My Substack in numbers and thoughts, January 25

Reflections on progress, numbers, and what's next.

Dear,

I’m 100 % certain that I can do this.

It’s as clear to me as the fact that tzatziki is better with extra garlic.

I have what it takes to make a living as a writer and photographer—typing away about what I want and taking pictures of the things that interest me.

How do you know this? I’m glad you asked. (Can’t say this nowadays without thinking of Elyse Myers. Such a talented comedian.)

Because I’ve already done it for 13 years, for hundreds of people and businesses. Now I just need to find a way to do it for myself. (And in the meantime, I’ll keep doing it for others, because it’s a nice job.)

Since I’m currently using Substack as my publishing platform, I’ll document my journey by writing these monthly reports. They help me see how things have moved forward. Because it doesn’t always feel like they have.

The first half of these posts will be public, and the second half will be for the paid subscribers.

As a (monthly or yearly) paid subscriber, you’ll have a seat in my writers’ groups (EN and/or FI) and receive these reports once a month. So, if you’d like to upgrade your subscription, you can do it here.

Now, let’s get to it.

January was the training month, the writing month

A couple of years ago, I learned—probably from a meme—that January should be considered a training month. Ever since learning this lesson, I’ve loved every. single. January.

Self-portrait, sort of, on my way to write some in our next town library.

January was also a writing month. I wrote so much for my clients that my fingers and eyes hurt. Of course, I exaggerate—but I did spend my days typing away.

It was surprising to notice that writing births writing. My motivation to write and publish my newsletter(s) stayed high. It hasn’t always been that way.

Currently, I write these letters on Mondays and throughout the week, right after my kid has gone to bed. I do most of the drafting in my mind when I’m out and about. It has always been my go-to way of planning a new piece.

Here’s a recap of what I wrote to you in January.

First, English:

It's hard to stay creative, when you don't have money for food

My best business tip: Learn the names

Then, Finnish:

Joulukuun ja koko vuoden 2024 Substack-raportti

5 syytä valita Substack

On vaikeaa olla luova, jos ei ole rahaa ruokaan

Liity Substack-kirjoittajaryhmään

Kivoja pikkuvinkkejä parempaan Substack-kokemukseen

Can you sense the cold? One courtyard on the set way to library.

🇫🇮 Jos haluat tilata suomenkielisen blogikirjeeni Kaikki taivaan linnut (löydät täältä myös viime vuoden suomenkieliset kk-raportit), valitse tämän sähköpostin lopusta Unsubscribe. Päädyt Substack-alustan asetuksiin, josta voit hallinnoida tilaustasi.

Tests with ChatGPT Translation

As a non-native writer, I’m always uncertain whether I’m able to dive deep enough into my texts. I also wondered if it’d be faster to write in Finnish and then ask ChatGPT to localize the text in English. It wasn’t.

(Hey there, I’m writing about X, and it’s going to be published via Substack. Could you proofread the text? Keep changes as minimal as possible.)

But ChatGPT did a great job. It stayed pretty true to my rhythm and style. And jokes, naturally.

The influx of new Substackers

Substack finally landed in Finland in late December, and at the same time, it saw significant growth in the U.S. As a company, Substack has played its cards well, pulling plenty of creators from platforms like TikTok.

This growth felt both good and bad.

It was great to see people getting excited about the platform—just like I was a year ago. Their joy in discovering Substack felt tangible.

But I was also a bit sad because now they’re in on our secret. 😅

I can rationalize both sides of the coin. Growth is good. Growth means people are leaving platforms that don’t serve them well—platforms that don’t let them “own” their audience or content.

But there’s always a downside to growth, and I fully understand the criticism Substackers have expressed toward the head of Substack. Take a look at the comments section of this letter to learn more.

I love the light during winter in Finland.

The Growth in January

But growth also means more subscribers for us existing Substackers.

My January numbers look a bit crooked at the moment because I imported another email list here. These are the good people who listened to my Finnish Luovia podcast for working creatives and/or read my blog.

If we don’t take the imported list into consideration, I gained 34 new subscribers in January. That’s a nice number—bigger than in previous months.

This email list originally had around 1,000 people, but I did all I could in 2024 to narrow it down. I removed hundreds of passive emails, encouraged people to unsubscribe, and saturated their inboxes with my Substack hype.

In the end, I imported around 500 emails here.

There was a time, many years ago, when I dreamed of having a direct connection with my blog readers. And look—now you’re here.

Take a look at the stats

Here’s my Dashboard in early February. What I follow most in my stats is the 30-day views. It tells me whether the texts I publish resonate enough and spread wide enough. My goal is to reach 10,000 views in a 30-day period, and I plan to achieve this by the end of 2025.

Read more about my statistics and future plans on Substack below this line.

The paid content begins. 🫶🏼