4 Lessons From 3 Years On Substack

Lessons for your Substack journey

Hi, how have you been?

Today I want to share four things I’ve learned since I first stepped into the marvellous world of Substack just over 3 years ago.

In August I celebrated 3 years on Substack. My paid publication (published under a different account) launched in 2021, and now has 3,529 subscribers, with 211 paying subscribers, each paying $100 or more per year.

It’s been a journey.

Lesson 1

In 2021, my first year, I learned that launching is not that hard. I started publishing posts by sharing information I thought my audience would like and told my connections on LinkedIn about it. Easy!

Lesson for you: If you’re just starting out don’t overthink it. It takes time to get momentum and build trust with your readers. The sooner you start, the better.

All you need to do is decide what you want to do for your subscribers, then do it. You can refine it as you go.

Lesson 2

In 2022, I learned that going paid is hard. When I launched paid subscriptions, I had 800 subscribers and 20 immediately upgraded to paid but then… nothing… Those 20 people were my biggest fans but the rest of my readers were unmoved. For 5 months.

Lesson for you: There’s a definite art to crafting an offer that will convert readers into paying subscribers. You might not nail it the first time, so be willing to seek feedback and iterate.

Lesson 3

In 2023, my third year on Substack, I learned that growth gets easier. By then I had discovered that some readers are willing to reward exceptional content but some need a list of tangible benefits before they will pay for a subscription, while some will never pay, no matter what you do.

That year, my readers started to upgrade to paid in greater numbers. After stagnant revenue for the first 5 months, I launched a new suite of benefits for paying subscribers and ramped up the quality of content for free subscribers. Soon I was converting 6% of my free subscribers to paid.

Better still, they hung around. My newsletter’s paid subscription retention rate was 96%!

This was great. I had a formula for growth and all I had to do was execute it to get more subscribers and more money every month. Growth got easier. I started to earn real money from my newsletter.

Lesson for you: Consider how you can appeal to the two different types of potential paying subscribers. For the people who will pay to reward fantastic work, create jaw-dropping free content, and prompt them to upgrade to support your efforts. For other people, create special paywalled content to tempt them to part with their hard-earned money.

Lesson 4

This year, I’ve learned that what works one year won’t necessarily work the next. I’ve had moments of brilliance and disappointment this year. At one point my paid newsletter’s revenue was growing at $1,000 per month. That’s some pay rise!

However, growth plateaus are by no means behind me. I suspect that some readers are starting to feel complacent about my newsletter. What felt fresh and exciting two years ago might be starting to feel a little same-same this year.

I’ve been working to introduce more fun and value without creating too much extra work. But it’s a challenge to keep things fresh without deviating too far from a proven formula.

Lesson for you: don’t rest on your laurels when you have found a formula that works (like I did). Keep dreaming up new ideas to keep your newsletter fresh.

Takeaways

Substack is a journey with different lessons to be learned along the way. I hope the lessons I’ve shared here provide you with inspiration for your adventures. May your travels be fun and your road be smooth.

Have a wonderful week, everyone, thanks for being part of the Pubstack Success community.

P.S. If you want to know what I did to keep my newsletter fresh and keep my readers interested (and paying), why not hop on a 40 minute call with me (US$97). We can brainstorm ideas for your publication together and formulate a winning strategy.