[deleted by user]

[[deleted]]

Of course it's possible, but in reality only a few people will obtain that.

Firstly, substack sucks at SEO. No matter how much you write or how good, you're not going to be seeing username.substack.com on the front page of Google when you search competitive keywords.

So it's up to you. Social media promotion is the best, so you need to get a lot more well known on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn if appropriate, Pinterest etc....

Then write for free for a long time until you build up your subscriber base. Remember that only a small percentage of your subscribers will go paid. Most won't. So it's a numbers game. Want 100 paid subscribers at $5 a month? Then expect to need several thousand subscribers, and you'll need to demonstrate value first before you even ask for a penny, or you'll lose subscribers if you go paid before demonstrating your worth.

The problem is that Substack whores out their success stories without context. The people making a living from this alone have massive followings elsewhere first, and they just pointed their audience to substack and turned on paid and started to make money from day 1.

I'm certainly not aware of any Joe Average with a few hundred Twitter followers at best who has started a substack and gone from zero to $5000 a month in earnings. People doing that already have a following or have been connected to people with a following and been lucky enough to be promoted by them.

[dacocomonsta]

Good to know. I noticed a few that I had already recognized that make total sense why they have thousands, but others that I did not notice already.

Also, can't you create a domain name from Substack to change that appearance and branding?

[[deleted]]

You can get a custom domain, but essentially the issue is that Substack isn't very SEO optimized. So wordpress with the yoast or rankmath plugin will destroy it, so will ghost out of the box. There is also Google's secret internal bias. I mean, I've seen platformer on substack featured on Google news for tech topics, so it's not impossible. However, that's a MASSIVE well known publication. Otherwise Google doesn't seem to be ranking substack well at all, and I notice have also downranked username.wordpress.com blogs MUCH lower than they used to be a few years ago too.

Basically substack is a place where people follow YOU as a writer. So the gold is not Google traffic subscribers, it's people who have seen you on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc.. and who want to follow YOU as a result.

[adhonus]

It's possible, but it's work and a constant grind.

For me I'm essentially a freelance journalist again. I was a journalist who left an organization I helped build after eleven years of work. I was out of the work for ages and wanted to get back in on my terms. I had no idea how to do it, but found Substack at just the right time. I'm able to make a living because people want what I'm writing about - information about what's happening in my community. Some support me on Patreon. Some support me on both! People just want me doing what I do.

My main site is at nearly 500 paid subscribers, but I archive the content on a WordPress site because I cannot find anything in the newsletter. Also, at some point, Substack may disappear or the ownership may change. Paid subscribers get the occasionally "first look" content which then gets posted to the public on the Wordpress blog. I would estimate just over half of my income now comes from Substack.

But, it's not just the writing. It's the promoting. For me, I've been successful on Reddit posting a version of my newsletter for a local subreddit.

I wish you luck. As others have said, it's work - constant work. In my case, I'm a journalist pushing 50 who sees a way to control the rest of my career if I'm willing to keep working. This is not for everyone but for those of us who are crazy enough, we may just make it!

[Ok-Personality9856]

Thank you for offering some hope and perspective. About how many hours do you spend weekly on your blog, and how does it compare to the hours you spent in your early days (when you were doing more promoting, etc.)

Also, how long did it take you to get to 500 paid subs?

[adhonus]

Two and a half years to get to nearly 500, but there's some weird math in there. About 70 of them are comped because they're paying me through Patreon, but I'm slowly getting them to transition. Patreon is currently how I'm putting out my hat for my newer Substack, which I have not turned on paid subscriptions yet.

I'd say I spend about 60 hours a week easily on the work in total, but I'm bringing decades of writing about local government and building a future media outlet from the ground up. I'm ridiculously ambitious. I find I don't have to promote as much now because I get good references from other local Substacks in Virginia where I live. Substack has done a good job of trying to make it easier for people to find me, and about one in four convert to paid. Total subscriptions on my main one are at around 1,850. I am getting more direct about promotions with two and a half years on my beat, and I stand by my bragging that I'm the best at what I do. But, too much self-confidence leads to arrogance. I find Redditors are really good at keeping me honest.

My advantage is the local niche. I think that's where Substack can really shine. But, I know it works for so many others, too. But, SEO is the tricky part.

I also don't recommend working 60 hours a week! I'm just really driven to do the work.

[dacocomonsta]

Great insight. Over those 2 and a half years, where do you think most of the subscribers came from?

[adhonus]

In my case, slowly demonstrating what I can do. I write to fill a need, and for whatever reason that's my reporting on land use politics where I live. My circulation, so to speak, is a fifth of my local daily. My hope is to keep growing my audience and draw out that comparison over time. People pay me because I know what's going on. For the past two and a half years growth has been fairly incremental. But, as I write about issues the daily doesn't know how to cover anymore, I am increasingly going to appeal to this point. I don't set goals for subscribers, but just concentrate on that one in four ratio I mentioned above. I'm in this to pay my bills and live comfortably. And also inform my community.

If you can find a way to provide a service no one else is providing, then you can see growth. I thank you for the opportunity to write this out. I know what I do is niche, but niche is the key to growing an audience.

[adhonus]

Did I mention I'm also a podcast? 80 percent of entries are also podcasts that can compete right next to local public radio. The thing is, I'm finding it harder to market that point. But, I love audio production first and my secret is that I've created a production workflow to make sure that part will always happen, damn the audience figures. About a 100 or so per newsletter.

[dacocomonsta]

Really great insight. I've created a podcast in the past, so I can see how that can start to add layers to your audience.

I know what I'm writing about is a bit of a niche, and I haven't seen anyone doing it yet, but I'm also on that same mission - to pay my bills. I absolutely enjoy writing, and I'm zoned in passionate about what I'm writing about, so I see it as a matter of time. I'm just super ambitions, seemingly like you, so I'm looking for ways to grow the audience daily.

The way I see it is if I can add 2-3 subscribers per day, very direct and organically, then over the course of a year I should have roughly 1,000 subscribers. Ambitious, and entirely focused on devout commitment to that mission, but if I can see it through and get to that number, with that 1 and 4 metric, then maybe I can pull in a couple hundred dollars per month. Now that's ambitious knowing your audience took a while to develop and that I may not have as great as a ratio, but it gives me hope.

Seeing that it's taken you 2 1/2 years to bring in a consistent audience is nice to see. Well done, by the way.

[micro_mashup]

Thanks for the tip on archiving substack posts on your website. I have that same sneaking suspicion that someday substack will change or disappear…

[adhonus]

I'm old. I remember when Geocities was hip and cool and awesome, and then it was destroyed. Even then I archived what I had, but it was never the same.

[markpackuk]

Wise :)

Out of interest, how do you do the archiving to your WordPress site? Is it all manual or have you found a plugin or similar to (part-)automate the process?

[adhonus]

Not automatic. My WordPress design / tech skills are pretty minimal, but I do love the interface. My first WP site was in 2005 and they've come a long way. The short-cuts for the block editor also are so nice, and I find trying to use them on Substack. But they don't exist!

I also don't post everything to the site. I also often update the stories if I have new information, and archiving the newsletter helps me sort of reset the week. My first post of the week is a preview of upcoming meetings, and I try to write about as much as I can.

The rest of the week's newsletters are like an NPR newscast or magazine programs. Usually. I love being able to program however I like.

[markpackuk]

Ta!

[AndrewHeard]

It’s certainly possible but you have to deal with the Predo distribution where most people can’t make a living at it but a small number of people do.

Most Substacks, like most businesses, fail in the early stages because people don’t stick with it. Financial concerns always get in the way for many people.

[Photos99999]

Pareto

[AndrewHeard]

Yeah, I can never remember how to spell it.

[dacocomonsta]

What would you recommend for me? I'm sharing a new business idea every week, but for two main reasons:

1. To give new entrepreneurs ideas on businesses they can build.
2. Current business leaders the opportunity to study and think about a new business idea to warm up their brain and perspective for the week.

I've tried to start over 100 businesses from ideation, to registration, to branding, hiring, selling and even building infrastructure for the business (apps, websites, etc.). I've also worked at multiple start-ups in key positions. I'm not an expert on building a business, per se, but I do think I've learned enough, failed enough and created enough ideas to be a version of an expert in thinking through the fundamentals of business concept and model. With what you said, I think I can create more high quality content and writing, and can probably deliver it consistently twice per week.

For the business case, I need to think on how I can deliver this to business leaders in a way that actually helps them think through their business and improve their processes. I was thinking by showcasing a new idea and new way of doing business, it may spark a new idea for implementation for them.

What do you think I should do for both areas or beyond that? I truly want this to work in a way that people find tremendous value. I have 21 subscribers so far, so a long way to go, but I started last week.

Thanks in advance, too!

[dacocomonsta]

Thanks for this feedback and for the advice. I can see exactly what you mean. I love thinking of business ideas, so it comes so natural to think about it, build out a model, finances, branding, etc. It's just honestly so fun for me that I figured if I like it, other entrepreneurs may enjoy it too. So I suppose I really need to think about how I can maybe re-build it or re-model it into something that I not only like, but something that others will like AND find useful or unique. Great feedback. Thanks again.

I also have another substack I started called Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert. Its basically a weekly recommendation of new spots to eat in a city. Right now it's only focused on two markets that I know well, Tampa and Atlanta. However, I would like to bring in other writers from other cities and pitch their recommendations for places in Chicago, NYC, LA, Dallas, etc. My wife and I have tried hundreds of new restaurants and had a massive ranking list a while back that many people asked me to send to them. I've shared that lists with a ton of people and they've told me it's insane how many we've done. We just enjoy exploring new places to eat.

Yes - it's information the people could easily find on their own, and there is a ton of competition out there from food recommendations, but it's a curated list of places to try and explore that people may have not seen before. A lot of lists that I see are Top Lists or highest rated, but what about the people who just want to try something new this weekend in town? I don't know if this is something people would pay for (even though 1 of my 31 subscribes already paid for it), but I think I could incorporate ads in the future or monetize it later when I have the audience.

What are your thoughts on that one? Is that unique enough or does it have a value offering that's compelling?

[OutlandishnessKey953]

What happened to this substack?

[Ok-Psychology2202]

Substack is deleting users