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?
📊 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
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
Congratulations, Lidiya!! :)
The subscriber count is the vanity metric. The $507 is the one that pays the quarterly estimate. More creators should publish both side by side like this.