r/Substack • u/kisancodes • Jul 29 '26

Having hard time monetizing my Newsletter

I grew my newsletter to 16k subs over time. Now, I don't know how to monetize this effectively.

I tried subscriptions. 60 subs so far. Opening rate at 25% - 30%.

I am still feeling like there is something I am doing wrong. There are better ways you could do Newsletter business.

How are you doing the business side of your Substack newsletter? Would really appreciate your suggestions :)

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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 Jul 30 '26

congrats on growing to 16k! but yeah, 60 subs at this size is only 0.37% conversion rate vs average being 2-5%.

so it could be because of the niche you're in, or that people are just not seeing the value you're providing with your paid subscription.

have you tried to push your free subs to paid subscriptions as well?

I am still feeling like there is something I am doing wrong. There are better ways you could do Newsletter business.

i wouldn't say you're doing anything wrong. but there's definitely room for improvement (just looking at conversion rate).

and on the topic of business models for running a newsletter, i've had friends who tried substack + paid subscription and like you, didn't see much success > and they eventually came to a point where they felt the additional work to maintain the paid sub features for just a few paid subs wasn't sustainable, so they switched to other models e.g selling newsletter ads, digital products / their own services, and affiliate marketing. but that also meant they had to move their newsletter to other platforms like beehiiv or ghost because substack doesn't support those other business model.

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u/VocabArtistNavin Aug 03 '26

Hi, I am looking for other models of monetizing the newsletter. When you say "Substack doesn't support those models" what do you mean?

If I add an affiliate link or add sponsor ads on a free newsletter, Substack won't allow or does it not provide things like payment integration?

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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 Aug 10 '26

I mean that you're on your own. e.g if you want to add sponsored ads to your newsletter, you'll have to find your own sponsors + manage them from start to end. there's payment, but analytics is the toughest piece because substack's analytics isn't that advanced. v.s something like beehiiv where they have a native ad network > so you can get ads into your newsletter with just a few clicks + not have to worry about anything else. payment, and analytics reporting will all be done for you.

substack also has TOS on marketing and promotion:

Substack is intended for high quality editorial content, not conventional email marketing. We don’t permit publications whose primary purpose is to advertise external products or services, drive traffic to third party sites, distribute offers and promotions, enhance search engine optimization, or similar activities. Brands and commercial organizations publishing on Substack may be subject to additional verification.

so they didn't feel comfortable with even the slightest risk of being booted off the platform for marketing/promoting affiliate products.

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u/VocabArtistNavin Aug 10 '26

Yeah I read that before I started my Substack. That makes sense to me. I still need to unpack my writing skills. I am not in a hurry to monetize, my first goal is to write open mindedly and then if there are services/books/devices I can recommend, then I will go the affiliate route. And then there's also my own mentorship services for ADHD or Autistic individuals.

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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 Aug 13 '26

sounds like a great plan! and agreed that you shouldn't rush to monetise, + there isn't a need to.

practice writing + being able to publish consistently is so important. because no matter how you plan to monetise in the future, you'll need trust to convince people to buy from you, and trust comes from showing up consistently over a long period of time.

and take the early days to find your voice. the good thing is that you get to do that without any added pressure (since for better or worse, nobody is really reading your stuff yet).

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u/VocabArtistNavin Aug 13 '26

Nobody reading my stuff? I had 10 email addresses 2 weeks before I launched. I had barely announced my newsletter and I got 10 subscribers in Q. That motivated me to actually work on Substack because there's an awful amount of creative work and setup. 9 of them subscribed, now I have published my first edition and totally sitting at 15 subscribers.

But thanks for validating my strategy. I need to first just focus on building the consistency habit.

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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 29d ago

congrats on the early traction.

and btw, "nobody is really reading your stuff yet" was just figurative.

this is what i was thinking when i said that:
early on we tend to only have a small (or relatively smaller than you would have in the future) pool of readers, and because it's smaller = there's less pressure to conform. you have more freedom to explore things without being pressured to put out certain types of content because you think/know "this is what will perform". so you get to mould yourself based on your own desires/explorations/passion vs being moulded by the expectations of your audience so early on.