Together with my two co-founders, Sinem and Philip, we’ve grown our Substack publication, Write • Build • Scale, to over 45,000 subscribers and 1,500+ paid subscribers in about two years.
In this post, I’ll break down exactly which strategies and Substack features made the biggest difference in our growth, so you can focus on them and speed up your own growth.
#1: Branding and Positioning
This one is the foundation that everything else builds on.
If you look at the Substack profiles of Sinem, Philip, and me, you’ll see that each of us has a clear profile picture, an on-brand banner, and a bio that clearly explains what we do and who we help.
And if you look at the Write • Build • Scale publication itself, you’ll notice it’s designed differently from most Substack publications.
Everything from the name, the tagline, the about page, and the headlines immediately communicates what we do: help you grow your audience and income on Substack.
None of that is accidental.
When a stranger discovers you (through a Note, through a recommendation, through any channel), they are making a decision about you within seconds.
Is this for me? Does this look valuable? Is this someone I want to hear more from?
That decision is often subconscious, but it’s happening fast. Your positioning and branding are what determine the outcome.
Positioning is being crystal clear on who you write for, what you write about, and why someone should subscribe. That needs to come across quickly - in your bio, your publication tagline, your about page, and your headlines.
If someone has to spend five minutes reading through your content before they understand what your newsletter is actually about, you’ve already lost them.
They need to understand within seconds.
Branding is the look and feel. Does your profile and publication look professional? Does it create a good first impression?
People judge a book by its cover. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the first signal someone has to go on.
A polished, well-designed profile and publication signals that it’s going to be valuable and worth reading.
So, make sure you invest time in the following:
Get a clear personal photo
Create a banner that’s on-brand
Work on your about page
Think about your headlines and thumbnails
Write a bio that communicates what you do, who you help, and why someone should check out your publication
Customize your publication design so it doesn’t look like the standard Substack template
You can focus on every growth strategy in the world, but if your positioning and branding aren’t solid, that growth won’t convert into subscribers.
Getting this foundation right is what makes everything else actually work.
The doors to Substack System are now open.
Substack System gives you the exact step-by-step framework hundreds of creators have used to grow their audience, attract paid subscribers, and build a thriving Substack publication.
#2: Leveraging The Power of Collaborations
This has been absolutely key to reaching 45,000 subscribers, and in my opinion, there’s no more effective way to grow on Substack.
Rather than trying to hustle for every single subscriber yourself, or relying entirely on an algorithm to show your content to the right people, collaborations let you take matters into your own hands.
You work with creators who already have the audience you’re trying to build, and you get your work in front of exactly the right people.
It’s a win-win: both creators grow, both get more exposure. That’s why so many people on Substack are genuinely open to it.
Let me break down the specific collaboration formats that have worked best for us.
Newsletter Recommendations
This feature alone brought us 9,000+ new subscribers - almost entirely on autopilot.
When you recommend a newsletter, and they recommend you back, you’re both sending subscribers to each other.
Whenever one of you gets a new subscriber, that subscriber sees a prompt to also subscribe to the other publication - and vice versa.
You’ll have to actively reach out to find the right recommendation partners, but once it’s set up, it's bringing your new subscribers completely on autopilot.
Guest Posting
This is one of the most direct ways to get in front of a new audience.
When you write a guest post for someone else’s publication, you land directly in the email inboxes of all their subscribers.
If that publication has 5,000 subscribers, your name, your writing, and a link to your publication shows up in the inbox of 5,000 people who’ve never heard of you.
It takes time and effort, but the ROI is real, especially if you target newsletters that are larger than yours.
Substack Lives
When you go live with another creator, both of you bring your respective audiences to the stream, and Substack makes it easy for viewers to subscribe to both of you.
We do solo lives mainly to connect with our existing audience, but collaborative lives (like a recent one we did with Alicia Teltz) are great for getting in front of new people.
Podcast Appearances
When you appear as a guest on someone else’s Substack podcast, you’re uploaded as a guest contributor to that post, your profile gets linked, and their audience discovers you through their inbox.
Solo podcast episodes are great for serving your existing audience, but it’s the collaborative ones that actually drive growth.
Engaging With Notes
If you’re building relationships with other creators, make a habit of engaging with their notes and posts.
Early engagement is a strong signal to the Substack algorithm, and it helps your work get distributed more widely, too.
Help each other out. It benefits everyone.
#3: Writing Multiple Substack Notes Per Day
Notes is Substack’s short-form content feature. It’s different from your actual newsletter, which is longer and more in-depth.
Notes are shorter, more frequent, and more in-the-moment.
Think of it like a traditional social media feed, something like X or LinkedIn, but inside the Substack ecosystem.
Notes have been huge for our growth. We’ve generated over 10,000 subscribers directly through writing Substack Notes.
If you’re not using this feature, you are leaving a lot of growth on the table.
Our Notes strategy is pretty simple: we post at least three notes every single day, and they’re usually a mix of three types.
Educational Notes
If you’re running an education business, sharing educational Notes is key.
We often share practical tips, actionable insights, and things we’ve learned from running our Substack and our business.
Inspirational or Motivational Notes
Content that gets people into the right state of mind, that fuels their belief in themselves.
These tend to do really well because when a note triggers an emotional response, it drives a lot of engagement.
People share it, restack it, and comment on it.
Personal notes
This is where we show who we are as individuals, not just as Substack experts or entrepreneurs. A photo, something we believe in, something from our personal lives.
AI can generate information, but it cannot be you. It cannot replace your humanness. That’s why this type of note matters so much.
It lets your audience connect with you as a person.
All in all, think of your notes like an appetizer and your long-form newsletter like the main meal.
The appetizer gets people interested, gives them a taste, and makes them want more.
The main meal is where you go deep.
So keep your notes short. Format them for attention. Make them easy to read and easy to scan. They have a different role in your content strategy — and a powerful one.
If you’re not posting Notes yet, or you’re posting them inconsistently, start now. Aim for at least one per day and build from there.
The algorithm rewards consistency here, and we’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth as a result.
Want To Build a Thriving Substack Without Months of Trial And Error?
Everything we shared in this article took us two years of experimenting to figure out. If you want a shortcut, that’s exactly what we built Substack System for.
Inside this step-by-step program, you’ll learn the same frameworks, strategies, and systems that took Write • Build • Scale to 45,000+ subscribers and 1,500+ paid members.
Hundreds of creators have already used Substack System to grow their audience, attract paid subscribers, and build a Substack they’re proud of.
Inside Substack System, you’ll get:
A proven system covering Notes, content, collaborations, and monetization
Weekly live coaching sessions with Sinem, Philip, and Jari
Templates, frameworks, and real-life examples you can apply immediately
An active community of creators to keep you accountable
And there are many, many more bonuses included.
If you’re serious about growing your Substack, this is your next right move:
