With CashApp, you leave the world of Stripe and PayPal behind you and make your monetization more robust. You won’t be canceled on all three platforms at the same time. CashApp is owned by Block Inc., which was formerly Square.

CashApp can be used only in the USA and the UK; international usage is impossible. However, both countries have a solid user base, with more than 50 million users.

You might ask now:

“Why are you telling us a solution not usable in more countries?”

I want to inform you that PayPal and Stripe are more expensive—PayPal costs between 3.2% and 11.0% for domestic payments, and Stripe costs between 5.9% and 33.0%.

With CashApp, you pay 0.0% if you use a private account (not allowed for business) and a flat fee of 2.75% with a business account.

Wow!

Think about it.

Let's assume you generate $10,000 in yearly revenue on Substack. Then you have payment costs if you pay an average of 8% to Stripe (and that is modest) of $800. And you pay 10% to Substack, which results in $1,000. $1,000 for a platform that is flawed in many aspects, often causes problems, and lacks professional support.

Your cost of operation with Substack is very high—18% of your income, or $1,800 in this use case. That is a higher “tax rate” at Substack than many small business owners suffer from the IRS.

You pay $1,800 literally for nothing. With CashApp, you go down to $275 or nothing (not allowed).

Have you ever earned $1,525 faster?

That is not the real effect because not all your customers use CashApp. But you can ask them and explain why you prefer payments via CashApp. In my experience over the years, many customers honor such requests. Especially with CashApp, the use is easy and self-explanatory for the customer.

Interested?

Here we go:

1. Download or open the CashApp on your phone or tablet

Register a CashApp account or log in to your account

Click on Settings — the personal symbol in the upper-right corner.

2. Find your QR Code

Click on the QR code symbol in the upper right corner.

3. Make a screenshot of your QR Code

Click on “My Code” and screenshot the QR Code.

You also see your $cashtag in the second line. Note it

.

IMPORTANT!

With CashApp, you cannot produce codes with a preset amount.

Therefore, I recommend explaining its use each time you integrate it into your Substack.

4. Insert the CashApp link to your Substack on the page you need it

Open the menu “Button” in your Substack editor and click “Custom.”

5. Generate the CashApp payment button for your Substack

In the first line, insert the text for your button; in the second line, insert the payment link which is always

https://cash.app/$cashtag

Replace $cashtag with your own $cashtag. For example, for LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS this is the link: https://cash.app/$LiveWithoutLimitsNow

6. Insert the QR code and text to get support above your payment button; I have created a sample below that you can adopt.

You can also integrate several different payment links; in the example, I have also added Paypal and Stripe.

Example for your usage:

With this QR code, you can support SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART via CashApp. There is no preset amount, so please feel free to give whatever you want and can give. Every support is appreciated.

If you paid for a subscription, please send an email to (insert your email address here) and include your $cashtag and registered Substack email to activate your subscription. Thank you!

If you cannot scan it, please click on smartphones the button below to open your CashApp. Just insert your amount and send the payment!

Thank you!

IMPORTANT LAST STEP:

If you use any of those payment solutions for your subscriptions, which I highly recommend, you must manually activate the subscription for every user.

1. Go to “Subscribers” in your dashboard.

2. Search for the email of your subscriber.

3. Click on the email.

4. Click on “Edit subscription.”

   

5. Choose under Comp the desired term and click “Comp”

   

That’s it!

• You created your individualized CashApp payment link for your Substack!

• You also learned to integrate different payment solutions below each other.

• You learned how to activate a subscription.

  ---

You can use one of the above links to support SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART!

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Here, you can learn why you should never use BuyMeACoffee:

SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART

“Buy Me A Coffee!” No! Save Money!

An often-asked question from my subscribers is whether they want to support me but don’t want to subscribe. They would like to pay for content they like in small amounts—1, 2, 5, or 10 USD or EUR or GBP or …

Listen now

2 years ago · 4 likes · 4 comments · LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS with Klaus

Some folks might think that's “Cool” now and believe they can use the “Request Money” feature to receive funds with no fees. As much as I can understand this because every way to avoid fee robbery is more than welcome, I must warn you that this is not a good way. Sooner than later, PayPal registers this, and then you might be blocked for a long time.

The easiest way to use PayPal for Substackers is through paypal.me-links. The astronomical fees you can find below.

You might ask now:

“Why are you telling us a solution that is even pricier than Stripe?”

I want to make you aware that the most common solution — paypal.me-links — cost you between 7.9–52.0% (Stripe 5.9–33.0%) for domestic payments and international payments between 9.4–53.0% (Stripe 8.5–36.0%)

National use paypal.me:

• $1 payment: 2.99% → $0.03 + $0.49 → $0.52 → 52.0% fee

• $2 payment: 2.99% → $0.06 + $0.49 → $0.55 → 27.5% fee

• $3 payment: 2.99% → $0.09 + $0.49 → $0.58 → 19.3% fee

• $4 payment: 2.99% → $0.12 + $0.49 → $0.61 → 15.3% fee

• $5 payment: 2.99% → $0.15 + $0.49 → $0.64 → 12.8% fee

• $10 payment: 2.99% → $0.30 + $0.49 → $0.79 → 7.9% fee

International use paypal.me:

• $1 payment: 4.49% → $0.04 + $0.49 → $0.53 → 53.0% fee

• $2 payment: 4.49% → $0.09 + $0.49 → $0.58 → 29.0% fee

• $3 payment: 4.49% → $0.13 + $0.49 → $0.62 → 20.6% fee

• $4 payment: 4.49% → $0.18 + $0.49 → $0.67 → 16.75% fee

• $5 payment: 4.49% → $0.22 + $0.49 → $0.71 → 14.2% fee

• $10 payment: 4.49% → $0.45 + $0.49 → $0.94 → 9.4% fee

But there is good news!

QR-Code-Transactions cost “only” 2.29% plus $0.09. So the fees look now much friendlier:

• $1 payment: 2.29% → $0.02 + $0.09 → $0.11 → 11.0% fee

• $2 payment: 2.29% → $0.05 + $0.09 → $0.14 → 7.0% fee

• $3 payment: 2.29% → $0.07 + $0.09 → $0.16 → 5.3% fee

• $4 payment: 2.29% → $0.10 + $0.09 → $0.19 → 4.8% fee

• $5 payment: 2.29% → $0.11 + $0.09 → $0.20 → 4.0% fee

• $10 payment: 2.29% → $0.23 + $0.09 → $0.32 → 3.2% fee

Foreign payments are also 2.29% and have different fixed local upcharges comparable to $0.09.

Do you understand now why using PayPal might make sense to you?

QR-Code-Transactions cost around a third of Stripe!

Interested?

Here we go:

1. Download or open the PayPal App on your phone or tablet

Steps 1 to 8 apply for private accounts. For business accounts, proceed with step 9.

Register a Paypal account or log in to your account

Click on the QR Code symbol.

2. Find your QR Code

Click on “Your code”.

3. Find your Seller QR code

Click on “Show your Seller QR code”

4. Seller QR code page

click “Get started”.

5. QR code with options

Now, you see your seller code with your name at the top and your initials or your profile picture in the middle. At the bottom, you can choose from three options.

1. Insert amount/tip

2. Download code

3. Help

Click on option 1.

6. Specifying the payment amount

I recommend producing several barcodes for the payment amounts you need.

Click on “Add an amount”.

7. Produce the code with a fixed amount

Tick “Add an Amount” and insert the desired amount.

Click “Apply settings”.

8. Your individualized QR code is ready

Click on option 2 (from step 5) and download your barcode to your phone.

It is stored with your photos. Send it from there to your computer and store it there.

You must repeat steps 5 to 8 for every individual amount you want to collect.

If you don’t insert an amount, the customer can insert any desired amount.

Proceed with step 16.

9. Download or open the PayPal App on your phone or tablet

Register a Paypal business account or log in to your account

Click on “Get Paid”.

10. Choose the way to get paid

Click on “Show QR code”.

11. Generate your Seller QR code

Click on “Get Started”.

12. QR code with options

Now, you see your seller code with your name at the top and your initials or your profile picture in the middle. At the bottom, you can choose from three options.

1. Insert amount/tip

2. Download code

3. Help

Click on option 1.

13. Specifying the payment amount

I recommend producing several barcodes for the payment amounts you need.

Click on “Add an amount”.

14. Produce the code with a fixed amount

Tick “Add an Amount” and insert the desired amount.

Click “Apply settings”.

15. Your individualized QR code is ready

Click on option 2 (from step 12) and download your barcode to your phone.

It is stored with your photos. Send it from there to your computer and store it there.

You must repeat steps 5 to 8 for every individual amount you want to collect.

If you don’t insert an amount, the customer can insert any desired amount.

16. Get your payment link

Scan your barcode with your photo app and copy the link to an email to yourself

17. Insert the link to your Substack on the page you need it

Open the menu “Button” in your Substack editor and click on “Custom”.

17. Generate the payment button for your Substack

In the first line, insert the text for your button; in the second line, insert the payment link you generated from your PayPal QR code.

18. Insert the QR code and text for getting support over your payment button; I have created a sample that you can adopt.

With this QR code, you can support SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART via PayPal. Can you scan it? On smartphones, you can click the button below to open your PayPal App. Thank you!

That’s it!

You created your individualized PayPal payment for your Substack!

You are invited to use it to support SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART!

You don’t use PayPal?

No problem. Here you can see the button we created in Monetization 2 for Stripe, and you are more than welcome to use it:

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Here, you can learn to do the same for Stripe:

SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART

Build your own Stripe Payment-Links

The fastest way to start monetizing outside the Substack subscription model is to build your own Stripe payment links…

Listen now

2 years ago · LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS with Klaus

Why?

If you have decided to offer paid subscriptions for your Substack, you must have signed up with Stripe and now own a Stripe account. Therefore, using this account for your monetizations, in addition to your subscription model, is easy.

First, let’s look at the prices we must pay for Stripe here on Substack and elsewhere. It sounds great — 2.9% of the transaction plus $0.30 in the US. Let’s do the math:

• $1 payment: 2.9% → $0.03 + $0.30 → $0.33 → 33.0% fee

• $2 payment: 2.9% → $0.06 + $0.30 → $0.36 → 18.0% fee

• $3 payment: 2.9% → $0.09 + $0.30 → $0.39 → 13.0% fee

• $4 payment: 2.9% → $0.12 + $0.30 → $0.42 → 10.5% fee

• $5 payment: 2.9% → $0.15 + $0.30 → $0.45 → 9.0% fee

• $10 payment: 2.9% → $0.29 + $0.30 → $0.59 → 5.9% fee

On top of this, you pay various surcharges: 1.5% for international cards, fraud prevention, and more charges. My experience with international charges is that you always end up above 5%, sometimes 6%. Plus 30 Cents. So for international charges - and that is much more than you believe — the math looks this way:

• $1 payment: 5.5% → $0.06 + $0.30 → $0.36 → 36.0% fee

• $2 payment: 5.5% → $0.11 + $0.30 → $0.41 → 21.0% fee

• $3 payment: 5.5% → $0.16 + $0.30 → $0.46 → 15.3% fee

• $4 payment: 5.5% → $0.22 + $0.30 → $0.52 → 13.0% fee

• $5 payment: 5.5% → $0.28 + $0.30 → $0.58 → 11.9% fee

• $10 payment: 5.5% → $0.55 + $0.30 → $0.85 → 8.5% fee

For international payments, small transactions always cause costs beyond 10%.

Is it advisable to pay such high fees?

I don’t recommend this in general for monetization, but occasionally, there are scenarios where it can make sense.

Some may even say I'm not concerned about the fees because they have higher price tags, which reduce the percentage of fees.

I recommend setting up some payment links because they can always be a good backup solution when other solutions fail, which we will cover in the next episodes.

Here we go:

1. Head to the settings area of your Stripe account

Clickunder “Products” on “Payments” and click on “Payment Links”:

2. Create a payment link

Click now on “Create payment link”.

3. Create a new product

Click on “Add new product”.

4. Add your product details

• Add the name of your product

• Add a description for your product (not mandatory, but highly recommended)

• Add your logo (not mandatory, but highly recommended)

• “More options” - not needed

• Choose “Recurring or “One off”

• Insert amount, choose currency

• Enable or disable “Adaptive Pricing”

• “More pricing options” not needed

• Click on “Add product”

5. Review the payment page

You can generally leave it as Stripe does, but you can adjust the settings.

Click on “After payment” page.

6. Review the after-payment page

You can personalize your after-payment page with a personal message to your customer. There is no right or wrong; it is your personal note.

Click on “Create link”.

7. Copy your payment link

Click on the symbol beside the link and store the link with Ctrl V into a document.

8. Insert the link to your Substack on the page you need it

Open in your Substack editor the menu “Button” and click on “Custom”.

9. Generate the payment button for your Substack

In the first line, insert the text for your button, and in the second line, insert the payment link you have generated on Stripe.

That’s it!

You created your first individualized payment button for your Substack!

Here you can see the button we just created above, and you are more than welcome to use it:

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Here, you can learn why you should never use BuyMeACoffee:

SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART

“Buy Me A Coffee!” No! Save Money!

An often-asked question from my subscribers is whether they want to support me but don’t want to subscribe. They would like to pay for content they like in small amounts—1, 2, 5, or 10 USD or EUR or GBP or …

Listen now

2 years ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS with Klaus

This is another one of those.

What does this mean?

On the internet, two things are never negotiable:

Security and privacy.

Period.

As a side note, this applies not only to the internet, but that’s not our job here.

The most important setting on Substack is two-factor authentication.

If you now say, “Two-factor what?” — No problem, I’ll explain it to you soon.

Before one quick question:

If your answer is yes, read on. We’ll cover all of your account's security and privacy settings.

If you answer no, you’ll solve a real security concern today. Can you do this if you are not tech-savvy?

There is good news!

It is easy to accomplish this with my little guide.

Here we go:

1. Head to the settings area of your personal account

Click in the top right corner on your personal icon and choose Settings.

2. Scroll down to the end for Security

Click on Turn on.

BTW — this should sit at the very start!

3. Turn on two-factor authentication

If you still have the necessary app on your phone, scan the barcode and activate two-factor authentication for Substack. You are done.

If you are new to this, I have some advice. You can turn on two-factor authentication on more and more websites, and you should must do this wherever it is available.

You need a free phone app for this. I recommend using Authy, but you can also use the other options Substack has listed.

After you have installed the app, scan the barcode.

You now have your Substack entry in the app, which shows you a new numerical 6-digit code every 30 seconds. Insert this code during the thirty seconds to the Substack page and press Submit.

4. You have successfully activated two-factor authentication

Your security area looks now like this:

And your Login-page asks for your second factor

Mission accomplished!

But let’s take a second look at Security:

Please activate the email verification for subscribing. This makes it impossible for malicious actors to impersonate your account. And yes, this happens all day on the internet and Substack.

Moreover, please activate the recovery questions as an additional security layer for your account.

Now we look at Privacy, just atop of Security on the settings page:

I recommend not showing your likes on your profile because this allows any actor on Substack—even external parties—to profile you perfectly. It is good that you can choose to shut it off.

Mentions are helpful for you. Therefore, you should leave them on or switch them on.

The same advantage applies to allowing being cited in guest posts, which raises your visibility.

One last point

Shut off showing your reads

You can actively recommend every other Substack. However, showing your Reads publicly on your Substack is not a good idea privacy-wise. The same concerns which apply to your likes. They help profile and misuse your data, in the best case, just for spamming you.

1. Open your profile page

Click on your name in the upper-right corner.

2. Scroll down to Reads

Switch all from green to gray.

That’s it!

You have optimized your security and privacy settings.

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Substack does not support such a model, despite the fact that I have read dozens of discussions related to this. However, I learned meanwhile that Substack does not prioritize the wishes and needs of the writers.

So the writers helped themselves, and you find, meanwhile, on many Substacks the integration of Buy Me A Coffee-Links to close this gap. This is understandable, but is it smart?

No, using Buy Me A Coffee is anything but smart.

Let’s make a little sidestep here. I have run and organized online businesses for twenty-five years and have learned over time that small retailers have no clue about their payment costs. That probably applies to Substack businesses, too. They get told that the cost of the payment processor is very reasonable and can be neglected.

Really?

Let’s look at the prices we must pay for Stripe here on Substack and elsewhere. It sounds great — 2.9% of the transaction plus $0.30 in the US. Let’s do the math:

• $1 payment: 2.9% → $0.03 + $0.30 → $0.33 → 33.0% fee

• $2 payment: 2.9% → $0.06 + $0.30 → $0.36 → 18.0% fee

• $3 payment: 2.9% → $0.09 + $0.30 → $0.39 → 13.0% fee

• $4 payment: 2.9% → $0.12 + $0.30 → $0.42 → 10.5% fee

• $5 payment: 2.9% → $0.15 + $0.30 → $0.45 → 9.0% fee

• $10 payment: 2.9% → $0.29 + $0.30 → $0.59 → 5.9% fee

On top of this, you pay various surcharges: 1.5% for international cards, fraud prevention, and more charges. My experience with international charges is that you always end up above 5%, sometimes 6%. Plus 30 Cents. So for international charges - and that is much more than you believe — the math looks this way:

• $1 payment: 5.5% → $0.06 + $0.30 → $0.36 → 36.0% fee

• $2 payment: 5.5% → $0.11 + $0.30 → $0.41 → 21.0% fee

• $3 payment: 5.5% → $0.16 + $0.30 → $0.46 → 15.3% fee

• $4 payment: 5.5% → $0.22 + $0.30 → $0.52 → 13.0% fee

• $5 payment: 5.5% → $0.28 + $0.30 → $0.58 → 11.9% fee

• $10 payment: 5.5% → $0.55 + $0.30 → $0.85 → 8.5% fee

For international payments, small transactions always cause costs beyond 10%.

The use of Buy Me a Coffee worsens this because they charge 5% for their “Service.” You can even pay for your donor's credit card fees, so you are ending up with these costs:

• $1 payment: 36.0% fee + 5% → 41.0% for Buy Me A Coffee

• $2 payment: 21.0% fee + 5% → 26.0% for Buy Me A Coffee

• $3 payment: 15.3% fee + 5% → 20.3% for Buy Me A Coffee

• $4 payment: 13.0% fee + 5% → 18.0% for Buy Me A Coffee

• $5 payment: 11.9% fee + 5% → 16.9% for Buy Me A Coffee

• $10 payment: 8.5% fee + 5% → 13.5% for Buy Me A Coffee

So, using Buy Me A Coffee costs up to 41% for small payments—or even more if you cover the credit card charge for your donors.

Does it make sense to do this?

Your decision.

Fun fact:

Stripe owns Buy Me A Coffee. Isn’t it a smart concept to pay double fees to your payment processor?

Some may now say: “I don’t care.”

Ok, have a good one.

This proves that you might never run a successful business; cutting costs is important for every business.

Payment processing fees are a burden for every business. Consider why many restaurants and small businesses charge 2, 3, or 4% for credit card use nowadays: They can't afford these overhead costs anymore. Your Substack is a small business if you want or must generate income from it.

But:

There is good news!

You can avoid many fees and wipe them even down below 1%!

I will explain to you how:

1. You can integrate to your Substack Stripe Payment Links (expensive); see above. I will show you this in Monetization 2.

2. You can integrate to your Substack PayPal (expensive); similar to Stripe. I will show you this in Monetization 3.

3. You can integrate CashApp to your Substack for a 2.75% flat fee or 0% if you use your private CashApp. I will show you this in Monetization 4.

4. If your bank supports Zelle payment, you can use it. Most banks charge no fees. If your bank does not support Zelle, consider opening an account with Zelle payment. Ally is an online bank that accepts Zelle payments. The complete list can be found here. I will show you the integration in Monetization 5.

5. You can integrate Krypto payment into your Substack at zero cost. I will show you how to do this in Monetization 6.

6. You can integrate ACH and SEPA payments into your Substack for 0.5% fees. I will show you the integration in Monetization 7.

7. For all countries not covered by the above payment solutions, I will show you how to integrate every payment solution into your Substack. I will show you the integration in Monetization 8. You are welcome to ask for special integrations in the comments.

SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART teaches you how to monetize your Substack in many more smart ways than the few possibilities Substack offers.

That’s it!

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

This piece covers Robert Malone’s problems with Stripe. Whatever you think about him, this has also happened to many other authors, providers, and small businesses.

This is one of those.

What does this mean?

The default setting on Substack is that you use a subdomain of Substack, e.g., substackwriters.substack.com. In this example, substack.com is the domain, and substackwriters is the subdomain.

Or for SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART, the Substack domain is s101k.substack.com.

If you have chosen cookingworld for your Substack name, your domain name is cookingworld.substack.com. So far, so easy. And yes, you can change your name for your subdomain, but that is not our subject here.

What does this setup mean for you?

Does Substack follow the WEF agenda?

I don’t know.

If you use Substack for your domain, as most writers do, you might end up owning nothing.

But you won’t be happy if you end there.

You can’t imagine this?

Substack owns your domain and every other subdomain used on Substack if it uses substack.com.

Period.

Is this smart?

Yes, for Substack.

But not for you.

If whoever, whichever, and whenever, decides to end the use of the domain you use now, you can end up canceled. You don’t exist anymore on the internet. You are gone. If you have, at this point, not secured your subscriber list and not secured your content, you will end up nowhere.

Nonetheless, even if you have secured it for a restart elsewhere, you will start for all search engines worldwide (DuckDuckGo, Swisscows, Startpage, and many more. I don’t mention here the internet criminals starting with G and B) from zero. All links will be gone, and all your history is worthless. And that is huge!

Will this happen?

I don’t know, but it is possible. Similar things have happened regularly in the short history of the internet, and that is why it is irresponsible not to be prepared for this scenario.

THEREFORE, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR OWN DOMAIN!

But:

There is good news!

It is easy to get it accomplished if you have some knowledge of the internet stuff.

It is also easy for all newbies to use the 27 steps of how-to outlined below.

Here we go:

1. Head to namecheap.com or your favorite domain reseller

Buy your favorite domain; this starts at around $10 per year. It would be nice if your domain name were related to your Substack title, but unnecessary. Avoid the use of brand names and protected IP. coketiger.com might not be the best idea if you want to avoid discussions with Atlanta. Every normal word or word combination might be good for you.

If you produce content that is critical of whatever, and the (local) government is not your best friend, I recommend choosing a domain reseller in a region/jurisdiction where you expect the least restrictions.

2. Head to cloudflare.com and open a free account

This is important for being flexible when your website goes offline for whatever reason in the future. It is not mandatory for your own domain, but I strongly recommend it. With Cloudflare, you can change your DNS entries within seconds from anywhere you have an internet connection.

This is not possible with the DNS systems of the many domain registrars. I also cannot explain here the use of all possible frontends of domain registrars. If you prefer to stick with whatever registrar's DNS system you can do, but I will not explain these systems to you.

3. After registering the account go to Home on Cloudflare

Click on “Add a site”.

4. Insert your domain name on the next screen

Click on “Continue”.

5. Choose the Free plan

Click on “Confirm plan.”

6. Ignore the next window

Click on “Start quick scan”.

7. Ignore the next window

Click on “Continue”.

8. Now you can see for the first time your Cloudflare nameservers

Note your nameservers. In most cases, these are:

• max-ns.cloudflare.com

• olga-ns.cloudflare.com

Wait and head over to your domain registrar.

9. Login to your dashboard on namecheap.com or your chosen domain registrar

On namecheap.com, click “Domain List,” and you will see your just-bought domain.

Click on “Manage”.

10. Insert your nameservers

Under “nameservers,” choose “Custom DNS” and insert your nameservers from step 8. Save them.

10. Go back to Cloudflare, where you stopped with step 8

Click on “Continue” and you will see the screen “Review”.

Click now on “Continue to domain.xyz overview”.

11. Now you see the Overview page for your new domain

12. Wait for the activation notification email from Cloudflare

This needs normally 60-120 minutes.

13A. Sign in to your Substack or

13B. If you are signed in

and you are not in the Admin console, click on Dashboard in the upper-right corner:

14. On your dashboard, click on “Settings”

15. On the left pane, click on “Domain”

16. In the section “Domain,” click on “Add custom domain”

17. Insert your payment data for the one-time fee of $50

Click “Unlock custom domain”.

18. Insert your domain name on the next screen

Note the CNAME entry, which you must enter on Cloudflare. It is always as shown in the screenshot.

Stop here and head over to Cloudflare.

19. Go to the DNS section of your dashboard at Cloudflare

Enter the record you noted on Substack (step 18).

IMPORTANT: Choose “DNS only”

Click “Save”.

You will see after saving this dashboard with the entry:

20. Go to Substack where you left in Step 18

Click on “Save and continue,” and you will see this screen:

21. You can now click “Check status,” and you will receive the information “Everything looks good; we need some hours.”

Your domain section has now changed on your dashboard; you can see there the status of your activation:

For SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART I waited 100 minutes for the confirmation email:

22. CONGRATULATIONS!

You have freed yourself from the Substack DNS system and are now your own boss.

23. Send all traffic for your new domain to your Substack

This means not only the traffic for www.testdomain.xyz goes to your Substack but also all traffic for testdomain.xyz. I strongly recommend doing this.

Head back to the section “Domain” on your dashboard, and you will see a new button.

Click “Setup redirects”.

24. You see the window with the necessary DNS settings

Note the CNAME entry, which you must enter on Cloudflare. It is always as shown in the screenshot.

Stop here and head over to Cloudflare.

25. Go to the DNS section of your dashboard at Cloudflare

Enter the record you noted on Substack (step 24).

IMPORTANT: Choose “DNS only”

Click “Save”.

You will see after saving this dashboard with the entry:

26. Go to Substack where you left in Step 24

Click on “Setup root domain redirects”.

You see the status page, which you can also invoke from the domain section of your dashboard.

27. CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, YOU ARE TOTALLY FREE NOW!

As soon as the nameservers and the Substack system have updated, your Substack will be reachable under your own domain, www.testdomain.xyz, and—if you followed my recommendation—also under testdomain.xyz.

From now on, YOU can independently decide where your valuable content is hosted, and nobody can shut you ever down.

That’s it!

Do you enjoy SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART?

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Yes, second most. If you lose your content, that is terrible. But in the end, you can reproduce some or all of it. If you lose customers, restoring the relationship is not in your hands if you have no contact data. Therefore, your email list is your most indispensable asset.

Of course, your content follows closely with your email list; if you lose it, you are also in a desperate situation. Therefore, we have three simple rules in the web hosting industry:

1. Back up your content.

2. Back up your content.

3. Back up your content.

Period.

Some readers may now say: “But therefore, I rely on Substack; they (must) do it professionally for me!”

Theoretically, you are right. But only theoretically.

Guess how many losses of content I saw in the last 25 years. Just me.

I have not counted them over the years, but there were months when I saw one nearly every day. So, I guess I saw over 1,000 losses over the years—small losses, big losses, solopreneurs, large international companies. Many had backup strategies in place but never confirmed their backups, but some countless small companies and solopreneurs didn’t even know they had to take care of their backups.

There have also been data losses on big social media websites—constantly. Moreover, on Substack, you can experience constant flaws: missing subscribers, wrong payment/cancellation information, flawed email delivery, and inconsistent stats—in total, more flaws than on any other platform I’ve ever used. Personally, I have not detected damaged/lost content so far, but that is no proof for all Substackers.

I assume you understand now why taking care of the backup of your content is crucial for your success.

How often you must do a backup?

As a rule of thumb, every time your data changes. That means every time you publish new content.

I see all the question marks in your eyes now! I hear your OMG!

But:

There is good news!

It is easy, even if you have no clue about all this stuff!

Here we go:

1A. Sign in to your Substack or

1B. If you are signed in

And you are not in the Admin console, click on Dashboard in the upper-right corner:

2. On your dashboard, click on “Settings”

3. On the left pane, click on “Exports”

4. In the section “Exports” click on “Create new export”

5. Wait until the export is finished, then click on “Download”

Exports of large Substacks can take some minutes. Store the export file (a zip file) in a folder on your computer.

You also receive the information via email that your data is ready to download.

You can also use this button to download your data.

That’s it!

You have secured your content. Congratulations!

Really?

The zip file contains:

• the file posts.csv, which contains all details regarding your posts, including the chosen URL (important for seamless restoring)

• the file email_list.grenzenlosleben.csv, which contains your “complete” email list (this email list is often flawed and usually misses hundreds of subscribers)

• The folder posts contain HTML files containing your written content. Pictures of your content are not included; only links to the Substack CDN (Content Delivery Network) are included in the HTML files. The Substack CDN is running on Amazon AWS.

The zip file does not contain your videos and your audio content! Also none of your drafts are included.

Ouch!

Now, there are only two “little” issues left.

• You need a real, complete backup strategy after having downloaded Substack’s half-baked solution

• You must remember to download this after every change in your content

These issues we solve in the upcoming Basics.

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

Your Email list results from your hard work for your Substack, and you must compare it to the customer list of every other business. Customers are the core of every business, and your subscribers are your customers, free and paid. Especially if you make your living or a critical part of it from your Substack, you must care about your Email list with the utmost attention.

Therefore, you should save your Email list daily.

I hear you say: “Daily!?”

Yes, that is my recommendation if every day new subscribers sign up for your Stack.

Why this?

EVERY subscriber counts. These are your friends, and we never let friends go down! But if you rely on Substack …

Substack screws up his own systems on a pretty regular basis. Everybody who has been here for a while has experienced this, more or less. Big accounts have lost hundreds of subscribers due to such problems, and Substack has never handled such problems transparent and trustworthy — at least up to today.

Therefore, you must back up your hopefully fast-growing list as often as you get new customers → subscribers. So, let’s assume that it is daily for all successful stackers.

There is good news!

It is easy, even if you have no clue about all this stuff!

Here we go:

1A. Sign in to your Substack or

1B. If you are signed in

And you are not in the Admin console, click on Dashboard in the upper-right corner:

2. On your dashboard, click on “Subscribers”

3. Click on “Export” for “All subscribers” and “Paid subscribers”

Click each button separately and store each export to a folder of your choice on your computer.

That’s it!

You have secured your Email lists. Congratulations!

Now, there remains only one little issue.

You must remember to download this every day.

This issue we solve in one of the next Basics.

You don’t want to miss this? So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack by subscribing to SUBSTACK 101 KICKSTART. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!

In addition to the excellent feature of owning your email list, you must ask many questions when you use this platform to be on the safe side. This is especially true when you generate income on Substack and must secure this income stream long-term.

I will tell you just a few for now:

• What happens to my page if Substack cancels me?

• What happens if Stripe cancels me?

• How do I set up my Substack from a marketing perspective?

• How do I generate subscribers?

• Can I control followers, and what is the difference to subscribers?

• How do I generate paid subscribers?

• How do I design my emails?

• How do I control my email delivery?

• How does marketing work on Substack?

• Does it make SEO (Search engine optimization) sense on Substack?

• Writing, podcasting, videos - what makes sense for me?

Just eleven questions out of so many more.

Eleven, because eleven is a powerful angel number.

You can find more on this in my offering, LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS.

Sounds good?

Is good!

So join my amazing journey with you and your Substack. We’ll have fun, and I promise you for your Substack:

The best is yet to come!