life & more that don’t fit into the “SoloCreator” newsletter. I’d love to see you there!
Hi Burk, I like what you’re doing a lot. Personally, I’m not concerned with the ads you run or the way you run them, so was surprised to see those comments.
If people find it shocking you make money from ads, are they not aware that that’s how many newsletters roll? I find added value often from it.
But, that’s me, others are of course different. I simply wanted to mention this.
Thanks, & keep the great content coming.
I've been following your journey for a while, how long did it take you to be a full-time content creator?