How to Start a Substack and Turn It Into a Paid Newsletter
In the last few months, I’ve entered my Substack era. I’ve told you all about it if you’re on my email list, subscribed to my publications on Substack, or following me on LinkedIn.
But now, I want to share what I’ve experienced on the platform so far, as well as how you can start a Substack and potentially turn it into a real business.
Ready? Let’s get into it:
What’s The Deal with Substack
You might be wondering why join Substack in the first place, especially if you already have a blog, which is quite time-consuming itself.
But the reality is this:
Substack is a whole business ecosystem. I described it in detail in this post.
You just need to love writing. If you do, the platform can open many doors to you and bring you opportunities you never expected.
Here’s the thing: Substack is different from other platforms. It’s a unicorn, because it has the social media aspect, the publishing platform, the content distribution system (you can grow organically), the collaboration aspect, and the monetization opportunities (there are plenty). You can also build a brand on it, and a whole business around your newsletter.
It’s not just blogging or writing. It’s sharing your thoughts, having the chance to go viral quickly and for free (for now, at least), getting to connect with many fellow writers looking to support each other’s work.
You can also find some amazing content there. There’s depth on Substack. Thought leadership is alive there. And it’s the much necessary breath of fresh air for those tired of social media like Instagram and TikTok.
In fact, ever since joining Substack, I left these channels behind. They exhaust me, while Substack excites me and gives me energy.
I gained 100 subscribers to my main publication quickly and that kept me going.
You get the chance to grow quickly even with short-form content. Do it by posting Notes (they are like Tweets) a couple times a day. Simply share your thoughts, ask questions, be helpful to others, inspire. It all counts.
Engagement is key on Substack. That’s how you grow, actually. Not just by posting content.
So show up often, respond to comments, read other people’s work, follow and subscribe to their newsletters, leave insightful comments, re-share their posts (that’s called restacking on there).
Many publications also go together with group chats and there’s a lot of teamwork happening there.
You can do all this while having fun, growing your publication slowly but steadily, and doing what you love the most – writing.
Many writers are moving there from blogs and social media. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs are on there too. Others sort of ditched IG accounts with a massive following (because the algorithm isn’t giving them much at this point) so they can build more authentic connections on Substack.
Social media gurus like Gary Vee say it’s a must to be on Substack these years and become an authority. In the age of AI, building your brand in spaces like that and having important and deep conversations with smart people is more necessary than ever.
This is something AI can’t take away. That’s how you stand out, in fact.
If that was enough to convince you, let’s take the first steps.
How to Start a Substack Newsletter
Make an account on Substack and add all the details (name, photo, bio, featured image, links).
Start by posting a few Notes to see how the platform works. Don’t be surprised if one of them gets a lot of attention quickly. The platform often gives new creators a boost so they connect with others.
Also, start reading other people’s post and leave comments. This gives the algorithm some data to work with to understand what you’re all about before it starts connecting you with the right people.
Next, it’s time to start your publication. This is also your newsletter. It’s where your long-form content leaves, and whoever subscribers to it will receive updates via email. The rest of the people can still check out your articles and read them (if they are free) without subscribing. They can also rank well in search engines.
In that sense, Substack is like Medium, but unlike it, you don’t need to pay to read most of the content. What is paid is individual publications, where part of all of the content is paywalled.
This is often the main monetization goal of all writers – to have a paid newsletter and earn a full-time income from it. But as you’ll see below, there are plenty of other ways to earn from your writing too.
Pick a clear topic for your publication and start it. Make sure you have a unique perspective and can contribute to the niche, not just share generic content. Actually provide value and you’ll get noticed.
When you start the publication, you also choose its name and URL. It then appears on your profile.
By going to Dashboard in the menu on the left, you can see the data at a glance, you can visit the Website and personalize it (edit the homepage layout, footer, header etc.)
Under audience, you see Subscribers, Growth and Stats – 3 places to visit often to see how you’re growing on Substack, and which Notes or Posts are bringing in the most subscribers so you can create more of that.
Once you’ve taken the steps above, you can create your first article. This is also a newsletter (if you have some subscribers).
Click the ‘Create’ button and choose Article. A podcast or a video are also an option, by the way, if that’s part of your content strategy.
Write your piece and publish it.
You can post one long-form piece weekly, and 1-3 Notes daily. Meanwhile, engage a lot with others.
Soon, you will see some traction (likes and comments on your posts and Notes, followers, and hopefully subscribers).
Be consistent early on, and you’ll quickly learn what works on the platform.
Monetizing Your Substack
Now let’s talk about monetization.
Here are the ways you can do it:
- Paid newsletter – you can get a couple hundred subscribers and then turn on paid subscriptions. Start posting exclusive content and promote it naturally via your Notes and free posts. Some writers start the paid newsletter right away, others wait to grow a bit first so they have an engaged audience to offer it to. Both are possible;
- Sell your products or services – you can launch new products to your email list and post about it on your newsletter. You can also link to the offer from your posts. You can create an evergreen funnels too. One way is to use your Welcome email to offer a lower-priced product with a big discount, and later a higher-priced offer;
- Affiliate marketing – just like you can monetize with affiliate links on your site, so can you on your Substack. Link to tools or products you use and are an affiliate for, review them (if that fits your niche), compare different ones, or just share campaigns your audience might appreciate;
- Brand partnerships – sponsored blogging is possible outside of your WordPress blog, too. Some Substackers are earning from brand deals. After all, brands just want an engaged audience. If you have it on Substack, they’ll pay you to get in front of it.
A combination of all of these works well. That’s how you grow your income but also diversify.
Many people assume that big Substack publications earn only from paid subscribers, but that’s rarely the case. There’s usually a whole business ecosystem running behind the scenes, multiple offers for different stages of the customer journey, and plenty of different income streams.
That’s built over time, of course. No rush.
My Substack Journey So Far
I created a Substack account because I was inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk. He described the potential the platform has for creators, and I got curious. I also wanted to read his publication there.
Two months later, I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it, and started my publication The 2-Hour Blogger. A place to write about the business of blogging, share my experience of 10+ years in the industry, and lean into my expertise, which is helping bloggers monetize with brand partnerships.
To get things going, I ran a free challenge, The Start a Blog in 9 Days Challenge.
I haven’t turned on paid subscriptions yet, but that will happen.
After the challenge, I started posting weekly.
I just surpassed 100 subscribers, and I wrote about it here.
This post is part of my 2nd publication. Crazy to start another one so soon, I know. But I just had to do it.
It’s called The $1K Newsletter and it’s where I document my Substack journey as I grow it to a side business earning $1K/month.
Subscribe to it if you’d like to follow along, see what works on the platform and what doesn’t, and how I try different things to grow my audience.
I’ll also try to post there once a week.
I post Notes daily, though. In this post, I talked about how I do that without burning out.
They seem to be working out pretty well right now. This is one of the best ways to grow quickly and organically.
Also, I never got a subscriber from an article, I got them all from Notes (and a small percentage from other places, usually referrals from my own email list or LinkedIn).
I engage a lot with other writers daily. I leave meaningful comments, follow and support their work. That’s a good way to build momentum when you first join Substack.
Final words
So that’s how things have been going so far. I see slow growth day after day, and am building the habit of investing 1-3 hours daily on Substack. I post Notes often, publish an article for each publication weekly, and try to contribute to important conversations and support others.
We grow together, after all, not alone.
I haven’t had a big hit yet (a post going viral), but that’s not the point. One viral Note might not change much, but daily Notes will.
I learn as I go and this is very important for me. I can also teach anything I learn and helps new writers this way.
So, are you ready to start a Substack and turn it into a paid newsletter?
If you’re already on there, let’s connect.
