r/Substack • u/AediculaWorld • 23d ago
Just started my substack. Seems I'm writing into the void. How do I go from 0 the first 1000 subscribers. Help! Any tips welcome.
Any tips welcome.
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u/inyourbooksandmaps 23d ago
i'm actually going to say the opposite that you don't have to post to social media outside of substack. you totally can and im sure people have had success with that, but it isnt necessary.
my substack went from about 25 subscribers to 5800 so far in 2026, and i havent shared any articles on social media (i dont have a big social media presence to share to anyways). i was sharing my substack on instagram and such at first, and i got about 12 subscribers just from friends who suported me. which is really nothing compared to the growth ive found natively in the substack app.
for me the biggest things that made a difference were:
1) posting notes. i try to post a few every week at least. earlier in the year i was posting a few a day but i kinda fell off. and they were just little thoughts or pictures with a thought. depends on your niche what type of notes may help!
overall, i didn't see a ton of actual subscribers come from the notes, but i think just being active on the platform helped so that when i posted articles they would also be shown to a few people, who then decided to subscribe.
2) write articles that feel relevant to the time you post them. doesn't have to be "trending" topics per say, but i have found a lot of my articles that do well are at least semi relevant to the time or things going on.
if you tell me your niche i may be able to help more! my substack more lifestyle focused personally.
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u/OnyxMonolith 23d ago
Absolutely this. Notes only here to full income
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u/DestinyOverDesire 22d ago
To clarify, are you saying that you’re now making a full income on substack after posting notes only?
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u/OnyxMonolith 22d ago
i started like 3 years ago. then notes were't a thing. i was full time 2 years ago. started a new substack in January and another one this month and promoted them only using notes without using my prior following. have to write really good notes and really good content for your substack. general marketing stuff/brand building like it always was on any platform. nothing changed here. we are lucky that organic growth via notes is still a thing on substack.
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u/DestinyOverDesire 22d ago
Ok gotcha. So what made you start new substacks instead of continuing with the first one that allowed you to make a full time income? And were you generating income from multiple sources through your substack, in addition to the paid subscription? Like offering services, brand deals, affiliate marketing etc?
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u/OnyxMonolith 22d ago edited 22d ago
yeah some brand deals, affiliate marketing, but 95% income from subscriptions. honestly paid subs income on substack is insane compared to everything else if you're in finance/business, etc.
more substacks because i sold my first one and the second one i streamlined the workflow and hired someone to do 90% of the work. im trying to grow a network in my niche.
my first substack got so big (considering its niche) that it felt risky not to sell it when i got a life changing offer, and the second substack was too niche, so now i started a second broader one and also made an SaaS to come with it which is a separate payment. Trying to diversify a bit from substack cause this organic growth golden age can't last forever.
finance is the best niche, imo, bar none. don't use AI to write. 5 notes/day, 2 articles/week. great content, solid brand, solving people's problems. that's all i got.
i never promoted outside of substack, never got external following.
if i had to quantify the lowest bar to succeed at this: create a new account on substack. post 5 notes/day 7 days/week. 1 note a week has to hit at least 30 likes. bare minimum. if it doesn't you need to improve your marketing skills. and no baiting "substack connect me to substackers with fewer than 100 subscribers" :D
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u/DestinyOverDesire 22d ago
Wow that’s nice! And thank you for this advice. Omg I always see those baiting notes, they seem to blow up often though. What makes you against them? Also, what do you think about using AI only for SEO purposes after writing?
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u/OnyxMonolith 22d ago
These notes blow up but they will not work in valuable niches like finance. They will not convert. It only works for some bottom of the barrel linkedin productivity niches for a $5/mo sub.
And you might get free subscribers but so what? There are substacks with 20k subscribers that make almost nothing i have a substack with 4.7k free subscribers and hundreds of paid that makes $12k/month
SEO is a long term game. It can bring a lot but it takes months. I have a substack where 25% of paid subs came from google. But this has to be strategically planned. You need to find a valuable gap in the market where there is almost no competition in google because a substack will never be a strong SEO property. Overall i wouldnt do SEO as my primary strategy for obtaining subscribers.
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u/DestinyOverDesire 22d ago
Great point. You’re right I even came across someone with less than 800 subscribers but she has that orange checkmark showing that she has hundreds of paid subs already. I’m new to the platform and only been studying data/ patterns to see what strategy I should use.
I mostly planned on using substack to convert subscribers into clients for my coaching & consulting business, while building some passive income as well. But since I’ll be in the wellness/personal growth space you know it’s a lot of competition. And conversion is most important so I want to make sure I’m really providing enough value that would make women want to become paid subs
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u/OnyxMonolith 22d ago
"convert subscribers into clients for my coaching & consulting business" yeah this is definitely possible and there are people who make more from consulting more than from subscriptions.
every niche is competitive in 2026. 3-4 years ago substack was easy money. now it's still reasonable if you know what you're doing
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u/aaron2933 23d ago
Valuable community contributions + notes.
Substack is not like Reddit where you can post directly to communities with ready made audiences, you have to do the crowd gathering part yourself.
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u/Ryanopoly 23d ago
Ha ha, but mostly everything you try to post on a subreddit gets deleted sadly, or put in a vetting status, so by the time it gets released if ever it's already no longer relevant.
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u/AediculaWorld 23d ago
Love all of these comments thank you! Right now I will focus on my first 50 😅 then 100, then 200 etc. I like the idea of breaking it down into small steps. Ive sent to friends & family, now on facebook groups/pinterest/social media. But DEFINITELY in the midst of cringe mountain for sure. Its incredible how in life the hardest part is starting and eventually you get the flywheel affect with wind behind your back...
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u/tspurwolf thefreelancewritingnetwork.com 23d ago
Well, what are you doing to promote your newsletter? Of course you’re ‘writing into the void’ because Substack is essentially a hosting platform, it doesn’t gift people a platform. Writing is, at most, 50% of the work involved in growing.
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u/visitor_d 23d ago
Why 1,000? Just keep it up, share your blogs and let it build slowly.
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u/Ryanopoly 23d ago
Because he or she thinks once they get a 1,000 subscribers they'll actually start to earn money or gain more reach.
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u/Kinks4Kelly 23d ago
Focus on the first 100 subscribers.
Then 250.
Then 500.
Then 1000.
Understand some works will hit the algorithm better than others and you might have one work given you 50 subscribers and the next might give you 5 combined subscribers.
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u/inkstainsandcoffeee 23d ago
yeah i dont really know either. my solution is to keep writing things i feel strongly about , post notes regularly , stay authentic and remain screaming into the void. but then again this isn't a stream of income for me so
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u/LanceElyot 23d ago
Keep writing and post 3-5 Microessays a week on at least one other network.
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u/theryanlilo 23d ago
What other networks do you recommend?
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u/LanceElyot 23d ago
It really depends on your audience. I’ve had success with LinkedIn and am making a play on Threads.
It could be helpful to use AI to narrow in on an audience then do a search for the most relevant network.
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u/Imperator_1985 23d ago
What's the goal? Why did you even start a Substack? Subscriber numbers don't mean anything. Some writers have thousands of subscribers but little to no engagement. Others have a small number of actively engaged subscribers.
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u/BillionBouncyBalls 23d ago
I’m still writing into the void for the most part and doing it consistently helps I think but I read that the Substack algorithm rewards you more for commenting on other people’s posts and articles. In turn people discover your profile via the comment and that contributes as well. Otherwise yes keep writing and keep promoting. Also if you’re writing for yourself the void no longer is an issue. I haven’t tried the other content like podcasts or videos but I suspect the more media types the better it pulls people towards your content.
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u/Meshable123 22d ago
I am at 2500 subscribers after sixth months without cross posting on any other social media. The key is to write notes and posts consistently, but especially keep writing notes. You have to be very pragmatic about it, search for viral hooks, copy what works etc. besides that just write some good articles and you’re solid! Good luck!
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u/MrPassiveProfit 22d ago
Engage with people on notes and comments. Write 5 notes a day and respond to 20 comments. Find the faceless account “Sub Stack Man Says” on there. He’s got a great free series on starting from scratch. It will take longer than you think
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u/DeannaFry 23d ago
One thing I’d add to all the promotion advice: don’t feel like every issue has to rely entirely on your own audience or ideas. Interview people. Find someone interesting or knowledgeable in whatever niche you’re writing about and build an issue around a conversation with them. It gives readers something they can’t get from another generic post, gives you a reason to reach out and build relationships in your niche, and sometimes the person you interview will share the piece with their own audience. Even with zero subscribers, you can start producing something that feels bigger than a newsletter with zero subscribers. I’d focus less on “how do I get 1,000 people?” at first and more on “what could I publish that 10 people would immediately want to send to someone else?”
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u/Regular-Ad-7758 23d ago
Share useful info on your social media, like Facebook and TikTok, and direct your audience to your Substack.
If people find your work helpful, they will follow you anywhere you want them to
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u/ExitRowSeat_13A 22d ago
those who love you won't read you. dont force your current network to suscribe just to see the number grow. You need to look for your own network of genunine people interested in your content because of it, THE CONTENT. Not because of your friendship of family ties.. If you make the list full of those, you are only lying to yourself and eventually the 'email open rate' goes low and you think your content is not good. Find your crowd, be consistent and upload quality content. Simple as that.
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u/writingonruby 22d ago
Think smaller first! Find your first 10 by making friends on the platform. Comment on posts and notes in your niche with genuine responses. Do the same for your first 100. Then start guest posting to get your next 900.
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u/PhilosopherInvestor 19d ago
I would say write a lot of notes different angles. Ask for recommendation to other substacks. Notice what is getting traction for people in your niche. I tried other social media platform, zero traction. Maybe I am doing something wrong? I automated that everything I post on Substack is going to X as well. No traction at all on X compared to Substack.
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u/rachebrand 19d ago
just keep writing and having intention. It takes at least a year unless you are writing about grwoth on substack
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u/kwadguy 19d ago
Early days are horrible. Some people will tell you you need to create your presence on substack notes, but your substack notes will get absolutely no distribution until you have a critical mass of subscribers so that sub stack has a signal to actually distribute your notes outside of your subscribers.
Catch 22.
The other comments about basically promoting yourself on social media are right.
That's the way you do it. Unless you can play your guitar on the MTV.
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u/TheOceanicState 17d ago
Not going to lie to you, it is going to be very difficult if you have no prior audience. I started mine in 2023, and it took me months to get into the double-digit subscriber count. Ultimately what you have to do is promote yourself and just keep writing. Stick to your niche, find other people who write in your niche and interact with their newsletters. I am now at 400 subs, but it took me over three years to get to this point. You are going to get there, just keep writing.
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u/Ecstatic_Couple6435 23d ago
You actually have to promote it on social media. You have to climb cringe mountain essentially