Demystifying Substack: My 9 Critical Steps to a Satisfying Revenue Stream

What works, what doesn't, and what you absolutely MUST know to earn significant money

Don’t stay in the dark, learn how to brighten up your writing income (photo by author)

In the past eight days, working about three hours a day, I earned a following of over 2,000 subscribers on Substack. In a single day, today, when I monetized my subscription process, I gained two dozen paid subscribers, and it's still adding up every hour. I'm here to share my adventure so you can decide if you might replicate my success.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed what I had learned by writing and publishing on the three well-known writing platforms. All three represent proprietary ways for writers to develop revenue streams and grow an audience. On all three, you'll find rabid fans of the platform and disappointed naysayers. I saw it all wrong until I treated the process like a business. I have found a workable path to meeting my goals on Substack.

You may be shooting yourself in the foot if you judge these platforms by first impressions and if you fail to understand how they operate. Here's my story of Substack accomplishment.

"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." —Stephen King

Substack

I am a talented writer, always have been. I didn't do that; it has been part of my chemical makeup since early on. I am also educated and trained as a writer. I have a ton of professional experience. I don't believe any of that is essential to success on Substack, but presenting yourself in a value-added way is the key to making money.

My first efforts on Sub a few months back got me comments, a follower or two, and nice chats with nice people. A couple of dozen members read my stuff. The end. I walked away and refocused on Medium.

Ten days ago, disgruntled because even my avid Medium followers weren't reading me or engaging and my stats were atrophying like a gangrenous big toe, I made a choice.

I wined about the problem and headed back to Substack to do a deep dive and figure out what the heck they were doing over there and how to leverage the platform. I spent an entire day reading every success story I could find and reading stacks like Unstack Substack. 

Here's my distillation of what I discovered:

1. People over there read whole stories because they want to read them, not because there's a 30-second rule. If I write value, it will get read, but the audience is topic-driven and loyal. I began writing my usual hodgepodge of personal essays, touchy-feely stories, and helpful information, but my publication, though not on a respirator exactly, was having trouble breathing. 

2. Once I focused sharply on writing the material I am an expert in, I got an avalanche of attention. I wrote about writing, but every single story had a unique spin that had nothing to do with writing advice like "find your niche," "write every day," "use Grammarly." I talked about what I had learned, experienced, and figured out in my long career. Readers save my stories and refer back to them to refuel and jumpstart their process when they lose impetus.

3. Details matter. I went to Settings and dedicated a lot of time to figuring out every single place where I could describe what I was doing. I rewrote every formula email, the About page, the intro, etc. I studied each setting and researched the best ways to format them. I didn't skip anything—it took the better part of a day.

4. I want to be recognized. I designed my Substack webpage, including the colors, fonts, images, and verbiage, so they all add up to a brand-type flavor. Nothing is accidental or haphazard. Paid subscribers comment every day on how strongly they responded to the authentic feel of my site. I am not selling—my goal is to empower readers.

5. I have to add value. I created a list of benefits someone gets when they choose to pay for a subscription. I post that wherever I can. I do not hide all my best work behind a paywall since that work attracts payments and loyalty. I put certain things behind those paywalls for added value. At the end of this list is the catalog of paid benefits for readers. 

6. It is essential to be human. I write often about mistakes I have made and about my failures. I respond promptly to criticism in a very positive way. My long history of screw ups is part of my charm.

7. More is too much. After long deliberation, I chose to make every post a newsletter mailing. I post Mondays, Wednesdays, and a special edition on Sundays. Emails can feel annoying. I do not recommend posting daily and certainly not more than one in any day.

8. People need a connection in order to trust me. I post in the Notes function at least once a day, using my formula (described in item 9). I respond to every comment in a personal way. I share my email address with select subscribers who seem invested in what I do, and I will answer their questions or even review a story—free. I want people to feel that we have an authentic connection, because we do.

9. Visibility is critical. I use the NOTES social media function at least once a day with this formula: The 50-30-20-ish rule" — it works. About half the time, post something simply intended to engage readers and invite them to participate in the conversation. Like this—

That was one of my most popular engagement posts that got a ton of comments. Then 30% of posts are informational (about your topic but not about marketing it), and the last 20% is gentle promotion calling attention to the benefits for buyers/subscribers plus a call to action. Spamming babybird chirps— "pay me, pay me, pay me" is the kiss of death.

“Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.” –Virginia Woolf

Benefits for my paid subscribers at $5/mo

It's easy and affordable to support Pen2Profit. Paid subscribers get rewarded.

• Monday and Wednesday newsletters with lessons and action items to advance your earning power

• Special Sunday edition only available to paid subscribers

• Monthly writing job and writers market listings vetted specifically for Pen2Profit readers, along with tips for finding and accessing paying markets

• An opportunity to guest post in our newsletter. We hope to pay a stipend when the publication grows a little more. Subscribe so we can reach that goal!

• Free ebooks — A free copy of Pen2Profit Complete Guide to Copyrights for Creatives and POWER UP YOUR WRITING CAREER: 1001 Brilliant Ideas for Any Writer to Steal. Once you sign up for a paid subscription, request your ebooks at [email protected]

• Oh yeah, and access to me and my experience—and that could include a review of one of your stories.

That list appears often in my publication on Substack. It gets a good response and a lot of subs.

How Substack seems to operate

If you think there are a lot of writers on Medium, you'll be stunned by how many members of Sub are there to write—almost every one. But they still read, and the coolest thing is, they have an active desire to learn something or experience something when they spend time reading. It feels like there are far fewer spammers, hustlers, and hawkers on the platform. I have not been aware of a lot of AI-generated junk, but I may be somewhat sheltered.

There is no obvious algorithm that directs and maneuvers how stories are disseminated. Most of my traffic comes from the Substack app. From what I can tell, the robust Substack app makes content easy to find, and tags drive people to what they like. I chose a limited number of tags that nail exactly who I am. I pick from that list for every story. (I'll write specifically about tagging on any platform in the near future.)

Though there is a like button, it isn't tied to my income or my worth as a writer, unlike the way other platforms which shall remain nameless operate. Number of views or reads impacts my popularity, which indirectly helps me grow, but again, there is no impact on my revenue. There is also no reason for people to game those functions or attempt to manipulate them since there’s no benefit to doing that.

The article, Finding Content, is a robust explanation of how readers find content on Substack. Read it and figure out how you can exploit these features. I couldn't have written it better.

Via Substack, my writing is available on the World Wide Web. I highly recommend using a custom url for a stronger brand identification and more visibility. I strengthen my SEO with a few simple tricks, like always including keyword-rich alt text. I send every post directly to every subscriber. Readership is inherently higher than on the other two platforms. In my first week, I averaged a 35% open rate (way above average), and on two days, it was almost 70% because of the specific titles and topics.

People on Substack are quite generous with restacking (reposting) and recommending, so long as they perceive value in your work. Once I established myself on the platform, I reached out to other writers who had something in common with me and ask them to add me to their recommended list. Of course, I reciprocated.

It is said the platform has over 17,000 writers and two million paid subscribers who have funded writers more than $300 million through those subscriptions. It's a much smaller pond than Medium, where everyone risks getting lost in the noise and the crowds. But Substack is growing fast and accumulating backer funding nicely. It will someday, I think, be the top contender in the field. Writers make money via paid subscriptions, and the audience there is well-schooled in paying for content. This is a good thing. 

Reading and writing on the platform are completely free of charge.

The cool thing is, I get paid off the top—90% of the subscription amount. Substack takes 10%; no more, no less, no games, no glitches. Stripe takes a small fee. 

I don’t worry about that. I know that if they make money, it's because I made more money. If I have 10,000 paid subs (oh,happy day!) and Substack takes 10%, I never forget that I pocketed 90%.

On this platform, the backend and the infrastructure seem to work flawlessly. I have seen no odd events like payouts withheld for programming glitches, messaging suddenly quitting, mailings failing, or random site functions disappearing willy-nilly.

Bottom lines

I can't tell you all my secrets because you'd just run over there and start a pub and make my life more difficult. But the material in this story should get you thinking about what makes a value-added Substack and what is simply a way to show off your hobby.

Keep in mind:

• Add value and make sure you say more about benefits to readers than about features of your newsletter or about your own prowess.

• Create a series of posts and gather free subscribers before you decide to go for the money.

• Position yourself as an expert in some way and forge connections every day.

• Be consistent, but be sensitive to the fact that every post is an email, and too many will be annoying to the max, even if you're J.K Rowling.

• Polish every single thing you write or post to a dazzling sparkle. Don't tell yourself no one cares about value or accuracy.

• Be authentic—building relationships wins out over creating a sensation.

Have I failed to answer your burning question? Jump over to comments and ask me—I will absolutely reply. I'm eager to see what you can do on Substack.