519. Most-liked / most-read 👁️
A list of my top newsletter posts from Substack
Hellooo 👋 So happy to have you here. I’m Kevan. I have spent 15+ years as a head of marketing for some cool tech startups. Now I’ve co-founded a brand storytelling business called Bonfire. We do coaching, advisory, and content. If you identify with creativity and marketing, we’d love for you to join us.
My most-liked / most-read Substacks
You are reading newsletter #519, which might give off the impression that I’ve written 519 newsletters. Not exactly! I’ve certainly written hundreds, but my numbering system hides the real figures: for each new year of writing on Substack, I start a new 100. So this issue you are reading is in week 19 of year five. Issue #121 would have been the 21st week of my first year; issue #349 would have been the 49th week of year three; etc, etc.
Regardless, I’ve still written a lot! (And I was writing, un-numbered, on Mailchimp before Substack.)
A couple days ago, I got an email from Substack letting me know I’m a Substack Bestseller, which is their way of acknowledging writers who have reached a certain threshold of paid subscribers. I’ve never seriously prioritized paid subscriptions (you can see what a paid subscription gets you here), but I have prioritized consistent posting. Is there a Substack Most Dependable badge?
With the Bestseller status, Substack encourages you to write a little something about the milestone. I’m not sure I would know what to say (or if I even agree with the concept of Bestsellers being rewarded above Most Dependables). Here is what others have written:
Anne Helen Petersen - Two Years
Katie Hawkins-Gaar - It all started with a text message
Ryan Broderick - This subject line is the optimal length
Gergely Orosz - My learnings a year into writing a paid newsletter
Instead, I thought I’d look back over the past five years of substack and share some of the most-read and most-liked stories from the archives. Hopefully the content and ideas still hold up. Enjoy!
Most-read
Channel Menu 2023 (looks like I need to write a new one for 2024!)
Best advice I received in 2023
Most-liked
The hard thing(s) about positioning and messsaging
How to get your first 10 customers
About this newsletter …
Hi, I’m Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I previously built brands at Oyster, Buffer, and Vox. Now I am cofounder at Bonfire, a brand storytelling company.
Each week on this substack, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
Thank you for being here! 🙇♂️
I’m lucky to count folks from great brands like these (and many more) as part of this newsletter community.
