19 Comments

Michael gave me hope and encouragement. What an interesting individual. I'll be exploring him soon. I love reading about other Substack journeys. It was an excellent and informative interview. Thank you for your work.

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Wonderful! Yes, he's wonderful!

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I loved reading this. Several points of Michael's journey resonate with me. For instance, toiling away with a handful of subscribers for months, until it picks pace. Or to follow the NPR model and be supported by the readers without using a paywall. I write technical articles and till now I have not resorted to using a paywall, however, till now, I have not had a lot of luck (even though subscribers are growing and views are growing).

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Wonderful!

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Yep! The original 2 I had when we met and I run a lit mag, WestWord, and have transferred that over from a Wordpress site. And I’m doing a monthly essay at The Tao of Storytelling using chapters of the Tao Te Ching to inspire compassionate stories about the time we find ourselves living in.

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As someone who now has 4 Substacks I really appreciate this! Thank you Sarah and Michael 😊🙏

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Four!

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“...over 50% of my paid subscribers are folks whom I’ve had either a direct text, face-to-face, or voice-to-voice conversation with.”

Such a great point! I will keep that and everything else on this wonderful interview in mind, thank you!

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Great interview! I love the term *intellectual capital.* So happy to see Diamond-Michael featured on your newsletter!

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Me too!

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I'm very intrigued about doing multiple substacks. Is that the same as multiple tabs you can subscribe/unsubscribe to/from? Does this solve my resistance/inability to narrow down? Lol

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Different Substacks won't be linked. You're talking about sections, which I recommend over having two Substacks. And yes (!), the desire likely stems from not wanting to narrow our focus.

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Thank you, helpful!!

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Loved reading about Michael’s journey and always encouraging to read someone’s journey with multiple Substacks! ✨✍️ Thanks Sarah Fay!

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I thought you might!

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Thank you for this. What an uplifting energy Michael has. And now I want to read everything he has to think. I need five lives!

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Yes!

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What a terrific interview. I love the concept behind "Great Books, Great Minds," and could really relate to the 80/20 proposition, where 80% is writing for onself...that is, if it's not exciting to you, chances are it probably won't excite the reader (a spin-off of the "no-tears-in-the-writer" Robert Frost school of writing lol). Also, I loved hearing that after a concentrated period of hard work, Diamond-Michael's subscriber count shot up. Inspiring.

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Agreed!

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