
A gentle, effective, anti-overwhelm approach to making Substack work for you
a mini-course for small business owners, freelancers + artists
This mini-course is perfect if you want to use Substack for marketing and as an additional source of income in your business.
Curious about Substack but don’t know where to start?
Feel overwhelmed by all the options?
Eager to make your existing Substack newsletter even better?
Looking for best practices and strategies to go paid with your existing Substack?
This mini-course is for you.



“Your materials are brilliant and very meaningful. You have helped me to take some important steps to this week, and there’ll be more to come. I can already feel the difference and I can’t wait to start putting your advice into action!”
Natalie Warner
What’s included in Substack for small business owners, freelancers + artists?
The mini-course consists of three parts:
- Introduction and inspiration: examples and best practices of using Substack as a writer, small business owner, freelancer or artist;
- Setting up your Substack: including a step-by-step walk-through, which texts to personalize, using design elements and calls to action;
- Writing, sharing and growing: strategies and best practices around writing your Substack newsletter, sharing it (primarily off social media) and growing it, including adding paid subscriptions.
Each part includes:
- a video of 30 to 40 minutes in which I share all my research, best practices, examples from a variety of other Substacks and my own;
- worksheets with checklists, templates, questions to ponder + links to more inspiration and resources.
- at the end of the course you’ll have the tools and inspiration to make Substack your own, and have it be an organic part of your marketing and business.
I won’t be telling you what to do. Instead, I’ll be showing you examples of strategies that have worked for me and others so you can decide what you want to do.
What makes this mini-course so great?
I’m a natural teacher
I’m really good at making complex topics simple + accessible and create clear and easy-to-use materials.
My signature blend
My approach combines practical strategies with mindset shifts in a gentle and effective way.
Anti-overwhelm + anti-FOMO
Based on 9 months of research + my extensive experience of using and writing on Substack, the entire mini-course focuses on creating the opposite of overwhelm and FOMO.
Take a look at my Substack, Female Owned.
The online place for small business owners and freelancers who refuse to hustle. Resources, strategies and community to empower and inspire you.
Take a peek at the mini-course
Astrid has an uncanny ability to simplify muddled messes and tease out practical solutions.
Vanessa Simpson, photographer
frequently asked questions
Who is this mini-course for?
The course is aimed specifically at small business owners, freelancers and artists, and I provide examples, tips and strategies that are especially useful to all three groups.
I’ve already got a Substack newsletter. Is this course still useful for me?
Yes! I offer lots of examples to inspire you and ideas that you can try out for writing, sharing and growing. If you’re in doubt, just send me a message.
What if I’m not sure whether I want to use Substack or move my existing newsletter to Substack?
I’d recommend that you first check out this post I wrote on moving to Substack or not. But even if you end up not moving to Substack, this mini-course has lots of ideas and strategies that you can use for any kind of newsletter, no matter whether it’s a Substack-newsletter or hosted elsewhere.
How do I get access to the course?
This is an evergreen course. If you click the button below, you’ll be taken to Podia, where you can immediately pay for the course and access it once you’ve done so. The course is available to you through Podia for as long as I’m offering it.
Have a question that I didn’t answer here? Send me a message–I’d be happy to help you out.



work with me
I’d love to know more about you! If you’d like more bespoke help using Substack, setting up gentle and effective marketing or growing your slow, gentle and profitable business, I’d love to support you. Do get in touch about working together through 1:1 mentoring.