To Substack or Not? How I Think Through Decisions Like This.

What I’m seeing right now, both in my own business and with my clients, is this:

More platforms. More options. More noise.

And underneath all of that, one persistent question: Where am I actually supposed to focus?

Here’s what’s true for me personally:

• My marketing strategy feels tired.

• I’ve been active on Facebook for years.

• Semi-active on LinkedIn.

• Instagram exists, but more as a portfolio than a real strategy.

• I’ve been building my email list for over eight years.

• And I’ve been running a podcast for two, although I only found real consistency recently.

It’s a lot. And lately, I’ve been doing what I ask my clients to do all the time, which is to step back and ask what’s actually driving client attraction? What’s building the brand? And what’s just there because it’s always been there?

That’s what sent me down the Substack rabbit hole.

I haven’t made a decision yet. I’m in the middle of it. And I think this part, the part where the answer isn’t clear yet, is actually the most useful thing to show you.

What Caught My Attention

This didn’t start as a strategy decision. It started as a user experience.

I found myself reading more on Substack and what stood out immediately was the focus. When I find a writer I like, their content is about one thing. Consistently. Deeply. Without detour.

Compare that to LinkedIn, where someone can be brilliant at what they do and also be posting about politics, holidays, and whatever the conversation of the week happens to be.

Same person. Completely different experience.

On Substack, there’s less of that. And as a reader, I find it easier to stay engaged. Is that enough of a reason to add it to my strategy?

No, but it’s enough to make me pay attention.

How I Actually Evaluate Something Like This

Any time I consider adding a platform, I’m not really evaluating the platform. I’m evaluating my funnel.

I’m asking: Does this meaningfully improve the way someone moves from discovering me to working with me?

For years, the framework has been simple - social media is rented land, email is owned audience.

That still holds, but platforms like Substack sit somewhere in between. There’s discovery built in, and there’s also a direct subscriber relationship. That’s interesting. It doesn’t automatically make it valuable, but it’s enough to keep me asking questions.

The Part Most People Skip

Before I even get into whether something could work, I force myself to look at the cost. Beyond financial cost, because this is where most decisions begin to fall apart.

These are the costs I’m weighing right now:

Time

Not just writing, but learning the platform, understanding the culture, and engaging with people there. One person told me they spend two hours a day on Substack. That’s not a small add-on - that’s a real commitment.

Creative energy

I only have so much thinking capacity in a given week. If Substack gets some of it, something else gets less. I have to be honest about what that trade is.

Consistency

Not “can I start this?” But, “can I sustain this when I’m busy, tired, or coming off a launch?”

Because every platform turns into a dead zone if you show up sporadically.

Opportunity cost

Every yes is a no, always. This is the most dangerous cost that most people usually don’t account for. I’ve seen this pattern play out too many times, both in my clients’ businesses and my own.

Spreading yourself across too many platforms doesn’t grow your business faster, it dilutes it.

More isn’t better - better is better. And better usually comes from focus.

The Questions I’m Working Through

These are the questions I use to ground myself when I’m deciding whether something is a strategy or a distraction.

What problem am I actually trying to solve?

If I can’t answer this clearly, the platform isn’t the issue. For me, it’s important to figure out:

• How do I streamline my content?

• What is the journey I actually want people to go on?

• Where does my thinking land best?

What’s not working right now?

I want more time to think, write, and connect.

I want less time in environments that feel noisy and fragmented.

If something moves me closer to the first and further from the second, it’s worth considering.

Is this a strategy or a reaction?

Just going through this process has already answered that. If I move forward, it won’t be reactive.

What would success actually look like?

Not vanity metrics, but a growing audience of people I don’t already know.

Real engagement and conversations that go somewhere.

Do I have the capacity to do this consistently?

Not on a good week. On a hard week. That’s the standard.

What I’m Seeing So Far

As I’ve been digging in, a few things have become clearer.

Substack is very strong for long-form, idea-driven content. There’s space to actually think.

The relationship to the audience feels more direct. When someone subscribes, they get your work in their inbox.

The people there are choosing to read, which creates a different kind of attention.

At the same time, I’ve also heard a more grounded version of the story: it’s not a perfectly curated space. There’s noise there too - political content, trend cycles, the same patterns you see everywhere else.

The difference is less about the platform itself and more about how people use it. And the time investment is real. The people building traction there are not dabbling, they’re committed. That matters.

Where I’m Cautious

One of the things I need to be honest about with myself is this:

Substack is not a conversion system. There are no built-in nurture sequences. No automations. No real infrastructure for moving someone from reader to client. That doesn’t make it bad, it just means it has a very specific role. The framing that’s currently making the most sense to me is this:

Substack is the front door. My website and email list are where the relationship actually deepens. That distinction matters. Because if I expect it to do more than that, I’ll be disappointed.

Where I’ve Landed (For Now)

I haven’t made a final decision. And I think it’s important to say that, because most content skips this part and jumps straight to conclusions.

But here’s what I learned: I’m drawn to the depth of thinking the platform allows. I’m drawn to readers who chose to be there. I’m drawn to writing in a way that actually reflects how I think.

What’s giving me pause is this: the time investment is significant. Starting from zero again is not a small thing after eight years of building an audience. And I would need to be very clear about its role. This would not replace my existing ecosystem, it would support a specific part of it. Whether I’m ready to take that on, I’m still working through.

But I trust this process more than I trust reacting quickly. Because every time I’ve made a decision from pressure or urgency, it’s cost me more in the long run. This way, whatever I choose, I’ll choose it with intention.

If you want to know where I land on Substack, I’ll share that too. Watch this space!

But for now, what I do know is that the decision itself is less important than the process you go through in making it.