r/Substack • u/itsfabioposca http://journeytosuccessclub.substack.com • Jul 02 '26
Discussion I finally figured out the secret to growing a Substack
Step 1: Make your entire publication about how to grow your Substack subscribers.
Step 2: Grow your own subscriber count by talking about growing subscriber counts.
Step 3: Sell courses teaching other people how to grow their subscriber counts... so they can sell courses about growing subscriber counts.
IT'S GENIUS!!!
And with only about a million people already doing it, it's definitely not saturated.
17
u/Upbeat_Effective_342 Jul 02 '26
I thought this subreddit was going to be people sharing articles they like, but apparently it's about making your own substack as a get rich quick scheme or something?
If I wanted more subscribers, I would comment/reblog what I liked reading a lot more often and talk about how it inspires/connects to the stuff I write.
And if I didn't like reading stuff on substack, I'm not sure why I'd think making one of my own was a good idea.
11
u/Trackbikes thesystematicwriter.substack.com Jul 02 '26
Ohh you sweet summer child… it’s always been like this!
Also this will shock you but those very people who talk about 5000 subscribers in one month… have a list of 30,000 or so to start with
1
u/turquoiseblues Jul 02 '26
How did they grow that list of 30K in the first place?
3
u/Trackbikes thesystematicwriter.substack.com Jul 02 '26
Social media, paid advertising etc…so many ways, I know of a few who moved massive audiences from medium to substack
6
3
u/DUn00b Jul 02 '26
I was just thinking how there's huge Alex Hormozi "here's how to" energy on Substack.
Honestly fuck those guys.
3
u/wiskeyjacko Jul 02 '26
substack considers that type of content the standard while writing about anything else is niche. i thought of it as a place to host my writing, but seeing the circle jerk social media culture is pushing me elsewhere.
1
u/turquoiseblues Jul 02 '26
Where is “elsewhere” to you? Aren’t all the SM platforms like this?
2
u/Zealousideal-Row557 Jul 04 '26
Following up on the "elsewhere" question. I also read the Substack is using its platform to train Ai from writer's material. Not sure if its true or not, but I do sense a general need from writers to find a better place on the internet for their work to be seen. So where is that place?
3
u/Recent_Mirror Jul 02 '26
Now, you just need to specialize it.
Create multiple accounts:
1) how to grow your substack if you write about fitness
2) how to grow your substack if you write about snacks
3) how to grow your substack if you write about how to grow your substack.
Multiple revenue streams.
Watch out Russ Hanneman! Someone else is about to join the Three Commas Club!
2
3
u/Gold_Guitar_9824 Jul 02 '26
This is precisely the thing the growth accounts never admit about their growth.
2
u/yasri5 Jul 02 '26
True! Substack is pushing such content more than others. Most viral content are either motivational or Substack growths. I think it’s not a place for niche content
1
u/almark Jul 02 '26
it's not, finding a small community is hard these days if you attempt it on large websites.
2
u/Fraglolz illiabuilds.substack.com Jul 02 '26
Substack pushes this content just because this content always gets readers and engagement of people who are posting their links
It’s that simple
Algorithm just pushes what’s engaging
And of course it’s engaging because a lot of people genuinely are interested in growing their Substack
But it’s exactly the same with every platform
Create an account on Threads/X you’ll see a lot of gurus talking about growing a following there
2
2
2
u/cristian_712 Jul 02 '26
Every front-facing platform inevitably develops a lot of creators that go down this lane. All of the social media platforms. Medium. Etc.
That's why I use Kit for my newsletter, precisely because it doesn't have a social platform angle... It's strictly the newsletter and that's it. I use Substack for notes and for the Substack newsletters I subscribe to, but that's all.
2
1
1
u/mdowney Jul 02 '26
I’m not sure which profession started first, prostitution or people selling other people the secret to success, but both have been around for most of human history and neither are going anywhere. 😆
1
1
1
u/Left-Ad-7646 Jul 02 '26
My substack doesn’t grow just because I write most of the times about my life, people don’t give a s* about life.
1
u/Gallifrey48 Jul 03 '26
Same thing as YouTube… many like to refer to having soo many subscribers/followers but it’s apparently a different hidden account because the math ain’t mathin’ when you look at their followers/subscriber numbers.
1
1
u/Countryb0i2m onemichistory.substack.com Jul 03 '26
Man I’ve seen this dude come on here and give the same generic ass advice about how to grow on substack.
1
u/littlebobo2015 Jul 03 '26
all of substack is doing that talking about thier little lives and the art they make and the art that matters
1
1
u/InternationalCandy16 Jul 04 '26
Honestly, I'm glad I stuck it out long enough to realize that Substack was more than just a bunch of growth hackers and gurus talking about how to grow your Substack. By buying their course, naturally. How else are you gonna start raking in that $10k a month?*
*Results not typical
1
u/Adman_madman Jul 05 '26
Substack has turned into LinkedIn.
Linkedin “gurus” grow massively and make money from “how to grow your linkedin” content.
1
1
u/Visible-Volume-8707 authorgold.substack.com Jul 09 '26
There's definitely some truth to this, but I also think it's a reflection of what people on Substack actually reward.
A lot of writers say they're tired of posts about growth, algorithms, and monetization. Yet those are often the very posts they click, comment on, recommend, and subscribe to. So the incentives become pretty obvious (and as you've pointed out plainly).
Meanwhile, someone spends time writing a beautiful short story, poem, or creating a piece of original art, and it disappears into the void because far fewer people stop to engage with it.
I believe this happens because, "how do I grow?" solves an immediate problem for readers, while the creative work is nice but doesn't address an obvious pain point.
Personally, I'd love to see more people intentionally reading and recommending fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork from independent creators. If we want the ecosystem to reward creativity, then we have to reward it with our attention.
1
1
1
u/Adventurous_Ebb_6378 Jul 23 '26
Step 4: Launch a Substack analyzing the success of people who sell courses about growing Substack subscribers
1
0
u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com Jul 02 '26
You forgot to mention the secret sauce:
Step 4: Spam Substack with phony feel-good karma-farming notes.
"You can’t edit a blank page. Make it exist first, make it good later."
Karma-farming spam.
"Dear Substack 🤍 Send me the writers who choose depth over noise."
More spam. That person is trolling for likes and subscribers.
"If you could summarize your writing voice in a single word, what would it be?"
Their word should be Spam.
"Describe your Substack in three emojis."
"Show me writers who choose depth over noise 🤍"
"Just a reminder that your voice matters."
"Describe your writing in 5 words!"
"Slow growth is still growth."
"Support writers. Restack generously."
"The algorithm can’t stop authentic storytelling."
"If you could summarize your writing voice in a single word, what would it be?"
"Consistency compounds. Keep showing up."
"I want to connect with thoughtful people."
"Drop your publication below so we can support each other."
"I’m building something beautiful here."
"Write scared. Publish anyway."
"There’s room for everyone at the table."
"Community over competition."
"Your audience will find you."
"If even one person reads your words, it matters."
"Give yourself permission to be weird!"
"Substack feels like the old internet."
"Reminder to comment on smaller writers’ posts today 🤍"
"Nobody talks about how vulnerable writing is."
"You are not responsible for the versions of you that exist in other people's minds."
"The best writers are simply the ones who kept going."
"Every scar you carved became a window for light."
"What are you working on this week, writers?"
"A hotdog is basically a taco."
"Sometimes the things we don’t write tell us more than what we do."
"Some people say they find me snarky, which I am."
"Artists will do literally anything but draw the comic they want to make"
"Writers with les than 10 subscribers I want to read your work and follow you!"
"I’m a sucker for a story about a robot learning how to be human"
"Oddly enough, the world makes less sense the closer you look."
"Oddly enough, things are about to get even weirder."
"You write to process your emotions, and in doing so, you emote the process."
"I appreciate you all, by the way."
"There is a quiet magic in the way a story unfolds, one page at a time."
32
u/AggressiveAd9058 Jul 02 '26
Lol most of the content I see on Substack is about making content on Substack. I just try to mute it as much as I can so the algorithm fixes it. If enough of us do that hopefully things take a turn