I saw this article circling around, but only actually read it when a reader shared the link and asked for my thoughts on it.

I ended up responding with a long comment, but this got me thinking that maybe more people would like to hear a more positive take, so this is it.

Just a heads up: I don’t know the writer of the original piece. He seems to have a great online presence and to know his stuff well. Also, while I’ve been a blogger writing content online for a decade, I only joined Substack this year, so I haven’t personally experienced the changes happening on the platform.
I’m in no way comparing myself to other creators. This is just a short post to share my opinion, to discuss the business models behind everything we do online, and to give you some hope.

If you haven’t read the original article yet, please do so:

Magnetic North: One Journalist's Quest to Make Sense of the Universe

The Real Reason that Substack is Collapsing

A few years ago Substack transformed away from being a niche newsletter-delivery system and into the main refuge for tens of thousands of journalists who were fleeing (or been kicked out) of the mainstream media. The value proposition was simple: writers could come here to build an audience that would actually pay directly for their writing. The platfor…

Read more

5 days ago · 2977 likes · 979 comments · Scott Carney

In a nutshell, the author argues that Substack has shifted from a reader-supported writing platform to a social media one chasing engagement, and this leads to paid subscriptions stagnating due to subscription fatigue. He believes this has made it harder for independent writers to earn a living and that Substack missed the opportunity to strengthen its subscription model and might be repeating the same mistakes as other social platforms.

(That’s how I understand it. Please correct me if I’m wrong).

I want to add another voice to this conversation.

That’s just one perspective (of a journalist, and they have a different background than most people) and it’s a rather negative one.

If we read someone else’s opinion about Substack and the creator is thriving right now, we’d immediately feel hopeful again.

That writer has seen Substack become worse than it was before, and that’s okay. But I, for example, arrived here with fresh eyes only this year to discover this wonderful place of supportive and like-minded people who would pay others because they want to, not because they have to.

In fact, I just saw another example of this yesterday, when a subscriber upgraded to paid. We’ve had chats before, and after I saw them upgrading, I wrote a quick message to thank them and added this:

“Not sure if the reason was to just support my work, or to get some help and accountability for growing your Substack.

In any case, I hope you find value thanks to that. The chat is always open for to discuss anything ☺️”

I said it because I didn’t think they are interested in my content or Substack growth in general, so I wanted to clarify that (and if they are, to remind them that the annual paid tier goes together with a Substack Growth Audit I’m offering).

As it turns out, it’s the first reason, and here’s what they said:

I don’t know of any other place like this on the Internet right now.

The goal is bigger than paid subscriptions.

It was clear for me early on when joining Substack that paid subscriptions are not the final goal in terms of monetization. Every big creator I studied admits that most of their revenue comes from either digital products or offering services like coaching. And let’s not forget brand partnerships and affiliate marketing.

Here’s what Ana said about this, for example:

This isn’t a new business model, Substack just makes it easier than other platforms to get known for your writing, to build trust, to get paid subscribers who support your work.

What I’ve personally seen this and last year is big creators and entrepreneurs (some I’ve followed and learned from for years) who stopped using social media and started writing on Substack instead, and they brought their existing audience with them. That’s brand new readers coming to the platform, who will also find other writers and will become paid members of some newsletters.

What do you think about that?

Leave a comment

And here’s the most important point I want to make here:

Selling an offer goes beyond turning paid subscriptions on.

I’m all about overdelivering in terms of value.

When you make your annual paid tier so good that it’s a steal, people will subscribe. The goal was always to inspire readers to subscribe annually instead of monthly because that’s when you can really help them in a way and deliver enough value for them to stay another year, and another.

The monthly supporters might cancel soon after based on how they feel about the content you posted on a specific month.

Your paid tiers are offers you make.

Maybe part of the big changes happening is that writers who’ve been around for a long time still expect to keep publishing content and lock some of it behind a paywall, and keep getting paid for that.

But it’s possible that Substack is now starting to resemble a digital product business more than a writing one, so you have to have a content strategy in mind and a clear monetization path, to add extras to the paid tiers and bring the paid member on a journey from your low-priced offers to the higher-priced ones.

And all this can be done in a genuine way.

I’ve seen all kinds of creators who get paid members in their tiers.

But the work doesn’t stop there.

This is a membership business model too, and that means constantly working on 3 things:

• getting new free subscribers/growing your audience;

• getting new paid members (converting free to paid ones);

• providing enough value to existing ones so they remain subscribed.

And finally…

Scarcity vs Abundance

The author of the article also said this: “Without a bigger pie individual Substack creators are instead forced into direct competition with one another. The only way to grow is to pillage the paid subscribers from other creators.”

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.

We live in an abundant Universe. There’s more than enough for everyone.

I stopped seeing anyone as competition in business many years ago and that was very liberating.

Here’s why:

Someone earning in the same niche or from the same business model is simply proof that what we’re creating is monetizable. They’ve already found people who pay them for their product or service, and one more person entering that market doesn’t take anything away from them.

Even if people stop paying one writer to pay another, that says a lot. The readers found someone who was a better fit, or more relevant right now, who can help them more or whose content brings more meaning to their life.

We all talk about impact with the work we do - well, this is it.

Let people go where the biggest impact for them is. That’s how lives are changed.

At the same time, the writer who ‘lost’ paid subscribers can either be okay with it and focus on delivering even more value to their ideal readers, or check if they aren’t missing something in the way they deliver their work, the depth of their content, or the transformation they provide.

And yes, I’m aware that when talking about content, I always mean educational content, helping people with your written work, offering them transformations and solving their problems.

This is what I create, and this is what I consume, so my mind always goes there.

But anyone else can also have strong reasons to keep getting paid subscribers, they just need to find their unique angle, get feedback from actual subscribers, and always strive to do their best work.

What is competition?

There are others who write about the same things, teach a similar framework, are more experienced, and know how to market themselves better.

But they don’t have your unique experience and perspective, or your way of expressing yourself. Their writing will never be like your writing.

You bring something unique to the table.

Maybe it’s your energy, maybe it’s the confidence, maybe it’s your stories and the way you tell them, which leaves such a strong impression on others that they just can’t stop reading.

Whatever it is, it’s your superpower.

You just need to adapt to the ever-changing online world.

So, the question here is:

If you want to run your writing business on Substack, are you willing to evolve together with the platform?

What do your paid tiers actually bring to the table to not just encourage people to subscribe, but to stay subscribed?

There are many moving pieces, and only you know what deserves your attention.

The writing itself remains. This is who you are and this is what you do. But everything else changes, and we need to adapt.

What do you think?

Keep building your writing business, one post at a time!
Lidiya

Hey, friend!

I love doing challenges, and the topic for the next one wasn’t hard to pick.

I posted about SEO a couple times and I got many questions, and confirmation that most writers are either confused about it, or have no idea why it’s even worth their time.

Here’s the thing.

We’re all obsessing over getting subscribers, but before someone subscribes, they need to actually visit our profile or publication. When it’s an article visit, that metric is called a page view in SEO (search engine optimization).

If we increase our page views, we naturally grow our readership.

There are different ways that traffic can come from - most of it comes from the Substack network. Maybe you share your posts on social media or invite your audience from another platform too.

But with this challenge, I want to help you get more traffic from Google and other search engines, including AI tools.

It has to do with optimization, a few tweaks here and there, some new habits to adopt when it comes to writing and publishing posts, and building authority.

So I invite you to join the Substack SEO Challenge, starting Monday.

Subscribe now

It’s free, and it continues for 10 days. Each day (without the weekends), I’ll introduce you to one aspect of SEO or a tactic that can make search engines trust you more and AI tools cite you, which naturally leads to more authority and growth for your publication.

You may already know some of the things I’m about to share, or maybe it’s all new to you if you’ve never researched SEO before.

Some strategies will be quick and easy, others not so much. And while nothing is guaranteed, the overall effect of this can help you with your rankings (even though it will take time to see that in your analytics). But even if not this, it will get you going in the right direction - diversifying your traffic by going beyond just the Substack network, approaching your written work just a bit differently, and doing a few things on your publication to allow search engines to understand and rank it better, and people to have a better experience on it.

All with the goal to get more readers to your posts, and - of course - grow your email and revenue. But also to build authority in your niche, produce better content, and not do anything that search engines will penalize you for.

What to Expect from The Challenge

Dates: 03.08-14.08

Where: Right here. I’ll share a new strategy every weekday for 10 days (no weekend posts).

What: 10 practical Substack SEO strategies you can implement right away to improve your discoverability, attract more readers from search, and grow your publication.

Format: A daily written post. Each day, you’ll get one actionable strategy with steps you can apply immediately.

I won’t be sending all of them via email, as not everyone might be interested in the topic. But you’ll get a few of them, including the first one on Monday.

For the rest, you’ll get notifications from the app, and can always stop by The 2-Hour Blogger or my profile and check out the latest post.

Here are the exact days.

03.08 - day 1
04.08 - day 2
05.08 - day 3
06.08 - day 4
07.08 - day 5
10.08 - day 6
11.08 - day 7
12.08 - day 8
13.08 - day 9
14.08 - day 10

I’m not going to share the exact topic for each day now as it’s a work in progress. I have 9 out of 10 planned, a few more but not sure which one fits best. The content for some is ready, for others not.

That’s part of my creative process. I only know the final version of something while I’m in the middle of it, and it works for me. (If you’re in Human Design, I’m a Manifesting Generator. That explains it all. 😋)

How to Get The Most Out of The Challenge

This challenge is designed to help you take action, not just learn information. The more you participate, the more you’ll get from it.

Show up every day. - Set aside 15-30 minutes to read the new post and complete the action step (or begin implementing the strategy, if it’s a bigger one).

Leave a comment. - Share your thoughts and your progress, ask a question, add your own experiences, or start a conversation with other participants. Any completed action is a win, so feel free to brag about it!

Most importantly: don’t aim for perfection. Focus on making one improvement at a time, and by the end of the challenge, your Substack will be stronger than when you started.

Of course, if that many action steps in a row feel overwhelming to you, no need to do it that fast. Take your time, and do the challenge at your own pace.

Are you joining us?

Let me know in the comments if you’re in, and feel free to share any questions you have before we begin.

I can’t wait to spend the next 2 weeks together, explore practical Substack SEO strategies, and help you make your publication easier to discover.

See you inside the Substack SEO challenge on Monday! 🚀

This is an interview with William Leroux of Become Better You.

At a glance:

• Current subscriber count: 2100

• Most successful post: No, you don’t need to post 5 notes/days to grow your audience. Here is the 1 single thing that got me 750 subscribers.

• Most underrated growth tactic: comments. Go talk to people, find out where does your subscriber hangout and ask a question to figure out if they have a problem. Then share your work.

• Favorite Substack feature: recommendation

• One creator everyone should follow: Write • Build • Scale

• One tool you can’t live without: Claude

• Key metric to track: conversations and recommendation per week

• Main revenue source: coaching

• One sentence describing your newsletter: I help ambitious creators build freedom, not just numbers.

• One piece of advice for new writers: Go out there, test things out and experience a lot of fails, don’t be afraid, you have nothing to lose and it’s like this that you will learn faster and grow faster.

The Beginning

Tell us about your publication. What do you write about and who is it for?

Become Better You is for beginner creators who feel stuck, the ones who are tired of wasting time on strategies that don’t actually work and want to turn their time and expertise into something they can be proud of. I write about growing and monetizing a Substack, built on real conversation instead of vanity metrics.

What kind of content were you creating before Substack, on which platform, and how did it go?

Before Substack, I was creating content on Instagram and TikTok. I stopped because it didn’t feel like me, even though I was gaining followers, I wasn’t actually connecting with my audience, and it was eating way too much of my time for what it gave back.

How did you discover Substack, and what made you think, “This feels different”?

Things weren’t going well on social media, so I went looking for other options, that’s how I found Substack.

It felt different because it’s slower. People here actually appreciate depth and conversation, not just who can stop the scroll for two seconds. That was much more aligned with my values and how I wanted to spend my time.

What did your first few months on Substack look like?

I started mostly to find myself, to build something I could be proud of and create some freedom for myself.

My expectations were to grow fast, and I hit a wall almost immediately: 2 subscribers for two straight months.

I kept going by shifting my mindset from performative to “learn and test.” That’s when I started commenting more and actually talking to people. I gained 1, then 2, then 3 subscribers, doesn’t sound like much, but that’s the moment it started to feel possible.

From month 3 on, I was experimenting constantly, reviewing every week what actually moved the needle and retesting until I had enough confidence to double down.

When you started Become Better You, what were you originally writing about? Has your niche evolved since then?

I started out writing broadly about self-improvement, becoming a better version of yourself mentally, physically, and financially, which I was documenting as I went.

But after a few months, I noticed people were asking me way more questions about Substack and my growth than about self-improvement in general.

So the niche evolved naturally into helping people become a better version of themselves through Substack.

The Growth Story

Can you walk us through your subscriber growth journey?

The real turning point was that mindset shift around month 3, from wanting instant results to treating everything as a test.

What were the biggest growth drivers?

Consistency in commenting, hands down.

The months I commented the most were the months I grew the most.

Looking back, I probably should’ve done more collaborations and recommendations, but that’s not what happened. I focused on one winning action and stuck with it for months instead of spreading myself thin.

Can you explain your approach to commenting?

That’s the core of the Comment Method, talking to strangers in your niche every day, but with intention.

You ask questions to find out if they have a struggle (no time, don’t know where to start, something specific you can actually help with). Once they answer and you’re in a real conversation, you share advice, or an article that speaks to their exact struggle. From there, they discover your page and subscribe.

Growth, engagement, and monetization on my Substack are all built on the same thing: relationships.

Real conversations, one-to-one, not one-to-many, no “audit call” funnel, just people talking to people.

How much time do you spend commenting compared to writing?

About 30 minutes a day commenting, plus one weekend block set aside for writing and scheduling everything.

What’s something everyone says to do on Substack that didn’t work for you?

Going all-in on Notes.

Most people who blew up on Notes already had an audience, were connected to other newsletters, and weren’t just posting Notes, they were engaging, going live, giving value elsewhere too.

Work-Life Balance

How do you manage being a student, training five days a week, and consistently publishing?

I build my week around a schedule where the things that don’t move, school, work, training, go in first. Then I block off time for everything else: calls, lives, writing, commenting.

I also protect big chunks of time for myself and for friends. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like I’m forcing anything or sacrificing anymore, I’ve done it long enough that it’s just become my rhythm.

What’s your weekly workflow?

It’s not really fixed, it shifts, and I think it’s different for everyone. But a typical day looks something like: wake up, stretch, eat, knock out quick daily actions like comments and DMs, go to school, come back and prep dinner while responding to DMs and comments, then split the evening roughly into an hour for school, an hour for Substack, and an hour for myself or just having fun.

Have there been periods where you disappeared from Substack? How did you get back into your routine?

Yes, last Christmas I basically disappeared for a bit. I needed a break and wanted to work on some projects, and at the time you couldn’t even schedule Notes, so it was hard to stay consistent.

When I came back, engagement had dropped and things had shifted, I felt behind. I took a moment to redefine my goals instead of panicking, and came back stronger. I don’t see it as a failure, just a sign I needed to adapt.

The Content Strategy

What’s your content creation process like today?

My favorite structure is a “why” post that exposes a bigger problem and makes a new audience aware of something they need to fix, something like “why aren’t you growing? Because you’re not commenting enough.”

That leads into a “how” post with the actual solution. Those problem/solution pairs become pillars I use to create different angles from.

How often do you publish, and how did you find that rhythm?

About 5 Notes a day and 1 article a week. It’s the rhythm that came out of testing what I could sustain without burning out.

Was there a moment you almost gave up or seriously questioned what you were doing?

I question myself constantly, honestly, but I always come back to why I started: for fun, and to be proud of what I’m building.

I am proud of it, so I come back with less of a performative mindset. I never expect any single article to perform. I just put it out there, if it helps even one person, that’s the goal accomplished.

Have any articles completely flopped despite you expecting them to perform well?

Honestly, I don’t operate that way, since I never go in expecting an article to perform, I don’t really track “flops” vs. “hits” in that sense. Happy to dig into a specific one if you want, but that’s genuinely my mindset around it.

The Business Side

Has your newsletter led to opportunities beyond subscriber growth?

Yes, beyond growth, it’s led to a real community, a paid subscription, and a coaching program (I’ll keep client names out of this, but the results speak for themselves).

What does your business ecosystem look like today?

Right now it’s a free community plus a paid subscription/coaching side, coaching has been where the best results have come from.

I’m currently working on AI tools, a cohort, and sponsorships, but I don’t want to overstate that part since it’s still very much in progress.

Can you share a rough range of your monthly or yearly income from your writing business?

All the months except June and May were around 0-100$. Now I started to focus more on this and hit 1500 in both months which is a big win for me.

Working right now to make it more consistent by giving more value and finding more people.

What kind of content actually converts readers into paid subscribers for you?

Honestly, I don’t think it’s about privileging paid subscribers specifically.

What converts, in my opinion, is having an honest conversation, actually being able to help someone, whether through a Note or a DM, and giving real value first.

What’s Next

Where do you want Become Better You to be one year from now?

I want it to be a reference newsletter for Substack, but more than that, a place built around freedom and taking action, not just learning. More structured, and delivering real value to anyone looking to grow, monetize, or turn this into a living.

If someone had 100 subscribers today, what would you tell them to focus on for the next 30 days?

Where do you think Substack is heading as a platform, and what opportunities do you see opening up for creators?

I think Substack will keep growing steadily over the years, and more people will find what I found: calmer growth and real connection.

That’s exactly why starting your newsletter today matters, it can open up a lot of opportunities down the line, especially since owning a newsletter is more valuable long-term than owning a social media following.

I’ve been busy building the foundation of my Substack in the last 4 months, and now that I feel like I have something stable going on (continuous growth, publishing schedule, solid positioning, content themes defined, paid tier set, paid offer in place, relationships, and engagement habits), it’s time for the next step.

I want this to be more than just a newsletter, and Substack offers one incredible community-driven feature to make that happen - a publication Chat.

I’m already part of some and it’s been one of my favorite things to participate in. It’s where we share our latest content, introduce each other, and connect with one another.

I knew early on that I’d eventually start a Substack chat for my newsletter too, but I thought it would be later this year.

However, there isn’t really a reason to wait. I’m active on the platform daily, and so are all of you, so having another space to connect with each other and share our work can only be a good thing.

The purpose of this new initiative is to build a stronger community, increase engagement, network with each other and grow together.

I’ve already seen some of you connect with each other though comments on some of my posts and Notes. That makes me so happy! Imagine how much more can happen when we’re all in a room designed specifically for that - to share our work, connect, ask questions, and grow on Substack together.

That’s what the 2-Hour Blogger publication Chat will be all about, and it’s officially launching tomorrow.

If you’re subscribed, you’ll see a notification as well as the new thread popping on top of your messages.

If you’re building a Substack, growing an audience, or trying to monetize your writing, I’d love to see you there.

Inside the Chat, you will have weekly opportunities to:

• Introduce yourself and your publication;

• Share what you write about and who you help;

• Link to your latest Note;

• Share your latest post;

• Celebrate our wins;

• Get feedback;

• Connect with other creators building alongside you.

My goal is to keep this community intentional. To let it be a place for meaningful conversations, not just another space to drop links and move on. So there will be some rules to follow in the Chat, and I hope you respect them.

For example, whenever you respond in a thread, you also read other people’s answers, maybe comment on some, check out their profiles, follow or subscribe if it resonates. And who knows, collaborations can come out of this pretty soon.

It’s important to be respectful, kind to each other, and not make it all about you. For example, you can’t just share links to 10 Notes if you’re invited to show us your latest one.

This isn’t my idea, by the way, it’s what so many other creators on the platform are doing, and I can see why.

I joined a few newsletters only because of the engagement going on in their Chats, and it has indeed opened new doors for me.

I hope the community we build here will do the same for you and your writing business.

If you’ve been looking for a circle of writers who genuinely want to help each other grow, this is it.

Watch out for the official Chat opening tomorrow. The first thread will invite you to introduce yourself.

I’m curious to see who shows up.

I have a feeling this could become one of the best parts of this publication.

Maybe I’ll hear from some of you who’ve been quiet so far. Maybe you’ll see familiar faces in there and say hi. Maybe you’ll get new subscribers from the first thread. Anything is possible.

And whatever niche you’re in, don’t forget that even in spaces like that, your ideal reader/subscriber/customer can find you and read your work.

Substack is designed for engagement and connections, and Chats are one of the most intimate and welcoming spaces on the platform.

It’s not just another feature, it can become the sole reason someone subscribes to a publication, remains a subscriber, or becomes a paid one.

There are so many benefits to this.

So, tell me. Are you joining the Chat tomorrow?

Do you have a Chat enabled for your publication, or are you planning to do that any time soon?

PS, As usual, I will report back some time from now to tell you how the new Chat is doing, and what role it plays in my growth on the platform.

It’s been 4 months and I have a lot to report, my friends.

It’s always interesting to go back to older posts like this where I update you on my growth and see what has changed, what has stayed the same, and how my mindset is different (that might be the most important part!)

One thing is sure, though. I engaged more than ever, and the community responded with the same.

But aside from the advice you hear everywhere on Substack (engage, read, write good comments, publish good content), what actually works?

That’s what I’ll list below.

Let’s dive straight into it.

1. Treating Substack like a business.

When I first started my blog in 2013, I treated it like a hobby for the first 2 years.

It took that long to believe it can become something more and to learn more about the business model behind it. I then switched to a self-hosted WordPress site, installed powerful plugins, began monetizing in different ways, posted consistently, optimized for SEO, and started my email list.

That’s when things really started happening.

I could have done this from day one, but I didn’t have the right mindset.

Now, I don’t waste time anymore.

I saw the potential on Substack when I joined (and had heard about it from others, plus watched many big entrepreneurs move their audiences here).

What I didn’t plan, though, was to start writing about Substack growth. It was so natural it was basically inevitable for me.

I quickly applied all the principles I’ve learn from the blogging industry to growing here, started writing a lot and engaging with people. I learned from experience, and I adjusted quickly.

I knew there was nothing to lose, and each article and Note were simply showing me what works and what doesn’t.

Although we have to keep in mind that sometimes the timing or the lack of a bigger audience can mean a good piece goes unnoticed. So keep posting!

I also thought about monetization early on. I mean, I had already monetized - I had the digital products (but for bloggers), I had my original email list, sponsorships on my blog, etc. I could use Substack as a trust engine and grow my existing audience.

But I quickly noticed I was more passionate about what’s going on here, than what I’ve built outside of it (as it was quiet, and the growth has been feeling limited for a long time now).

So this became my main content hub pretty soon. I found successful Substack creators to learn from (by observing them - more on that below), and I saw Substack for the business ecosystem that it is. I started reflecting on how it can work for me, and wrote posts like these during the process:

I also started looking at my analytics often, using more Substack features, reading even more about how the platforms works, looking into Substack SEO, etc.

So, my question to you is: are you treating Substack like a hobby, or like a business?

2. Posting more of the content that gets engagement.

Sounds simple, but we often forget that.

I’ve spent most of my years as a blogger and content creator publishing the things I felt like, not exactly what my audience needed.

Now, I stay excited about my topics, but focus more on what gets results, because this is what creates impact. This is what people need more of, how I can help them, and - of course - what grows my writing business as a result.

I posted a Note about this recently:

And as I concluded at the end of it, this is your content strategy. It’s as simple as that.

To get there, though, you’ll have to post consistently, try out different formats and angles, see what people respond to and what comes easily to you.

Look at the numbers but also at the non-tangible outcomes.

That includes DMs, more trust in you, recommendations, and people opening up to you more (in the comments or messages).

Don’t let the vanity metrics distract you. A Note or post can get many likes, but zero comments or subscribers. That means people scroll past it and it doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

It often means you need to go deeper with your words, try a different angle, or ask more questions so people have a reason to stop, think and respond.

3. Studying other Substack creators.

You can buy a course on how to write Notes, or you can test it yourself and observe what others are doing (learn, but don’t copy).

You can get on a coaching call with someone who tells you how to grow, or you can watch what big publications are posting, how often, what their Welcome email looks like, how they’ve priced their tiers, in what other ways they monetize, what they post about in their publication chat, and anything else.

Instead of reading a long guide on how to write an About page, you can read 5-10 About pages of bigger creators who seem to be doing well, and analyze why they work and what elements you’d like to include in yours.

It’s all out there, right in front of you. Taking the time to study the experts and what they are doing has been a growth factor for me, I believe. But I also truly enjoy it, so that makes it easier.

It’s not just another task in my list. It’s something I’m genuinely curious about.

4. Monetizing before being ready.

Ready is a state of mind. I’ve been too afraid to sell in the past, and I don’t want that anymore. But I also make sure I’m not salesy as I myself don’t like being on the receiving end of that.

I believe that to sell is to serve, and in my work, that happens mostly by informing people of what new things I’m working on, of the paid tier, of a new offer, etc.

I turned my paid tier on some time ago and have 4 paid members now. That wouldn’t have been possible if I was scared to even turn paid subscriptions on.

I’m saying this because I know many writers are. But if you already have an idea of what your exclusive content will be like, and you’re ready to post both free and paid posts weekly (or one that has plenty of value for free, with a paywall right before you dive deeper into what you teach), you might be good to go.

There’s no perfect moment when you’ll be ready. Many writers report regretting not starting this earlier.

There are more ways you can monetize early on. You can pitch brands for collaborations or add your Substack to creator marketplaces that connect publishers (you) with advertisers. I’ll write more about that soon.

You can also do affiliate marketing, sell coaching or any other service, or create digital products.

I just released my first offer that’s specifically for what I’m building here, The Substack Growth Audit. Price goes up soon, by the way, because it turned into a way more valuable thing than I expect, and it takes me a lot of time.

I could have waited longer to release the offer, but why? I had the idea, the outline, I prepared the sales page, some promo copy, and had the vision of how I wanted to incorporate it into everything else I’m doing.

It fits perfectly into the annual paid subscription (as a bonus), so 3 members already took me up on it and I’m working on my first audits this week. That’ exciting. And again, this wouldn’t be possible if I was afraid to launch the offer.

Plus, here I used a strategy that’s quite common in a digital product business - pre-selling something, or monetizing a product before you make it.

It’s usually when you already have an audience, share the idea with them and a super simple sales page, and give them a chance to purchase.

Only when you have buyers do you start creating the product. That not only validates the idea, but gives you the biggest motivation to do your best work - you have both people who are excited to see the product live, and revenue that already came in.

The audit takes work, but it’s after someone has already purchased. It’s personalized and I review their publication, profile and content strategy. So releasing an offer like that isn’t such a big project.

That’s just an example that proves your first digital product doesn’t need to be this time-consuming project you imagine it to be.

It can be a PDF file, a Notion template, a quick tutorial you record on your screen, or anything else. And you can create it after you get paid for it. So think about that.

5. Reputation matters.

Here’s what I mean.

You might be a 6- or 7-figure business owner. Maybe you just left a high-status job to start something on your own. Or maybe you’ve been working for a big company for 10+ years, and are ready to share what’s being going on there.

But if you don’t:

• show up on Substack daily;

• treat everyone as equal;

• post Notes to share your thoughts, ask questions and restack other people’s content;

• respond to every comment;

• show humility and genuine interest in others;

• and form relationships in the DMs;

… then you’re a nobody here.

If, on the other hand, you’re a student who goes all in on Substack, invests all their free time here, writes weekly, posts on Notes daily, leaves meaningful comments, starts conversations, checks their metrics and takes decisions based on that and learns from other creators - now that’s a good reputation. That’s an account others want to follow, and a publication worth subscribing to.

See the difference?

I think that’s pretty awesome because there are many authors here who have no prior experience in online business. But if they engage and write a lot, they have a chance to grow on Substack.

At the same time, many professionals from LinkedIn with a big following joined, but their success here is not guaranteed unless they do the work and really mean it when they engage.

My reputation?

You tell me.

What I’m going for is transparency/authenticity, a beginner’s mindset but also using what I’ve learned from blogging and applying it to Substack.

I am passionate about the posts I write, the people I connect with, Substack as a platform and learning more about it. And you can probably tell that.

I also always respond to every comment and message. (Have I missed one? Remind me, please. 🙃)

People say they like this.

I’m also all about sharing my journey and anything I learn while growing on Substack, and I walk my talk.

I share my numbers, goals, reflections, and strategies. You can apply them too if you feel like.

I’m not worried about anything because your growth doesn’t take anything away from me. It only creates more abundance in the world.

I hope this was helpful.

The next 3 insights are ones I haven’t shared anywhere else. I’m saving them for my paid subscribers as a thank-you for supporting my work.

Read more

This is an interview with David McIlroy of How to Write for a Living and The Solopreneur Stack.

At a glance:

• Current subscriber count: 34k~

• Most successful post: How I grew my Substack audience by over 1,400 subscribers in under 2 months

• Most underrated growth tactic: Substack Lives

• One creator everyone should follow: Too hard to pick just one!

• One tool you can’t live without: Canva

• Key metric to track: Depth/quality of comments on your content

• Main revenue source: Coaching

• One sentence describing your newsletter: Writers deserve to get paid.

• One piece of advice for new writers: Make close friends in your online space and support each other without expecting anything in return.

The Beginning

Tell us about your publication. What do you write about and who is it for?

How to Write for a Living is for creators who want to build sustainable income from their writing without burning out or chasing viral moments.

I write about growing an audience on Substack, launching paid subscriptions, creating products people actually want, and building a business that lasts. It’s for people who are serious about turning their writing into a living, not just dreaming about it.

What was your writing journey like before Substack?

I have an MA degree in English but I didn’t do anything significant with it until 2018 when I started taking on some freelance writing jobs. I wrote blog posts, website copy, social media content, that sort’ve thing.

Then in 2020, I started writing my first fiction novel, The Soulburn Talisman. Four books later and I’m almost finished with the draft of my next horror novel.

During that time, in 2023, I joined Medium and began posting there on a regular basis. Later that year, I discovered Substack and it quickly became my main platform.

What made you start on Substack in the first place?

I’ve heard about it for years but didn’t pay it much attention initially because I was more focused on Medium.

What did your first few months on Substack look like?

Growth was slow, as you might expect. I only grew by a couple of hundred subs in the first five months. But then Notes really exploded and my growth accelerated massively from December 2023 onwards.

Keeping at it during the slow period is so difficult, but very much worth it when you’ve pushed through.

At what point did you realize this could become something bigger?

That first paid subscriber, and then the abrupt change in my audience growth rate.

The Growth Story

Can you walk us through your subscriber growth journey?

I joined Substack in June 2023 with 49 subscribers imported from another platform. For the first five months, growth moved at a snail’s pace.

I hit 187 subscribers by the end of November and honestly couldn’t see how I’d ever make the platform work in a meaningful way. Then December happened. I rebranded from #AmWriting (an accidental rip-off of a much bigger publication) to How to Write for a Living, and I started taking Notes seriously.

By New Year’s Day I had over 900 subscribers across my publications. By June 2024 that was 8,154. And in July 2024 I crossed 10,000, a threshold I never expected to reach.

What were the biggest growth drivers?

Notes has been a significant driver - it’s where a lot of discovery happens now.

Collaboration too: guest post swaps, recommendations, Substack lives and genuine relationships with other writers rather than transactional DM exchanges.

What’s one thing that worked much better than you expected?

Engaging directly rather than just producing content.

For a long time I was a producer - I’d write, post, and wait for people to come to me. When I flipped that and started getting into the comments, sharing other people’s work, and having real conversations, opportunities started coming out of it.

Not just more subscribers, but podcast invitations, Substack Lives, and coaching clients.

What’s something everyone says to do on Substack that didn’t work for you?

Promoting my Substack on other social media platforms.

I was locked into Twitter and the rest, assuming that sharing my writing there was the smart approach. It wasn’t. The growth was on Substack itself the whole time.

Once I stopped whispering into the void elsewhere and put that energy into Notes, comments and connecting with writers in my niche, everything ticked up.

If you had to start from zero tomorrow, what would be your first 30 days strategy?

If I started over, I’d lay more groundwork before trying to sell anything, and I’d get clear on exactly who I was writing for from day one.

I’d focus less on producing volume and more on genuine engagement - spending time in other people’s comments, building real relationships, and giving people a reason to be curious about me. And I’d start building an email relationship immediately rather than treating subscribers as a number.

Behind the Scenes

What’s your content creation process like today?

At its core, it hasn’t changed much. One substantial article a week, Notes every day, and a rule I set early on: refine the process by 1% each time.

I also read a few posts from other writers daily, partly to learn and partly because engagement is half the job.

The other big piece is community. Chat threads, questions at the end of posts, conversations in the comments. That feeds back into what I write next, because I actually know what my audience wants now.

How often do you publish, and how did you find that rhythm?

At least one article a week, at least one Note a day.

I found that rhythm by setting goals that were entirely within my control. I had hopes about subscriber numbers and recommendations, but those were soft goals. If I missed them, it didn’t matter.

Publishing weekly and showing up daily were things I could actually do regardless of how the algorithm felt about me. That’s what made it sustainable. Short bursts of enthusiasm fizzle out, but habits don’t.

What metrics do you actually pay attention to?

Engagement more than raw subscriber count. Likes, comments and restacks, and whether they’re consistent across all my content rather than one lucky post.

The real gold is watching subscribers engage with each other, in the comments and in chat threads. That tells me a community is forming, and community is what keeps people subscribed.

I deliberately don’t obsess over the numbers outside my control. I track what I can do, and let the graph take care of itself.

What was the biggest mistake you’ve made on Substack?

Not taking it seriously for the first five months. I treated Substack as just another string to my bow, among many other fairly pointless strings. I didn’t invest real time in it. I repurposed content from Medium, published inconsistently, and wondered why nothing was happening.

When I finally treated my publication like a business, with plans, targets and things I could measure, the line on my subscriber graph curved upwards after months of plateau. The platform was never the problem - my effort was.

Was there a moment you almost gave up or seriously questioned what you were doing?

The end of November 2023 was probably the lowest point. Under 200 subscribers after five months, posts getting little or no engagement, no real feedback to go on.

I genuinely couldn’t see how I’d ever make things work. And even now, slow days still happen.

I posted a Note last summer that just said I was feeling low energy and disheartened, and it resonated with hundreds of people. That’s the honest answer.

The Business Side

Has your newsletter led to opportunities beyond subscriber growth?

Massively. It’s led to coaching clients, a paid community (Catalyst Club), a podcast, guest collaborations, Substack Lives, and joint ventures with other creators.

A lot of these came from conversations rather than any deliberate funnel. The newsletter is the top of everything, but the real opportunities have come from the relationships around it.

What role does your newsletter play in your overall business ecosystem?

It’s the hub. Everything connects back to it. The free content builds trust and discoverability, which feeds into the community, the coaching, and the products.

It’s where people first meet me, and the rest of the business is what happens when those relationships deepen.

You run 3 publications. What’s the thinking behind separating them instead of building one strong brand?

Clarity, mostly. I learned that lesson the hard way when I rebranded my main publication from #AmWriting to How to Write for a Living.

That one change added so much clarity for potential subscribers. They knew exactly what they’d get in exchange for booping the subscribe button.

The same logic applies across publications. Someone who wants help building a writing income doesn’t necessarily want my horror fiction landing in their inbox.

So How to Write for a Living does what it says on the tin, The Solopreneur Stack covers the business side, and my fiction lives separately. Each audience opted into a specific promise, and I try not to muddy that.

How do you decide what content goes where?

I go back to what each subscriber signed up for. The question I ask is simple: did this person subscribe for this?

If I’m writing about growing a publication or making writing pay, that’s How to Write for a Living. Business and solopreneur territory goes to The Solopreneur Stack. Stories go to the fiction pub.

When something could fit in more than one place, I think about which audience gets the most value from it, and I’ve become increasingly aware of exactly what each audience wants from me and how they like to receive it.

That knowledge came slowly, mostly through comments, chat threads and watching what resonated.

What kind of content actually converts readers into paid subscribers for you?

Guidance content with real substance behind it.

My paid tier works because the free content piques interest and proves I know what I’m talking about, then the paid side goes deeper: the full breakdowns, the Member Resource Hub, the private community for paid subscribers.

The framing I always come back to: people follow when you pique their interest, subscribe when you offer value they can’t find elsewhere, and stay subscribed when they feel part of something.

Paid conversion sits on that last bit. My first paid subscriber came as a genuine surprise in October 2023, and my free-to-paid ratio stayed low for ages purely because the free base grew so fast. The paid side caught up as I added more depth for members.

What surprised you most about the behavior of paid subscribers compared to free ones?

How much they engage with each other, not just with me.

The chat threads, the private community, the conversations under posts where they’re advising each other and subscribing to one another’s publications. That’s where the magic happens.

What’s Next

What’s your goal for the next 12 months?

Keep growing my audience (in terms of depth as well as numerically), simplify my process even further, and invite more members into my group coaching programme.

What are you currently experimenting with?

I’m always tweaking my approach to podcasting and video, as well as the way I construct articles and how I promote my offers.

The biggest experiment is with my group coaching programme, which is just about to launch. It’s new territory, to an extent, so there’s going to be some trial and error in there.

The shift toward direct engagement and relationship-building over pure content production. Using DM outreach and comment engagement to find the right people rather than waiting for them to come to me. I’m also running more collaborative events, like joint masterclasses with other creators.

Where do you think Substack is heading as a platform, and what opportunities do you see opening up for creators?

I’ve said before that we’re in the early days of Substack’s explosive era, and I still believe that.

It’s going to get bigger. More people will join, and readership opportunities will increase with them. But I’m not naive about it. Times change, platforms change. The powers that be make bad choices, and unbroken things get fixed and consequently made worse.

Just ask anyone who’s been on Twitter for more than a couple of years.

My organic growth could fall off a cliff overnight. That’s exactly why I tell writers to treat their publication like a business rather than a hobby that happens to live on someone else’s platform.

The number isn’t that important. The mindset, strategies, consistency and positioning are.

I study big and small Substack creators and their publications daily because I’m fascinated with the business model behind this platform. It’s a great one, that’s why I’ve almost left everything else behind in my business and am investing all my available time and energy to growing this newsletter.

But it’s more than a newsletter. It’s a community. It’s a business. It’s my most meaningful project right now. And it’s where I help people.

In the last months, many fellow writers have contacted me to ask for advice. Whether it’s about growing on Substack, optimizing content so it appears in search engines, monetizing through brand partnerships, deciding whether to turn on paid subscriptions or not, I always made sure to write them a long message.

I have a lot to say about these things and I’m experimenting with them daily.

In fact, I’m taking more action (and as a result, have more feedback to work with, so I can course-correct as soon as possible) than I ever have in the last 10 years of creating things online. And I’m moving fast.

Others here started noticing. And so, an idea for an offer started taking shape in my mind.

Something I know many of you can benefit from.

Something that will save you time as you grow on the platform.

My eyes on your publication, so you can uncover the opportunities for growth and monetization.

I’m taking about an audit.

A personalized review of your Substack with strategic recommendations to help you grow your audience, improve your content, and unlock monetization opportunities.

The Substack Growth Audit

I could have waited till I’m ‘ready’.

Or till I’m a ‘big enough’ creator around here.

Or until I learn yet another strategy.

Or until my publication exists yet another month on the platform.

But there’s no need to wait.

I’m all about taking action in your business, and I like to walk my talk.

This isn’t entirely new to me, though. I’ve looked at many publications and had immediate feedback to give, but it wasn’t my place.

Also, I’ve done this before in my blogging business. I’ve offered a blog audit, and I’ve reviewed other people’s blogs, helping them improve their positioning, content strategy, email marketing, and monetization paths.

The truth is that you don’t need another course or eBook. I believe in creating personalized offers that provide quick wins and get you to action as soon as possible.

The Substack Growth Audit is exactly that. But there might just be many wins from it that will pay off in direct and indirect ways.

Here’s what’s included:

1. Your Substack at a Glance

I’ll review how your Substack comes across to a new visitor, including:

• Profile photo

• Bio and tagline

• Publication name

• Branding

• Positioning

• Overall clarity

2. Your Publication Structure

The way your publication is organized affects whether visitors explore, subscribe, and return.

I’ll review:

Homepage

• Is your homepage welcoming?

• Is your best content easy to find?

• Does it guide new readers?

Positioning

• Is your niche clear?

• Does your publication communicate who it’s for?

• Is your value obvious?

Key Pages

• About page

• Start Here page

• Subscribe page

• Welcome page

Navigation Menu

• Are categories organized?

• Is browsing easy?

• Can readers quickly find your best content?

3. Content & SEO

Your content is the foundation of your growth.

I’ll review your articles, Notes, and discoverability opportunities.

Including:

Articles

• Content direction

• Topics and themes

• Headlines

• Reader engagement

• Formatting

• Calls to action

• Opportunities for improvement

SEO

• Search-friendly topics

• Article titles

• SEO descriptions

• URLs

• Internal linking opportunities

• Evergreen content potential

Notes

• Posting consistency

• Community engagement

• Conversation starters

• Ways to use Notes for growth

You’ll also receive personalized content next steps based on what I see.

4. Monetization

Current Monetization Paths

Reviewing your existing:

• Paid subscriptions

• Products

• Services

• Affiliate opportunities

• Other revenue streams

Income Opportunities

I’ll share ideas for potential ways to monetize based on your publication, audience, and content.

5. Growth Opportunities

This is where everything comes together.

You’ll receive:

What I’d Focus on First

The highest-impact changes I would prioritize if this were my own Substack.

Your Next Steps

Clear action items you can implement after receiving your audit.

GET YOUR SUBSTACK REVIEWED BY ME

I know many writers (even with big audiences) who haven’t even thought of some of the items included in this list. And I want to change that.

Also, I want to help you think big when it comes to monetization. There’s more than just paid tiers.

I’m truly passionate about making your Substack better, and growing on the platform faster.

I won’t do the work for you, but I can help you see the next steps.

I’ll take a look at what you’re currently doing, spot opportunities, and share ideas you can implement right away.

The audit is $97 right now.

It’s also available for free with the annual subscription (I recommend this as it’s the biggest ROI. Plus, you lock in the price forever, and so much bonus material + exclusive posts are about to be added this year).

Keep in mind that the audit is for you only if you’ve set up your Substack publication already and have some content. And if you’re a non-fiction writer, meaning that you teach something with your content and want to monetize it.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AUDIT HERE

The price will increase in the future, depending on how much of my time this takes, how many requests I get and what else I start offering around here.

This is your chance to get my undivided attention, personalized feedback, and 1–3 hours of my time for a small investment.

If that sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love to review your profile, publication, content and strategy, and share how I think they might be optimized so you can grow and earn sooner rather than later.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Brand deals are one of my favorite ways to monetize your platform and content. They’re flexible, scalable, and can become a reliable income stream, whether you have a blog, Substack publication, or another creator business.

In Brand Deal Strategies, my exclusive series for paid subscribers, I’ll share everything I’ve learned from closing hundreds of sponsored collaborations on my blog Let’s Reach Success over the past decade. You’ll learn how to find brands, pitch yourself with confidence, communicate professionally, negotiate higher rates, upsell your services, and build long-term partnerships.

Each post in this series will be short, practical, and focused on one specific strategy that has worked for me, or one I’ve tested and genuinely believe can help you land better partnerships.

The goal is to give you one actionable takeaway you can apply right away.

I’ll also take you behind the scenes of the brand deals I’m working on in real time, sharing email screenshots, negotiation breakdowns, pricing decisions, and the thinking behind my approach (with sensitive details removed where needed).

Now, I know most of you haven’t even heard of this monetization method, haven’t ever considered it as a possibility, or don’t think you even qualify for it.

Well, you probably do. I will create more posts soon to bust some common myths (like the fact that you don’t need thousands of subscribers, that you can approach brands yourself, you can have sponsored packages to offer them, and so much more).

But now, let’s start with the first strategy.

It has to do with negotiating.

It happened just a few days ago via email and I managed to increase the rate we worked with from $250 to $350.

Below, you’ll see the company I worked with, the emails we exchanged, what I offered, and how the deal went.

Read more

Today’s post is a simple but important reminder. It takes two minutes, but could save the writing business you’re building on Substack.

Here’s the thing.

Everyone talks about the importance of having an email list, and I can’t agree more. That’s why we are all here, after all.

Your email list is your biggest asset!

But you can’t let other platforms control it. The only way to actually own your list, is to have it exported and saved on your computer.

You may have heard this before, but did you ever do it?

Do you have a saved csv file with the email addresses of all the people who opted to hear from you?

If the answer is no, now is a good time to do it. And then, turn it into a monthly habit.

Some big publications actually do it once a week, and that’s great too. But I prefer once a month.

Anything is better than never, really. Even once a quarter would do.

You may be wondering why all this matters. So let’s talk about that.

Why do this?

You own your audience.

The only things we sort of own online are a self-hosted website, and an email list (stored in your email marketing software).

But unlike an email list hosted on a traditional email marketing platform, your Substack subscriber list lives inside the platform.

Not your followers, not your content (you can create that again and again), not the conversations you had with people.

The actual email list.

Why?

These are the people who trusted you and want to hear from you.

These are the people who will buy your paid offers and invest in working with you.

These are the people you can help the most.

These are the people who can recommend you to others and grow your brand naturally.

This is your tribe. This is what you’re here for.

What if you need to switch platforms in the future?

Substack is such a trusted platform, it’s been around for years, it won’t just disappear or not give creators access to their lists.

True, but we need to be prepared.

If anything ever happens to your publication, whether it’s an account issue, a platform outage, or you simply decide to leave, you want to take your email list with you. Then you still have direct access to your subscribers, and can keep the relationship going by sending them emails.

By the way, I just listened to an interview between 2 big Substack creators, and one of them shared how their account got suspended. And we’re talking about a bestseller, about a respected creator, and a publication with a massive audience.

She then contacted support and it was fixed, but for a few hours the whole account simply wasn’t showing. In fact, her audience let her know before she even noticed.

Turns out it was a glitch in the system and some accounts were affected. There was nothing that could have prevented this.

Luckily, support reacted quickly and fixed it.

But if that happens to us in the future when we’re already earning from Substack full-time, and just don’t want to disappoint our subscribers and prefer to stick to our publishing schedule, that can be a loss in more than one way.

As a creator, you’re never really locked into one platform.

The Internet changes.

Platform rules and conditions shift.

Better spaces online emerge all the time.

Your needs evolve too as you grow your business.

So by doing this one thing that takes a minute or two, you already have your subscriber list ready to import into another tool or platform.

It’s your backup.

Technology isn’t perfect. Just like you need to make a backup of your own website because anything can happen (even thought most web hosts provide automatic ones and store previous versions of your site), you also need a recent copy of your email list.

You hope you’ll never need it, but you’ll be glad you have it.

This makes business transitions easier.

Maybe one day you want to sell your publication, merge newsletters, hire someone to help with operations, or integrate with other tools.

Having an exported subscriber list ready makes it all smoother.

Peace of mind.

I think this is the biggest benefit on the list. The only psychological one, but this is how we sleep peacefully at night.

Knowing no single platform completely controls our audience, and that all the work we’ve put into building our tribe here wasn’t for nothing.

And now that you know why it’s worth exporting our email list from Substack, let’s see how to do it. It’s pretty easy.

How to Export Your Email List from Substack

• Go to Dashboard > Settings

• In the Advanced section, click Import/Export.

• Click ‘New Export’ next to ‘Export Your Data’ and wait till it’s done.

• Then click the download button and save it.

You’ll get a zip file.

I decided to unzip it and remove the other files in it (posts data) and only keep the email list csv file.

That’s it.

That’s the 2-minute task that can save your Substack.

That’s how you take control of the future of your writing business, and can feel less dependent on a specific platform.

I’d say do it once a month (that’s what I’ll do), but as mentioned above, I heard big Substack creators (50K + subscribers) say they do it weekly.

For such big lists that also keep growing a lot every week, it makes sense, of course.

Over to you now. Let me know if this was helpful, and if it will actually push you to save a copy of your email list today.

Report below once it’s done 🤍

I’ve been raving about Substack lately and see massive potential in it. I started my own publication and have a big vision for it.

But does this mean I’m ditching everything else, and especially my WordPress blog? Also, if you’re just starting out, you might be wondering whether you should start a Substack or your own blog.

Here’s what I have to say about this, after 10 years of blogging and content creation. Ten years during which I was inspiring people to start new blogs, and helping them along the way with my free content and programs.

Why I Started a Substack

Because it’s a wonderful place to be for writers.

It’s the much needed break from social media.

The algorithm actually works in our favor. There are incredible creatives on here who are sharing their wisdom and looking to connect with readers and fellow writers.

The engagement is high, and a lot can happen here for you if you actually post often and give something back (like follow others, subscribe to their publications, like their Notes, leave comments, restack posts, recommend their newsletters, etc.)

The potential for monetization is wild.

The way the platform is structured is great. You can have paid subscriptions, and create a whole paid newsletter business. You just keep posting content and you earn recurring revenue from it.

Easier said than done, of course, but it’s worked for plenty of people and they are proof it can work for others too.

In addition, you can monetize with sponsored content.

For example, I landed my first brand deal on Substack just 3 months after actively using the platform. I then had less than 250 followers, and I was still a newbie around here. And yet, a brand saw potential and paid me to publish an article I wrote with a link back to their site (which is a very trusted resource that I was already familiar with).

It can happen to anyone!

Small influencers/creators/writers matter, and they can monetize their content and platforms early on.

Also, you can use Substack to sell digital products or services (consulting, coaching, DFY, or anything else you offer).

You can have sales funnels in place and take things further by using an actual email marketing tool instead of just relying on the default email system of Substack. Then you can segment your list, have automated email sequences, and make sales on autopilot (if done right).

What about growth on Substack?

Well, you can easily go kinda viral in a short time, mostly through Notes, which are like Tweets and short social media posts. It can be a quote, a thought you want to share, or a few paragraphs with tips related to what you teach.

Right now, writers want to help each other grow and support each others’ work as long as you reciprocate.

The platform is also an incredible opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership and build your brand. It’s like a better version of LinkedIn.

And last but not least, there’s some unique content around here.

People actually share their wisdom, they discuss important topics, they talk about their most personal and transformational experiences, they make big moves in life and document every step of the way. So there’s some incredible stuff to read that probably can’t be found on social media (as it’s long-form content and can go much deeper).

I believe that this opportunity - how accessible Substack is now and how good it feels to start a publication and post regularly - won’t continue for long. It will get crowded, the algorithm might change, all the people from TikTok will come here and create anything that gets as many views as possible. More and more AI content will emerge, and AI avatars might become a thing around here too (maybe they already are…)

Until then, let’s grab this chance.

But, does this mean I’m leaving behind my actual blog?

Absolutely not.

Substack vs WordPress

This has happened before. We’ve seen new platforms emerge, with massive potential. We’ve seen all the bloggers and writers head there and create content like crazy.

Until it’s no longer the trend. Until it no longer works. Until it’s so saturated that we need a break from it.

Then, we go back to our blogs.

I’ve done this many times, and don’t take this risk anymore.

No other platforms have come close to this.

And I still believe WordPress is the best blogging platform, and it’s what I teach in my programs and in my free content.

It’s easy to give you advice if you already have a blog. Just keep it, no matter where else you post content.

But what if you’re just starting out…

Should you start a Substack or a blog?

My answer is the same as it would be if you asked me whether you should start a blog on Medium or WordPress.

You can do both, of course, but you probably don’t have the time and energy to go all in on two big projects like that. There are only so many hours in the day, after all.

And here’s the shocking thing.

If you asked me this 3 months ago, I’d say start a blog (on WordPress or any other content management system).

But now? I’d say start a Substack, see how it feels and how it goes, and decide if that’s the platform for you.

Anything we do online is an experiment.

I hope you’re sure about your niche, of course. This is the foundation - what you teach, what you’re here to help people with.

That also means you know who that person is - the ideal reader, subscriber and customer.

The other details - such as content format, platforms, marketing channels, ways to sell, publishing frequency, etc. - can change until you find what works for you (and what you’re passionate about, as that itself can lead to consistency).

Substack vs WordPress: The final verdict

I’m keeping my blog (WordPress) and my original email list (Flodesk).

I keep publishing on my blog (not that often anymore, but I do post sponsored content there + things written by me).

I keep emailing my original email list every Tuesday (but also share new Substack content + life updates there).

But Substack is my main content hub now. It’s where all my attention goes, and where my best content is published.

I’m in the process of moving existing content to it (from Medium, from a blogging membership I had, and some more exclusive pieces of content from courses and other products). I also write new stuff a lot lately and it feels great.

In summary, here’s my advice (only take what resonates, please. You know what’s best for your business):

• Have a blog? Keep it, even if you write on Substack now. You own your blog, you don’t own Substack. And we don’t know what the future holds.

• About to start your content creation journey now? Do it on Substack and see where that takes you. Give it at least a year.

• Are you a fiction writer? Then Substack is the place for you. The community is great, you’ll connect with many fellow writers, and there are readers on Substack waiting to discover you.

• Just looking for a platform to build trust so you can grow your coaching or digital product business? Start a Substack, share your expertise here, build relationships, and post only free content (no need for a paid tier if you don’t want to, as you already have an offer to sell).

• Writing on Medium but don’t see any ROI and aren’t happy with how the platform has changed in the last years? Then it might be time to switch to Substack.

Which category do you fall into?

If you have any other questions, ask them in the comments below.

This is an interview with Gertjan of Macro Investing

Why I Wanted to Share Gertjan’s Story (intro by Lidiya)

Welcome to the 2nd ever interview I’m posting on The 2-Hour Blogger.

Today I introduce to you Gertjan. And here’s why his story is so interesting, and why the timing for this feature was just perfect.

He started writing on Substack 5 months ago, and didn’t see any crazy growth in the first months. That’s the reality, and I hope more new writers here can understand it.

It’s easy to focus on the big accounts, the ones who see explosive growth, or even those who bring their already existing audiences to Substack and make it to a Bestseller status in just a few days.

But that’s not the story of the average Substack creator.

Gertjan is the perfect example of why hard work, dedication and knowing your stuff pays off, as long as you stick to it.

As you’ll see below, he almost gave up. But just recently, he had his biggest week on Substack ever. In fact, right after this interview (5-6 days ago), he’s already gained nearly 300 more subscribers, got cited by a bigger publication, and ended up #49 in rising Finance worldwide, which is a big deal!

He is growing rapidly now, and making the most of it, so it’s worth giving him a follow or subscribing.

He’s also doing this on the side of his day job, and that’s true dedication and discipline.

Now, let’s dive into the interview.

At a glance:

• Current subscriber count: 613

• Most successful post: The Gold Story Nobody Is Connecting - But Should

• Most underrated growth tactic: Posting daily notes

• Favorite Substack feature: Substack notes and scheduling them

• One creator everyone should follow: A really nice guy who shows value and is living his own created life.

• Key metric to track: Subscriber growth

• Main revenue source: Substack paid subscribers

• One sentence describing your newsletter: This is the place to be for everyone who wants to learn more about macro and investing.

• One piece of advice for new writers: Just do it. Stay consistent in your content creation, build connections and learning each day a little bit to improve.

The Beginning

Tell us a bit about yourself and your publication. What do you write about, and who is it for?

Hi! I am Gertjan de Jong, 32 years old and living in the Netherlands with my wife Ilona.

I write about macro economics and investing, especially for beginning investors, so they can learn more about investing and create a better financial future for themselves.

I got a fascination for numbers at a young age, so a logical step was to choose a study focused on mathematics, economics and related subjects.

I studied Finance & Control and after that I started my first real job as a junior controller. I learned a lot on the job and grew to Financial Controller and now Business Controller in the healthcare space. I worked for two years at a corporate listed company. I was fascinated by their business model and during that time I spent more hours learning how financial markets and economics work.

What was your writing or investing journey before Substack?

I have been investing for six years now and have put in a lot of hours over the years — on average more than two hours a day, besides my full-time job.

I have made some great returns with investing, but have also learned some expensive lessons. Those lessons are very important to grow as an investor and as a person.

What made you start a Substack instead of publishing elsewhere?

I started writing on Substack in late February this year, five months ago.

I saw different talented writers on Substack and thought to myself: why can’t I do this with my own views on the markets? In my opinion it is better to create than to consume.

What did your first few months look like? Were you expecting anyone to read your work?

The first two months went very slowly on Substack.

I gained some subscribers, but the growth felt slow. I put in some time but didn’t actually see the results yet.

I started connecting with different creators and saw some slow but steady progress in my statistics.

When did you start feeling like this could become something bigger than a hobby?

During the last two weeks, while I was on holiday, I decided to put in some real work.

Besides our busy period of moving into our new home, I was busier than ever before. During that holiday week I put in an average of three hours per day on my laptop — studying the markets and writing strong articles about them. I decided I could do this because I am a highly motivated person when it comes to reaching my goals.

Growing to 500 Subscribers

Which growth strategies made the biggest difference?

My best growth strategy is not magical. The most important elements in my opinion are: staying consistent, posting on a daily basis, connecting with others and offering real value to your readers.

Has there been one post, Note, or recommendation that changed the trajectory of your publication?

My recent article about gold got a lot of attention and has been viewed almost 10,000 times already. You can read it here.

You recently climbed to #5 on the Netherlands Leaderboard. What do you think contributed to that momentum?

My #5 spot on the rising list in the Netherlands was mainly created by the gold article, combined with my personal posts and the connections I made during that holiday week when I put in more effort than ever before.

What’s one growth strategy that surprised you by working really well?

Connecting with and restacking articles by some of my friends here on Substack affected my growth in a very positive way.

I am genuinely surprised by how much people support and help each other here on Substack. It is truly remarkable.

And what’s one piece of common Substack advice that didn’t work for you?

One approach that did not work for me was writing an article every single day. I chose instead to write one or two articles per week with deeper, higher-quality content. This worked quite well for me.

The First Paid Subscribers

What made you decide it was time to launch paid memberships?

One month ago I decided to launch my paid membership, because my content had reached a quality level that deserved to be paid for.

This paid off: I went from 0 to 7 paid subscribers in just two weeks.

Did you do anything specific to encourage people to upgrade?

I carefully promoted my paid membership in some articles and in my recent notes, which resulted in several new paid subscribers.

What kind of content or value do paid subscribers receive?

My paid subscribers get:

✅ Access to my personal portfolio

🛠️ Tools and guides

📝 All paywalled parts and special articles

💬 The ability to post comments and questions on premium content

What have you learned about converting free readers into paying supporters?

I have learned that the quality of your content is very important when you want to convert free subscribers to paid subscribers.

A few easy posts and market opinions are simply not enough. Besides quality, visibility is also crucial, your readers need to know what you offer before they will consider upgrading.

What advice would you give someone who’s wondering when to introduce paid subscriptions?

My advice to others: honestly ask yourself what quality you deliver and whether others would genuinely want to pay for it, and why.

Behind the Scenes

You write while working a full-time job. How do you make time for Substack?

I write on Substack alongside my full-time job.

In the evenings and on weekends I prepare different types of content and dedicate a few hours to it each time. Nothing in life comes easy, you have to put in the time.

What’s your content creation process like?

I post one or two articles per week, one deep dive on companies I follow and one focused on the macro side of investing.

I try to post daily notes, which vary in format:

• investing quotes

• lessons I have learned

• questions for my readers

• and charts of different assets I watch.

How often do you publish, and has that changed over time?

I changed it over time, I now post daily notes and sometimes some more, but everyday.

I post one or two articles, with more detailed and deep dive information about the markets.

What metrics do you pay the most attention to?

I watch my subscriber growth on a daily basis and try to analyse which content gets attention and which content does not.

What’s been your biggest mistake so far?

My biggest lesson: it does not matter if you personally believe your content delivers value.

Was there ever a moment when growth felt too slow or you questioned whether to keep going?

After two months on Substack my growth felt slow and I doubted whether I should continue or stop altogether. Luckily I stayed disciplined and kept going.

Looking Ahead

What’s your goal for the next 12 months?

My first goal over the next 12 months is to reach 1,000 subscribers. If my current growth continues, I expect this will happen in the coming months.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone trying to reach their first 500 subscribers?

My advice to others: stay consistent and disciplined, especially on the difficult days.

Write different types of content, trial and error, and learn by doing. If you do not try it, you will never know if it works.

Beyond that, build genuine connections on Substack. I can honestly say I have already built some truly meaningful connections here in just a few months.

What’s one thing you wish you’d known before starting your Substack?

I wish I had known earlier how rewarding it is to grow on Substack and build real connections here. If I had known that sooner, I would have started this journey much earlier. 😊

Do you see yourself turning your Substack into a full-time business one day? What would need to happen before you’d feel comfortable making that leap?

I do not know yet whether I can turn my Substack into a full-time business, it still feels far away to be honest. But these last few weeks have genuinely surprised me.

I am a conservative person who does not shout out loud that he is going to make it. I am the type who puts in effort and time, quietly and consistently. And so far, it has worked out quite well.

I want to end with this: I am truly grateful for my growth and for the real connections and support I have found here on Substack. Thank you all!

Welcome to the first Substack SEO guide I’m creating for The 2-Hour Blogger.

Now, as a blogger, I’ve always cared about SEO (search engine optimization). I learned how to do keyword research, write long-form content and naturally optimize it for the keyword term I’ve chosen (including synonyms and avoiding over-optimization), as well as make sure other elements of the post such as visuals are also optimized for a better search experience.

One of the first steps I’ve always taught students in my courses and in my free tutorials on blogging when starting a new website is to connect it to Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

And while bloggers usually take that step to get their blog indexed in search engines quickly and dive into deeper analytics, Substack writers often either skip this step, or don’t even know what these platforms are and what they can do for their writing business.

So let’s talk about that.

First, you may wonder why that’s even necessary as a Substack creator (when you don’t really own the platform). Here are the benefits.

Substack Analytics vs Google Analytics

Google Analytics shows how people interact with your publication after they arrive on it.

You see where readers come from (Google, social media, referrals, email or direct visits).

You also understand which posts keep readers engaged, can track new vs returning visitors, what devices your audiences uses (helps with knowing whether to optimize more for desktop or mobile), and measure conversions (such as paid subscription signups).

That tells you which articles actually attract readers and which platforms outside of Substack are sending you traffic (you may be surprised by the results, or you may see missed opportunities that you can now focus on).

If you’re wondering how that’s different from the Substack analytics you have available, it’s usually in these categories that GA does a better job:

• Traffic sources (on Substack, that’s pretty limited. But in GA, you see a detailed breakdown);

• Website behavior (GA goes further and tracks pages visited, user journeys, time spent, exits, conversions);

• SEO insights (GA shows you the organic search traffic and landing pages).

If you’re creating a growth strategy, Google Analytics is a must-have in your toolbox.

You’ll see which articles bring the most traffic from Google, which convert visitors into subscribers, how people find your Substack and which pages make them explore more of your site.

You can develop a content strategy using this data, and end up receiving more page views (and subscribers) from Google than from the Substack network.

Plus, we’re talking about your long-form content (articles), which are also evergreen content. When ranking well, they can bring you traffic (and monetization opportunities) for years.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is another free tool that you can use to grow your reach and audience. It focused on Google search performance and the technical health of your publication (whether your pages are indexed, if there are any mobile usability issues or crawl errors).

It’s also where you verify your domain/Substack, and can track impressions, clicks and search position.

You can discover new keyword opportunities, track your rankings for different search queries, and request the indexing of new posts.

Thanks to connecting your Substack to Google Search Console, you’ll learn what readers are searching for BEFORE finding you and which of your articles have SEO potential but need some tweaks.

So now that you know the benefits, let’s see the exact steps you can take in the next 15 minutes to set up both GA and GSC.

Even if you aren’t tech-savvy, these are super easy to follow tutorials, so simply go through the steps. i’ve included screenshots too.

By the way, this is where in Substack we’ll make updates, and it’s in your publication’s Settings:

There are different metrics there. So before anyone gets confused:

The Google Analytics Measurement ID and Google Site Verification (via Google Search Console) serve two completely different purposes on Substack.

Analytics tracks visitor behavior.

Site Verification gives you control over your site’s presence in Google Search results.

Let’s begin.

Connect Substack to Google Analytics

1. Make an account with Google Analytics.

2. Create a new property.

Go to Admin and click Create > Property.

Follow the next steps to add your Property details and describe your business.

When you’re asked to choose a platform, click Web.

This is where you add your publication’s URL and name.

Next, click anywhere on the property and a new window with pop up with more details.

3. Copy the Measurement ID/Google tag.

4. In your Publication’s Settings, locate the Analytics section, and paste the tag under Google Analytics Measurement ID.

Paste it in the section for that in Analytics (in your Substack dashboard).

Then click Save, and we’re done.

All kinds of data (such as page views, sign ups, etc.) should begin to appear in GA in 24-48 hours.

I checked in a day or 2, and it looked like this (even a new paid subscriber showed up as a new purchase):

Connect Substack to Google Search Console

1. Sign up to Google Search Console.

2. Add Property.

From the dropdown on the left (under the logo), you’ll see your existing properties (websites). Click there and select ‘Add Property’ at the bottom.

3. Verify site/Substack ownership.

Select the URL prefix and paste your Substack URL there (that of your publication).

On the next window, you’ll see different ways to verify it.

Click the HTML tag.

Copy the code and keep this window open.

4. Paste the tag in Substack and verify in GSC.

Then in Substack, in the Analytics area, paste under ‘Google Site Verification’ and click Save.

Now go back to that open window in Google Search Console, click Verify, and you should get that message right away if it worked:

You’ll now see your property, but there won’t be data just yet. Maybe in a day or two.

July 2026 Update:

A few readers let me know that Substack removed the dedicated Google Site Verification field.

If that’s the case for you too, you can instead use the Google Tag Manager verification method. Here’s how:

• Go to Google Tag Manager.

• Sign in/create an account.

• Create a Web container.

• You’ll see HTML code snippets. Copy only the GTM-XXXXXXX container ID.

• In Analytics on Substack, paste it under Google Tag Manager ID and click Save.

• Back in Tag Manager, you can also test your website (it’s the option under the HTML code snippers).

5. Submit your sitemap.

Substack has already generated a sitemap for you. You can locate it by adding sitemap.xml at the end of your publication’s URL.

In Search Console, go to Sitemaps (ensure you’ve selected the right property first, if you have multiple websites like me).

And simply add that extension - sitemap.xml - in the empty space, then click Submit.

If done correctly, you’ll see the Success status and the number of discovered pages on your Substack publication. Google can then crawl them and start ranking them.

6. Check if a post is indexed

If you ever want to check if a post is indexed, or quickly tell Google to index an article you just posted, use the Inspection tool of Search Console.

You’ll see it at the top and can just paste any URL from your Substack publication.

Here’s an example:

Just checked one of my pages and it’s indexed and appears correctly in the search results.

If, for any reason, it says it’s not indexed, simply click the button saying ‘Request Indexing’.

And that’s it.

Now your Substack is connected to both Google Analytics and Google Search Console, and that gives you a much clearer picture of how people discover and interact with your publication.

Got any questions? Leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you get stuck during the setup.

Until next time,
Lidiya

Welcome to my second Substack growth update. How exciting to write these at the end of every month and set my goals for the next one!

I believe in taking you with me behind the scenes because that inspires you to take action on your Substack and maybe a strategy or insight I share helps you in some way.

Below, you’ll see my wins for the month, and my numbers with screenshots. That includes new subscribers, page views, traffic sources, open rate, etc.

After that, I’ll list the new content I published on The 2-Hour Blogger, the mindset shifts, a few big lessons I learned from being on Substack for yet another month, and finally, what I have planned for July.

Let’s dive in.

🏆 Wins

I engaged more. - That’s what Substack is all about, right? Every next month I realize that more and more. But in June, I discovered fun new ways to do it, as well as showed up more often. I used to only use the platform once or twice a day for 1-3 hours, but now, I just go for it whenever I can throughout the day. There’s always something to do here - comments to respond to, new things to read, new people to discover.

178 new subscribers. - That’s the biggest number of new subs I’ve seen in a month, and I think it’s directly related to the point above. Also, the Substack algorithm might know me and my work better at this point, more people discover me naturally, and I’m just establishing myself more on the platform. I’m also just having fun with it, feel more and more motivated every next week, and Substack is part of my daily life at this point and it’s what I do online.

My first revenue. - June was an important month for me as a new Substack creator because I earned my first revenue from the platform, not in 1 but in 2 ways, which is pretty amazing. I partnered with a brand on a sponsored post, and I got my first paid subscriber.

My first interview. - I started a new series interviewing Substack creators and sharing their journey and their best tips for growing a Substack. The first interview went live (here it is). Lots of practical insights on Notes, data, product revenue, and finding what actually moves the needle. Two more interviews are in the works.

For comparison, here are my wins from last month (shared in the May Substack growth update).

• I was consistent.

• I started scheduling Notes for the whole week.

• I treated Substack like a real business, before making money from it just yet.

• I merged my 2 publications into 1.

• I turned on paid subscriptions.

I believe these naturally led to the wins from June. It’s all connected.

How about you? What are your biggest wins from last month?

Leave a comment

📊 Stats

Traffic

3,509 page views.

Last month, that number was 1,900.

Traffic Sources

Open Rate

22,69%

Up from May, when it was 21,04%.

💌 New Subscribers

At the time of writing this, I have 423 subscribers on Substack (1 of them is paid).

Here’s the growth rate:

62,2%. Last month that was 78%.

Unsubscribes

20

Network effect - What percent of your subscribers came from the Substack network?

📚 What I Published

In June, I published a total of 11 posts, 4 of which were for paid members.

[Free Download] Land Your First Paid Brand Deal as a Blogger

How I Landed a $450 Brand Deal on Substack as a Small Creator [The Complete Breakdown]

Why I’m Glad I Launched My Paid Tier Early

How to Monetize Travel Content Without Constantly Publishing

My Month as a Full-Time Blogger: Behind the Numbers

4 Hours a Week. $30K in Revenue: The Substack Journey of Finn Tropy

29 Words. 29 Writers. 29 Worlds.

What My Blog Actually Earned in 1 Month [Income and Traffic Report for January 2024]

Substack Growth Update: May 2026

What My Blogging Business Actually Made in 1 Year & How I Got 257,480 Page Views [Annual Income Report]

The Era of Thought Leadership is Here. Here’s How and Where to Demonstrate It Online

🌱 Mindset Shifts

I’m in this for the long haul. That takes the pressure away. Now I’m motivated to take action daily and engage and grow my audience, but there will be periods with less time and energy. That’s fine. I stay focused on the big picture - where this publication can be at the end of the year.

I go with the flow. I do what feels good and what feels right, but at the same time I keep studying successful creators and their publications. Different things work for different writers, so I don’t just apply any strategy I see. I practice discernment. I also like to test it myself and then decide if I’ll keep doing something or not.

Plus, we all have different goals, niches and monetization models around here. We can’t just copy what others are doing.

I’m starting to see beyond the surface on Substack. Some big creators don’t have it all figured out, and actually just write about Substack growth (which itself helped them grew). Many readers also say that in the comments openly - that these people got to where they are because they get paid to teach others how to grow on Substack. But we see this on every platform.

I started asking my subscribers what content they want. It’s easy for me to just write about what I want, and I will keep doing that sometimes. But it’s also important to give people what they want, to publish content around the topics they need help with, to give solutions to their current problems.

So I started a list with content requests (let’s call them that way). While having chats with some readers, I used the chance to ask what they want to see more of, and I recorded their answer. Others also asked for more on specific topics in comments, and in a poll I shared.

Mostly, it has to do with Substack growth actually. You may have already noticed this is the content that does so well because almost anyone on the platform wants to grow their email list.

I don’t just want to become another newbie talking about Substack growth as if they know it all. My angle is that I test things and share them with you, and this monthly update is the perfect example of that.

But because people have been asking for it, and because I have so much to say (as a result of taking so much action on Substack), I will be writing more about this. I have some posts ready and want to share the strategies that work for me related to Notes and engagement. So stay tuned.

I also believe that I bring a (sort of) unique perspective here through my experience in the blogging space. That’s what I’ve been doing for 10 years, so now I apply some of those principles to growing on Substack. Specifically when it comes to mindset, content strategy, and monetization.

Also, my Notes have been doing better lately. In this Note, I shared why I think that is:

2. Posting about your wins leads to more engagement. People love seeing proof that Substack works, so a Note saying you just reached an X number of subscribers or got your first paid subscriber will do well. The support you’ll get feels good too.

Here are some examples:

PS, Don’t forget to cheer on other people too, it’s a two-way street.

🎯 What’s Next

First, let’s evaluate the things I planned for June:

✅ Finalized my first brand deal + shared about it.

✅ Updated one of my freebies for bloggers and published it.

❌ Keep scheduling Notes for the whole week.

❌ Reach 500 subscribers.

✅ Have my 1st paid subscriber.

And here’s what my goals are for July:

• Free subs: 700 (300 new)

• Paid subs: 5 (4 new)

Publishing:

• Run 1 challenge (on blog monetization)

• 3 premium posts

• 1-2 new interviews

Products:

• Introduce the Substack Growth Audit (a bonus for annual paid members)

• Add my blogging case study (another bonus for paid subs)

Authority:

• Be the person people come to and think of when it comes to blog sponsorships (and - in the future - earning on Substack with brand deals).

Branding:

I want to be more consistent with my visuals on Substack. Currently, my featured images are too cluttered. I’m not sure what vibe to go for yet, but simpler is better. I plan to decide that in July and use the same style for future images.

Thanks for reading this far! Let me know what you think.

Over to you now. Tell me:

• What was your biggest win last month?

• What’s one thing you’re focusing on in July?

• What’s a recent lesson you’ve learned as a Substack creator?

Keep building your writing business, one post at a time!
Lidiya

When I started blogging, I had no idea brands would ever pay me to write about their products.

I was simply sharing my thoughts online and trying to grow my audience.

Then one day, a company offered me $100 for a sponsored post.

That small opportunity completely changed the way I viewed my blog. It wasn’t just a creative outlet anymore. It was a business asset.

Over the years, sponsored blogging became my most reliable income stream. Today, it accounts for 90% of my revenue and has allowed me to build long-term relationships with brands, work on 4-figure collaborations, and create a sustainable blogging business.

But here’s the thing most bloggers don’t realize:

You simply need the right foundation and a strategy that helps sponsors see the value of your platform (whether that’s a blog or a Substack).

That’s why I created 7 Steps to Land Your First Blog Sponsorship, a free guide designed to help bloggers understand how sponsorships work and how to position themselves for paid opportunities.

This guide is for you if:

• You have a blog and want to start making money from it.

• You’re tired of relying solely on ads or affiliate income.

• You want to work with brands but don’t know where to begin.

• You’ve been blogging for a while but haven’t landed your first sponsorship yet.

Whether your blog is brand new or you’ve been publishing for years, these principles can help you become more attractive to sponsors.

What You’ll Learn

Inside the guide, you’ll discover the seven key areas every blogger should focus on before approaching brands.

You’ll learn how to position your blog professionally, understand what sponsors actually look for, make your platform more visible to potential partners, create the assets brands expect to see, and develop a process for finding and approaching sponsorship opportunities.

The goal is to show you the path from “I wish I could work with brands” to “I’m ready to start having sponsorship conversations.”

Get the Free Guide

7 Steps to Land Your First Blog Sponsorship is completely free.

Simply subscribe to this publication and you’ll receive it automatically in your welcome email.

If brand partnerships are something you’ve been curious about, this is the perfect place to start.

At the end of May, a free subscriber reached out via a personal message on Substack, introduced themselves and made me an interesting offer.

It was the person responsible for brand marketing at a company and online platform I was familiar with. And she wanted to discuss a sponsored newsletter feature with me as this could be a good fit for my audience.

At that point, I had around 215 free subscribers for my publication The-2 Hour Blogger. And I had been using the platform consistently for 2 months.

I was new, still figuring things out, and just a small Substack creator.

And yet, a brand reached out of nowhere, and offered a paid partnership.

Long story short, in the beginning of June my invoice for $450 was paid (in advance, as that’s one of the conditions I work with), and soon after that the post I wrote for them went live on Substack.

Below, I’ll share with you every little detail involved in that collaboration, including:

• the brand name;

• the exact messages and emails we exchanged;

• what I did right away after they asked for my pricing;

• my Substack media kit with the packages I offer and what each costs;

• the post I wrote for the brand and how the links were included naturally;

• the edits they requested;

• and anything in-between.

After reading this article, you will:

• Be more confident that you too can get paid by brands even as a small Substack creator;

• Make a few changes to your publication, profile and Substack strategy so you can attract brands;

• Understand what actually goes into a paid partnership like that;

• Have the chance to contact this exact brand (if it’s a good fit for your audience);

• Re-think your Substack monetization strategy (or create it for the first time);

• Understand how sponsored blogging + newsletter monetization work and how it can easily be applied to Substack.

I will also analyze why that brand may have chosen me for a paid collab, and what actions I had taken in those 2 months on Substack that potentially led to this opportunity.

In addition, I’ll tell you my next steps - how I want to keep growing my Substack and optimize it further for bigger and better brand collabs.

Table of Contents:

The Backstory
The Timeline
The Deal at a Glance
My Substack at the Time
The Exact Emails and Messages
My Substack Media Kit
The Sponsored Content
Why They Chose Me
What the Brand Probably Didn’t Care About
Your Brand Pitch Email Template
Takeaways
Lessons for Small Creators
My Next Steps to Attract More Brand Partnerships

The Backstory

I’ve been blogging for 10 years now and earning mainly from sponsorships, so I knew a thing or two about that kind of work already. This definitely helps.

If I was a total beginner, I probably would have been paid much less, would have thought this is too good to be true and not moved forward with the collab, let imposter syndrome get in the way, or sabotage the deal because I wouldn’t know what to charge or say and how this works.

Don’t let any of that stop you. Things are pretty easy, especially when the brand reaches out to you. You can simply follow the steps they suggest and let this first deal be part of your learning process. Later, you can use it as an example of a brand you already worked with when pitching others yourself.

So, back to my story.

I knew how sponsored blogging works and have had hundreds of deals with brands for my WordPress blog. There are plenty of similarities for Substack as it’s both a blog and a newsletter (2 in 1, which is pretty awesome).

If the brand is big, they already have a process for that, will onboard you, share their payment policy and the next steps on your end (because they’ve worked with many other creators and have a workflow).

Another thing I want to mention here: I’ve actually worked with that same brand on my blog Let’s Reach Success, but this had nothing to do with them discovering me on Substack.

As mentioned, it’s a big company, they work with many creators. My blog is a platform with good domain authority so they stumbled upon it and reached out to me some time ago. We worked on a sponsored article, it was a one-time thing.

Now, they did the same on Substack, where I’m a nobody yet, and I find this pretty cool. Because it proves what I’m teaching - that you can monetize with brand deals even with a small blog or Substack. That small creators, when positioned well and with a clear niche and good content, can be approached by sponsors. And that you can earn from your Substack before you have a few hundred subs.

Also, it’s a fun example that you never know where your first revenue will come from.

This is a beautiful story that repeats itself for me. Back in the days, when I knew nothing about blogging but was already publishing consistently, a brand reached out and offered to pay me $100 for publishing an article on my site.

That’s when I learned about sponsored blogging and I’ve been mastering it ever since. I learned so much through trial and error, that I started teaching this as a business model.

I even have a course about it - The Blog Sponsorship Boss - which has helped bloggers earn from their sites.

Now, I teach that on Substack, while doing it myself at the same time.

So that’s the quick background story I wanted to share with you.

Now, let’s get to the main part of this article, where I share the exact details of this brand deal, what steps I took to make the most of it, which elements of my Substack strategy might have contributed to landing this opportunity, and what you can do to get the same results.

But first, here’s how everything unfolded.

The Timeline

• May 22nd - Someone from the company reached out to me via a DM on Substack.

• May 24th - I replied (didn’t even see the message before that).

• June 1st - She shared more info + the draft brief, and suggested to continue via email as messages can get lost on Substack sometimes.

• June 2nd - I emailed her with my rates + blog post ideas.

  She agreed with my rates and picked a package from my media kit.

  She provided payment details and I sent the invoice.

  We agreed on an article topic and I shared the outline.

• June 4th - I sent her the article draft.

• June 11th - She loved it and left some small comments + updates to the post.

• June 19th - We finalized the details and I scheduled the article for publication.

The whole process took longer because her answers were delayed (she was on a sick leave for a while, and also not in a rush to speed up the collaboration, which is totally fine, of course). Mentioning this as normally, these partnerships can happen much faster.

The rest of this guide is for paid subscribers because it’s exclusive information. You are free to copy my approach to anything, to even contact the brand yourself (if it’s a good fit for you!). I will even give you an email template to use for that.

In the comments, paid subscribers can ask any questions related to this, nothing is off limits.

So, let’s dive in.

The Deal at a Glance

Read more

Sunday was a very special day for me as a writer.

I got my first paid subscriber on Substack.

I’m humbled.

This year, I decided to try Substack, and soon after it became the main hub for my business. I started documenting my journey here, learning more about it every day, and growing slowly but steadily.

My goal is always to remain transparent and humble, and help people along the way. 🙏🏻

I’m writing this post to celebrate my win, but to also share exactly what it means, what it teaches me, and how I will make the most of it.

Keep in mind that I was already self-employed - a full-time blogger - and have been creating content online for 10 years.

I’m new to Substack but not to content creation, email marketing, building an audience, monetizing in different ways, branding, etc.

I already knew my niche and how to position myself, and had a lot of existing content ready to be moved here as well as many ideas on what new posts to write.

But I was completely new to Substack and really started from scratch.

I didn’t import my existing email list here (around 3,000 subscribers). I’m building this publication in real time, sharing everything with you along the way, learning about Substack daily, creating content weekly, and truly engaging with other writers almost every day for the past few weeks.

And it paid off.

I landed my first brand deal a month ago (with less than 250 subscribers) and this became my first revenue earned through Substack.

And now, I got my first paid subscriber, before even promoting my paid tier.

That’s an interesting thing to analyze. So let me share what it means for me and my business, and what steps I’ll take as a result.

What This Payment Actually Means

A free subscriber became paid a week after being on my list.

He chose the yearly plan, and also left me a great comment/testimonial sharing that this is his first paid subscription. This is a big compliment.

He also left me a recommendation, saying:

“This creator provides data on what works to help you grow your Substack. It is practical advice backed up by her data. Its primary aim is to help you grow. If you are interested in developing your publication, then this is a great recommendation to help you achieve this aim.”

This is the kind of validation a creator needs, and works towards.

But also, this is a proof of concept.

Proof that:

• You have to hit publish before you’re ready;

• You can release that paid tier sooner rather than later (I wasn’t even promoting mine actively yet or expecting anyone to sign up any time soon);

• You never know when or from where your first or next paid subscriber will come from;

• Your monetization path might be different than expected, be open to it. (My first revenue here came a brand reaching out to do a sponsored post for them.)

Also read: Start Your Substack with a Clear Path to Income (+ How I Plan to Monetize)

But…

This is not the most important moment on my Substack journey so far.

Equally important moments were:

• Any time I got a recommendation from someone;

• Any time I got a thoughtful comment;

• That time a brand reached out to work on a sponsored article and paid me $450 to publish content I would have published anyways;

• Any time people said something I wrote was helpful and had further questions about it;

• Any time writers on here showed support and celebrated my wins;

• Gaining 100 subscribers, then 200, and now 300;

• Doing my first interview with a bigger Substack creator (here it is if you missed it);

The first thing I did after getting my first paid subscriber?

I sent him a personal message to:

• thank him;

• share the fact that he’s my first ever paying member (as I haven’t even started promoting the paid tier actively yet) and that this is an honor;

• say I can’t wait to provide as much value as possible in the next year;

• ask him what he needs help with them most and what content would serve him best right now.

My focus from here on

I posted about this win on Substack, of course, and the responses were amazing.

48 people liked it and 16 people commented so far. I also got 4 new subscribers from it.

Fellow writers celebrated my win, and said it inspired them.

One writer asked me how it feels to have my first paid sub.

And I said this:

“First, very humbling. I’m truly grateful.

Second, it’s proof I’m on the right path (what I do here feels aligned but this milestone assures me even more).

And third, the real work begins now. What can I do to provide so much value to this one paid member? This way, I build the foundation of a premium library that others will see when they too join the paid tier.”

So this is what comes next for me:

• This person (the paid subscriber) asked for advice on growing a Substack. I have a lot to say about that but was hoping to just document my journey for now instead of officially teaching it. However, others have been asking this too, so I can begin sharing more tips and strategies that I see are working;

• I’m really inspired to take all my blogging knowledge and apply it to growing on Substack. I have so many ideas already (that I’ll test myself and immediately share with others);

• I haven’t even started adding bonuses for paid subscribers yet, but I’m about to. Now, however, they won’t be random, but with the goal of helping this one person who trusted me get results;

• He paid for a whole year, which is pretty awesome. Also, it’s how the real value can be felt from a Substack newsletter. If you subscribe monthly and just happen to see a few pieces of content that aren’t what you’re looking for, you can cancel your subscription without seeing everything the writer has to offer;

• It’s time to start releasing better premium content and do it consistently (that was on my to-do list, but now that there’s a paying member reading these posts and waiting for some value, it’s time to step up my game);

• I like going the extra mile and turn everything into an experience. So I’m available in the DMs to paid subscribers to answer any questions they have and share any suggestions I might have for them;

• Also, I decided I’ll be offering a Substack Growth Audit for every annual paid subscriber. I’ll review your profile, publication, overall branding + positioning, content and monetization strategy, and share personalized feedback, growth opportunities, and next steps to focus on. This feels like a good starting point.

If that sounds valuable, consider upgrading below.

Launching Your Paid Tier

So that’s my latest update. I love sharing these with you as soon as they happen, and with all the details.

I hope this inspires you to keep going in your business. And also, to launch your paid tier before you have it all figured out.

Let it be the reason why you take your Substack to the next level.

Set up your monthly and yearly subscription, price it based on the value you provide, and start publishing paywalled content weekly.

That’s what I did.

Before I was ready. Before things were perfect around here.

Without knowing if or when anyone would join.

Without knowing how the whole strategy looks like, or what the big vision is.

Let me know what you think. And share any questions in the comments below.

Thank you for being here 💕,
Lidiya

I’ve been blogging for 10 years now.

The main way I monetize my content is through brand partnerships. Also called sponsored blogging, this is my favorite way to turn my posts into revenue. And what I love even more is how many ways there are to do this.

Ways that many bloggers don’t even consider. Such as using your old content to add sponsored links, for example. Or having sponsors for your newsletter.

Lately, I noticed a tendency in the travel blogging niche. And while I am not a travel blogger myself, it’s worth talking about it. This concerns travel content creators in general. And if that’s you, keep reading.

You have the content, and might be exhausted from constantly publishing more.

You also get traction.

It could be a blog post about a weekend in Lisbon from years ago that still brings you steady search traffic. Or a hotel guide from last year that still gets saves and clicks.

Maybe a travel carousel on Instagram still gets DMs asking for links.

And yet, you don’t earn anything from that content.

The monetization piece here is either missing, or inconsistent. And that’s where things feel quite disconnected for travel creators. What they do about it is usually to keep creating a lot of new content, simply because the content they already have isn’t doing enough work.

But what if I told you that you don’t need to do that?

You can monetize what you already have with little effort.

More Traffic Isn’t Always The Answer

If you’ve been publishing for a while, you likely have a small library of travel-related content just sitting there.

Some of it ranks in search. Some posts get shared. And old posts keep getting rediscovered long after being published.

So the value is already there. You may be thinking that monetization should improve when traffic grows. But in reality, the traffic you already have isn’t monetized properly.

You have the visitors, you have the leads. And instead of looking for more by constantly creating new content, you can make the most of the audience you already have.

Brands deals are amazing, sure. But they can also be unpredictable.

A smart approach is to add monetization opportunities to existing posts.

Here are some ways:

Earn from Your Existing Posts

Do that by connecting the content you have to relevant booking and travel services.

This can look like:

• Adding hotel booking links inside destination guides;

• Including flight search tools on city pages;

• Linking tours or experiences mentioned in your stories;

• Updating older posts with current travel providers.

This is super useful for users too because you have a visitor already interested in a place. They shouldn’t wonder what the next step is. You can fill the gap by giving them the right next step right then and there, without extra effort on their side.

Streamline Travel Monetization With One Platform

Now, this presents a whole new set of challenges. Such as having to manually manage multiple affiliate programs, constantly searching for individual partnerships, logging into many dashboards just to check earnings, and updating broken or outdated links.

Instead, you can use Travelpayouts, a travel affiliate marketing platform, to plug into one system that connects your content to travel brands like Booking.com and GetYourGuide.

It works with your existing content and adds a monetization layer to them.

Inside the platform, you get access to 90+ travel brands and tools in one place. That includes hotels, flights, tours and experiences, car rentals.

You don’t need to apply to each program separately. You just pick what matches your content. And it’s all for free.

Capturing What You’re Already Losing

And here’s a way to make all this easier. A key tool inside Travelpayouts is Drive. It focuses on where you’re missing revenue.

It does that by analyzing your content and traffic, understanding how users behave and identifying where revenue opportunities are being missed.

It helps you apply the right monetization tools at the right time, without manually tracking everything.

Plus, the setup is super simple (and usually takes 5 minutes) and you don’t need any technical experience.

How to Monetize with Travelpayouts

For a start, you can turn travel mentions into links that generate revenue. With Drive, many of these monetized links can be added automatically, so you don’t have to manually update every article on your website.

If you already wrote things like “Best hotels in Paris”, “3 days in Barcelona itinerary” and “Things to do in Lisbon”, you can go back and add links.

For example, a hotel name can turn into a Booking.com link and an activity can link to a GetYourGuide tour.

Instead of just describing places, you give readers a direct way to book them. That saves them time and provides additional value.

Next, you can add tools.

Travelpayouts gives you widgets and tools like flight search boxes, hotel search tools and interactive booking modules. With Drive, some of these monetization opportunities can also be optimized automatically, helping display relevant booking options where readers are most likely to make a purchase.

If till now you said to readers ‘here are some flights’, you can now let them search directly on your page.

This works especially well on evergreen posts that already get traffic from Google and Pinterest.

Basically, you can add monetized links where people are already making decisions. You can improve posts that rank but don’t convert, and that increases your chances of earning commissions.

There’s so much potential and revenue hidden in your old posts. Update them often. This is where most earnings can come from in your business, not necessarily from new content.

Your Next Step

If you want to get more out of the content you already have, give Travelpayouts a try.

And once you start adding links to your old content, here’s a tip: start with the posts that are already getting traffic.

Let me know how this works out for you. And I hope you found value in this guide.

This income report was originally shared inside my private membership for bloggers (which no longer exists) and is now being republished here on Substack as part of a growing archive for paid subscribers. The publish date reflects when it went live here, not when the report was created, and I’m bringing these over to keep all my behind the scenes content in one place, where bloggers and creators can see real numbers, decisions, and lessons, and use them as inspiration to take action in their own business.

In this income report, I’m sharing exactly how my blogging business performed this month, including revenue, expenses, traffic, email growth, Pinterest stats, podcast downloads, and content published.

What you’ll find below:

• A full breakdown of every income stream and business expense;

• Traffic, email list, Pinterest, and podcast growth updates;

• The articles, interviews, and podcast episodes published this month;

• Behind-the-scenes updates from my membership community;

• Progress on my niche site and AI-assisted content strategy;

• The biggest wins, lessons, and accomplishments from the month;

• What I’m currently working on behind the scenes to grow the business;

• My goals, targets, and focus areas for next month.

Whether you’re curious about blogging income, building multiple traffic sources, creating content consistently, or growing a sustainable online business, there’s plenty of real-world data and insights inside.

Let’s dive in:

Read more

This is an interview with Finn Tropy of Finn’sights.

At a glance:

• Current subscriber count: 1329 (finntropy.substack.com), 113 (stackcontacts.substack.com)

• Most successful post: “How Often Should You Publish Notes to Grow Your Paid Subscribers?“ (Dec 2024) — 72 total signups, 3,227 views, 252 reactions, 96 comments, 42 restacks

• Most underrated growth tactic: Restacking as asymmetric relationship-building.
  It’s the only growth tactic that simultaneously signals your taste, gets you in front of another creator’s audience, rewards the algorithm (Substack explicitly surfaces writers with restack activity as audience-adjacent), and builds a relationship — all without asking for anything. Every other tactic has a cost: posting takes time, cold outreach asks for something, recommendations require reciprocity.

The underrated part: most creators think of restacking as amplification. I’ve framed it as discovery — specifically, restacking Tier 2 peer-sized creators (1k–10k subs) to get on their radar without asking for a recommendation. That framing is more precise than anything most Substack growth advice covers.

• Favorite Substack feature: Substack Notes.

• One creator everyone should follow: - I’ve learned so much from her, and we built two very successful collab products together.

• One tool you can’t live without: Claude AI

• Key metric to track: Notes-sourced subscribers.

• Main revenue source: Gumroad - my software products for Substack creators

• One sentence describing your newsletter: What worked, what didn’t, and the tools I built along the way — for Substack creators who want real growth, not guessing.

• One piece of advice for new writers:
  Publish before you’re ready — the data doesn’t exist until you create it.

The Beginning

Tell us about your publication. What do you write about and who is it for?

I have two publications:

Finn’sights (finntropy.substack.com) is for Substack creators who are tired of vague growth advice and want actual data. I write about what works, what doesn’t, and the tools I built along the way.

The typical reader is already publishing. They have somewhere between 10 and 2,000 subscribers. They’re not trying to become a media company — they want a sustainable creative business that fits their life. My job is to give them the honest numbers and the tools and systems to make that happen.

I don’t write for beginners who want a 10-step checklist. I write for people who’ve been at it long enough to know that “just be consistent” is not a strategy.

StackContacts (stackcontacts.substack.com) is a newsletter for Substack creators who sell digital products and want to grow with data, not gut feeling.

I write about turning subscriber and Gumroad data into decisions — which content drives sales, who’s about to churn, which subscribers are most likely to buy. It’s built for StackContacts tool users who want to go beyond the dashboard and actually use their data to earn more.

What was your writing journey before Substack?

I’ve been writing software since 1976. For most of my career, the writing I did consisted of code, specs, and technical documentation, as well as thousands of corporate emails, reports, and product documents. I’ve written some blog posts about my hobbies, and dabbled in writing Sci-Fi stories, but I didn’t really know how to write online or how to do marketing.

As I was preparing to retire from the corporate world, I started writing on Medium in 2023. Mostly because it was the obvious first move when you want to write online and don’t know where to start.

The writing itself wasn’t the hard part. Figuring out who I was writing for — and why — took much longer.

How was your Medium publication performing before you discovered Substack?

I’d write something, it would get a few hundred views if I was lucky, and then I’d never hear from those readers again.

Someone would clap on a post, maybe follow me, and disappear. I had no way to reach them. No way to know if they were still reading. No way to know if any of it was landing.

After 18 months, I had readers — but I couldn’t name them, couldn’t contact them, and had no idea what they actually wanted from me.

On June 9, 2024 I imported my 24 subscribers to Substack, initially as a test. One of them threw a fit because I sent a welcome email from Substack. I immediately removed him, but he publicly blamed me in a post because “him subscribing to me was only for Medium stories.”

This was my first lesson on how some people who had been reading my stuff for 18 months could react so negatively when I tried something new.

Did you immediately move over, or did you run both platforms simultaneously for a while?

I ran them simultaneously for a few months. In November 2024 I decided to focus on Substack only and stopped publishing on Medium.

What made you start on Substack in the first place?

I was doing what I do now, but on Medium. Analyzing creator growth. Looking for patterns. I wrote a mini-series profiling accounts like Tim Denning and Eve Arnold — their consistency, their topic mix, their engagement curves over time.

Then a new account appeared. Ten weeks in, it had a larger following than creators who’d been building for years. The growth pattern looked wrong. I wrote about it. Other readers started bringing their own evidence. The thread got traction.

Medium leadership commented publicly to say the account was real. Then they took my post down for “mentioning other accounts” — a community rules violation.

I hadn’t written anything false. I’d published my analysis. But the platform decided that analyzing other creators metrics was against their rules — even when the analysis raised a legitimate question.

That was the first signal.

The second came when I started using AI tools that summer. English is my third language. I was using Grammarly to clean up grammar — not to generate content — but Medium publications started rejecting my stories.

AI-written content was banned, and the distinction between “grammar tool” and “ChatGPT” didn’t matter to the editors.

Two things became clear at once: Medium didn’t want analysis of other creators, and it didn’t want writers who used AI tools. Those were exactly the two things I was building toward.

I didn’t gradually drift to Substack. I left Medium.

What did your first few months on Substack look like?

Slow. Humbling. I had a handful of subscribers who I’m pretty sure were mostly people I knew. The open rates were high — which felt good until I realized a 70% open rate on 30 subscribers is still 30 subscribers.

I published more than I expected to. I was experimenting, not executing a strategy. And that was probably the right call. The experiment can’t start until you hit publish.

At what point did you realize this could become something bigger?

When I started getting data from my own readers that contradicted conventional wisdom.

I published a post called How Often Should You Publish Notes to Grow Your Paid Subscribers? in December 2024. It hit 3,227 views, 252 reactions, and drove 72 total signups.

That was the moment I realized the newsletter wasn’t just a place to write — it was a research platform. My readers were hungry for the real numbers, not the guru version.

That post also validated the product direction. If people cared this much about Notes strategy and data, they’d pay for better tools. And they did.

The Growth Story

Can you walk us through your subscriber growth journey?

The first 100 were slow. Mostly organic — people found me through Notes or a post landed somewhere useful. I wasn’t doing much outreach or any paid promotion.

I stopped posting announcements and started posting data. One Note — “I analyzed 1.78 million Notes and found the 30–60 word sweet spot” — drove 18 new free subscribers and 234 clicks in a single post. That changed how I thought about the format.

The jump to 1,000+ was driven by a combination of restacking, data-backed posts, and the product flywheel.

When I launched StackContacts and Substack Pro Studio, people bought the products and then subscribed to the newsletter to understand how to use them. The audience and the business started feeding each other.

Today I’m at 1,329 subscribers on Finn’sights and 113 on the StackContacts publication.

What were the biggest growth drivers?

Three things, in order:

Notes with data hooks. Not “here are some tips.” Specific numbers. “I scraped 3.8 million Substack posts. The sweet spot for engagement is 1,600 words. Engagement dies after 2,000.“ That kind of specificity gets restacked because it’s useful and hard to fake.

Restacking as relationship-building. Not amplification — discovery. I focused on Tier 2 creators (1k–10k subscribers) who were building seriously but hadn’t hit scale yet.

Restack their work, do it consistently, get on their radar. No cold outreach. No “let’s collaborate.” Just signal that you’ve read them carefully.

Posts that challenged the consensus. How Often Should You Publish Notes to Grow Your Paid Subscribers? was the highest-performing post I’ve published — 3,227 views, 252 reactions, 43.6% open rate. It worked because it gave people data that disagreed with what they’d been told.

In another post, Have I Found Out The Best Time To Publish, I conducted a statistical analysis to debunk the common belief that the best times to post are in the morning and evening in US time zones. That post brought 12 subscribers and had an amazing 58.97% click-through rate.

What’s one thing that worked much better than you expected?

Building software.

I thought the newsletter was the product. Turns out the newsletter is the marketing engine. The software products are where the money is.

Since August 2024, I’ve done $32,000+ in Gumroad revenue across 1,937 sales — mostly from free subscribers who never converted to paid newsletter readers.

The most successful product, Substack Scheduled Notes, has 502 customers. My second, Substack Pro Studio, has 356.

What’s something everyone says to do on Substack that didn’t work for you?

Paid subscriptions as the primary monetization model.

I have 3 paid subscribers on stackcontacts.substack.com. Zero on Finn’sights. And I’ve made $32K from products sold almost entirely to free readers.

Everyone told me to put the best content behind the paywall. That the paid subscription is the goal. For me, the goal is a reader who trusts me enough to buy something that solves a real problem.

The newsletter earns that trust. The products capture the value.

This won’t work for everyone. If you’re writing long-form journalism or deeply personal essays, the paid sub model makes sense. But if you’re teaching a skill or solving a problem, think about what the product version of that looks like.

If you had to start from zero tomorrow, what would be your first 30 days strategy?

Days 1–7: Publish one post. Not perfect. Just real. Something you already know that most people get wrong. The data doesn’t exist until you create it.

Days 8–14: Write 10 Notes. Short. Data-backed or story-driven. Find 5 creators in your niche with 50–500 subscribers and restack one piece of their work that genuinely impressed you, with comments. Not flattery. Actual signal.

Days 15–21: Find the one question your ideal reader asks most. Write a post that answers it with specifics, not principles.

Days 22–30: Email your list — even if it’s 12 people — and ask them one question. What’s the one thing you’re still confused about on [your topic]? Read every reply. That’s your next 90 days of content.

Don’t think about monetization yet. Think about what you know that’s genuinely useful and hard to find elsewhere.

Behind the Scenes

What’s your content creation process like today?

I’m working part-time on my tools, so the newsletter gets 2-4 hours per week — early mornings, occasional evenings, sometimes a Sunday block.

The process is research first.

I run queries on my own data (subscriber behavior, Notes performance, Gumroad sales correlations, Social graph effects). If I find something surprising, that’s the post.

The insight drives the structure; the structure drives the words. I’m not sitting down to write a post — I’m sitting down to report a finding.

Notes are faster. A good Note is usually a single observation I can support with a number. I draft them in batches, schedule them with my own tool (Substack Pro Studio), and move on.

How often do you publish, and how did you find that rhythm?

About once a week on posts — the actual average is every 8 days. Notes are daily: I’m publishing around 4–5 Notes per day, which works out to roughly 30 per week.

I didn’t find the rhythm through discipline. I found it through systems.

The Notes get scheduled in batches using my own Substack Pro Studio tool — I’m not sitting down every morning to write one from scratch. I draft them in blocks, queue them, and they go out on their own.

The posts come when the research produces something genuinely new. Some weeks that’s one post. Some weeks it’s two or three in a row when I’ve been deep in data.

The key distinction: Notes are consistent by design (the tool handles the cadence). Posts are consistent by research (the data tells me when there’s something worth sending). Two different rhythms, for two different purposes.

What metrics do you actually pay attention to?

These three:

Notes-sourced free subscribers. This is the primary growth metric. Notes are the top of my funnel.

Link click rate on posts. Not open rate. I used to track opens. That was a mistake.

After pulling 69,522 Substack events and 1,244 Gumroad transactions into an analytics database and running it through AI, one signal stood out: 88.9% of purchasers clicked at least one link before buying, compared to 15.6% of non-purchasers.

Link clicks are 4.5× more predictive of purchases than opens, comments, or total engagement. Open rate feels like the right thing to watch. The data says otherwise.

Email opens = interest. Link clicks = intent.

I wrote this article How I Used AI to Find the Hidden Behaviors That Predict Which Readers Will Buy on the data analysis and conclusions.

Gumroad revenue by product. Which product is still growing, which has plateaued, where is there a gap. This is my actual business metric.

I built StackContacts specifically because Substack’s native analytics couldn’t surface these behavioral signals. The platform shows you opens and views. It doesn’t show you who clicked a product link twice but didn’t buy. That’s the gap the tool closes.

What was the biggest mistake you’ve made on Substack?

Waiting too long to understand who my audience actually was.

For the first several months I was writing about Substack growth broadly — for anyone who wanted to grow. That’s not a specific enough audience.

The people who actually engage, buy, and share are a much smaller group: data-comfortable creators who are already publishing, already past the “how do I start” stage, and want real signals instead of motivation.

Once I got specific, everything improved. The restacks were from the right people. The replies were more substantive. The product fit was tighter.

Was there a moment you almost gave up or seriously questioned what you were doing?

Yes. Around month four.

I was publishing consistently, the subscriber count was moving slowly, and I couldn’t tell if it was the content, the niche, the algorithm, or me. There’s a specific kind of quiet doubt that kicks in when the work isn’t obviously working — not loud enough to stop you, but persistent enough to drain you.

What got me through it was running the numbers more carefully. I pulled the data on which posts had driven the most subscriber growth, which Notes had driven the most profile visits, which readers had engaged most over time.

When I did that, a clear pattern emerged. The issue wasn’t the content — it was the distribution. I was writing good notes for a niche audience and not doing enough to put it in front of that niche.

That analysis became a post. And the post got restacked 42 times and became my most successful post.

Also read: When The Initial Momentum on Substack Wears Off…

The Business Side

Has your newsletter led to opportunities beyond subscriber growth?

Entirely.

The newsletter is the trust infrastructure for the product business. Every product I’ve launched has been to an audience that already knew the work — knew I did real research, knew I built tools that solved my own problems first.

1,937 Gumroad sales across 16 products. $32,000+ in revenue since August 2024. Most of that came through relationships built by the newsletter.

No brand deals. No sponsorships. No speaking gigs. Just readers who trusted the work enough to buy the tools.

How do you think about monetization today?

Products over subscriptions. Specifically: solve a problem that exists in the workflow your readers already have.

My readers are Substack creators. Their workflow involves publishing Notes, tracking stats, managing subscriber lists, and understanding what content is working. Every product I’ve built lives within that workflow, and the Substack UI is not designed for it.

The revenue breakdown as of today:

• Substack Scheduled Notes ($12.4K, 502 customers);

• Substack Pro Studio ($10.4K, 356 customers);

• Substack Control Center ($2.7K, 160 customers);

• StackContacts ($1.3K, 78 customers)

• and several smaller tools.

The actual sources of that revenue are visualized in this note.

None of those customers had to pay for a newsletter subscription. They paid for the tool. The newsletter is what made them trust it enough to buy.

What role does your newsletter play in your overall business ecosystem?

It’s the research engine, the trust layer, and the marketing channel — all at once.

The newsletter is where I publish findings. Those findings demonstrate that I understand the problem deeply. That understanding converts to product sales. The product users send feedback that becomes future findings.

Without the newsletter, the products are just software. With it, they’re part of a story the reader is already in.

What’s Next

What’s your goal for the next 12 months?

Get to 2,000 subscribers on Finn’sights. Not because 2,000 is the magic number — but because at 2,000, the signal-to-noise in my own data gets significantly richer. I can run experiments with meaningful sample sizes.

On the product side: deepen StackContacts. Right now it solves the “what happened” question — who subscribed, who bought, which post drove the most conversions. I want it to start answering the “what should I do next” question, based on rich data.

What are you currently experimenting with?

A few things — and I’ll be honest about what’s actually happening, not just what sounds good.

Notes reach collapsed, and I had to face the real reason. For most of early 2026, my Notes were getting reactions but not converting to free subscribers. The peak was 0.38 new subscribers per Note in early March. By April, it had fallen to 0.00–0.04. The median click count across 288 Notes in the last 90 days is zero.

My first instinct was to diagnose it as a copy problem — wrong hooks, wrong length. That was wrong. The quantitative signal is clear: when clicks are dead, tuning the copy is a trap. You’re optimizing a car with no fuel.

The real diagnosis came from Mack Collier’s recent breakdown of what a stagnant Notes feed actually looks like from the outside.

Three patterns that predict stagnation:

• the Broadcaster (mostly self-promotion, no two-way engagement);

• the Ghost Who Posts (long silences, bursts of self-promotion);

• and the Surface Engager (lots of activity, generic comments).

I looked at my own feed honestly. I was running a Broadcaster pattern. Lots of original Notes going out into the void. Very little evidence of substantive back-and-forth with other creators.

Mack’s data backed it up with something concrete: Notes where he spotlighted someone else consistently outperformed his self-promotional ones. My data shows the same pattern in a different form — the Notes that drove actual clicks were the ones where I was responding to someone else’s work or sharing a specific data finding that invited other creators to engage.

The StackContacts publication is now the growth vehicle. While Finn’sights Notes flatlined, the StackContacts publication grew 78% in three months — from 54 to 96 subscribers — with far fewer Notes pointed at it. The best-performing post in all of 2026 was a StackContacts post: “How to Say Hi to Your New Substack Subscribers” — 10 signups, the only post to hit double-digit attribution this year. The pattern there is tight product-to-content fit. Write about the workflow the product solves, link directly to the outcome, and the conversion happens. I’m expanding that deliberately.

Product-tied posts over general growth posts. Post views on Finn’sights have declined from 791 in February to around 400–500 now. The high-view posts are the ones with a specific product or tool angle. The ones that underperform are the broad “here’s how Substack works” posts. I’m shifting the content calendar toward posts that are useful to existing StackContacts users and product buyers — not posts trying to attract new-to-me readers from search.

If you were starting today with zero followers, would you build on Medium first, Substack first, or both simultaneously?

Substack first. No question.

Medium is a discovery platform. Substack is a relationship platform. Discovery matters in month one. Relationships matter in month twelve.

I wouldn’t ignore Medium — if a post genuinely resonates there, it can drive a meaningful spike of subscribers. But I’d treat Medium as distribution, not as home. Your home has to be somewhere you own the list.

If you’re purely a writer who wants readers, Medium might be faster early on. If you want a business, go to Substack on day one.

Where do you think Substack is heading as a platform, and what opportunities do you see opening up for creators?

The social graph problem is getting real. Your subscribers on Substack don’t fully belong to you — they belong to Substack’s recommendation graph.

As Substack grows, that graph becomes more valuable to the platform and more complicated for individual creators. The creators who understand their own audience data — who reads, who converts, who’s drifting — will have a significant edge over the ones who rely on native metrics alone.

That’s an opportunity for tools, not just content. The creators who are going to win aren’t the ones with the best prose. They’re the ones who treat their newsletter like a business — track the signals, iterate on what works, and build systems that don’t depend on one platform’s algorithm staying friendly.

The other opportunity: Notes are still under-used as a subscriber acquisition channel. Most creators treat them as a sidebar to their main publication. The data I’ve collected shows Notes can be a primary growth driver if you treat them with the same rigor as posts and using Mack Collier’s insights. That’s a gap. The creators who close it early will pull ahead.

Two weeks ago, I posted a Note with a simple request,

Describe your Substack in ONE word only.

The answers ranged from inspiring and funny to surprisingly deep.

I just loved the them. They were thoughtful and unexpected, and incredibly different from one another. Each was a tiny window into a whole world someone is building here, one post at a time.

So I decided to turn some of my favorites into a post.

The goal is to feature fellow writers, and help you discover new newsletters to read and creators to connect with.

Below, you’ll find the 29 words, along with the writers and publications behind them.

And here’s a fun way to explore the list: read the word first and notice what it brings to mind. Then go to the writer’s profile and publication to see whether your impression matches reality.

Let’s dive in.

Earth

Publication: AlterEarth

Writer:

Description: The Earth is one connected system, not a list of crises. A geoscientist walks you through how it all fits together.

Liberation

Publication: Fearless Freedom & Fulfilment: Forever!

Writer:

Description: ☀️Libertarian Yogi | Peaceful Warrior (for Divine Liberty over demonic tyranny) | Rebel With A Cause | Author: ‘THE WAY OF THE FEARLESS YOGI: How To Unleash Your Divine Inner Power To Co-Create Heaven On Earth!’ 🕉

Cozy

Publication: Coffee Break With Tonya

Writer:

Description: I’m a coffee-loving storyteller, here to help you steal cozy moments, sip slowly, and find calm in the middle of busy days.

NIL

Publication: Own Your NIL Weekly

Writer:

Description: Own Your NIL is a weekly newsletter helping families navigate Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) with clarity, confidence, and character.

Magic

Publication: The Business Witch Grimoire

Writer:

Description: I am a 20-year corporate HR leader turned Business Witch. I teach ancient magic, ritual, and modern business practices as tools to create wealth and success.

Growing

Publication: Client Persuasion Lab

Writer:

Description: Built for coaches and business owners who are done blending in.

Unfiltered

Publication: withinpractice’s Substack

Writer:

Description: Everything else came easier than just being inside my own body. I’m figuring that out now-through writing and through building a breathwork practice that brings this work from the mind into the body. This is me in the middle of it.

Perspectives

Publication: taehyunk

Writer:

Description: The world from a kid’s eyes. I write about almost anything — from studying to current world events — that matters to everyone.

Remembrance

Publication: CK’s Substack

Writer:

Description: Words of healing and activation -- Stories of remembrance and truth -- Channeled messages from Source, from the heart -- Unlimited possibilities.

Clarity

Publication: The Worthy Writer

Writer:

Description: Helping overwhelmed creators simplify the noise, regain momentum, and finish meaningful work that reflects who they truly are.

Contrarian

Publication: Business, The Wrong Way

Writer:

Description: Writes Business, The Wrong Way | For small business owners who believe most ‘expert advice’ is just nonsense, I expose what doesn’t work – so you know what does. Get smarter about business, by learning what NOT to do.

Adventure

Publication: [EN/FR] The Digital Adventurer - l’Aventurière Digitale

Writer:

Description: Learn how to build a business through human connection.

Longing

Publication: Drawn From Silence

Writer:

Description: Essays, quiet observations, and fragments of what it means to be human.

Deconstruction

Publication: Lilitu Rodac | Cult Survivor

Writer:

Description: Cult survivor. Raised in a high-control group. Got out. A certified counselor while still inside. Grieving family I can’t get back. Religious and sexual trauma. The ache of losing people to a world you can no longer reach. Memoir series in progress.

Pinterest

Publication: still pinning
Writer:

Description: A practical Pinterest journal for small creators. Realistic extra income, simple steps, and permission to do it your own slow way.

Release

Publication: Stories With Shell

Writer:

Description: An accidentally retired English teacher turned storyteller. Grinding stories of life & brewing wisdom for us to share. ☕️ Author of My Father’s Daughter, a poignant story of overcoming.

Validation-focused

Publication: Peak Marketing for Entrepreneurs

Writer:

Description: One practical marketing article a week for founders with no marketing background. Grow your business without wasting time or money.

Recognition

Publication: The Living Room

Writer:

Description: Black readers feel witnessed, less alone, and more able to name the truths they’ve been carrying in their bodies.

Cohesion

Publication: Dots to Knots

Writer:

Description: Marina here 🙋🏼‍♀️ After 10+ years of passionate work in Comms, HR, and PR, I dedicate this space to cross-field learning, cohesive thinking and communication that feels a l i v e. Join it to revitalize your perception and approach.

Inspiring

Publication: The Power of Writing

Writer:

Description: A newsletter about writing, publishing, publicity, and the power to live your best life.

Resilience

Publication: Precious Fidelia

Writer:

Description: I write about faith, personal growth, and lessons life keeps teaching me. Join me as I learn, build, and share the journey.

Equality

Publication: Robby’s Baking Therapy Substack

Writer:

Description: Robby’s Baking Therapy is a safe space for budget-friendly and food bank friendly recipes and tips.

Loving

Publication: A Softer Place to Land

Writer:

Description: If you’ve ever longed for writing that feels like someone understands and the world seems a little kinder, I hope you’ll find it here.

Impactful

Publication: Couple Love & Living Well with Dr. Beth O’Brien

Writer:

Description: Insights from a relationship and mental health expert with over 25 years’ of counseling practice.

Unapologetic

Publication: The Wellspring

Writer:

Description: This is an adult publication. The essays are drawn from forty years of lived experience and explore desire, intimacy, and open marriage.

Therapy

Publication: Will Green

Writer:

Description: Have you ever been at the bottom of a dark hole, feeling like there is no escape? You’re not alone. London-based writer. Default Setting is a raw, semi-autobiographical novella about addiction and mental health. Releasing it piece by piece on Sub.

Decoded

Publication: DECODED

Writer:

Description: Building a faceless digital marketing biz with digital products + Pinterest. Documenting every step for introverts creating online income. Follow along I’ll share what works, what flops, and every lesson learned.

Autonomy

Publication: The Good Yield

Writer:

Description: The Good Yield helps you go from Step 0 → Step 1 in freelancing, career pivots, and building work on your own terms.

Money

Publication: Financial Freedom 💰

Writer:

Description: Daily newsletter exposing where real money lies — and how it’s made and multiplied.

This is what Substack is made of…

From geoscience to grief, from baking on a budget to building a digital business, from cult survival to open marriage. This little experiment managed to capture something I didn’t expect: just how wide and human this platform really is.

No two newsletters here sound alike. No two writers are chasing the same thing.

That’s what makes Substack so special. It’s not an algorithm or a trend. It’s a community of real people writing about the things that matter to them.

If this post introduced you to even one new voice you want to follow, it did its job.

And if you’re a writer reading this, tell me: how would you describe your Substack in one word?

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