7 things I intentionally did in my hero post and why writers should pay attention

What is it, how I did it and reflections on why

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Substack. This reflective article is purely based on my own observations of the platform and as such a part of my public effort to document my writing journey on here as a real-time case study.

I do however have significant experience in writing online and attracting a large audience for my work, which you can read about in my hero post here.

Before diving into this reflective article, let’s answer your most urgent question;

What is a hero post and why should you pay attention?

I didn’t know what a hero post was until last week, so please don’t feel like you’re behind or not part of “the cool kids” if you’ve never heard of it. You’re totally cooler than me anyhow.

A hero post is essentially a post written and dedicated to be the “hero” of your publication.

In other words, the aim of the piece is to serve as an overview of what, when, how and who, so that anyone who’s new to your publication can quickly assess whether it’s a good fit for them or not.

A hero-post that is well positioned can become an authentic growth machine in its own right. I’m only one week into it and I have already seen incredibly rewarding results (especially considering that I’m still a baby Substacker).

This is a screenshot of the growth statistics of my hero post that I shared on the 16th of January. I posted it exactly one week ago, after which 1.36k have seen it (out of which 178 opened the email) and 56 subscribed which makes a conversion of 4.73% (calculated as new subscribers/(total views-already subscribed) = conversion rate).

Two things to keep in mind when viewing these stats:

1. This is the data based on the number of people who subscribed directly on the referenced hero post. It’s not reflecting the potential ripple effect that it has had taking into account that some may choose to click through the index for more reading on other pages too before subscribing on one of them instead.

2. I am still new on Substack and started from scratch just 2 months ago. Though this isn’t any promise that you’ll have similar results instantly, I hope it serves as inspiration for what is possible even at the relative beginning.

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I first learnt about the notion of a hero post about 10 days ago when

Russell Nohelty

shared a note about how he added a smiley face-shot as recommended by

Claire Venus

to top it off, to which loads responded: It’s so nice to see the face of who’s writing!

These comments made sense to me.

Being a creator in the online space, we always have to battle with the fears of the unknown from our audience. As such, a clear nice head shot evokes trust and likeability for the reader (especially that the texts written aren’t in fact just an AI-bot…). As a result, you’ll find a clear head-shot of me displayed on my hero post too.

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Tangent warning: If you’re anything like me, just the notion of AI writing is an instant turn-off. That’s not to say that I disregard the potential benefits it can bring. I’m just not part of the early adopters gang and preferably keep my head in the sand as I type away one letter at the time…

I guess I’m also naive enough to believe that there will always be real humans craving the connection and resonance of other real humans and those will always be my target anyway, so why bother?

On another note, this may just be my generally overwhelmed mom-brain speaking who feels that mono-focus is the only way I can advance on anything. There’s simply not enough roam-width for any AI-nonsense in this season of my life.

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Introspection before expression

Before I approach any writing for Follow your gut, I always turn inwards. For example, I mention in my hero post how I am my own ideal reader avatar, which means that I’m guided by my own intuition and preferences for how to structure a text, write the prose and build out my whole publication.

It may be worth to add that I’m also terrible at following instructions (or rather, to read them at all), which is why I have a very “learning by doing” approach to everything I take on in this passion-driven writing venture.

My idea is that if I fail fast, I’ll learn faster and hopefully that will amount to something valuable for everyone.

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7 intentional things I did (in no particular order) with respect to my hero post:

Ps. This is not intended as a how-to guide, but you’re invited to use it as inspiration if you find my reflections and arguments valuable.

1. Emailed it out

   I decided to send out my hero post as a regular newsletter because I didn’t see the purpose in writing and pinning something that can be valuable for all my readers without letting them know that it exists.

   Why not tell them about it? It didn’t make sense to me not to, so I told them. As a result I received some lovely testimonials and feedback in the comments, which enhanced the feeling of community and value of my work.
   

2. Structured like a full article

   I decided to approach the text as a full article rather than just an index/introduction as I reasoned it would serve as a first test as to what my writing style is like. If someone reads it and likes the way it’s structured and written they’re more likely to read more stuff.
   
   Furthermore, if it’s just a bunch of bullet points and/or too heavy text of your accomplishments it doesn’t feel as relevant or interesting for a potential new subscriber. At the end of the day, the goal of your writing is to make your reader feel seen and understood so make this clear from the start (this is my opinion).
   

3. Said who it’s not for

   Through my years in online art business I’ve studied endless sales and landing pages. You could say it’s a bit of an obsession (or fascination) of mine. One of the most effective features, which always intrigues me, is when the writer is clear as to who something is not for. Or reasons not to buy rather than reasons to buy.

   
   Why?

   Because everyone who has something to sell wants you to buy it. But if we position our product/service with the focus on who shouldn’t buy, we make sure that we only get the right buyer from the start and avoid a lot of headache from potentially unhappy customers.
   

4. Provided clarity about what not to expect
   In the same spirit of suggesting who my publication is not for, I also included a section of what not to expect.
   
   I’m very intentional with my writing and have clear goals of what role I want my newsletter to play in my professional artistic career. As such, it felt important to lay it out clearly for potential readers to avoid any misconceptions down the line. This will be especially important ones I turn on the paid feature. From experience, without intentionality in your online offerings, you can easy burn yourself out before you have a chance to fully blossom.
   

5. Displayed relevant experience
   By including my relevant experience in relation to the topics that I want to talk about, potential readers can instantly get a better idea of where I come from. Personally, I find it palpable when someone writes or creates from experience rather than theories, so it felt important to me to get that across.
   

6. Included a relevant testimonial
   I included one powerful testimonial at the end, which also alluded to my experience in writing from the past. Testimonials are amazing because they make your audience feel more understood and “part of something bigger” when they see that others may have thought similar things as them (or in this case, seen that someone else already valued my writing enough to make such a thoughtful and reflective message, which in and of itself may resonate with a potential reader who may be in the same boat).
   

7. Added an index at the end
   I deliberately added the index at the end instead of at the top, because I don’t want readers to click off the page before they’ve read through it and gotten a clearer idea of who I am, what I stand for and what they can get from subscribing.
   
   To make the index more “overviewable” I categorized my posts into 4 different categories:

   1. Substack Journey (this post is included in this first category, which also serves as a public real-time case study for other creatives who are “story-learners” like myself.)

   2. Creative life (and life in general)

   3. Creative Business

   4. Touch of motherhood

   
   Further reflections related to the index:

   When you write an index it becomes painfully obvious how important your headlines are. My filter for knowing whether I’ll go with a particular headline or not is to ask myself whether I’d click it if I wasn’t the author.

   
   ”If I had no idea about all the magic held in the post, would I still click the headline to read further?”

   
   The true answer to such a question shouldn’t be rational, but rather emotional. If you close your eyes as you ask yourself that question, you can feel your intuition telling you the answer with a pinch or a flutter.

   1. A pinch: Nope, wouldn’t click.

   2. A flutter: Yes, that’s exciting.

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Thank you so much for reading! Don’t hesitate to pop any potential questions into the comment section - this stuff excites me!

Elin, x

Ps. If you found this valuable please share it with others who you think will enjoy it too

And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe below for more transparent reflections about creativity, creative life and business and of course: a real time case study of the process here on Substack.

And in case you didn’t read my referenced hero post, here it is: