I Publish on Substack, Ghost, and Kit. Here's Why.

When I tell people that I publish on three different platforms, they often look at me like I'm nuts. I create content weekly on Substack, have a bi-weekly newsletter on Kit (formerly ConvertKit), and publish regularly on my blog, which is hosted by Ghost. Blog content is then cross-posted to Medium.

I'm a writer, so creating content is a natural part of "showing up online." I have very specific reasons that I publish on three different platforms. Maintaining three platforms is undoubtedly more work than choosing a single solution. But I've mastered the art of self-promotion, I can reach distinct, yet overlapping, audiences by using three different platforms. I've created loops of cross-referencing my own published work to bring more people into my content ecosystem.

And because I have great systems and automation set up, it doesn't feel like an overwhelming chore.

Here's why I've opted to use Substack, Kit, and Ghost/Medium simultaneously — and how I've created integrations between them.

Substack: The OG

Content type: Journalism-style, opinionated content with a subscription option

I started writing on Substack back in October 2021. A post I wrote about remote work went viral on LinkedIn, getting about 4 million views. When it happened, I really wished I had an existing newsletter or something because, suddenly, I had thousands of new followers and profile views. It was a huge missed opportunity. Alas.

After things calmed down (going viral like that is overwhelming), I started a Substack. I was familiar with the platform from reading articles published by other people. There are a few big benefits:

• You can add a custom domain for a one-time fee of $50 (I did this).
• There is no monthly cost, unlike a traditional website. However, if you start to monetize, Substack takes a 10% cut.
• Discoverability is good. I recommend the Substacks of people I like; they recommend me, and we can cross-promote each other.
• You can collaborate with other people on Substack, like inviting them to write a guest post or share posts.
• Substack auto-generates square and vertical images to share on social profiles.
• Substack has other features like podcasting, but I don't use these right now.

A lot of Substacks have a journalistic vibe, which is what I was going for. While I started with content about remote work, eventually, I started writing about corporate culture and why work sucks. Without knowing it at the time, I was laying the foundation for future customers: freelancers and solopreneurs. I create resources for this audience, like digital products. My Substack audience might someday become paying customers, and I'm mindful of this, so I will link to relevant content outside of Substack.

Ghost: The traditional blog

Content type: Informational, how-to content; cross-posted to Medium

Years ago, I started a blog on WordPress. Eventually, I became frustrated by that platform. It felt like a dinosaur compared to more responsive sites. I didn't have the skills to do a bunch of customization on my own, so I started searching for alternatives. I migrated my website from WordPress to Ghost. Later, I created a second blog on Ghost. And a third blog (because apparently, I don't know when to quit when it comes to writing...)

For me, Ghost is more like a traditional website than Substack. Right now, I'm using Ghost primarily for blogging, but eventually I plan to set up a full-blown homepage with different menus and sections. I just haven't hit that point yet since I'd probably need to have a website developer help me create something custom.

What I like about Ghost:

• Blog posts are emailed to website subscribers (with the option to monetize)
• You pay for hosting the website, but Ghost doesn't take a cut of your subscription revenue
• Very clean and easy to use, much better than WordPress

I publish blog posts on Ghost and articles on Substack. It feels nuanced to say this, but I think it has a lot to do with style and tone. Substack feels more like journalism, often sprinkled with my opinion. Ghost feels more like a traditional helpful and informative for the reader.

My Ghost content is aimed at my primary audience of freelancers and solopreneurs. I cross-publish the content to Medium, so I benefit in a few ways. On Ghost, I can take advantage of search engine optimization, and lately I've been seeing an uptick in traffic as some of my content has started to rank organically.

Medium, which sits behind a paywall, has the distribution advantage. I'm in many publications and have thousands of followers. I can add the canonical link from Ghost to Medium, essentially getting double benefit for a single published piece. Medium makes it really easy to import content from another platform, which I appreciate.

I have to admit, I'm not thrilled about Substack's approach to content moderation (or lack thereof). I thought about moving Substack to Ghost, but as a one-person operation, that's not feasible right now. It would take time and cost money because of how Ghost's pricing structure is different than Substack's. I'd also lose the discoverability of Substack. Ghost has "recommendations" also, but the feature is fairly new (at the time I'm writing this) and I haven't benefitted from it in any way.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): The newsletter

Content type: Bi-weekly newsletter with tips and tricks, and links to blogs and Substack

At some point in 2022, I decided that I needed a newsletter: a very different style than the long-form content I write on Substack and Ghost. My newsletter is short: in each issue, I share a reflection, a tip, and a product or tool.

Kit's main selling point is the behind-the-scenes automation. I have all types of funnels set up — including welcome sequences for Substack and Ghost. All of my email subscribers, from all platforms, converge in Kit, though I'm very careful to only send my newsletter to people who are actually expecting that content.

Read more: How to send subscribers from Substack to Kit

What I like about Kit:

• Automation, automation, automation.
• Email sequences
• Landing pages
• Really good analytics (much better than Substack and Ghost)
• Audience segmentation

Some things I can do with Kit, like sending emails based on audience groups or tags, simply aren't possible with Substack or Ghost. But, Kit isn't a blogging platform. I have a Creator Profile, but it's much different than a website home page.

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How my content ecosystem works

I'm mindful that people reading my content have distinct expectations, so I want to give them what they expect while also leading them to other content (if they choose). Here's how it works:

1. I publish to my blog (Ghost) and cross-post to Medium. Each post has a relevant CTA at the bottom, inviting the reader to download one of my free resources on Gumroad.
2. Gumroad is directly integrated with Kit, so the people who downloaded are added to my email newsletter.
3. My email newsletter in Kit includes links to recently published content, such as Substack and my blog posts.
4. I interview people for my Substack, which gets me in front of someone else's audience when it is shared.
5. Blog posts and Substack will have internal links to each other.
6. I use Zapier to add subscribers' email addresses from Substack and my blog to Kit. I do not add these people to my newsletter — I only have the email addresses added for a special announcement.
7. On social platforms, I'll talk about work culture (Substack audience), solopreneur/freelance life (Ghost audience), and tips and tricks (newsletter audience). I share the published content across social platforms also.
8. I have a landing page (built with Kit) that links to all content.

Here are a few things I know about my audience:

• People in my Sustack audience might quit their corporate jobs one day. In which case, my solopreneur audience is relevant.
• People who subscribe to my newsletter might be solopreneurs, but they might not be — the content is relevant to anyone looking for tips/tricks. This has the largest appeal.
• My most-consumed content is aimed at freelancers and solopreneurs. My blog — which contains most of this content — can easily be repurposed into other formats, such as social posts, video scripts, or carousels. I use AI and automation to help with this process.

Choose the tool that's best for the job

Do I wish everything were on a single platform? Yes. But also, not really.

I always want the best tool for a job. Not an all-in-one tool that does things halfway.

Substack is good for discoverability. Ghost is good for building an actual website with a blog. Kit is good for newsletters, automation, and landing pages. I don't want to give up any of these things, because they're all important to the audience I'm trying to reach. As long as I show up consistently, all three are effective.

But one thing that's critical — across all three platforms — is the ability to land in people's inboxes. I never take that for granted either: inboxes are noisy and people will quickly unsubscribe if the content isn't valuable. I'm here to deliver, however people find me.

Check out my free eBook — a guide for creators looking to better manage their time and content across multiple platforms.