Before you can hope to succeed, you need to define what Success means to you. We’ll talk about how to define your success.
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It happens from time to time — especially if you’re offering exclusive content on Patreon. Criminals (there’s no other word) access your site and use various means to scrape the content and post it in places where others can access it for free. As long as we, as artists, allow ourselves to be undervalued, there will always be people comfortable doing this. So, what can you do to stop it?
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Your Home page is the first thing new readers will see when they decide to check out your work on Substack. It’s the hub of all of your Substack activities, and it has some unique features you may be missing. Here are three ways you can optimize yours.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.Many artists have conflicting views on using photo references. The truth is that judicious, conscientious use of photo references can be a valid part of the drawing process.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Since December 2023, I’ve been using a publishing strategy on Substack that enables me to optimize the reading experience for my audience while taking advantage of Substack’s SEO and promotional strengths. Some of those original strategy was very effective. After making a few changes — and dropping some aspects entirely — I’m ready to discuss my updated Substack strategy.
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Is your Patreon actually growing—or are new members disguising a retention problem? Brad walks Dave through the process of calculating churn rate and shows how one number can unlock a much clearer understanding of a membership business. They discuss subscriber retention, lifetime value, onboarding, well-timed interventions, and how to determine whether advertising or convention appearances are truly worth the investment.
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In a recent livestream, I discussed how I use a scheduler — Buffer.com — to schedule a week’s worth of posts in advance. As the conversation got quite detailed, one of my viewers asked if I’d write about that approach in more detail, including a screenshot of a week of planned posts. This is that post.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
If you’re like most creators, your focus is probably on your subscriber count. The higher the number, the better. The same goes for your monthly revenue. But that number only tells part of the story. That’s where churn comes in.
Churn measures how many subscribers you’re losing over a given period. Knowing that number won’t just satisfy your curiosity — it helps explain why your membership is growing, stalling, or shrinking. More importantly, it gives you a way to measure whether changes you make—new rewards, better onboarding, special promotions, ongoing storylines, or improved communication—are actually encouraging people to stick around.
Let’s talk about how to calculate your churn rate and, more importantly, how to use that information to build a healthier, more sustainable membership program on Patreon, Substack, or any recurring-subscription platform.
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It’s the first month of the second half of the year! Let’s make a plan to finish 2026 strong!
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
