238: Substack Is Doing What Social Media Promised But Never Delivered
If you’ve ever felt stuck using email marketing tools that limit your creativity (and your subscriber count), Substack might be the freedom you’ve been looking for.
In this episode, I sit down with Claire Venus—engagement consultant, audience development mentor, and Substack expert—to explore how Substack is revolutionizing the way creatives and entrepreneurs connect with their audiences.
Claire shares her journey of how Substack became a powerful platform for her writing, podcasting, and community-building efforts.
We dive into the key differences between Substack and traditional email service providers like Kit and ActiveCampaign. Claire also explains the creative flexibility of the platform, the discovery tools that drive organic growth, and why Substack’s culture of connection and collaboration is so powerful.
Whether you’re a writer, a podcaster, or a business owner wanting to experiment with long-form content, this conversation will inspire you to see Substack in a whole new light.
What You’ll Learn:
Why Substack feels like a return to the golden age of blogging
How Substack supports mixed media content (like podcasts and video)
What makes Substack’s discovery and recommendation features so powerful
The surprising way Substack helps foster real human connection
Why Substack isn’t a replacement for your traditional email platform—but a beautiful complement
How creators are monetizing newsletters and building community memberships
A simple Zapier hack to integrate Substack with your CRM and welcome sequences
This episode is packed with inspiration and practical insight for anyone looking to build an audience in a more authentic, creative, and human way. Whether you're just getting started on Substack or you're ready to level up your strategy, Claire’s wisdom will help you find your path. Press play and get ready to reimagine what your newsletter can do for your business and your soul.
🎧 Tune in now and start making the most of Substack.
Mentioned in this episode:
Tired of Fighting the Algorithm? Try This Instead
If you’ve ever felt stuck using social media platforms that limit your creativity (and your subscriber count), Substack might be the freedom you’ve been looking for.
In a recent episode of my podcast, I sat down with Claire Venus—an engagement consultant, audience development mentor, and Substack expert—to unpack how Substack is quietly (but powerfully) changing the way creators and entrepreneurs connect with their audience.
We talked about what makes this platform so unique, how it compares to traditional email service providers, and why it might be the tool you’ve been missing in your business ecosystem. Whether you're a writer, podcaster, or online business owner, this conversation will inspire you to see your newsletter in a whole new light.
Why Substack Feels Like the Old-School Internet—in the Best Way
One of the first things Claire and I connected on was how Substack feels like a return to the golden age of blogging. There’s no algorithm chasing, no flashy reels, and no character limits. Just long-form content, delivered directly to people who actually want to hear from you.
That sense of creative freedom is what drew Claire to the platform—and it’s what’s kept her (and her 16,000+ readers) coming back. For those of us who remember the personal blog era, Substack feels familiar, nostalgic, and refreshingly human.
But it’s not just a throwback—it’s a reimagining. Substack makes it easy to blend writing, audio, video, and even podcasting into one cohesive publication.
Substack vs. Traditional Email Marketing Tools
One of the biggest misconceptions some have before exploring Substack was that it was “just another newsletter tool.” But it’s actually very different from platforms like Kit, Mailchimp, or ActiveCampaign.
Those tools are incredible for automation, funnels, and direct marketing campaigns. I still use them in my business today. But Substack isn’t built for that.
Substack is about storytelling, connection, and building a community around your ideas. It’s not designed to drive traffic to sales pages or product launches. In fact, their terms of service explicitly discourage using it as a direct marketing tool.
And you know what? That’s actually a good thing. It forces us to slow down and create content that adds value—not just content that sells.
Built-In Discovery and Organic Growth (Yes, Really)
One of the most exciting features of Substack is its built-in discovery engine. Claire explained how she’s grown her audience largely through Substack’s recommendation system, which lets writers endorse each other’s work within the platform.
Unlike traditional social media, where organic reach is practically dead, Substack actively helps you grow by surfacing your content to aligned readers. There’s also a social feed called Notes (think: Twitter, but calmer), where you can share ideas, repost others’ work, and connect with your peers.
And yes—Substack Live is a thing! You can go live right from the app, and it even syncs to YouTube and creates sharable clips for other platforms. That kind of content repurposing is gold if you’re short on time and high on ideas.
How Creators Are Monetizing Without the Burnout
Substack offers an elegant solution for creators who want to monetize their work without feeling like they have to constantly launch or hustle. You can turn on paid subscriptions for your newsletter or create a membership model—like Claire’s Sparkle on Substack community.
And because there are no subscriber limits or monthly fees, you can grow at your own pace. That alone removes a lot of pressure—especially if you’ve ever felt “capped” by tools that charge more as your list grows.
Claire also shared a smart tip: use Zapier to automatically send your Substack subscribers into your CRM (like ConvertKit or Podia) for onboarding sequences. That way, you can still guide them through your broader business ecosystem, without treating Substack as a direct marketing platform.
The Real Power: Human Connection
The biggest takeaway from our conversation? Substack fosters real connection.
It’s not about the numbers. It’s about the people who read your work, reply to your emails, and show up for your ideas week after week. Claire reminded me that when we remove the pressure to perform and just focus on meaningful interactions, everything gets easier.
I’ve already started rethinking how I use Substack—not as a replacement for my business tools, but as a creative hub where I can show up with more heart, more consistency, and more ease.
Ready to Reimagine Your Newsletter?
If you’ve been feeling social media burnout or struggling to find the right place to publish your deeper, longer-form ideas, Substack might be your next best move.
This platform isn’t about gaming the algorithm—it’s about creating something real, lasting, and joyful.
🎧 Tune into the full episode with Claire Venus for more insights, inspiration, and practical tips to get started on Substack.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Creator's MBA podcast, your go-to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destini Copp, and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desk, constantly live launching, or worrying about social media algorithms.
I hope you enjoy our episode today. My special guest is Claire Venus. Claire is an engagement consultant, audience development mentor, and Substack expert. Claire, I'm super excited to chat with you today. Before we dive into all the questions I have about Substack, can you tell the audience a little more about you and how you've helped people?
[00:01:00] Claire: Thanks so much for having me on your podcast. This is so nice. I have a background in festivals and events, and I took all of my work online just after the pandemic when I was pregnant with my daughter. I found the online space to be so expansive. I made beautiful connections and discovered parts of myself I had buried for years. It was a reimagining of what I thought my life and work would be, especially with a young family.
One of the main platforms I started using was Substack. I quickly began teaching how to stay creative on the platform because I felt people weren’t using it to its fullest ability. I've been doing that for a few years now. I'm very passionate about engagement, which for me means connection—how we engage with our audience and with each other as colleagues. We can all genuinely help each other out from across the world.
[00:02:00] Destini: That's how you and I found each other. I had started exploring Substack and had a headline in one of my emails about doing this "1 Million HobbyScool Experiment" on Substack. You reached out to me, and I thought, okay, an expert on Substack—I need that because I don’t know what I’m doing here. I'm just exploring it. I have a lot of questions, and I think the audience does too. Many of us might know what it is but not really know what it is. Based on your experience, how would you describe Substack?
Claire: It's really evolved. When I joined, it was described as a new engine for culture. Writers and creatives could get paid. Big-name writers were invited to send newsletters or blogs via email with a paywall. It brought the traditional paywall model of journalism into a new vehicle for us to experiment with.
[00:03:00] When I joined, there were journalistic voices, fiction writers, and memoirists. I fell in love with long-form writing. It felt like the old blogging days, without flashy video or distractions. You could make beautiful connections. Now, we see it as a space to host a mixed media publication. You can host a podcast for free, a free or paid newsletter with no charge no matter how many subscribers you have. You can share video, photos, and use their built-in social media tool called Notes.
Notes is like a water cooler moment—you can check in with colleagues, share updates, and build your personal brand. Substack encourages organic growth by championing reciprocity. It’s easy to recommend and collaborate with others on the platform.
[00:05:00] Destini: As I researched Substack, I saw it was very different from social media or traditional email platforms like ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign. Substack is really unique, and I realized it was the perfect place for my 1 Million HobbyScool Experiment. I loved features like having the newsletter be listenable via AI-generated audio. It makes the platform more accessible.
Claire: Yes, the AI voices are surprisingly good, and people really took the time to read their newsletters aloud when the platform started. I focus more on podcasting now, and my podcast sits inside the Substack publication. I love that there are no subscriber caps or incremental costs. That freedom has helped me grow from 1,000 to 16,000 readers.
[00:07:00] That freedom makes us more likely to share our work and experiment. When you’re starting out, your tolerance for risk is small. Substack lets you build without the fear of sudden platform fees.
Destini: I do think traditional email platforms still have a place in the business ecosystem—for funnels, automations, and marketing. But Substack isn’t meant to be used the same way. I read their T&Cs, and they don’t allow it to be used primarily for marketing or driving traffic to your website.
Claire: Right. I use Podia, which is similar to Kajabi. That’s where my website, courses, and email live. Substack is where I host a paid newsletter about wholehearted business and my life on the Northland Coast. I also run Sparkle on Substack, a paid community. Business owners I support often use a Zap to connect Substack with their email platforms, so new subscribers can still receive welcome sequences.
[00:10:00] On Substack, your CRM stays separate. Podia is for product promotion; Substack is for storytelling and community. You can send emails to just your free or paid subscribers, or even filter by activity. But Substack's main goal is to help us turn on paid subscriptions, from which they take a 10% cut. Apple also takes a 30% cut through the App Store, though that can be adjusted.
It’s been great for writers who previously felt underpaid or limited to royalties. Now they own their audience and income stream. Business owners are also figuring out how to integrate Substack into their wider ecosystem.
[00:13:00] Destini: That was really helpful. I also love the discovery tools Substack has built in. That was one of my goals—to reach new people who didn’t already know about me. Tell us more about that.
Claire: There are three main discovery tools: Recommendations, Notes, and Substack Live. Recommendations allow you to endorse others and get discovered by aligned readers. Notes is like a calm Twitter where you can build your brand, repost others’ work, and connect. It helps with organic reach.
Substack Live is a live video tool in the app. You can go live solo or with a collaborator, and it notifies your audience. Substack pushes the live content in the app, and you can tether it to YouTube. It creates shorts, repurposable content, and assets for sharing elsewhere.
[00:16:00] I love that. You do one live, and suddenly you have video, audio, and content for social. It helps us keep up without burning out. I show up live a few days a week, when I’m in the right energy space.
Destini: You mentioned earlier that some business owners use a Zap to pull Substack subscribers into their email CRM. Can you walk me through how that works?
Claire: I learned this from Russell Nohelty, the co-author of my book How to Build a World-Class Substack. He uses a Zap to move new Substack subscribers into ConvertKit so they receive a welcome sequence that introduces his world—his author business, Writer MBA, etc. It’s smart because Substack only sends one welcome email.
[00:19:00] I use a similar Zap for my paid community members, so they can access resources on my main website. Substack can be overwhelming for beginners, so the Zap helps ease that onboarding. You don’t have to do it, but it’s a great hybrid approach if you want more control over how people enter your ecosystem.
Destini: That makes so much sense. I definitely need to do that with my own subscribers. Claire, any final advice before we wrap up?
Claire: Focus on connection. I’ve met people for coffee, Zoom chats, and even in-person writer meetups. When we stop obsessing over numbers and focus on real people, everything gets easier. Substack fosters that kind of connection. People slow down, read your words, and respond. That depth is what keeps me showing up.
[00:22:00] Destini: Thank you, Claire. Where can people find you?
Claire: You can find me at Sparkle on Substack. For your audience, I’m offering 30% off the membership, whether you choose monthly or annual. There’s also a 7-day free trial. My website is creativelyconscious.co.uk, but if you’re just looking for Substack-related support, Sparkle on Substack is the place to go.
Destini: Thanks again, Claire. And to all our listeners—thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed the episode, I’d appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. See you next time!