For the past two years, I’ve been going all-in on Substack.
Together with my two co-founders, we’ve grown our publication to 44,000+ subscribers and 1,400+ paid subscribers - and leveraged Substack to build a $50k per month digital business.
So, it’s safe to say I believe Substack is one of the best platforms out there right now for creators, professionals, and founders who want to build a real audience and a real business.
But here’s the thing: I see a lot of people flocking to Substack right now with expectations that don’t match the reality of the platform.
And when reality doesn’t match expectations, people quit — often right before things were about to actually work out.
That’s why I wanted to share four things you need to understand before you go all-in on Substack, so you’re approaching it with the right mindset and strategies.
#1: Early Growth Will Probably Feel Slow (It’s Normal)
Substack is genuinely one of the most exciting platforms to be on right now.
The platform is growing fast. There are millions of readers actively discovering new newsletters every day. And there’s a wave of people migrating from Instagram, LinkedIn, and other platforms.
And unlike most social media, Substack is built around email subscribers — an asset you actually own — rather than followers at the mercy of an algorithm.
With all that excitement, it’s easy to arrive with high expectations.
But here’s what I see happen too often: someone starts their Substack, publishes for a few weeks, gets a handful of subscribers, and starts to panic…
“Am I doing something wrong?”
“Does Substack even work?”
“Is my writing good enough?”
“Why is it not growing faster?”
Doubts creep in, and they quit right before growth picks up.
The reality is that slow early growth isn’t a sign that something’s wrong. It’s just normal.
If you started an Instagram account or a LinkedIn page from scratch today, growth would be slow in the first few months too.
The beginning is always the hardest part of anything worthwhile.
You’re learning the platform. You’re finding your voice. You’re building the habit of publishing consistently. You’re figuring out who your ideal audience actually is.
All of that takes time.
The creators I’ve seen succeed on Substack are the ones who push through those early months, keep showing up, and improve a little every single day.
Eventually, something shifts. A note goes semi-viral. A bigger newsletter starts recommending you. Your small-but-loyal audience starts sharing your work.
Growth starts to accelerate. But you only get there by building the foundation first.
So in those first few months, don’t measure yourself by how fast your subscriber count is growing.
Ask instead:
Am I showing up consistently?
Am I constantly seeking feedback and improvement?
Am I learning more about how Substack works?
Am I actually building something for the long-term?
If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track — even if the numbers aren’t moving as fast as you’d like yet.
#2: Information Alone Isn’t Enough Anymore
We live in a world where information has never been more abundant or easier to access.
Anyone can go to ChatGPT or Claude right now and get a pretty decent answer to almost any question in seconds.
So if your Substack is mainly sharing information and generic how-tos, it’s going to be very hard to build an audience.
That kind of content is everywhere.
What actually works today is a combination of three things: information, implementation, and personality.
Information is still the starting point — people always want to learn something. But it can’t stop there.
Implementation means writing from genuine first-hand experience.
Not summarising things you read somewhere else, but speaking from something you’ve actually done yourself.
The simplest way to think about this: instead of writing a how-to article, write a how-I article.
Rather than “How to run a marathon in under four hours,” write “Here’s how I ran a marathon in under four hours.”
Rather than “How to build a digital product that sells 24/7,” write “Here’s how I built a digital product that sells 24/7.”
People want to learn from real humans who’ve been in the trenches — especially in an age where trust is at an all-time low and AI-generated content is everywhere.
First-hand experience builds trust. And trust is everything.
Personality is the other essential ingredient.
It means showing up like a real person — sharing what you believe, what you’ve experienced, your actual opinions and perspectives.
The more people know you, the more connected they’ll feel to you.
The more connected they’ll feel, the more they’ll read your work, share it with others, and upgrade to any of your paid offers.
So, before you go all-in on Substack, ask yourself honestly…
Am I just going to share information, or am I willing to bring myself — my experience, my opinions, my personality — into this publication?
The second approach is what actually builds a real audience in 2026.
🤝 Want to Build Faster?
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It’s hands-on guidance from people who’ve built exactly what you’re trying to build.
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#3: Get Clear On Your Niche
I know, I know — this is the advice everyone gives. But it’s common advice because it’s true, and it works.
If you write about a bunch of different topics without a clear focus, treating your Substack like a personal diary, that’s completely fine as a hobby.
But if you want to attract an audience and build a business on top of it, you need clarity:
Who do you write for?
What do you write about?
Why should someone subscribe to your publication specifically?
Here’s what’s actually happening when a new reader lands on your profile: within seconds, they’re deciding whether to subscribe or move on.
If they can’t quickly and clearly understand what your publication is about, who it’s for, and what value it provides — they’re almost certainly not hitting that subscribe button.
People are oversubscribed already. You need to make the decision easy for the right readers.
That clarity comes through everything: your publication’s name, your about page, your bio, your headlines, and the topics you consistently cover.
It all creates a first impression, and a strong, clear one converts visitors into subscribers at a much higher rate.
#4: Growth Doesn’t Just Magically Happen
There is no social media platform where you build it, sit back, and watch the audience roll in. Substack is no different.
The creators who actually grow on Substack are the ones who treat growth as an active priority — not just a side effect of publishing good content.
Because even great content without visibility goes unread. You have to make sure people actually see what you create.
Fortunately, Substack has genuinely good features designed to help with this.
For example, guest posting is a powerful way to get in front of new people. Reach out to newsletters in your niche, propose writing a guest post for them, and suddenly your name and work show up in the inboxes of their entire subscriber base.
If that newsletter has 5,000 subscribers, that’s 5,000 potential new readers who’ve never heard of you before.
Newsletter recommendations are another great feature for growth.
When two newsletters recommend each other, you’re effectively sending subscribers to each other on autopilot.
It takes effort upfront (you have to actively find newsletters to approach and propose the exchange), but once those recommendations are in place, it brings new subscribers to your publication on autopilot.
Beyond that, writing Notes, doing Lives together with other creators, and appearing as a guest on someone’s podcast on the platform are great ways to get yourself in front of new audiences — and grow your list of subscribers.
The point is: publishing is one half of the job. Distribution and visibility are the other half. Both matter equally.
Get The Foundation Right
I strongly believe Substack will keep growing in 2026 and beyond.
But it requires the right foundation: realistic expectations for early growth, content that combines information with your real experience and personality, a clear sense of who you’re writing for, and an active approach to getting your work in front of people.
Go in with that mindset, and you put yourself in a real position to succeed on Substack.
