How I grew my Substack audience by over 1,400 subscribers in under 2 months

Here's what worked for me (and could work for you, too).

➡️ 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.

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What you’ll learn in this paid post:

• How I used Substack Notes to grow my audience (without feeling like I was yelling into the void)

• Why showing up consistently beats chasing algorithms every time

• The power of making friends on the platform (and how collaborations helped me grow faster)

• Why your best growth lever might be right under your nose

• How to build steady momentum—even when it feels like no one’s paying attention (yet)

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I joined Substack on June 12, 2023, with an imported list of 49 subscribers (from YouTube, I think).

I had no idea what I was doing when I first started on the platform. I can’t quite remember why I even decided to join in the first place.

I was just… there.

At the time of writing this post (January 25, 2024), I had exactly 1,631 subscribers across two publications, 25 of whom were paid.

That may or may not seem like a lot to you - again, I often felt like I had no idea what I was doing on Substack - but I’m incredibly grateful for the support I’ve received so far. This is an awesome platform and I wish I’d discovered it sooner.

However, I have a very specific reason for writing this post today. This isn’t just an update or an elongated form of clickbait. I want to talk about the nature of my audience growth on Substack, and particularly how it fundamentally changed at the end of November 2023.

Because on November 28, I had just 179 subscribers.

That means, between November 29 and the date of this post’s publication (58 days), my audience grew by 1,452 people.

So let me tell you why I think that happened.

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First, an important disclaimer: 182 of those subs came from a list imported from ConvertKit at the start of December. Even so, I still picked up 1,270 subscribers organically within Substack itself after November 28. That’s just over 21 subs per day on average.

And a second important disclaimer: the reason I’m sharing this information (and speculation) isn’t to toot my own horn, because what’s the point in that?

I’m sharing this in the hope it’ll provide some direction and encouragement for those of you who, like me, are working towards the goal of writing for a living full-time, and are maybe experiencing frustratingly-slow audience growth, as I’d been.

It is possible to grow your audience on Substack at a rate that doesn’t leave you pulling clumps from your hair each time you check your dashboard.

And while I can’t say what’s worked for me will work in the same way for you, I believe what I’ve done is entirely replicable for anyone with a Substack publication and a few hours to spare each week. I’ll tell you what I changed about my approach, and why I think those changes made a difference. Do with it what you will.

Anyway, here are the 5 key factors I believe played a major part in growing my Substack audience over the last couple of months.

The rest of this post is for paid subscribers. If you want to dive in (and support me in the process), consider upgrading to my paid tier. You know it’d make my day. ☺️

1. A subtle but profound identity tweak

At the start of December, I finally made the call to change the name of my Substack publication from #AmWriting to How to Write for a Living. There were two reasons for this.

Firstly, there’s already a much larger publication called #AmWriting on Substack. I didn’t know that when I joined, and I didn’t want to continue stepping on anyone’s toes, so some rebranding was in order.

Secondly, the original name was too broad for my liking. It wanted to zero in on one specific aspect of writing - how to generate income from it, and thereby make a living as a writer. I wanted prospective subscribers to understand immediately what my publication was all about.

Why the heck have I changed the name of my publication?

So I popped over to Canva, designed a very straightforward logo, made the necessary changes in my publication’s backend, and boom, How to Write for a Living was born.

I can’t say for sure how much of any impact that had on my subscriber growth, but I suspect it made a difference.

2. Showing up like clockwork

While my publishing activity on Substack was already pretty consistent, at the end of November I decided to commit to a set schedule of at least 2 posts per week, one of which would be a guest post.

I’ve remained committed to that since then, and have added in an additional weekend post for HTWFAL.

What to expect from How to Write for a Living in 2024

In December, I also started a second publication called The Solopreneur Stack, where I share stories and guidance pieces for anyone who’s thinking about pivoting into a solo business (like me). I publish twice weekly there, so right now I’m effectively putting out 5 posts per week between the two publications.

It sounds like a lot, but because I write every weekday, it’s manageable. And showing up with that level of consistency has definitely contributed to improved audience growth - every post produces more subscribers.

3. Sharing the load

Recommendations are an increasingly big deal in the world of newsletters, and Substack is no different.

I currently have over 50 publications recommending me, and I’m recommending a good few myself. A fairly small portion of my subs come from recommendations but I think that percentage will increase as time goes on.

Invite your friends to read How to Write for a Living

I’ve connected with some great writers in recent weeks and I look forward to seeing what impact their support has on my audience.

If you want to grow your Substack publication organically, start networking as soon as you can.

4. Treating Substack like social media

This is the big one for me: Notes.

Somehow, I think this aspect of Substack has gone under the radar for a lot of people. My audience growth shot upwards when I started making regular use of the Notes feature.

I spent 2022 growing my following on Twitter (feels a little pointless now) by showing up every day, posting in a consistent rhythm, and engaging with other users on the platform. I started that year with 3 followers and finished with over 16,000.

That approach no longer works on Musk’s everything-but-really-very-little platform, but the principle is the same here on Substack.

If you show up regularly in Notes by posting, commenting, restacking and following others, you’ll grow your audience. Don’t ask me how it works because I’m honestly not sure, but since I started spending a bit of time each day treating Substack like social media, my audience growth rate has massively increased.

My recommendation: hop onto your Explore feed every day, scroll down, and join the conversation. You don’t have to force it or try to manufacture engagement. Just comment when it feels right, follow those you want to follow, and share posts of your own if you have something constructive to say.

There’s a social media aspect to Substack, and if you can tap into it, you’ll reap the rewards in no time.

5. Bringing others into the conversation

Finally, don’t neglect the Chat function.

Fostering a sense of community around your publication is a huge factor in nurturing audience loyalty. If you treat your subscribers like people (because, spoiler alert, they’re not just numbers), they’ll think of you as a person, and not just a faceless machine churning out content every week.

Ask subscribers what they want from your publication. Check in with them, just because. Connect on as human a level as possible.

Engaged subscribers are more likely to post comments, restack your notes, and crucially, recommend your publication. Those are some pretty significant byproducts of that person-to-person interaction.

Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash

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Again, I can’t say for sure that what I’ve suggested will actually grow your Substack audience. I just know it’s what I’ve been doing since the end of November, and it’s completely changed the dynamic on the platform for me.

And of course, growing your audience isn’t the end game. You’re primarily here to write, read, and connect with others. But if you do want to boost your subscriber numbers, perhaps with the goal of converting more paid subs, that’s ok too. Do what’s right for you, and try not to compare your journey with those around you, who are on entirely different paths.

I hope this was helpful in some way. If it was, let me know.

And whatever you decide to do this year, may it be fun and fulfilling above all else!

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What’s next?

I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s how I can help:

1. Start Your Podcast on Substack: A complete course guiding you from concept to launch, based on everything I’ve learned so far during my own podcasting journey. Learn to plan, brand, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast while building an audience. Perfect for creators eager to share their voice with the world.

2. Sustainable Scalable Social Strategy: This 6-part, online, self-driven course will guide you through the same process I used to develop a strategy for my social media management. When you finish, you’ll have a sustainable social strategy in place that will help you scale your business properly.

3. One-To-One Coaching: Live coaching sessions over Zoom plus a full video audit of your Substack publication. Ideal for those who want to grow their online presence, identify their key strengths, and develop a long-term business strategy. Upgrade to VIP Membership for full access.

4. Promote to 18,000+ readers: Get yourself in front of a highly-engaged online audience via email, podcast and social media.

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