Welcome to my third Substack growth report.
I think one of the most important practices in your online business is to sit down at the end of the month and look at the numbers and what they are telling you, analyze everything you did, see what worked and what didn’t, celebrate your wins, and set goals for the next month.
Mindset shifts and lessons are key too so that’s why I’m adding them to my list.
Are you doing monthly reports in your writing business (even if it’s not an official business yet)?
And here’s the thing: when you haven’t grown yet, aren’t seeing the results you want, or have low-income months in business, it’s even more important to still sit down and look at the big picture as well as the day-to-day activities.
Now, when I started my Substack, my idea was to continue doing what I was doing on my blog and teaching bloggers how to grow their website, and monetize it with brand partnerships.
I did monthly blog income reports and have been doing it for many years. Many readers have told me it’s the most valuable pieces of content because they show exactly what goes behind the scenes of a blogging business, seeing me show up month after month inspires them, and it also shows them it’s possible for them too.
I had many reports like that in a membership for bloggers I was running, and my idea was to move them here, slowly over time, and to paywall them. I did that with a few, but it no longer seemed relevant.
Things evolved in a different ways and I’m here for it. People were only asking me how I approach Substack growth, and all of you are writers. So it makes more sense to share updates from my month as a Substack writer instead.
I hope this inspires you and you find some value.
Warning: I disclose it all. There is nothing to hide. From now on, though, I will be putting a paywall right before the monetization part. I do this to thank paying members for their support, and also to make sure that only the most dedicated readers get the most sensitive information. I’m starting this practice now, before the numbers are big. It’s not about the numbers at the end of the day. It’s about the journey of getting there, and sharing it all along the way.
Another reason I do these monthly updates is to stay accountable and to put everything in writing so I can easily go back to it in the future. Plus, if someone asks how I did it, I will just tell them to go through these posts and literally see everything I did, month after month.
So, if you’re still reading, thank you for being here, and let’s dive in.
🏆 Wins
I really put in the work.
I invested all my free time here. It’s my creative outlet and something I take very seriously, but sacrifices were made. Saying yes to one thing means saying no to everything else. That means I’m leaving my blogging business behind in so many ways, which is okay as things here are growing in a way that allows for it.
Some days I say no to extra sleep. I’m taking care of my 7-month old baby girl at home almost all the time, so my performance online is never at 100% and far from what it used to be. That’s fine. I’m not hard on myself, and I do what I can. Also, it’s my responsibility that I really want to keep up with things, and release A LOT of new content 😅
But I know myself. The energy and enthusiasm I have for it now won’t last forever. That’s why I use this period to build the foundation on Substack, after which growth will be happening daily even without me being on the laptop and I can then only focus on high-priority work.
How many hours do I invest in Substack daily? I don’t know.
In the past, I tracked my work time. Prior to joining here, my blogging business was allowing me to just do 1-3 hours of work daily (that’s where the name The 2-Hour Blogger comes from, by the way. This is the goal!)
Now I’m building something new so it requires more time and I genuinely enjoy doing it. Plus, with a baby and no fixed daily schedule for me, there’s no need and no point in tracking work hours.
It’s more about output. I know what I want to get done, and I do it when I can.
New revenue stream.
I released the Substack Growth Audit as a standalone offer, and also as a bonus for annual members. I did a few audits already and it took me a lot of time but it was so rewarding.
They all gave me positive feedback and took my recommendations seriously. Plus, I learn a lot in the process.
I just increased the price of the audit to $97 due to that (the time it takes and the value it provides), and might need to increase again in the future based on volume. It still remains a bonus for annual members, though.
First interview/feature on Substack.
Magdalena featured me in her series The Corner Chronicles. It was such a joy answering her questions and showing another side of me on Substack.
My new Substack chat got people interacting.
I created a space for writers.
This is its first week but enough people joined to make it feel alive. Here’s how the results look like from the only 2 threads I’ve started so far.
I published my 2 best performing posts so far.
More on that below.
#7 Rising in 🇳🇱 Netherlands.
I appeared on this leaderboard a couple times and am currently #7. It changes often, and I see a boost when I get a new paid member, so I guess that’s a big factor. I don’t think it means that much, though, at least not per country (when it’s a small European one).
📊 Stats
Traffic
10,030 page views.
In June, that was 3,509.
And in May - 1,900.
Traffic Sources
Open Rate
25,31%
Up from June, when it was 22,69% (and in May it was 21,04%).
💌 New Subscribers
At the time of writing this, I have 782 subscribers on Substack, 10 of which are paid.
Here’s the growth rate:
📚 What I Published
In July, I published a total of 12 posts, 2 of which were for paid members, and 3 were interviews with other creators.
![Substack SEO: Connect Your Publication to Google Analytics & Search Console [Step-by-Step Tutorial]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!glr_!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8c849198-bc39-42d0-bc8c-28064ca66272_1200x630.png)
Substack SEO: Connect Your Publication to Google Analytics & Search Console [Step-by-Step Tutorial]
![June Substack Growth Update [420 Subs & $507 Earned]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Bmo5!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F823c3f74-f410-45cb-8066-1a33020258e4_1200x630.png)
🚀 Growth Moves
Starting a Substack Chat.
Initially, I thought I’d wait a few more months till I’m ready and have the time. But at the same time, there was no reason not to do it now. So I just went for it. I posted once (an article) to announce it, and got some pretty good feedback. Turns out, people are excited to join more chats that invite them to share their content and grow together. That itself also becomes a reason for people to subscribe to my newsletter.
Reaching out to bigger creators.
I pitch a new creator when I stumble upon one that would be a good fit and when it feels right. Approaching much bigger ones than me isn’t an issue. I don’t mind if they don’t respond at all, or if they say no.
So far, I either got no responses, or a quick yes. I published 3 interviews last month, 1 is scheduled for August already, and 2 more are in the works.
I really enjoy sharing other people’s stories on my publication, but we also can’t deny the fact that this type of content performs well and is introduced to 2 audiences - mine and theirs. So it’s a win-win.
Released a paid offer.
This is something else I could have waited months to feel ready for, but again, it felt right and I just went for it. I outlined the Substack Growth Audit offer, wrote and designed the sales page, set up everything else that goes into it, prepared the initial version of the PDF that is delivered after the audit, and announced it with a post.
Three annual paid members took me up on it so I did 3 audits. Three more are happening this month. I believe in this offer because it’s a great opportunity to do something AI can’t - to actually invest hours in reviewing your profile, publication and overall strategy, and share what could be improved, how you can best monetize, and what actions can move the needle forward. It’s personalized, and very actionable.
Also, it wasn’t hard for me to come up with the offer and create a sales page as I used to offer blog audits before and have analyzed many blogs. Now I just do it for Substack publications.
💡 What I Learned
1. What I think is obvious for growing on Substack might be new to others, so it’s important to explain everything from a beginners mindset and write about the aspects of Substack that I find easy and boring, but which others might need some guidance with.
2. One message can start a relationship.
I try to write Welcome messages to most subscribers (it takes a lot of time but is so worth it!) Most don’t respond, which is totally okay. Some do and we have small chats. But with some it turns into a deeper conversation, or a friendship, or a regular chat. It’s a great practice to do and I highly recommend you start writing a Welcome message to new subscribers, and even to just new followers.
3. Once you take a lot of action on Substack and set the foundation, growth continues thanks to the network and algorithm. I’m experiencing this now.
I put in a lot of work and effort, and now even if I skip a day or a few, or if I engage less the whole week, my growth continues, and even increases naturally week after week (in terms of page views and subscribers).
This is how Substack works. But getting over the initial slow stage takes some effort.
Below the paywall, I’ll share the stats of my top-performing posts and why I think they did well, my revenue from last month (+ screenshots), and my exact goals for August (+ which ones of the July goals actually got completed and which didn’t).