Hey hello there, Karen here!
I’m an Aussie business owner and outdoors addict and I help creators do better on Substack.
I’ve been writing about Substack since 2022. I started so I could share all the things I was learning while trying to get my other newsletter, for food professionals, to bestseller status. (Job done!)
When I launched my first Substack newsletter in 2021 I was stumbling around in the weeds. It was easy to start a newsletter but hard (so hard) to figure out how to monetize.
I knew Substack had potential – if only there was some proven way to unlock it!
At the time there was nowhere to ‘learn’ Substack. No books, no ‘How to Substack’ publications, and no support bot to hold my hand - I soon realised I would have to figure it out for myself.
I started to forensically examine what other creators were doing to make money with Substack and began to collect and sort through the countless strategies and systems they were using.
Meanwhile, I was writing: one newsletter per week for an audience that didn’t even exist on day one.
Three years later, my first newsletter publication is going from strength to strength. I’ve written 168 regular weekly issues, 420 posts in total and made $55K. Gotta tell you, it feels amazing!
A year later, I launched this newsletter to share everything I was learning about growing and succeeding on Substack. As of December 2024, I have 7,771 subscribers in my two publications.
Honestly, it’s not a lot. There are tens of thousands of Substack creators making more money than me and hundreds of thousands with more subscribers. Thing is, most of those creators aren’t sharing their secrets. The ones that do mostly make money on Substack by talking about making money on Substack.
My paid publication isn’t about Substack. And my paying subscribers don’t care about Substack – they probably don’t even know what it is.
I’m living proof that you can make money with Substack writing about topics that have nothing to do with writing online or the creator economy.
So, here I am, writing Pubstack Success for you, because I want you to succeed here too.
When I started, there was nothing online about how to succeed on Substack. And now there is. I’m super proud to be a part of that.
Pubstack Success has grown into a huge library of knowledge-based articles, how-tos, guides and case studies. I wrote each and every post with the intention of keeping it free forever, because I truly believe in the Substack model that gives us a safe space to publish our work without paying anything unless we activate paid subscriptions.
Substack’s founders have been so generous with their business model, knowing many creators will never collect subscription fees, and letting us all play for free in this beautiful sandbox anyway.
I’m thrilled to be part of that generosity of spirit.
So while this is now a paid publication, there are no paywalls. Substack lets new creators play for free and I want to support that ethos. So you can play for free too, and enjoy the process with no pressure.
For those of you who choose to pay, and who get nothing but the warm-and-fuzzies (and top-grade karma), thank you for appreciating what I do, it means the world to me.
By the way…. How’s your About page?
A good About page describes why a newsletter exists, and what a reader can expect from it. It explains a little about who you are and who your intended readers are too. The aim is to have a potential subscriber think “This sounds fun/interesting/helpful, this newsletter is for me”.
It’s also okay to use your About page to disqualify readers who aren’t your ‘tribe’. For example, my other newsletter is for a very specific professional audience and definitely not for everyone. That’s okay! I deal with this by describing exactly who the newsletter is for so I don’t waste anyone’s time.
Use your About page to show off your best work, share what others are saying and let your readers know where to find you. And of course, your About page should encourage new readers to become subscribers.
Best Posts of Pubstack Success
How to Deal with the Dreaded Plateau
Hi, How is your newsletter journey going? I hope it’s going well. I’ve had two big wins this week: hitting $12K revenue last Friday; discovering a ‘best seller’ badge on my (other) Substack profile But it’s not always like this for me. I often have weeks that feel blerrrr.
7 Habits of Highly Effective Substackers
In my years on Substack, I’ve noticed a definite pattern among people who are new to the platform. Some new creators succeed, but many are doomed to fail. According to Substack’s team, 84% of people who start a Substack don’t make it to 14 weeks. Wow.
Social proof
Social proof is a great addition to any About page. It encourages new readers to ‘follow the smart people’ and sign up. Here’s some social proof for my work:
Where you can find me
I live in Sydney, Australia and hang out on Substack Notes and Medium.
In 2024, I appeared in the No to Normal podcast , talking about how to monetize a community with Substack (Episode 35) and in 2025 I appeared in Newsletter Circle where I shared how I grew my paid publication to $21K from 0.
Before you go… I wrote a book for you!
If you love my work but don’t have time to wade through all my posts and tutorials you need my book. It’s sharp, focused and packed with clear, actionable advice about how to get your Substack publication growing and monetized successfully in weeks, not months.
Got questions? Need help? Send me a DM and let’s talk. Cheers!
