5 smart ways to start earning money on Substack (even with a small audience)
Stop waiting to earn money from your writing. You can start right now.
➡️ If the thought of promoting your writing gives you the heebie-jeebies, make sure to download my free 3-page guide, Sharing Without The Cringe.
What you’ll learn in this paid post:
Why audience size isn’t everything when it comes to earning money on Substack
Five straightforward, low-pressure monetisation options for early-stage writers
Realistic numbers and expectations to help you plan smarter, not louder
Examples from my own wriiting journey so far
How to start earning without burning out
You’ll find all that below.
But first…
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“Wait, people actually make money from this?”
I got my first ever paid Substack subscriber at the start of October 2023.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a shocking moment.
My audience was still fairly small at the time (just a few hundreds subs). I didn’t have a big fancy-pants strategy in place. I wasn’t actively pursuing paid growth.
And yet, there it was. The incredible “New Paid Subscriber” email notification.
I’m so grateful for that first person who ever took a chance on me (you know who you are). I’m still just as grateful for every new paid sub who comes my way. Honestly, it never gets old.
And like I said, it was a shocking moment in my Substack journey.
Why? Because my audience felt small.
I thought only writers with huge audiences could make money on the platform. I genuinely didn’t know someone with a small subscriber base could make money here.
So let’s nip that myth in the bud, right now: you do not need a massive, five-figure audience to make money on Substack. Anyone can start generating income.
Read that again. Say it out loud.
You might be nodding your head right now. You might be thinking, ‘Heck yeah, they can! I can do it, too!’
But a troublesome question often follows hot on the heels of that revelation.
Here it is: even if I believe I can make money on Substack, how do I go about it? Where do I start?
Well, let’s tackle that right now, shall we?
Here are 5 realistic, low-stress ways to get your writing working for you.
This post is for paid subscribers. If you want to dive into the rest of it (and support me in the process), consider upgrading to my paid tier. You know it’d make my day. ☺️