I love your content. I'm never going to pay you.
Are more subscribers really the answer?
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Dear Subscriber,
I’m delighted that you’re here - every single one of you. And I’m telling you this because some of the ideas I’m about to share will shock you.
I often tell my coaching clients they should focus on growing total subscriber numbers if they want to increase their revenue - after all, you can’t get more paying subscribers unless you get more subscribers overall1.
But what about the quality of subscribers? Let’s discuss.
Here is a list of questions I’m asked over and over about subscriber counts and subscriber quality, accompanied by unfiltered answers.
My answers are based on my 5 years on Substack, forensically dissecting dozens of $100K+ publications and helping hundreds of creators.
Subscriber count versus subscriber quality
8 Frequently asked questions + my honest answers
Q1: I get lots of subscribers from recommendations, but they aren’t high quality. Should I delete them?
A: There are very few scenarios in which deleting subscribers is a good idea. For most creators, it’s better to have a higher total count than to sweat about the quality of the subscribers.
Why? Because high counts equal unfakeable social proof everywhere you and your publication appear inside Substack as well as on your welcome page, which new visitors see when they arrive from outside Substack.
Sad but true: a publication with a higher number of subscribers is more appealing than one with fewer subscribers. This is why experienced Substackers will tell you that growth gets easier as your subscriber count increases.
When to delete subscribers?
The only scenario where it makes sense to delete subscribers is if you are chasing sponsorship revenue. In this case, you need good open rates, and deleting subscribers can help. It’s not the best way to increase open rates, but it’s an option.
If you’re chasing sponsorship dollars and need to improve your open rate, delete subscribers only AFTER you have already done everything else possible to increase open rates, such as optimizing headlines, updating sender name, tweaking publication name/positioning, etc.
Also, be aware that in 2026 it’s notoriously difficult to know for sure who to delete. Tech systems are no longer good at knowing whether a subscriber is opening your emails or not, due to privacy/cookie/tracking policies.
Final answer: Subscribers who come from recommendations might not be as engaged as other subscribers, and they may be less likely to become paying subscribers, but they are worth having on your list because larger overall subscriber counts provide unfakeable social proof for growth on autopilot.
Q2: Substack says a 10% free-to-paid conversion rate is typical, but I’m way below that. Can you help?
Yes, I can help with your conversion rate. But I don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, because every publication has different levers to pull and every writer has a different blind spot.
The strategy is different depending on who you are and how your publication is set up right now.
For example, one client increased his conversion rate by 2 percentage points overnight simply by changing the vibe of his post preview images.
Another increased it by changing her headline strategy, which attracted the most passionate people - the people who were most likely to pay, instead of the people who were most curious.
A third increased it by changing how her benefits were described - a simple one-time tweak that permanently increased the number of upgrades month after month.
Worth knowing: While you might see a small blip, you won’t achieve a long-term sustainable improvement in conversion rates simply by deleting ‘low-quality’ subscribers.
Q3: Is a 10% conversion rate actually achievable?
In my experience, 10% is achievable, but far from normal.
It’s much more common to have a conversion rate of 2%, and many of the biggest - and highest earning - publications have rates of 1% or even less.
Thing is, conversion rates are only part of the story.
Let’s compare two wildly different successful creators on Substack. One has a high conversion rate - 6% - and the other has a low conversion rate (my guess is it’s <1%), but many more subscribers.
Both women report very high earnings. One has a paywall in every post, the other never paywalls any of her posts.
The one with the 6% conversion rate makes most of her money from subscriptions. The other? She makes almost all her money by selling digital products and says paid subscriptions are her smallest revenue stream.
They are both winning. A 6% conversion rate is great, but a 1% conversion rate doesn’t mean failure.
What matters is not the raw number. What matters is your overall strategy and where paid subscriptions fit within your larger goals.
Annoyingly obvious advice (that you may not have thought about lately)
If you want to earn more money with subscriptions, there are only three things you can do:
Get more free subscribers (and convert them at your current rate)
Convert more of your free subscribers into paid subscribers
Raise your prices
Q4: What is a ‘high quality’ subscriber anyway?
Great question. And the answer is complicated, but in my usual no-BS style I will try to give you the simple answer.
If you want to make money from paid subscriptions, a high quality subscriber is someone who upgrades to paid. But…
If you want to make money from digital products or services or speaking gigs, or book sales, a high quality subscriber is someone who buys. But…
If money doesn’t matter and you are here to create an impact, build a lasting legacy, and reach more readers, then a high quality subscriber is someone who loves your work and tells others about it.
Don’t underestimate the third point: we all want to make a bigger impact, no matter how we feel about monetization. I would prefer 100 high-referring readers to 5 paying ones any day of the week.
Q5: But what if I’m not trying to make money; does subscriber quality matter for me?
If money doesn’t matter to you, then subscriber quality is slightly less important.
But a great subscriber will still help you to grow by telling others about your work. And they will keep your publication feeling vibrant and active by getting involved in chats and comments.
If you aim to attract the ‘right’ people - for example by crafting your publication name, description and headlines with intention - then you will end up with a more authentic, rewarding Substack experience than if you chase raw numbers alone.
Q6: Is it better to get more subscribers overall or just more paying subscribers?
More subscribers full stop or more paying subscribers?
Ideally, you want both.
It’s quite difficult to get more paying subscribers if you aren’t attracting plenty of new free subscribers. This is why I usually map out a multi-pronged approach with my coaching clients.
Surprising insight
The amount of time it takes people to convert from free to paid is radically different in my two best-selling publications.
In my food safety publication, only a small proportion of new readers upgrade immediately (my guess is these are people who’ve come to me on someone else’s recommendation). The rest take months to convert.
But in Pubstack Success, the trend is reversed: a large proportion upgrade on day 1, and the rest convert relatively soon after first subscribing.
The lesson: An audience of Substack creators behaves differently to other audiences - this is part of the reason why your results don’t look anything like the stats shared by Substack experts.
Q7: Should I paywall more content to force more subscribers to pay?
Paywalling more content almost never works, in my experience.
It’s much better to paywall more strategically rather than just putting more stuff behind a paywall. Click the link below to learn what to paywall and why paywalling more doesn’t work.
What to offer paid subscribers (And why most advice is wrong)
Most advice about what to offer paid subscribers is wrong. If you're struggling to monetize your Substack publication with paid subscriptions, here are 5 things you can offer your subscribers that will convert and grow your revenue. Includes real-life examples.
Q8: So what do you do with someone who says they love your content but they’re never going to pay
A: Free-forever readers are fabulous. Cherish them.
It takes all kinds to build a thriving Substack community. Embrace your forever-freebies, treat them with respect, ask them to spread the word about your publication and turn them into your most vocal brand ambassadors. For free, organic growth on autopilot.
With love, Karen
Cover image: Photo by Vicko Mozara on Unsplash
It’s not that simple of course: every publication has a different mix of challenges related to growth and conversions… but as a general rule, for most publications this is the strongest (and most annoyingly obvious) lever for increasing revenue.
After 3 years, I have given up on the idea of making money with my Substack. I get few likes and fewer comments. I turned paid subscriptions off. Now, I'm promoting a store to see if that works any better. I can't find a job, so I pray something works soon. I'm tired.
“High-quality subscriber” may be the wrong fixed label. Quality depends on the work you are trying to do. A paying reader matters to one publication. For another, the reader who shares an idea with five leaders, buys the book, or applies something years later may be far more valuable. The better question is: what meaningful action do we hope this reader takes next?