Welcome back behind the scenes of my Substack.
Every month, I document the real journey: what I’m working on, how the publication is growing, the numbers behind it, the lessons I’m learning, and what I’m planning next. And yes, I’m bringing the screenshots so you can see it all for yourself. You can find all growth reports here.
August was another exciting month for my writing business. Some big milestones were hit, but - more importantly - I didn’t obsess over the numbers, set boundaries with how I use Substack so I don’t burn out, prioritized my activities on the platform, restructured the paid tier so everything becomes more sustainable for me without compromising on value, and got clearer on my voice and direction.
Let’s dive into what happened exactly. I find great joy in writing these monthly reports, and hope you enjoy reading them too.
🏆 Wins
In last month’s growth report, I had 782 free subscribers on Substack and 10 paid ones.
Now that number grew. I’m writing this on September 3rd, and actually got a record number of paid members in the last 2-3 days, but I won’t include that as this post is all about August.
So, I ended August with 1,230 free subscribers, and 17 paid ones.
A big deal seemed to be hitting the 1K mark, although it doesn’t technically change anything, and isn’t any different from 900 or 1,100 subscribers.
Here are some Notes on the topic:
I also completed The SEO Challenge. You can find all days here.
New feature
My friend Danielle Wright featured me on her publication. In this interview, we talked about what I’m building with The 2-Hour Blogger, why I started it, what the first few months on Substack have been like, what’s been harder and messier than expected, and what I’m planning next.
Two more interviews are in the works.
I interviewed some other awesome Substack creators who’ve seen success on the platform.
I started using my time on Substack better. The main change was the fact that I let the Activity tab get to 100+ notifications without feeling anxious about it.
I got my 1st paid subscription cancellation on Substack in the beginning of August.
I count that a a win it’s the most normal thing in the world, and that’s why the monthly paid tier exists. To test a newsletter, to see if it’s worth it, if you’ll actually end up using the paywalled content in any way.
There’s often no way to know before that.
Also, things change in one month. Maybe you found better newsletters to invest in, maybe you’re not as excited about Substack anymore, maybe my content focused more on SEO that month and you aren’t even remotely interested in that (but are more interested in monetization or other topics).
And that’s why the annual paid tier is the real deal, in my opinion. It’s when you, as a creator, have an actual chance to provide value for an extended period of time.
As a subscriber, the annual tier means accountability, deciding to give your Substack one more year to grow and being in this for the long haul.
Next, it’s a good practice for me as a creator. I don’t take this as rejection, or that the work I do is good or bad. It simply means it wasn’t the right fit for someone, or it wasn’t the right timing. There might be a million other reasons too.
It’s also preparation for growth. When I have many more free subscribers, which will lead to more paid ones, I will also end up having more cancellations.
This is the mindset work that comes with building a subscription-based business. People will cancel, but that shouldn’t affect our day-to-day activities, and it doesn’t need to mean anything about us or our work.
And finally, this reminds me I’ve reached another important stage of my journey here - no longer just growing my audience of free subscribers and inspiring some to upgrade, but also learning how to retain them.
Every creator who builds a paid community goes through this.
I hope this helps you get over the fear of having your first cancellation/refund/unsubscribe, or allows you to not look at these as rejection if you are experiencing them already. 🤍
I updated my Substack About page.
It finally reflects all the changes that have been happening around here, where my current focus is, what the different subscription tiers include, and testimonials for the Substack Growth Audit 🥰
Planned + announced my new chapter on Substack.
In a nutshell:
“A few weeks ago, I introduced you to the Substack Growth Audit - my first personalized offer and a special bonus for annual paid members.
That was the main reason some of you upgraded your membership.
It was a joy doing audits for you, and the feedback has been absolutely amazing!
But one thing has become very clear: a personalized audit like this is a substantial service. I can’t sustainably include that level of one-on-one work in the annual membership forever.
So I’m changing the structure.
This is the last chance to get a personal Substack Growth Audit as part of the annual membership at this price. I won’t offer this combination again.
You have from now till September 13th to take action and claim your audit.
From September 14th on, it will be part of the new Founding member tier I’m introducing, and the price will reflect that.”
I did more audits.
It’s my most favorite thing to do, and it’s where I go deep in work mode.
Also, I finally collected some testimonials from the people I already did audits for. I had positive feedback from them already, so now just asked them for a more structured testimonial, which I get to display in places like the landing page, my About page, inside posts, etc.
📊 Stats
Traffic
Two times more than last month, when it was 10K page views.
In June, that was 3,509.
And in May - 1,900.
Traffic Sources
Open Rate
24%, down 1% from last month.
💌 New Subscribers
At the time of writing this, I have 1,292 free subscribers on Substack and 22 paid ones (a few joined in the first days of September, though).
Here’s the growth rate:
📚 What I Published
In August, I published a total of 16 posts, 4 of which were for paid members (some partly paywalled).
The Next Chapter of My Substack (+ Last Chance for This)
💬 Ask Me Anything [August 2026 Edition]
Day 10: Create Your Substack SEO Strategy (Substack SEO Challenge)
100+ Paid Subscribers: How Melanie Goodman Makes LinkedIn and Substack Work Together
Day 9: Turn Your Top Pages Into Growth Opportunities (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 8: Add FAQs to Your Substack Posts for More AI Visibility (Substack SEO Challenge)
She Left Corporate Life to Build a Business Around Magic
Day 7: Optimize for AI SEO and Get Cited by AI (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 6: Build Trust with an SEO-Friendly About Page (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 5: Turn Your Substack Images Into SEO Assets (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 4: How Internal Linking Helps Your Substack Grow (Substack SEO Challenge)
July Substack Growth Update [10 Paid Subs, New Revenue Stream, 3x Traffic Growth]
Day 3: Optimize Your Substack Posts for More Visibility (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 2: Keyword Research: Find What Your Readers Search For (Substack SEO Challenge)
Day 1: How Substack SEO Works and Why It Matters (Substack SEO Challenge)
No, I Don’t Think Substack is Collapsing.
🚀 Growth Moves
Restructuring the paid tier
I shared it above already as I consider it a win, but let me explain why it’s also a growth move.
It makes my work easier.
I’m offering something else - a whole new tier, the Founding one.
I’m giving free subscribers an incentive to convert into paid ones before this happens. Urgency works well, especially for those who’ve been thinking of upgrading for some time now.
I’m also still building the foundation of my Substack business, and making sure things will be sustainable when the numbers increase.
One of the changes I had to make was to make the audit more exclusive, not just a bonus for paid members. It’s the deepest work I’m doing and it’s the most time-consuming activity on my list right now. Plus, the value is insane, if the creator is willing to look at things from a different perspective and really take action on their Substack.
As more and more free subscribers are choosing the annual paid tier, it made sense to move the audit to a founding one, and the price will reflect that.
In addition, I’m creating a self-guided version of the audit for paid members so they don’t feel like they are missing out. But that’s something I create once. From then on, they can ask me questions in the weekly Q&A that’s specially for them in the chat.
They get all the support they need, but the actual 1:1 time is a higher-priced offer, available to founding members (from September 14 on).
Paid chat thread
I think I started this in the beginning of August, and it was one of my best decisions ever.
I came up with the idea to invite subscribers for a Q&A, but due to volume and because it’s an extra something I give them (my time), I made it for paid members only.
It turned into a weekly thread - every Wednesday - and I’m absolutely loving it. Paid members are actually asking good questions and I enjoy answering them.
I also came up with the idea of turning these into a monthly post that includes all the questions asked in the last 4 weeks + my answers. And it’s paywalled.
This way the content is saved somewhere and members can always access it.
Also, this feels like one of the biggest perks I’m offering anyone who upgrades their subscription, because it’s like group coaching but in written form. They get direct access to me, and can pop into the chat any time they have a question. Plus, other members benefit from that too as they see the questions and answers.
Welcome messages
That’s one of my favorite things to do - writing welcome messages to new subscribers. I actually wrote a post about it and it will go live some time soon.
It’s also a very time-consuming activity, especially as I grow my audience, and especially as it’s with the exact people interested in my content, and who have many follow-up questions about it.
But this is a great way to start a relationship, get to know your readers, see what they need so you can create content around that, and make some friends.
Premium content
I create content for paid members my way, I don’t follow anyone else’s rules. Plus, there are so many ways to do this with a paid tier (to paywall full posts, to paywall parts of your main post for the week, to create templates or other products monthly for paid members, to release masterclasses for them, to offer them 1:1 support, etc.)
I often have a lot to reveal from behind the scenes of my business, and I like leaving that part for the people who decided to support my work.
Also, I felt like leaving the monetization part of these reports for them (as you’ll see below), and 2-4 times a month I also create fully paywalled posts.
Some experts recommend against doing that because you miss out on getting views on that post. They recommend to create valuable pieces, have some free content in the beginning, and then lock the most strategic part, for example. That works well, and it’s the best of both worlds. Anyone can still see the post and become a free subscriber. It can rank in search engines and AI, and the free part can be the reason why a free subscriber becomes a paid one.
That’s ideal when you don’t have the time to create more than one article every one or two weeks.
But I do like writing some more strategic content, mini case studies, sharing processes and framework, doing deep dives on my content and monetization strategy. And that lives behind the paywall.
💡 What I Learned
1. Boundaries are necessary to prevent burnout. I thought about it a lot, and started saying No more often, ignoring the Activity tab with all the notifications so I can focus on the real work, not answering DMs on the same day, and not using Substack on my phone that much but mostly on the laptop.
2. It’s important to be very intentional with anything we do on Substack. I say no to lives, guest posts, etc, but I do interview others and accept written interviews/features from others. I don’t really restack something when others ask me to, but when I really feel like. I don’t do cross-recommendations, but I do give shout outs to anyone who’s really made an impact on me and happily share their content with my audience.
Everything you do becomes part of your brand, your content strategy, your online personality. And it either attracts the right readers or not.
3. I only want to post quality, helpful content. I won’t post just for the sake of doing it. I also want it to be related to my niche, and relevant to my readers. Plus, I need to actually have something to say on the topic and be passionate about it.
Next, we dive into my earnings from last month, and my goals for September 😍🎯