Here’s the replay from this week’s peer-to-peer mastermind session with Claire Venus ✨
Ai summary - thanks Claude ai.
Claire is the founder of Creatively Conscious Ltd and the creator of Sparkle on Substack, a membership for soulful creatives building joyful, sustainable businesses. She started on Substack in 2022 and has grown to almost 20,000 subscribers across four publications.
Veronica is a writer, public speaker, and author of The Anti-Procrastinator (Penguin Random House). She runs 3 publications on Substack:
The Lemon Tree Mindset: mindset and strategy to grow a writing-speaking business
El Limonero (Spanish version)
The Lemon Tree Academy: Group training and cohorts like the upcoming Public Speaking Bootcamp 🎤
What they talked about
Time zones and inclusive community design.
Both serve global audiences and run group live calls to build community. Veronica describes being “big on accessibility, big on inclusion” so that all participants can join. Claire runs a 9:30am and a 3pm call monthly so members across all time zones can show up live.
Quality over quantity in content
Veronica introduced her serialization strategy: pick one topic, break it into connected pieces, and take readers on a journey rather than publishing disconnected content.
“It took me from chaotic inspiration to a much more mindful and planful way of creating.”
She also encouraged repurposing existing work rather than always creating from scratch, using her own book-to-course journey as the example.
“Try to make the most of what you already have and try to think differently, not necessarily doing more.”
Using data to understand your audience
Claire shared how she’s been using Claude AI to analyze her Substack data in a completely new way.
“Since I started using Claude AI, honestly, it has blown my mind in terms of what I can command and understand of my Substack data.”
She also talked honestly about her complicated relationship with the dashboard, calling her old habit of obsessively checking numbers “probably quite abusive” to herself, and describing how she’s moved toward a more grounded, data-informed approach.
The reality of churn
Both have become Substack Bestsellers, yet churn is a reality they deal with every day. Veronica shared that she deleted 500 inactive subscribers in a single exercise and described the unexpected relief she felt.
“I felt so relieved when I actually removed these 500 people. I actually did something that is totally aligned with the business that I want to build.”
Both agreed that the real filter isn’t the number, it’s the depth of connection. Veronica’s measure?
“The ones who are here are the ones who know that I have two daughters, who know my dog’s name. That’s the ultimate filter.”
And on the growth journey more broadly:
“Growth, when it happens, is like a teenager, is a growth spurt. And then there’s the plateau.”
Monetization: beyond paid subscriptions
Veronica was candid about the free-to-paid conversion reality. Substack’s official figure is 5-10% but she sees around 3% and thinks that’s still strong. Her advice was to stop having a “tunnel vision” about paid subscriptions.
“I had a tunnel vision into this idea of ‘I have to monetize through paid subscriptions.’ And then I realized that that’s a really nice bonus but the real gem is building your own community.”
She also outlined a generous paywall philosophy: share the bulk of the insight for free, put the how-to and implementation piece behind the paywall.
“It’s almost like, ‘I told you the recipe, now you’re going to see me cooking.’”
The B2B opportunity
Veronica made a strong case for adding a corporate angle to your offer, sharing that a bootcamp she’d charge an individual $299 for could easily become a $5,000+ corporate keynote. Here are some examples of her B2B speaking sessions.
“If you can find a way to add the B2B angle to your offer in terms of monetization, you’re going to be much more effective.”
“Most topics can actually become a corporate offer. You just have to change the lenses, think how companies think and use their language.”
Building community through chat and stepping stones
Veronica uses chat in two ways: a weekly open collaboration thread for everyone, and a private paid-member space used as a sounding board. Her key insight: “Be a host first.”
Claire described her own stepping-stone journey design, moving members from free articles through the membership and into one-to-ones.
“Take people on that stepping stone journey through the lower ticket experience and the big community experience into the sort of small intimate container.”
Live sessions as a growth tool
Both agreed that Substack Lives are one of the most powerful and human tools on the platform, especially in an AI-saturated landscape.
“It’s become such a powerful way to actually connect with your community... in times of AI, it’s a very human way to connect because it’s you, you’re not editing.”
Claire described Lives as one of her biggest sources of free subscribers, and reflected on how far she’s come in terms of visibility and confidence.
“Substack is not our dad. It is not our teacher. We are the sovereign human in the driving seat of all of this, and we get to keep the work fun.”
Resilience and handling online negativity
Veronica shared a memorable live session story about receiving a harsh comment mid-interview and turning it around in real time. Her advice:
“Do not reply in the moment. Take a break, go outside, pat the dog, do whatever you have to do, but just take a distance.”
Who you attract and how that shifts
Both have noticed their communities maturing and shifting. Veronica is attracting more senior corporate professionals looking to build something of their own. Claire described three audience archetypes inside Sparkle: the overwhelmed beginner, the creative expressionist, and the creative founder.
Offers mentioned
Claire mentioned Your Beautiful Digital Magazine on Substack, a live five-week course with early bird pricing available.
Veronica mentioned The Anti-Procrastinator course (50% OFF) and an upcoming public speaking bootcamp to help you build a strategy to get paid to speak.
Watch the full peer-to-peer mastermind and hear from our guests below…
