The Week of Growth on Substack
What seven experts taught me about building a business on Substack
This post is for all of you who are curious about learning how to use Substack to let your message be heard.
This week's post responds to two of Lincoln Island's principles: Influence & Impact and Tools & Technology.
Beyond the tech and platform features, I believe it’s essential to understand what actually works. And from my experience, much of the “open advice” circulating out there doesn’t move the needle as much as we hope.
Something on Substack is finally beginning to click for me, but I still have questions and insecurities. So I asked 7 experts what actually helps Substack growth—and today, you’ll read their answers. You’ll get answers to:
Which strategies work best for growth in Substack?
Is it possible to make a living from Substack?
Is Substack a marketplace?
Where to promote our Substack posts?
What matters most when trying to get paying members to a Substack publication?
Before digging into the survey, I want to share my bias. And I know—because I’ve spoken with many of you—that these feelings are widely shared. So here it goes:
I do not want to lower my head to a mighty algorithm. I want to share my experience and knowledge, create spaces where others feel comfortable, and avoid “hacking” a system just to gain visibility.
I do not want to publish toxic or divisive content to capture attention.
And I dislike posts that use extremes to make a point. They create noise, not clarity. I find them harmful.
Each one of us should customize any advice to what we are trying to achieve. Why? Because if we all follow the same “winning tips,” we eventually end up with the same strategy — and we’re right back at square one.
The Week of Growth on Substack — The Survey
Thanks to this generous group of accomplished experts Melanie Goodman, Joel Salinas, Yana G.Y., Sinem Günel, Wyndo, Gregor Ojstersek, and Andrew Stetsenkowho took the time to answer my questions with depth, honesty, and clarity.
Their responses helped me see Substack growth from new angles, and I believe they will do the same for you. Let’s analyze their responses.
Question 1 — Which two strategies work best to increase subscribers?
This question allowed each participant to select only two strategies. That limitation is useful because it reveals what these experts consider the most effective actions—not necessarily the only valuable ones.
Tactics with low totals aren’t invalid; they simply aren’t the top priorities when you can only choose two.
This means that if we want to grow on Substack, a great starting point is to experiment with collaborations and become more intentional with our Notes.
A valuable homework for all of us is to explore what kind of Notes can attract new subscribers. That is something I definitely need to work on.
Question 2 — Is it possible to make a living from Substack?
I’ll admit it: this question has a selfish motivation. I would love to make a living here on Substack, and I know many of you would appreciate a bit of sweet validation too.
Here’s what we know. Based on this article, Substack reports more than 35 million active subscriptions and over 17,000 writers who get paid in some form. But “getting paid” doesn’t mean “making a living.” The income distribution is extremely uneven — a small group of top writers earns the majority of revenue.
So, is it possible to make a living on Substack?
Yes, but it’s not easy.
Sinem Günel wrote a thoughtful post recently where she outlined alternative income models for Substack creators. She suggests that paid subscriptions may limit your income!
In other words, making a living on Substack is hard. Making a living with Substack is much more realistic.
“I don’t think it’s possible to make a living off Substack alone, but Substack can be the door that leads to new product and partnership opportunities that do make a living.” — Joel Salinas
“High value annual subscriptions that make it a no-brainer NOT to take the monthly one.” — Melanie Goodman
“Find a painful and expensive problem, then solve it with tangible assets and services, not only content, for example, tools, courses, cheatsheets, handouts, etc. Build a community around it and stay consistent.” — Yana G.Y.
“You need to get clear on why your work is worth paying for. I’m primarily working with educational writers and creators, ... Education obviously isn’t the only reason people are willing to pay for…; it can also be entertainment, inspiration, or just belonging to a certain community. But if you wouldn’t pay for the type of work that you’re publishing yourself, you’ll never be able to actually make a substantial amount of money that way.” — Sinem Günel
“Do it like you are building your empire. Be consistent to keep showing up, but also iterate on your content, find what you want to talk about that you find genuinely valuable. Engage with people and the community. Understand your publication JTBD (Jobs To Be Done). What should people take away from reading your posts?” — Wyndo
“Focus on providing value and useful insights to a specific group of people (ICPs).” — Gregor Ojstersek
“I’d recommend focusing on your Substack as your main activity and primary creative outlet. You can even approach it with a startup mindset: experiment, iterate, and refine your writing style, your topics, and how you present your ideas.” — Andrew Stetsenko
Gregor Ojstersek shared this video:
Question 3 — Is this assumption true? “Most active users in Substack want to monetize their publications.”
Let me explain why I asked this question in the first place: If everybody comes to Substack to sell memberships, will they be willing to pay for memberships to others’ content?
According to our experts, the reality is mixed. But a clear pattern emerges: most publishers on Substack are here with the intention of getting some kind of return on their investment of time and effort. That already sets Substack apart from other platforms, where most users are mainly there to consume content rather than create it.
This raises an important question for all of us:
Should our target audience include, or even prioritize, other content creators?
Is it a mistake to use Substack as a business platform?
Five out of seven respondents agreed that Substack should be part of a wider business model. In other words, it would be a mistake to think of Substack as the entire business.
Question 4 — Where should we promote our Substack posts?
The key to the game is distribution. How many people decide to tap the link and read your posts on Substack? Naturally, the more people who see your work, the better your chances of growing.
Let me confess that I feel a bit of relief to see FB and IG going low. Additionally, I didn’t expect to get Mastodon and Pinterest in the list.
My friend Jenny Ouyang, wrote a very relevant post. After reading it, I reopened my Medium account.
Question 5 — What matters the most when trying to add paying members to a publication?
This might be the most important question of the entire survey.
Growing free subscribers is one thing — turning some of them into paying members is a completely different dynamic.
People pay for clarity, and they pay for value.
Cooperation, networking, or community features can help, but they are clearly value-added, not the core offer.
José’s homework:
Define your core value proposition and your added-value proposition separately.
Five out of seven participants agree that your paying subscribers join organically after reading what you write.
More wisdom from our experts
If you have subscribers on other platforms, import them here first so you have a credible base on which to build. Melanie Goodman
Genuinely partner with other like-minded creators, recommend freely, and engage thoroughly. Joel Salinas
Don’t try to write like others or stay in the safe zone so that more people like you, because no one will. Be bold, controversial, be emotional, and be useful. Be who you are. Yana G.Y.
You are right on time to leverage the platform right now. Don’t get distracted by the noise and clutter. Focus on building an audience of readers who will stick with you simply because they see a clear value in your work. Sinem Günel
Celebrate your own achievements by posting them on Notes, no matter how small they are. People are more supportive than you think they are. Learn to write notes that engage emotionally and psychologically. Wyndo
Collaborate, don’t compete with others. Gregor Ojstersek
Growing your influence needs authentic, grounded, relevant, and up-to-date content. Show up consistently, engage with your audience, and, above all, offer something genuinely valuable. Andrew Stetsenko
There is a space where you can share your questions, comments, and suggestions:
During the week, I will be posting more about the theme of the week. Feel free to send me your questions and suggestions.
Love,
Jose.
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Loved reading everyone else's insights here!
Amazing, so much valuable lessons here and thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts here, Jose :)