Same Principles, Different Outfits

I am a mathematician, but I don't work in mathematics.

In fact, many of my fellow mathematicians that I met in university left science and mathematics behind to work in all kinds of jobs later.

When I tried to figure out what to do after my science career and talked to a friend, he said, 'You can do everything, because people know that if you got through math, you can face almost everything. We don't study to know everything, we study to learn how to face situations where we don't know the solution but still have to find a way.'

And that applies to many situations in life. We may not have seen the exact solution, but there is a good chance that we have encountered something that can help us solve it.

Content creation works the same way. The principles that make a blog introduction work? They apply everywhere. But not everyone sees the connection.

I got a message last week from someone thanking me for the content experiments, but saying that they don't apply to them, because they are not writing blog posts but using Substack.

So when I'm optimizing my blog content - of course, this applies to other content too!

Blog optimization IS content optimization, regardless of platform.

Honestly, you don't just lose readers if your blog introduction is boring.

I have started reading Substack posts and closed them before reaching the main message because the introduction simply did not promise me anything of value for the time I spent on the content.

If you're writing on Substack (or anywhere), you want readers to:

•        sign up for a paid subscription

•        buy a product

•        engage with your content

•        share your content

If you mess up your Substack conclusion, you lose conversions just like you would on a blog.

Why I'm running these experiments on my blog:

•        I've been blogging for years with in-depth, relevant content

•        My blog content is evergreen - I can change it and measure the impact

•        My Substack is new (19 subscribers) - not enough data for meaningful stats

•        Substack works like newsletters - once sent, you can't A/B test changes

•        As someone recently said, each Substack post is like a launch - you need to get it right the first time

So here's the bottom line:

The principles I am testing - hooks, structure, conclusions, calls-to-action - work for ANY long-form content. Substack, LinkedIn articles, Medium posts, email sequences, even information-based Instagram reels or carousels.

The only difference? Blogs give you a second chance. Blog posts can peak months or years after publication, so you can optimize and test. Social media and newsletters? You get one shot. Which means understanding these principles BEFORE you hit publish is even more critical.

The angle you pursue with your content may differ for your outlets, but the same principles for content apply.

For instance, I usually open my email newsletter with a personal story or anecdote. That's a different angle than my blog posts, which focus more on knowledge and less on entertainment.

The underlying principle?

1.       I try to lure you into reading my newsletter by hooking you with a story.

2.       Then I transition the story into a content creation-related topic - I try to find topics that are of interest to you

The difference between my email introduction and a blog introduction is mainly about length:

• In my newsletter, the introduction takes up more space than in the blog post - sometimes up to almost half of the email.

• Since the newsletter is a lot shorter than a blog post, I don't summarize the benefits you will gain from reading the newsletter up front. I would consider doing that for longer launch emails.

So, even if you don't create blog posts, if you are on my newsletter, you probably create some kind of long-form content.

The optimizations I show you for my blog content can also help you improve your other long-form content.

That said, here are some minor updates on the experiments:

Introduction experiment: The data went haywire over the holidays and still hasn't settled. I need more time to get meaningful answers.

Conclusion experiment: I'm taking stock of my lead magnets and realized I need better matches for my storytelling content. Currently creating new lead magnets so I can measure the conclusion and effectiveness without confounding variables.

What kind of content do you create? Blog posts, Social media, and email? Let me know, and I can make sure that I include the type of content in my experiment considerations.

Happy Weekend - I will spend mine snuggling with my dog on the couch,

Susanna Gebauer