February Mastermind Meeting for Substack Food Writers
The next FSL Mastermind is on Feb. 12
Hello everyone!
Calling all Substack food writers! Once a month, a group of us gather together for a Mastermind meeting and if you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you.
If you’d like to participate, please send a direct message to me -
-and I’ll send you the link to the zoom meeting.All the meeting information is below! See you there!
This month’s meeting will be on Wednesday, February 12, at the following time:
6am — Seattle (Pacific)
8am — Chicago (Central)
9am — Atlanta (Eastern)
2pm — London (GMT)
3pm — Brussels (Central European)
10pm — Singapore (Singapore standard)
1am - Sydney - February 13
Obviously 6am for our Pacific coast friend in the US and 1am for those in or near Sydney, is not ideal. But I think it’s the best we can do for now.
Like the January meeting, this month’s meeting will be recorded for anyone who can’t make it.
This month’s topic and structure
This is only our second meeting, so we are still figuring out what works best. For this month’s meeting, we are going to try the following structure:
What’s working/ wins and requests: For the first 10-15 minutes of the meeting, please share what’s working for you right now on Substack and any requests you have for the others in the group.
For example, I might share that I released my first cookbook as a direct result of starting my Substack newsletter last year (win!), and mention that I am looking for contributors/ collaborators for upcoming newsletter issues and my next cookbook, which will be released at the end of this year (request).
Main topic: The bulk of this month’s meeting will be focused on our About pages and short descriptions. After our January meeting, I shared a template from Sarah Fay (Substack Writers at Work) about how to craft your About Page and Short Description. I have added that template to the bottom of this post as well.
The hot seat! I’d love a few volunteers who are willing to sit in the hot seat for this month’s meeting and share your about pages and/or your short descriptions with the group. The rest of us will offer feedback, ask questions, and share ideas for how to improve or add to your about page and/or short description. Please comment on this post or send a direct message to me if you’re willing to be one of those who sits in the hot seat!
General feedback/ idea sharing/ questions: Do any of you have examples of About pages you love? Strategies for how to make the About page really work for you? Anything else to offer the group on this topic? Questions about how to better communicate what your Substack is all about? Let’s discuss in next week’s meeting!
As with the January meeting, plan for 60 minutes, but I’ll leave the meeting open for 90 minutes for anyone who wants to stay on.
I also want to say that it’s perfectly fine to be a listener in the meeting and not participate. If, for example, you are new to Substack and still trying to figure out what you want to do here, you are more than welcome to just listen in. There’s never any pressure to speak if you don’t want to.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
xo
How to craft your About Page and Short Description
What follows is a fantastic template from Sarah Fay (Substack Writers at Work) about how to craft your About Page and Short Description:
*Important disclaimer: There are a lot of ways to “do” Substack and no right or wrong answers. This is just one way to approach the about page and short description, and while I have found it valuable, it isn’t the holy grail.
Your About page
Writing your About page is a rite of passage on Substack. It will give you a sense of who you are, who your readers are, what you want, and how it might work on the platform. (Don’t worry. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Getting to know your Substack is an ongoing process.)
To get you started, take some time and free write in response to these three questions. Set a timer and write for just three minutes on each one:
What would the Substack/newsletter you’d want to receive contain and look like?
Fill in the blank: I write this Substack because __________ (Or I will write this Substack because __________)
Why a Substack and why now?
Who are your ideal subscribers? Don't think in terms of demographics; think in terms of wants and needs. What do they need? If you're hoping to monetize and scale, this is crucial.
What will you be giving your subscribers and helping them do via your Substack? How will they be transformed (even just a little) by reading it?
Use what you have to do the following.
Substack’s About page should be called the About your readers page. Here’s what Substack says about the About page: “This page should explain in detail the benefits of reading your publication.” It should include:
A photo and a welcome.
The benefits of reading your Substack, what subscribers will take away, and how they’ll be transformed by it (not what you do, e.g., not "I write about...")
Exactly what free and paid subscribers get (e.g., posts, workshops, voice memos, etc.) and why those matter
Headings and bulleted lists of what they get and how often you’ll email them:
Paid subscribers get... (both what they get, e.g., posts, and what they’ll get from it, e.g., responsibly reported journalism)
Free subscribers get…
A bit about you (only insofar as it relates to your newsletter)
A photo of you or your pets or something that represents you
Your Short description
Substack says, “The goal of your publication’s one-line description is to signal to your target reader why they might want to subscribe.” Remember that this is the first thing web visitors see.
Make it about your reader. It should tell us what we get by reading your Substack.
Don’t be too clever. Don’t be poetic. If you’re having trouble or to get started, try this prompt:
Write your short description in six words
Now, ask yourself, What do I mean by that?
Write it down.
Then ask yourself again: What do I mean by that?
Test it on someone who knows nothing about your Substack: What do they think your Substack is about given your short description?
Great post, thank you.
Oh shoot. I was away for this one, but would love to join in next month!