How to build a successful Substack from scratch
What I've learned so far
Recently I’ve read a few posts by writers who are feeling deflated and close to giving up on writing here on Substack. Each time I read one of these, I think Noooo! don’t give up! But it also makes me reflect on my own journey here and how our individual expectations can differ wildly.
What I deem to be ‘successful’ may not tally with another person’s definition of that word, but nevertheless, I’m going to tell you how I’ve built my Substack thus far and share some of the things that have helped to make it a success (in my mind).
I started with 0 subscribers and had no experience of writing anything other than school reports and lesson plans having been a teacher for my entire career.
At the time of writing, I currently have 1148 subscribers, 38 paid subscribers and one founding subscriber. This has built steadily over the past 13 months and I’m fascinated to see where the next year and beyond takes my writing and creativity.
Here are some things I’ve learned.
Write honestly and authentically and don’t be afraid of mundanity.
When I first started to write here in August 2023, I had a story to share. Once I started to write it down, I couldn’t stop it from coming out. It was real and it was what I was feeling and experiencing at that moment. I had no clue if anyone was going to be interested in reading it, but it didn’t really matter because I just needed to share it. Looking back now, I can see that having an honest and authentic voice gives credibility and interest to whatever is being put out.
Of course, that compulsion to splurge words doesn’t always perfectly present itself and sometimes I write about pretty mundane things that are going on around me. Readers like that stuff more than you might imagine and what starts as writing about a routine occurrence, often sparks an interesting thought which develops into something I never expected. Go with the flow!
Write what you want to write and not what you think you should write.
I don’t believe that it’s up to your readers to decide what you should write about. Sometimes we have periods of time where we might struggle to know what to write about, but I don’t believe that asking others to decide for us will solve that problem.
Equally, I don’t think we should write what we think others will want to read, we must write what we feel compelled to write about. If it’s compelling to you as the writer, there will be someone out there who is interested in reading it. But, having said that, don’t forget that…
Some pieces of writing are ‘popular’ and some aren’t, but that doesn’t mean nobody reads them.
When I say ‘popular’ I mean gets lots of likes and comments, but that isn’t necessarily the definition!
If I write something and I get very little ‘reward’ e.g. only a couple of likes and no comments, that doesn’t mean what I wrote was rubbish. For starters, it often takes people a few days to read pieces; particularly if they are reasonably long.
This isn’t Instagram or other forms of social media; theses are pieces which ideally require people to sit down with a cuppa and read thoughtfully. At least that’s how I like to imagine my readers consuming my writing.
I know from my own Substack reading that sometimes it takes me a few days to get around to reading something and even then I don’t necessarily have time to leave a comment or ‘like’ it. But that doesn’t mean it was bad!
Equally, I am incredulous when I read that some writers actually go through their subscriber list and delete people who don’t look as if they’ve read anything for a while. Why would you do this? How could you possibly know anything about the reader’s situation?
Try things; be open to experimentation and learning new skills e.g. voiceovers, video etc.
It can be easy to be negative towards new forms of technology, but to some extent you have to be in it to win it.
For me, Substack will always fundamentally be about writing, but I’ve enjoyed exploring some of the other offerings over the past year. Mainly audio and podcasts, but I have experimented with video and I plan to do more of this in the coming months.
I would recommend experimenting with audio or video as an addition to your written posts just to see how you feel about it. If you hate it, don’t do it any more, but you might find that something connects and works for you and your audience and you won’t know that unless you are open to trying.
My approach is to think about how I like to engage with and consume work here. Most of the time I prefer to read, but when I’m on the go or out for a walk I prefer to listen. Writers who give me the option of both are always going to be my go to. I reversed that thought and applied it to my own work, which is why I try to make voiceovers for as many posts as I can.
On Sunday 6th October, 4-5pm (UK time) I am running an online workshop: ‘How to use voiceovers on Substack’ which is available to all. More information will be coming soon and you can register for free here: https://lu.ma/3ytk5ywv
Consistency is important. Writing regularly has made me a better writer.
From the outset, I decided I was going to write twice weekly to my subscribers: Wednesday and Sunday.
Somehow, miraculously, I have stuck to that pretty well. That’s not to say I haven’t taken the odd break (nobody really notices when you take a week or two off!) and occasionally I post on different days. The main concept for growth is that your audience need to be reminded that you exist and that comes through writing regularly.
The other benefit to regular writing is that it forces you to publish and you can’t sit on something for weeks and weeks, painstakingly refining what you’ve written. Of course, editing is very important but personally I prefer to get it out there. I’m honing my craft through doing.
Some people plan and map out their pieces and topics well in advance. I don’t. I keep a list in my notes app of ideas for pieces and usually start writing something a few days before I plan to publish it. If I don’t have a fresh idea, I’ll take a look at my notes list and one of those will give me a starting point. These self-imposed deadlines help me to ensure I get something out. It doesn’t always have to be long. Mixing up the lengths of pieces keeps things interesting.
Take the time to get to know how the back end of Substack works.
Like any online platform, it takes time to fully understand all of the settings and possibilities available on Substack. I love this kind of stuff so I genuinely enjoy spending time going through all of the settings on the ‘dashboard’ and checking out any new features. There is a lot to play with and some confusing aspects.
One piece of advice if you have paid subscriptions enabled: subscribe to yourself with two separate email addresses: one as the author, which will give you access to all content, and the other as a free subscriber. This way you can see exactly how posts land in both paid and free subscriber’s inboxes.
Doing this led me to discover that free subscribers deemed to be ‘most engaged’ were sometimes receiving an email from me with a 20% discount. I had no idea about this until I received one. I’ve since turned off that feature because I prefer to be in control of any discounts I might decide to offer! You can find this in the ‘boost’ section of the settings page on the dashboard.
Be an active reader of other people’s work
I cannot stress how important it is to actively engage with other people’s writing. Read other people’s work; share it, celebrate it, comment on it, start conversations and look for opportunities to collaborate. I always say yes to collaborations because a) I really enjoy collaborating and learning from others and b) I have no idea what the other person’s audience might do for my own work.
Don’t imagine that Substack can be your full time income.
I don’t mean to sound negative, but I do often read pieces where people discuss their aim of making Substack their full-time job and I am sceptical about this. Of course, there are some big names out there who are making hefty incomes from their writing, but most of them are also doing other things too e.g. publishing books or are Patty Smith.
Whilst I’m sure it is technically possible to build a Substack to the level of making a reasonable income from it, my worry is what happens when the world moves on to a different thing? We seem to be in an era of subscription models for lots of things right now, but that will probably change again in 5 years. In short, I will not be putting all of my eggs in one basket, but I will treasure my paid subscribers and continue to work hard and write special pieces just for them.
Enjoy the long game.
There are no quick fixes. Substack is a long game, but a very enjoyable one at that. Building a network and a community of like-minded people is always going to take time and that’s a huge part of the joy for me.
Stick with it, keep going and don’t let it rule your life!
I’m Hannah Ashe, a multi-hyphenate based in London. I left my full-time teaching job in July 2023 to pursue a more creative approach to work. These days I earn my living from a variety of sources including interior design consultancy, music teaching (saxophone, piano, composition and theory), writing, podcasting and building this Substack. Do come and say hello in the comments!
Loved this - and I listened to the audio which made it even better for me. Definitely something I might try out.
So many pearls of wisdom, thank you.
And I’m a variety-lover too (with interior design one of my multi-hyphenate strings to my bow as well). Creativity requires variety! I think more people could benefit from the same approach.
Just starting my Substack journey so thanks for all this. Such a soothing voice for a Sunday morning 🥰 Kate x
Preach! Fantastic Hannah! Everything here is 👍👍 in my eyes. Haven’t got much more to comment so I won’t, but thanks for writing this.