Stay Creative on Substack with tutorials, teaching, posts, threads, thoughts and tools. Special guest episodes with those who I massively respect and I know will help you sparkle up your Substack and find your true north on the platform! ✨
Here’s an example of what I mean where you have to select all emails filtered. Mine says 680 because I added everyone who is free and clicked more than one link in the last 30 days.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sparkleon.substack.com/subscribe
Join me for my next live video in the app next week.
It’s been a joy to support Caroline Donahue on her journey to Substack Bestseller.
✨
If you want my bespoke support, Diamond Membership opens to my paid members and customers this weekend for a limited number of people.
Here are the perks…
Let me know if you have questions,
Claire
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sparkleon.substack.com/subscribe
I would LOVE to teach you how to start a podcast on Substack
Saturday, October 5, 2024 • Duration 06:13
Perfectly Imperfect Podcasting on Substack
I have had SOOOO many questions about starting and committing to a podcast recently, I decided to make a month long LIVE course to support you. We start November 1st.
(If you’re in the membership here at Sparkle on Substack, you can access some light touch resources to help you use audio here on Substack, just head to the a-z and you’ll find everything there).
Podcasting starts with having something to say, something you care about…
And we don’t have to say it ‘perfectly’. In-fact, in our podcast Linda at Substack shared that people like to see the real human here - those are the people who are growing well here. The people who show up in a way that’s relatable, as themselves not as a perfectly polished performance version of themselves. Thank goodness hey?
The course is wholehearted, it’s holistic.
It can be scary to sit and record audio home alone, should you go to a studio? What should you call your podcast? Do you want guests? What if they don’t reply to your invite. So many questions!
🎙️ Perfectly, imperfect Podcasting 💫 zooms out to look at where video/ audio podcast content could sit within your content eco system here and across the global air waves.
It looks at our barriers and blocks to using our voice, being on video, tracks through planning, design, branding, naming, all the tech you need. Oh and a launch strategy that feels good to you. I’ll also pop your podcast on a stand alone post and tell everyone about it when you launch.
A podcast doesn’t actually have to be a podcast. Short on time, how about a themed voice note - that’s where I started and one of the things I attribute to the growth I saw in my first year.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Could Substack work for a Community hosted elsewhere with Kiki from Heiter Magazine
Sunday, September 22, 2024 • Duration 01:01:53
"When I set up the Heiter Society, I wanted something for myself where I felt less alone, also in my business."
Kiki
"Yes, to some extent, Heiter is definitely slow living, but it is still beautiful."
Kiki
I’m thrilled to bring you another exciting episode of Sparkle on Substack the podcast.
Kiki and I dive deep into creative processes, the importance of branding, and all things related to building joyful, engaging communities online.
🎧 **Episode Highlights:**
1. **Mailing List Moves:** Claire Venus shares her experience of moving her extensive Mailchimp list to her Podia course platform and how she manages to keep her community informed and engaged across multiple platforms. If you're juggling different mailing lists, this segment is a goldmine of practical tips!
2. **Flow desk Insights:** Get inspired by her rundown of the platform's features.
3. **Formatting Magic on Substack:** For all you content creators out there, Claire provides a detailed demonstration of formatting options on Substack—think centralised quotes, headers, images, and seamless video embeds.
4. **Branding Brilliance:** The dynamics of maintaining a consistent brand presence are thoroughly explored. Claire highlights the significance of colours, logos, and pinned posts in creating a cohesive aesthetic.
5. **Editorial Shifts:** Claire discusses her decision to shift from heavy topics to lighter content and seeks input on this editorial journey. What are your thoughts on this shift? Let us know!
6. **Kiki’s Strengths and Collaborations:** Kiki talks about her passion for fashion, storytelling, and her partnerships with design agencies to craft a sustainable magazine. Plus, discover how she’s integrated support roles like sub-editors and virtual assistants to elevate her projects.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Leaning into your unique genius with Linda at Substack
Friday, September 13, 2024 • Duration 01:01:41
"How Paywalls Protect Personal Stories: "People pay, not because it's clickbait, because that's just not for everybody. That part of what they're saying, they only want to share it intimately with people who are part of their inner circle and bought in."
I was delighted to meet with Linda @ Substack this week to chat all things Substack.
Linda is a dedicated member of the writer partnerships team at Substack and has been on the staff team since 2021. Widely recognised for her active presence on Substack Notes, Linda's primary role involves engaging with potential new Substack users in the finance category. 🤓 💰
I was SO excited to speak with her for sooo many reasons. The main one? Because she works and supports folks outside of my eco chamber and that’s where as an avid reader and an observer of Substack, I learn the most.
She focuses on attracting individuals who can bring unique content and an audience to the platform and has a genuine passion (like me) for Substack's capabilities.
Linda strongly believes in Substack's potential for individuals starting from scratch, as she's witnessed many success stories firsthand. Alongside her team, she is committed to fostering open dialogues and providing valuable insights to help new users thrive. She’s eager to share her knowledge and experiences with the community, contributing to the growth and success of Substack as a whole.
✨
If you’re short on time, I asked cast magic to summarise the lessons, thanks to Adam Ming for the suggestion of adding take aways for those who need them.
Here are 10 Substack lessons from Linda
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Creative Rebellion + Artistic Evolution with David Speed
Saturday, September 7, 2024 • Duration 01:04:57
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
Arthur Ashe
It was an absolute JOY to connect with David Speed for my podcast a couple of months back. David and I were at the podcast recording of Creative Coffee by Emma Gannon when she interviewed Farrah @Substack in London and I know both of them will be delighted we made this connection if they see this post.
Connection - now there’s a word I overuse but honestly it makes everything possible.
When we met he was pretty new to Substack and enjoying bedding in. Just after I spoke with David, he put out this piece which I loved. Well to be honest I love all of his writing; it’s sophisticated, honest and there’s NO snake oil;
Speaker Bio
David Speed is a multi-disciplinary artist whose current focus is neon painting.
The artist is fascinated by light and shadow and creates work that plays with that drama. David enjoys painting huge murals but is equally happy painting canvas. He relishes the challenge of painting on a small scale using spray paint and pushing the limitations of what is achievable in that medium.
In the early 2000’s David was training to be a primary school teacher while balancing a mostly illegal graffiti career. Frustrated at the school system, he realised that by creating art, mentoring artists and now; podcasting, he could help many more people get in touch with their creativity.
"If you are an artist, or a creative, or a writer or a dancer, and you read, this is marketing, there's so many, your brain will kick ideas in a totally different way than if you're in the marketing space."
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Balancing Business and Creativity on Substack with mentor Astrid Bracke
Sunday, September 1, 2024 • Duration 45:42
“This idea that we are playing a game that we never really know the rules for, and I think that's a feeling that many people have, like thinking about the algorithm and how often should you post and should you do reels and should you do whatever. That feeling made me feel really bad, and I'm just happy that I don't have to deal with that anymore."— Astrid Bracke
This episode is supported by my Diamond Members here on Substack. You’ll find links to their publications at the end.
It’s the VERY last day to upgrade if you want 1-2-1 support from me for a whole year.
💎 My Sparkle on Substack Diamond Membership is closing until January 2025 and I won’t be offering the 1-2-1 dm perk in the same way again. It will also go up in price. Here are the benefits you unlock immediately including two courses and complimentary podcast sponsorship to help grow your Substack.
💎
WELCOME BACK TO Sparkle on Substack the podcast! Conversations with creatives who use Substack and make it make sense for them.
Astrid Bracke is a dedicated mentor for small business owners, freelancers, and creatives, championing a slower, gentler approach to business that remains financially rewarding. She aims to help professionals break away from the constant hustle and productivity hacks, nurturing their emotional and mental well-being while ensuring profitability. Astrid supports her clients through personalised one-to-one mentoring and innovative group programs like "Marketing Without Social Media and “Substack for Small Businesses”
Additionally, she offers a mini-course on Substack tailored for small business owners and curates a Substack newsletter, which includes a paid segment, providing continuous support and insights for those aspiring to create a balanced and successful business.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Creating my own Substack Universe with Suzy Walker
Sunday, July 21, 2024 • Duration 57:29
It was a JOY to meet my pal Suzy Walker for the Sparkle on Substack podcast.
Suzy talks to us about ‘starting from scratch’, making the most of our presence online and following your heart even when it tells you to leap!
Suzy is a coach (once named one of the top ten in the UK) and former Editor-in-Chief of Psychologies magazine.
She’s been privileged to have interviewed some of the best self-development greats in the world, from Oprah to Brené Brown, and loves finding tools, books, and experts that support us in making our own leaps in life.
When I met Suzy, my entire life and the way I was building it felt more possible. She told me; “Claire look at this, you are living it.” And I felt that. Those moments where friends, colleagues, new pals really see you - it’s like a lightening bolt. Suzy is my lightening bolt of confirmation often. At the time, two things were true; I was living it and my husband was very sick and I was very scared.
Later in our friendship, we met for coffee and I was telling her my goals for Sparkle on Substack and my hope for replacing income from a tricky commissioned project. She looked at me again and said - £350 a month? You can do that. And again I realised yes, yes I can. The income arrived in a flash and I let go of that tricky comissioner.
“You can build your own creative universe on Substack. It’s like heaven and you can also earn money. I can’t believe it.”
The Heart Leap newsletter is about tools, ideas, and people who help us make a leap in thinking so we feel inspired and uplifted rather than trapped, stuck, and downhearted.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Sparkle on Substack with your very own Beautiful Digital Magazine
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 • Duration 06:26
Popping in to tell you more about the BRAND NEW course I’m SO excited to deliver!
This course combined two years of my creative expertise distilled down for you into a series of 10 minute tutorial drops.
Live calls optional, replays available. Let’s elevate our Substacks into BEAUTIFUL digital magazines we are proud of?
Course replay will be available to 💎 Diamond Members after delivery. More on your exclusive invite to Diamond Membership here, don’t miss the chance to get strategic launch and conversion support for ONE WHOLE YEAR if you join before 1st September.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sparkleon.substack.com/subscribe
Rebellion in sharing our whole self with Lauren Barber
Sunday, June 16, 2024 • Duration 54:47
“I am earth meets sky... soul meets strategy.”
Lauren Barber
Hi all
Welcome back to another episode of Sparkle on Substack, the podcast!
It’s a delight to be here and to tell you my humble little podcast just hit 20k downloads here on Substack. They are an excellent host by the way!! 🎉
If you want to learn more simply head over to the search bar in my publication and type in ‘podcast’ and you’ll find some related articles.
In this episode, I chat with Lauren mainly about Substack and how it fits in our online home..
Lauren Barber is a delight truly. A magical being and space holder and a creative in heart and action.
I could talk to Lauren about creativity and creative process all day. She’s also an incredible space holder for matrescence, brand storytelling and human design. All of which I’ve commissioned her for.
"I feel like the words land differently in Substack. Like they are received and they're received with love."
“I feel like it is rebellious to claim ourselves as whole and to show up in our work and actually say, you know what, these are the multiple pieces of me and I'm not going to keep them separate because I don’t feel like a whole person when I've got something over here and something over here."
"I have lots of pieces I want to write, but I have to wait till that whoosh of energy comes before it's time to write."
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Any questions on producing audio here, just ask, it would be a honour to support your audio/ video journey.
7. **Community and Support:** The episode sheds light on various community-building strategies, including Kiki’s use of holistic life coaches and therapists for meditation sessions and book clubs. Claire also shares details of her upcoming masterclass on transitioning Instagram content to Substack.
8. **Navigating Substack:** Together, Kiki and Claire explore the ins and outs of Substack, demonstrating its social media integration, writer profiles, and publication features. Get insights on how you can optimise the platform for your creative ventures.
🌟 **Exclusive Sneak Peek:** Claire reveals some exciting news about upcoming targeted guest posts on joyful growth and monetisation on Substack. Plus, Kiki gives a shout-out to pre-orders for Heiter’s print issue two, "Homecoming," with a deadline at the end of June. Don’t miss your chance to get this beautiful issue!
📌 **Community Engagement:** Concerned about relying too heavily on Substack? Claire reassures with insights on data ownership and maintaining control over your email list. Also, discover different ways to engage your community, both on and off Substack.
💬 Join the Conversation
We’re eager to hear your thoughts on this episode! How do you manage your editorial decisions and branding across platforms?
What are your tips for maintaining consistency and engagement with your community?
Over-preparation can hinder starting. Embrace imperfection and create now.
2. **Embrace the Blank Page**
Substack’s design simplicity encourages unique and personal approach. You don’t have to look for a cookie cut out.
3. **From Twitter to Substack**
Move from fleeting social media content to permanent, engaging Substack archives and bring your audience.
4. **Video Strengths**
Utilise video content for deeper, more personal connections with your audience.
5. **Community Support**
Engage and uplift fellow Substack users through workshops and subscriber chats.
6. **Utilise Headers and Footers**
Customise email headers and footers to consistently communicate and engage with readers. Lean into thinking about the messages you want to set for free and paid subs…
7. **Consider Pricing Wisely**
To avoid over thinking, start with common pricing models ($5/month, $50/year), and be prepared to adjust based on value.
"I didn't really want to celebrate people that have already been celebrated. So I started this project called be Neon, where there's a form on my website where you can upload an image, and I will paint you in the street."
“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” Arthur Ashe
💬 We’d love to chat to you more in the comments about the important topics we brought to light in the podcast. There is so much in here about success and commitment and everything we do to make our creative careers work.
Sparkle on Substack is sponsored by my Diamond Members. Thanks to them for supporting me so I can make time to have these conversations and bring them to life in the world. You can read more about them and their work here.
“And then in October 2021, I fell ill with severe clinical depression. And at that point, I'd actually just decided to take a three week break from Instagram because I just launched a digital product. But with the depression, that break just extended itself for, I think, about five or six months before I started thinking again about, oh, right, there's this thing called Instagram."— Astrid Bracke
🌐 Episode Highlights:
1. Journey to Selling Products and Services: Claire opened up about her experience transitioning from word-of-mouth promotions to actively selling her offerings. She addresses the common challenge many face – the difficulty of promoting paid services and the risk of giving away too much value for free.
2. Clarity in Communication: Both Claire and Astrid emphasise the importance of clear communication. With readers often missing key messages due to short attention spans, it's crucial to consistently remind your audience about what you offer.
3. The Power of Connection: Astrid highlights how she nurtures a sense of community through her Substack, "female owned," and her website astridbracke.com. Monthly discussion threads, accountability clubs, and new features for collaboration are just a few of the ways she fosters connections.
4. Managing Notifications and Boundaries: Substack is a fantastic creative outlet, but managing notifications can be overwhelming. Claire and Astrid share their strategies for maintaining a healthy balance between personal and business use of the platform.
5. Doing Business Differently: Astrid's approach to business – slow, gentle, and profitable – resonates deeply. Her one-on-one mentoring and group programs, like the marketing without social media initiative, offer a refreshing alternative to traditional business strategies.
6. Overcoming Social Media Challenges: After experiencing clinical depression, Astrid took a hiatus from Instagram and discovered other effective marketing avenues. Her journey inspires many who feel pressured by the constant presence required on social media platforms.
7. Free Resources and Upcoming Courses: Astrid's plan to create more free resources for her subscribers in the coming year is something to look forward to. Plus, don't miss the upcoming relaunch of her self-paced mini course for small business owners, freelancers, and creatives, focusing on using Substack for business growth.
✨
"If we have a scale on which one to one mentoring is, the most intense way in which I can support people or intensive rather then the newsletter here is at the other end of the scale."— Astrid Bracke
Timestamped Overview
00:00 Balancing work, motherhood, and self-care.
05:15 Challenges of social media and online focus.
09:51 Feeling relieved to leave social media challenges.
12:58 Questioning value of social media; prioritizing happiness.
15:05 Newsletter supports small business owners and freelancers.
18:26 Substack takes time, learning, and patience.
21:33 Using Substack for business and marketing strategies.
24:33 Thinking creatively about creative outlets on Substack.
26:49 Using Substack blurs personal and business boundaries.
32:41 Focusing on nurturing community, fostering growth.
33:35 Community building, mini podcasts, and new features.
38:45 Encouraging sharing and selling to make money.
40:57 Balancing self-employment and selling products.
44:03 Expressing appreciation for connection and collaboration.
Thank you to my Diamond Members who make my work on the podcast possible and help pay for my time and professional edits by Kerry Hinns.
It’s for writers who want to write and get their books out into the world but who find writing a hard slog but don’t want to give up the dream. Think of Heart Leap as your very own cosy writing nook.
Heart Leap is also for people starting again, literally or metaphorically. I’ve just left a big job and my life in London to start again in the wilds of Northumberland, so I’m right here beside you.
For paid subscribers, we have the Heart Leap Club, which has monthly self-development workshops with brilliant experts and weekly writing hours where you get to hang out with writers for two hours a week and get your books and blogs finished.
(Here’s me by my magic tree on a hill, which overlooks a fairy tale castle and whispers ideas and grants wishes.)
"My feeling is that my writing, in its purity, is not paywalled content. I'm not sure how I feel about paywalls, if I'm honest."— Lauren Barber
Here on Substack, Lauren writes Held. By Lauren Barber. An open and honest place for those traversing the path of womanhood, motherhood and sacred business, to arrive, rest, to be seen.
Timestamps for this episode;
04:01 Started Substack for writing about motherhood experiences.
07:51 Authentic, honest writing creates sacred community space.
11:04 Writing with freedom and deep reflection on Substack.
15:36 Embracing diverse women's experiences through all stages.
18:51 Two-year journey questioning social media and connection.
20:11 Seeking unity and acceptance in human experience.
25:27 Waiting for energy, using human design daily.
33:07 Content behind paywall differs, open for 2 weeks.
37:29 Email enhances connection, design, and accessibility.
38:33 Balanced support and connection through launching programs.
42:56 Connection led to creative collaboration for London event.
47:18 Exciting online connections lead to new opportunities.
50:04 Lauren's work has been transformative for me.
51:29 Serendipitous connection, met online after coincidental event.
You can also watch our conversation on YouTube if you’d prefer and please do subscribe while you’re there as I tend to premier these conversations a few days earlier than releasing the podcast so you can be first to watch…
You can subscribe to Lauren right here on Substack or over on Instagram
✨ Also, if you are quick, you can meet Lauren Barber and Lyndsay Kaldor in The Rose Garden (online) this summer solstice (next week). More here…
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