State of the Newsletter #8

How your audience can help you grow for free

Hey folks,

We crossed 200 subscribers total this month! If you like the posts, the music, and the selection of guests, please tell your friends and share this newsletter on your socials. Let’s get to 300 by the end of 2022.

The power of guest posts and interviews

Every guest author on ‘What’s Curation?’ is a subscriber who has become a friend over the months. Their genuine earnestness to share their chapter is inspiring.

I’ve come to appreciate the power of guest posts because it’s written by our audience for our audience! We’ve hosted contributors from America, Brazil, and Lithuania. I’m aiming for 2 every month so that there’s a nice balance across the board. A YUGE thank you to Fog Chaser and Mathilda Hallstrom for their respective collabs this month!

We’re gonna cover the map someday!

The Interviews section will see an addition in November; I’ll bring on a buddy from Toronto who is a musician, journalist, and marketer all rolled up in one! So stay tuned for that!

In the media

I was recently interviewed by Shlomoh Samuel for his immigrant interview series and that was a big hit. You can read about my career pivot and coming-to-Canada story there. Do subscribe to his newsletter, Tabula Rasa—Shlomoh’s writing brings vivid imagery to mind: of parks, memories of home, favorite cafes, enduring traditions, and much more.

An excerpt, but read the full interview here:

In Canada, I came at a time when the world was in crisis, and there was a very real chance that I could die even before I did anything of consequence.

Occasionally asked questions

“How do I contact you, Nikhil?”

• Reply to any email you get from What’s Curation? in your inbox (Reliable)

• Use my Calendly to book a 20-minute video call via Google Meet. Just make sure to type “Meet and greet” in the meeting notes box so that I know it’s not a business discovery call.

“How can I help grow the newsletter?”

Free options

• Open and read my emails, leave comments, reply to emails and tell me how I’m doing.

• Forward the email to a friend and leave a note to them to check me out and subscribe.

• Share on your socials by using the “Share” prompt in the email footer, or the friendly blue button

• If you are a Substack writer, recommend What’s Curation? to your readers.

• Link back to one of my posts on your newsletter or personal blogs.

  Paid options

  

  Yay, capitalism.

• Upgrade to a paid subscription to support my hours and to continue keeping the newsletter free of paywalls, drywall, and other construction material (and get an exclusive monthly playlist as a thank-you). A consistent monetary infusion would be a great help. So if y’all can, please do.

• Hire me to plan your Substack growth strategy and get ideas for your writing (i.e. copy). Book a 20-min discovery call on Calendly to see if we’re a fit. I’ve already worked with a couple of my readers and we’ve made simple & effective changes to their content strategy.

Finally, your experience is important. If at any point you feel you need a break—temporary or permanent— you can find the link to unsubscribe in any edition’s email footer. You’re welcome to resubscribe anytime!

That’s month 8! See you on Friday!

Best wishes,

Nikhil.