6 Things to Learn From a High-earning Substack Publication

Inspiration for your Sunday

Hi ho,

Hope you’ve had a wonderful week!

Today I want to share six insights from a writer who is making properly-excellent money with his Substack publication.

This guy has 2,300 paid subscribers. His annual subscription fees are US80. That’s gross revenue of $184K per year. Nice.

I’ve talked before about how the magic of subscription newsletters is their scalability. That is, when you get more subscribers you earn more money without doing (much) more work.

Every new paying subscriber is like a mini pay rise.

One of my favorite things about writing on Substack is that every time I share something useful, interesting, or entertaining, I get a raise. Rob Henderson of Rob Henderson’s Newsletter

Six takeaways from a Substack ‘success’ story

The success story is Rob Henderson, and his publication Rob Henderson’s Newsletter, which is the 4th highest earner in the science category on Substack. Rob recently shared the story - and stats - of his first two years on Substack. I’ve unpacked the story for you.

Note: I don’t endorse the newsletter I’m unpacking here (not my cup of tea). I’m using it as a case study simply because the author has been candid about his growth, publishing strategy and weekly commitments.

1. Conversion rates

Rob’s newsletter has tens of thousands of subscribers (55K +) and great revenue. But his conversion rate is not amazing, at 4% (‘conversion rate’ = the ratio of paying to free subscribers, expressed as a percentage).

Takeaway: While you will hear Substack talking about 10% conversion rates as if they are average, I believe 2% to 5% is more common.

2. Offer

Rob knows exactly what he’s giving his readers:

• Weekly essays every Sunday morning

• Bonus posts and recommendations,

• Free from ads, affiliate links, pop-ups, SEO bait.

Around one-third of posts are paywalled. Paid subscribers get the ability to comment on posts. Founding members ($500) get a one-hour video call with Rob.

Takeaway: You don’t need fancy extras for paying subscribers to do well on Substack.

3. Plateaus

Rob shares his subscriber growth chart in his post. His publication’s growth has been slow and steady with no huge ‘viral’ spikes. And there are plenty of flat spots. In fact, the numbers look like they went backward at one point.

Takeaway: Even high-earning, successful publications have slow times and growth plateaus.

Even the number 4 science publication on Substack experiences plateaus in its growth. Image: Rob Henderson's Newsletter

4. Time investment

So - we all wanna know this - does a Substack publication that’s earning more than $180K per year take a ton of time to write and distribute?

Well, the answer, for Rob Henderson’s Newsletter, is “Yes. And no.”

Many high-earning publications certainly look like they are a full-time gig, with writing, marketing, podcasting, interviews, promotions, drafting, and researching clearly taking more than just a few hours per week.

Rob says he spends “the majority of his waking hours - maybe 50 to 60 hours a week” on his publication. He also says he spends 8 hours per week writing, re-writing and editing. The rest is “reading, thinking, note-taking…” etc.

Yup, eight hours. Wow.

Takeaway: A popular and high-earning publication does not need dozens of hours of writing time each week.

5. External audiences

To get new subscribers you need your work to be seen by new people every day. To get to fifty-five thousand subscribers, you need to be seen by a lot of people.

Let’s be clear, Rob Henderson didn’t get fifty-five thousand subscribers using Substack Notes alone. He’s had a book publisher promoting him and his work. He’s appeared on podcasts and been invited to publish newspaper columns. He appeared at the Oxford Literary Festival and will promote his book at Yale this week. He has 146K followers on X.

Rob says he doesn’t make growth the number one priority for his publication, but he most certainly lets people know about his work. Without that, he wouldn’t have the subscribers numbers he does.

Takeaways: Even writers who don’t prioritize growth can do well if they regularly get themselves and their work in front of new people.

I think growth is important, it’s nice to see, and I’m not shy about sharing my work online and on Twitter. Still, growth has never been my primary goal. Rob Henderson of Rob Henderson’s Newsletter

6. Consistency

At Pubstack Success I’m always preaching about the importance of consistent, reliable posting (yes this post is late, do as I say, not as I do!). When readers know what to expect from you, and when to expect it, they feel safe. That makes it easier to build a relationship with them. And relationships between writers and readers are where the magic is on Substack.

Rob attributes his growth to consistency, instead of promotion. He says “Regular output is key. Do the work, accept that most of your work will be fair-to-middling, and be grateful for the occasional home run.”

Takeaway: Posting consistently makes it easier to build a relationship with readers. When your readers know what to expect from you, they are more likely to open your emails. And when they read your work regularly they are more likely to become fans and supporters.

Mechanical consistency is an underrated approach to building a readership. Everyone wants the secret sauce or the smash hit viral article. But the real secret is to develop a reliable and dependable writing schedule. Rob Henderson of Rob Henderson’s Newsletter

Final thoughts

I’m not a fan of Rob Henderson’s newsletter but I’m pleased he shared the inside scoop on his Substack strategies and numbers. When big publications let us see under the hood we all benefit.

It’s heartening to see that even high-earning Substack publications have periods of slow growth, even negative growth. And it’s also good to discover that Rob attributes his success to showing up consistently for his readers each week.

As for spending just 8 hours per week writing and editing posts, that’s quite inspiring (yes, I’m jealous)!

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Okay, that’s it for this week’s post. See you in the Pubstack Success accountability chat,

Have a good one.