Three Types of Growth as a Substack Writer
Growing your subscribers, Growing your paid subscribers, Growing as a Writer
“I want to grow my Substack” - great!
But what kind of growth are we talking about?
The three general areas of Growth on Substack are:
Growing your subscribers (total)
Growing your paid subscribers (those that pay you money)
Growing as a writer
Though they are interrelated, it can be helpful to think about them as separate things.
Growing your subscribers (total)
The way I like to think about this is to think of it as a discovery problem.
The more people who have heard of you, the more people who have a chance to become a subscriber.
So if the goal is to grow your total subscribers, then the real goal is to grow how many people have heard of you and your Substack.
Which really means that the goal is tell people about your Substack.
There are both free and paid ways to do this - ads, sponsorships of other newsletters/blog/websites, word-of-mouth, telling people in the real work, etc.
Growing your paid subscribers (those that pay you money)
The way I like to think about this is to think of it as a conversion problem.
People have already found you and now you need to convert them into paying you.
So if the goal is to grow your paid subscribers, then the real goal is to grow your conversion rate (percent of free subscribers who switch to paid subscribers).
Which really means that the goal is to figure out what causes people to convert and then do more of that.
There are both free and paid ways to do this - research firms, polling firms, polls, asking people in real life, automated emails, etc.
The tricky thing about this is that if there is a stable conversation percentage rate (say Substack’s hand-wavy 10%) then you can grow your paid subscribers by a) growing your total subscribers or b) increasing your free-to-paid conversion rate.
Because the grow your paid subscribers while keeping the same conversion rate is really “Growing your subscribers (total)” in disguise, I suggest keeping that as a separate thing and thinking of “Growing your paid subscribers” strategy as a conversion problem.
Growing as a writer
The way I like to think about this is to think of it as big messy tangled ball.
A few ways to grow as a writer are to get:
Better technically
Better at generating ideas
Better at editing your writing
Better at having a writing process that works for you
Better authenticity (you being comfortable with how/what you write)
Better feedback processing
Better at putting your work out there
Better at seeking feedback
Which are a bunch of interrelated things.
There are both free and paid ways to do this - writing groups, writing retreats, college/university courses, online courses, friends, editors, publishers, etc.
What we talk about when we talk about Substack Growth
When you find yourself thinking or saying that you want to grow your Substack it can be helpful to be more specific about what you are actually wanting to grow.
What to try next
Have a think of a specific thing you want to try to grow
Total Subscribers
Paid Subscribers
You as a writer
Then this week write down a few ways that appeal to you that you think may help you grow in the way you want on Substack.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so hit reply and let me know :)
Good luck :)
Until next time!
All the best,
Sebastian