A word of warning to look out for about changes that might get made - NOT BY YOU! - to your Welcome e-mail:
Last week I connected my Substack to my Stripe account - no, I haven't gone paid, but I felt I wanted to take a step in that direction.
YESTERDAY I decided to update my About page, and while I was in the Settings menu thought I'd tweak my welcome e-mail also (it's not the same as my About page, but hey, two birds, one stone). I found two additional Welcome e-mail options in the menu - one for paid subscribers, one for Founding members - yup, makes sense if I'm going paid, granted. Those two had been helpfully automatically populated by Substack with my existing Welcome e-mail text.
Bearing in mind I only HAVE free subscribers, as I am not yet offering paid options, I clicked through to edit the Welcome e-mail for free subscribers. Imagine my horror to find that my beautiful Welcome e-mail (with its handpainted love hearts and everything!) had been replaced by these four words:
'YOU'RE ON THE LIST.'
Thought I'd just mention this - if you've made any behind-the-scenes tweaks to your Substack recently, including connecting a Stripe account - do go in and check that your welcome e-mail hasn't been affected in the way that mine had!
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Perfect timing ! I was just playing around with my welcome email and feeling very lost. Your generous advice helps so much. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Such wonderful advice! I can't wait to get to implementing all your suggestions on Tuesday. And also perhaps tweak my own welcome email for my business welcome email on MailChimp!
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Such helpful tips here! I’ve been evolving in this space, which means I’ve been needing to update everything so it’s in line with the vibe and voice of my publication now. I definitely need to double check that my welcome email is in a good place!
I did not receive the welcome email from y’all and would love to have the goodies y’all are sending 🤗
I was quietly pretty pleased with my welcome email, but reading this I can see a tweak or two I can make to improve! Thank you so much for the tips, I loved the cake analogy! 🧁 🍰 🎂
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Okay a big question: is there a Substack front end bird’s eye view publishers can use to experience their site as a potential subscriber would? Is there a checklist we could run through to make sure we’re optimizing things? I feel like an idiot, but know design and marketing are not my strong suits. Kudos to Mills for the advice!
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Thank you both so much for all that you are doing to help all of us utilize this platform to its fullest potential. Your tips on creating a personalized welcome email was brilliant and I hope to one day find the illusive words to charm the socks off of my new subscribers. Again, thank you.
Excellent ideas and inspiration as many have said here.
I actually realized, when reading it, though, that even though I’ve tried to attend to my one welcome email, I actually never even open the welcome emails from ones I subscribe to.
I guess I already decided to subscribe so I feel like there’s nothing else in them I would need to read. Curious. Something I want to think about.
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Love these reads! Seriously, a fresh of new creative air, filled up with the excitement of learning to navigate the waters behind our beloved Substack.
Thanks for creating this place. A safe place for writers looking to improve, or for the new creators, trying to find their voice in the platform.
Found this three hours after launch and quickly adjusted from 'thank you' and 'welcome', checked I had something for the reader, and quickly saved. Just in time before the subscribers kicked in. Phew! Thank you again for such super tips!
I got your welcome email. For my own welcome email, I had a friend say she never got it, so I started sending a follow up email and asked people to tell me if they got it. Out of those who replied, thankfully, most said yes, but there have been too many who said they didn't get it. I'm wondering if there is something broken in the code that is making it so only so many welcome emails actually send instead of all of them. My husband is a software developer so I know things like that are plausible. You have no idea how many times a fix has been as simple as adding a comma.
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
Bloody love this advice. Completely changed my view of the welcome email just being a thank you - to the first opportunity to really build that connection. And love the idea of a free gift. I’m going to create something and add to it. See you Tuesday for the co-working session xx
Aug 1Liked by Sara Tasker - Me & Orla, Keeley Rees
I love these tips! I think I will go in and tweak mine, to give subscribers a surprise freebie. If I understood that point correctly, I don’t have to have it as a lead magnet, right? It can just be a surprise gift?
Let's talk about welcome emails
Such a great post - thank you so much!
A word of warning to look out for about changes that might get made - NOT BY YOU! - to your Welcome e-mail:
Last week I connected my Substack to my Stripe account - no, I haven't gone paid, but I felt I wanted to take a step in that direction.
YESTERDAY I decided to update my About page, and while I was in the Settings menu thought I'd tweak my welcome e-mail also (it's not the same as my About page, but hey, two birds, one stone). I found two additional Welcome e-mail options in the menu - one for paid subscribers, one for Founding members - yup, makes sense if I'm going paid, granted. Those two had been helpfully automatically populated by Substack with my existing Welcome e-mail text.
Bearing in mind I only HAVE free subscribers, as I am not yet offering paid options, I clicked through to edit the Welcome e-mail for free subscribers. Imagine my horror to find that my beautiful Welcome e-mail (with its handpainted love hearts and everything!) had been replaced by these four words:
'YOU'RE ON THE LIST.'
Thought I'd just mention this - if you've made any behind-the-scenes tweaks to your Substack recently, including connecting a Stripe account - do go in and check that your welcome e-mail hasn't been affected in the way that mine had!
Perfect timing ! I was just playing around with my welcome email and feeling very lost. Your generous advice helps so much. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Such wonderful advice! I can't wait to get to implementing all your suggestions on Tuesday. And also perhaps tweak my own welcome email for my business welcome email on MailChimp!
Such helpful tips here! I’ve been evolving in this space, which means I’ve been needing to update everything so it’s in line with the vibe and voice of my publication now. I definitely need to double check that my welcome email is in a good place!
I did not receive the welcome email from y’all and would love to have the goodies y’all are sending 🤗
I was quietly pretty pleased with my welcome email, but reading this I can see a tweak or two I can make to improve! Thank you so much for the tips, I loved the cake analogy! 🧁 🍰 🎂
Second super helpful post. Thanks and keep them coming. I look forward to reading and hope I can keep up!
Okay a big question: is there a Substack front end bird’s eye view publishers can use to experience their site as a potential subscriber would? Is there a checklist we could run through to make sure we’re optimizing things? I feel like an idiot, but know design and marketing are not my strong suits. Kudos to Mills for the advice!
Thank you both so much for all that you are doing to help all of us utilize this platform to its fullest potential. Your tips on creating a personalized welcome email was brilliant and I hope to one day find the illusive words to charm the socks off of my new subscribers. Again, thank you.
Excellent ideas and inspiration as many have said here.
I actually realized, when reading it, though, that even though I’ve tried to attend to my one welcome email, I actually never even open the welcome emails from ones I subscribe to.
I guess I already decided to subscribe so I feel like there’s nothing else in them I would need to read. Curious. Something I want to think about.
Love these reads! Seriously, a fresh of new creative air, filled up with the excitement of learning to navigate the waters behind our beloved Substack.
Thanks for creating this place. A safe place for writers looking to improve, or for the new creators, trying to find their voice in the platform.
Eager for more!
- Alex
Found this three hours after launch and quickly adjusted from 'thank you' and 'welcome', checked I had something for the reader, and quickly saved. Just in time before the subscribers kicked in. Phew! Thank you again for such super tips!
I got your welcome email. For my own welcome email, I had a friend say she never got it, so I started sending a follow up email and asked people to tell me if they got it. Out of those who replied, thankfully, most said yes, but there have been too many who said they didn't get it. I'm wondering if there is something broken in the code that is making it so only so many welcome emails actually send instead of all of them. My husband is a software developer so I know things like that are plausible. You have no idea how many times a fix has been as simple as adding a comma.
Bloody love this advice. Completely changed my view of the welcome email just being a thank you - to the first opportunity to really build that connection. And love the idea of a free gift. I’m going to create something and add to it. See you Tuesday for the co-working session xx
I love these tips! I think I will go in and tweak mine, to give subscribers a surprise freebie. If I understood that point correctly, I don’t have to have it as a lead magnet, right? It can just be a surprise gift?
I just rewrote mine but I might have to re rewrite it now after reading all of this wonderful advice ✨
I’ve thought about a longer welcome sequence! Excited for the day that launches here on Substack.