Double your Substack subscribers in a month
Double your Substack subscribers in a month
A big-picture content strategy all solopreneurs should know.
I want to help you build a business so profitable, so meaningful, so successful, that you:
Never worry about money ever again
Do what you love
Get invited to interesting opportunities
Work with whoever you want, whenever you want
Live your best life
I’m a big-picture person, can’t you tell?
And this is a big-picture content strategy.
It works for Substack—but it also works for any content platform.
That being said, let’s focus on Substack for now.
Substack is best for…
#1. Content business. It’s the ultimate way to create your own magazine.
#2. Product business. E-mail is the most profitable marketing channel for product businesses.
#3. Service business. Services are a bit more difficult to sell over e-mail, but if you break the sales process down (i.e. get a meeting), it could work great.
How to start on Substack
The easy answer? Just start.
The more detailed answer:
Create a profile. Upload a quality image and write a short bio.
Create a newsletter. If you’re not sure what it will be about, just leave it as “Name’s Newsletter”. You can change it later.
Set up an About page and a Welcome e-mail. Substack has basic built-in templates for the Welcome e-mail. Don’t worry about this too much at this point.
Invite a few people over. I got my first subscribers from a freelance writers’ FB group. When I answered someone’s question, I invited them to join.
Start writing. Create a rhythm that will work for you long-term. I went for 2 posts per week.
Start writing on Notes. It’s the fastest and easiest way to tap into Substack’s audience and get new subscribers.
Double your Substack subscriptions in a month
Now, for the interesting part.
I get a lot of messages from people who are doing great, but they’re growing slowly.
It sucks because they’re awesome writers, too!
I also started like a turtle. It took me 4 months to get to 100 subscribers — but in 6 more months, I got to 1000.
Today, you’ll learn the exact steps I took to explode growth. To make the best of this process, you’ll need a journal or a text app.
Step 1: Describe your audience in up to 3 words.
Examples:
Ambitious solopreneurs
Clueless about social media
Clueless about art
Opinionated news-readers
Out of shape 40+
Corporations updating marketing
Low-confidence people
Overwhelmed leaders
I know this is hard. Find a way to do it. Define your people and everything else will fall into place.
Step 2A: Write 3 specific problems they have
The keyword here is specific. Specificity attracts people.
Examples:
They don’t know what art to choose for their new home (clueless about art)
They don’t know what to write about to attract an audience (ambitious solopreneurs)
They want to know how to deal with a difficult team member (overwhelmed leaders)
They want to stress less about current events (opinionated news readers)
Use these as inspiration and write 3 specific problems for your audience.
Step 2B: Write 3 specific desires they have
Again, be specific.
Examples:
They want to choose an interesting gift (clueless about art)
They want to quit their jobs (ambitious solopreneurs)
They want to meet their targets at work (overwhelmed leaders)
Step 3: Write 3 specific ways your newsletter can help them with each problem/dream
Examples:
They don’t know what art to choose for their new home:
Teach them how to choose the right sizes for their walls
Teach them how to choose the right colors for their home
Teach them how to choose the right style for their interior
Step 4: Now take these ideas and turn them into:
Newsletters. Make them free; publish 2–3 times per week.
Notes. Take parts of the newsletters and share them on Notes. Share 2–3 notes per day.
I guarantee you, this exercise will increase growth (and give you writing topics for 1–2 months).
Now, for my paid subscribers, secrets steps 5 & 6.
Step 5: Find popular Substacks in your category
Subscribe to them. Read them. Share what you learn and tag the authors on Notes and in your newsletters.
Chances are, somewhere along the way, one of them will restack something great you said about them, which will give you direct access to their audience.
And even if they don’t, you’re still helping a fellow writer + gaining credibility for knowing the people in your field.
Step 6: Create a freebie
Substack doesn’t have landing pages and automation, but ConvertKit does.
ConvertKit is also free to use for up to 1000 subscribers.
This means you can set up a freebie on ConvertKit, post links to it in social media or on Medium, and then manually move your new subscribers over to Substack.
It’s fair game. People want to subscribe to you, they don’t care which platform you use.
This way, you get to make the best of both worlds: ConvertKit and Substack.
ConvertKit is easy to use: just click here, sign up, answer a few questions about your business and start creating.