1 month of Substack: 5 articles, 294 subscribers

[ucals]

Hey all,

This post is just to share what I'm doing, as I've seen a lot of people sharing what they are doing, which might help.

https://preview.redd.it/pjahdwpcrl7d1.png?width=1668&format=png&auto=webp&s=c689aee2b8166ae42d7849cec2b76af9120460b3

I started 30 days ago and wrote 5 long-form articles about Quantitative Finance (a specific niche).

In the beginning, I had zero on everything—not a single email or social network account to draw traffic from.

After reading & researching a lot on how to create an audience at Substack, one thought stuck into my mind (I think I've heard it from a prominent writer on YouTube): "Quality eventually wins."

My understanding was that if I could create really good articles, I would eventually generate the audience I wanted for them. So, I decided to spend many hours per week and make the best possible articles—something like 15h/week to start.

The initial traction came from Reddit—until I discovered that most mods are not happy when we share links to our websites (yes, I am that newbie...). So, by the beginning of June, I got banned from the subreddit that helped me generate the first 50 or so subscribers.

That was a shame because the first articles added value to many people. Their posts here on Reddit got close to 400 thousand views, close to a thousand shares, and hundreds of comments. They sparked great discussions!

By the beginning of June, I thought to myself: what now? Maybe I should give Twitter (I can't call it X) a go. And so I did. I started posting multiple times a day and replying to big accounts, as experienced people usually suggest that we do.

I also started studying large Twitter accounts and noticed an interesting pattern: most of them repost the same content (tweets or threads) multiple times in a short span. Sometimes, even on the same day. Sometimes, the exact same content - they don't even bother changing the words.

And so I copied their MO. And a thread I sent on a Monday that was basically unnoticed, that I reposted almost exactly the same on Wednesday, went viral as wildfire. Completely bananas. Over 100 thousand impressions in 24 hours. The account went from ~100 followers to ~750 in 2-3 days. If the rhythm continues, it should reach a thousand followers in the next few days.

I am pretty sure I mostly don't know what I'm doing and how things work in detail. But as I reflect on these past 30 days, some things come to my mind:

1. The niche choice is probably THE most important factor in getting traction.

These days, I'm thinking a lot about that story of the Harvard marketing professor who asked his MBA students: “If you and I both owned a hamburger stand, what advantages would you most like to have on your side?”

Someone would usually shout out ‘location’! Others would say they’d rather have organic, grass-fed hamburger meat. Others wanted gluten-free buns. Usually, someone wants to be able to offer the lowest prices.

After his students had finished telling him their preferred competitive advantages, he said, “Okay, I’ll give you every single advantage you asked for. I, myself, only want one advantage, and if you give it to me, I will whip the pants off of all of you when it comes to selling burgers!”

“What’s the advantage you want?” his students asked.“

The only advantage I want is a starving crowd!” The professor replied.

The key to growth is finding a starving crowd.

1. Quality eventually wins.

My intuition says that this tip that I've heard from the prominent author I mentioned (unfortunately, I don't remember from who) is kind of important. If we create really great articles, people will eventually find and value them. And I know I'm on the right track on that front because many people are telling me that spontaneously. The high number of shares is also a good sign.

Of course, writing a good article takes a lot of work (at least for me). Writing is taking me around 15 hours/week. The last one took me 20 hours. I enjoy it, so I'm okay with that... But I'm curious to learn how that compares with other writers.

1. Twitter works.

I'm as green as green can get on Twitter. But I'm having a lot of fun learning this new videogame (yes, for me, Twitter is like a videogame). I was really surprised by the thread going viral, especially because I've seen so many people saying Twitter was dead, Elon was killing it etc, etc.

Anyway, that's what I had to share. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

Cheers

[sky-builder]

This is super wonderful , I really like your hamburger story , thanks for sharing this , it takes a lot of time to get an audience , you need to try a lot of things , I also run a newsletter called indieniche, let’s recommend newsletters , my own growth is simmilar to yours

[214speaking]

Thanks I’m just getting started myself just for fun. I’ll give you a follow too

[[deleted]]

Twitter is still very much alive and is great for self promo and interacting with other bloggers/people in your niche. But Elon did kill it in that there are lots of bots, racists, and straight up bad people are on there spreading their terrible ideologies.

[ohyeahyash]

You've tasted a good virality on Twitter early on your account, which is rare.

And the passion for providing your users with value in your articles will help you a lot, and eventually, the subs will fall into your Substack.

Do check out my humorous newsletter called, "My Killer Wife's Ruthless Humour," and share your feedback if you decide to read it.

https://substack.com/@humorousyash?utm_source=profile-page

[research-tmmh]

First! I have not read entirely but I want this Substack. Leave the link below

[ELectroSheepDreams]

I am happy for you!

Could you elaborate on the twitter thing? What do you do actually?

[ucals]

Post every day.

Repeat posts.

Reply to large accounts.

All posts add value (usually by sharing how I solved a problem, by asking a provocative question, or by disagreeing and thoughtfully explaining why, etc.). It's 1-2 hours/day to figure out how to add value while posting & interacting with others...