Between being on Substack almost every single day for the past two years and working with 100s of coaching clients and course students, I’ve had the chance to look closely at a lot of Substack publications.
More than a thousand by now.
And the patterns are clear…
The newsletters that grow, that build loyal audiences, that actually make money, they do certain things differently than the average Substack publication, in particular in three key areas.
Let’s dive straight in.
Area #1: Design and First Impression
When someone lands on your Substack publication for the first time, they’re making a decision within seconds.
Is this for me?
Does this look like something worth reading?
Does this person seem credible?
Top newsletters have nailed this process. The moment you land on their publication, it’s instantly clear what they do, who they write for, and why it’s worth subscribing.
The ones that struggle? They often leave visitors confused, and confused people don’t subscribe.
There are four specific things I see top newsletters doing here.
#1: Crystal-Clear Positioning
When you land on a top Substack, there’s no ambiguity.
The publication name, the tagline, the bio, the about page, the headlines, everything communicates the same thing:
This is what we write about, and this is who it’s for.
Struggling newsletters do the opposite. Often, they’re all over the place.
They write about ten different topics, their bio doesn’t clearly explain who they help, and readers leave without subscribing because they couldn’t figure out if it was relevant to them.
Be ruthlessly clear about your positioning.
#2: Pinned “Start Here” or “Hero” Post
Top newsletters almost always have a pinned post at the top of their publication.
Not their most recent article, but a post specifically designed to convert a stranger into a subscriber.
(Think of it as an indirect landing page.)
This pinned post answers three questions: who are you, what is this newsletter about, and why should someone subscribe?
Your most recent post isn’t always your best post. It isn’t always your most representative post. So, don’t let it be the first thing new visitors see.
Instead, write a dedicated “Start Hero” or “Hero” post that gives new readers a solid first impression of your publication (click here to see ours).
#3: Homepage Organized by Subtopics
The very best publications don’t just show a chronological feed of everything they’ve published.
They organize their homepage into three to five clear subtopics so a new reader can immediately navigate to what’s most relevant to them (making them far more likely to end up becoming subscribers).
At Write • Build • Scale, our homepage features three subtopics:
Growing your Substack audience
Attracting more paid subscribers
Building your business on Substack
Someone just getting started can go straight to the growth section. Someone already generating revenue can dive into the business-building content.
The right content finds the right reader faster, and that improves conversion.
#4: Strong About page
Not just a paragraph about who you are and what you’ve done. The best about pages are written with the reader in mind.
They lead with what the newsletter is about and what the reader will get from subscribing. Then they introduce the creator, establish credibility, and explain the mission.
By the end, the reader should feel two things: I’m in the right place, and I trust the person behind this.
Don’t treat your About page as an afterthought. It’s one of the highest-leverage pages on your entire publication.
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Area #2: Growth and Distribution
This is the area where I see the biggest gap between top newsletters and struggling ones.
The most common mistake: treating growth as an afterthought.
Most creators focus almost entirely on publishing and then hope that somehow the right people will find their work.
That’s not a strategy. That’s a wish.
Top newsletters treat growth and distribution like a priority. Something they actively work on every single day, alongside content creation.
The most effective way to take control of your growth is through collaborations.
Top Substack creators actively work with other creators in their field to get their work in front of new audiences — people who are interested in their topic but don’t know them yet.
Collaborations can take several forms:
#1: Co-Hosted Substack Lives
When you go live with another creator, both audiences get notified.
Both communities show up.
And the replay gets published to both subscriber lists afterward, giving you a second wave of exposure.
#2: Guest Posting
Writing a guest post for another newsletter lands your work directly in the email inboxes of every single one of their subscribers.
If that newsletter has 5,000 subscribers, 5,000 people who’ve never heard of you are now reading your writing.
#3: Newsletter Recommendations
A set-it-and-forget-it growth tool.
Once you have a recommendations exchange in place, every new subscriber your partner gets sees your publication, and vice versa.
It runs on autopilot.
#4: Podcast Appearances
Appearing as a guest on another creator’s Substack podcast is another way to land directly in their subscribers’ inboxes.
Good podcast guests are always in demand, so don’t wait to be invited. Reach out and pitch yourself.
The mindset shift that makes all of this work is to stop seeing other creators in your niche as competition. Treat them as potential collaboration partners.
There is no shortage of readers. When you collaborate, both of you win.
That abundance mindset is what separates creators who grow fast from those who stay stuck.
Area #3: Monetization and Business Mindset
The differences here are less about tactics and more about how top creators think about what they’re building.
#1: They Treat Their Substack Like a Business
Not a newsletter. Not a hobby.
I always say: if you treat your Substack like a business for long enough, it will pay you like a business.
When you treat your Substack like a business, everything shifts.
You think of your reader more like a customer.
You think of your content more like a product.
You think of growth as something you actively invest in.
You think long-term instead of short-term.
That mindset change is what drives the consistency, the intention, and the level of commitment that actually produces results.
#2: They Treat Their Paid Tier Like a Membership
Most creators set up paid subscriptions and offer “more posts” or “access to the full archive” as the main benefit.
That’s rarely compelling enough.
Top newsletters turn their paid tier into something that feels like a membership:
Digital downloads
Workshops
Templates
Exclusive resources
Community elements
They create so much value that upgrading becomes a near no-brainer.
Nobody wants to pay for a newsletter. People will pay for a membership.
#3: They Promote Their Paid Tier Often and Without Apology
Struggling newsletters either barely mention their paid tier or bring it up apologetically, almost embarrassed to ask.
Top newsletters make promoting their paid tier a regular habit.
They mention it in their posts, in their lives, in their podcast episodes. Not in a pushy or salesy way - just clearly and consistently communicating what the upgrade includes and why it’s worth it.
Your free subscribers can’t upgrade if they don’t know the paid tier exists, or if they don’t understand what they’d get.
Remind them. Often.
#4: They Remove Friction From the Upgrade Flow
In struggling newsletters, the upgrade CTA is buried somewhere in the archive. You have to go looking for it.
In top newsletters, there are multiple entry points to upgrade — in the navigation, in the posts, in the email footer. They make it as easy as possible to say yes.
You can’t control when someone is ready to upgrade.
But you can make sure that when they are, the path is completely clear.
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