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Have your say in what I write about
The School of Knowledge is the weekly newsletter for SME owners and investors who want frameworks they can actually use — frameworks, checklists, and operating manuals every weekend, built to read on Sunday and use on Monday.
I made some changes to the School of Knowledge in January, and while I love Substack, it doesn’t give me a perfect picture of what my audience wants. Sure, there’s click-through rates, audience growth and engagement metrics to measure, but Substack routinely likes to remind people that they might be having ‘issues’ with metrics, and what you see might not exactly be the truth.
I planned to check in with subscribers of the School of Knowledge every few months to make sure both our interests are aligned. I have a habit of being distracted. Unfortunately I got ill—quite ill actually—shortly after releasing my vision for the year that was also followed up by surgery on my hip after tearing my cartilage. My illness from January is still ever-present with regular hospital visits and potential procedures still not of the table. It’s left me exhausted—but writing offers me not only a distraction—but a way to gain clarity. It helps turn my incoherent scattered thoughts, into coherent understanding. That’s the idea anyway.
But I’m still not a mind reader.
I can see what gets opened, what gets shared, and what gets read to the end. What I can’t see is why. I can’t see which essays changed how you think about a decision you were making. I can’t see which ones you forwarded to a partner or a colleague. I can’t see what you wish I’d write more of—or, more usefully, less of.
So I’m asking directly.
This poll takes about 10 minutes. All questions are optional, but I’d appreciate it if you could answer them all. Four questions are for paid members only, although the survey doesn’t differentiate between questions for free and paid subscribers, so again I’d appreciate it if free subscribers don’t answer them questions. The questions have (paid members only) in the question text so are easy to spot. There are no wrong answers and the most useful ones are usually the bluntest. If something I write isn’t landing, I’d rather know now than keep writing it.
A few things I’m trying to understand:
• Who’s actually reading this. Operators, investors, professionals, students, something else entirely.
• What you want more of, and what’s bouncing off you.
• For paid subscribers: whether the paid tier is earning its keep, and what would make it worth more.
• For free subscribers: what’s holding you back, and whether there’s a version of paid that would actually be worth it for you.
The results will ensure that our I keep our interests aligned. Don’t worry, i’m not going to start writing about topics that are un-TSOK, just dig a little deeper into what my audience is preferring. I’ll be sure to share a summary of what I learn in a follow-up post so you can stay informed of any changes.
For those of you that complete the survey, I will be gifting 5 people a 90-day trial and 1 person a 6 month
free membership to The School of Knowledge+
If you’ve got 10 minutes, I’d be genuinely grateful.