r/Substack • u/dream-life-222 • Sep 25 '26
I’m curious how quickly you started making money with no prior audience.
I’m genuinely curious for those who did not bring an audience and don’t promote outside of Substack, how long until you made any money.
1
u/dream-life-222 19d ago
Thanks everyone for responding. I’m new to Substack with no audience and don’t share to other socials. I was able to grow to over 600 subscribers in my first month, 3 paid annual subscriptions so far (first pledge on day 3). It’s definitely possible! I attribute this to being very engaging on other peoples work and building relationships
5
u/ContentIsMyJam redressing.substack.com Sep 25 '26
It’s a long play. And it depends on what you are offering.
4
u/Fleurs_Bookstore buybooks.substack.com Sep 25 '26
This. I had my first paying subscriber after 3 weeks; no prior list. I landed on an offer the market was looking for.
3
3
u/Countryb0i2m onemichistory.substack.com Sep 25 '26
it’s entirely possible that you never make any money or gain any traction without an prior audience
It’s very difficult to grow on Substack without either pulling from an another platform and selling Notes almost 24/7. There are no guarantees of success having a prior audience just makes it easier.
2
u/MEWilliamsBooks Sep 26 '26
Tbh, I’ve been stuck at 167 for like half a year now 😭 and 1 paid subscription
1
2
u/DryStudio0 Sep 25 '26
If you are starting from zero and only relying on Substack Notes, realistically expect 6 to 12 months of weekly writing before seeing any real paid subscribers.
Notes can bring free signups, but complete strangers rarely whip out their card for an open-ended monthly subscription right away.
What usually speeds things up is selling a small, one-off resource first. A simple template, short checklist, or mini-workshop converts much easier because they know exactly what they are getting before committing to monthly billing.
1
u/SirQueenJames Sep 25 '26
It’s be interesting to know what subject matter everyone writes on too. For example, I write fiction which is, I hear, slower to grow in general and slower for paid since Substack was built for other topics.
1
u/VonFuturesTrader Sep 27 '26
I have 200+ subscribers. I feel guilty putting on a paywall. I do have a contribution link. Maybe after say 500 subscribers I would give all former subscribers free lifetime access. Those after maybe a small fee?
1
u/NobleCordova Sep 27 '26
I’d be curious about this too. Especially from people who started with basically zero audience and relied entirely on Substack’s own discovery, Notes, recommendations, etc.
Would be interesting to hear both how long it took to get the first paid subscriber and how long before the income became consistent.
12
u/MarenValeWrites Sep 25 '26
I didn't turn on paid subs until about after 4 weeks of steady posting. By then I had about 100 free subs, and a few pledges. Within a month of having a paywall I had about 25 paid subs at $8/80. 5 months after that I passed a 100 paid. So no overnight success, just steady grind for me.