What I'd Do If I Had to Start on Substack From Scratch

5 overlooked strategies to grow your audience and publication.

Jul 22, 2025

🎥 I’m BACK on YouTube!
At Write • Build • Scale, our goal is to help you write confidently, build your audience, and scale your income.
While we’ve been doing that through weekly content on Substack for over a year, we’re now taking it a step further with weekly YouTube videos that dive even deeper.
This means I’ll be able to create even more helpful, in-depth resources for writers and creators like you, and it would mean the world if you could subscribe to the channel and like the first video in our new Substack series.

If I had to start my Substack from absolute zero today while knowing everything I know after building a Bestselling publication in record time, I’d do a few things differently.

This article is for creators who are just getting started or who feel stuck and unsure why their publication isn’t growing.

Below, you’ll find five shortcuts to accelerate your growth and one powerful decision that helped us gain our first 500 paid subscribers at Write • Build • Scale.

Let’s dive in!

1. Define a Clear Reader Promise

Most creators hate the typical advice of “focusing on a niche” because they’re multi-passionate.

And I get it: there’s a lot you know and are curious about, so you don’t want to put yourself or your work into a narrow box/niche.

But if you want to grow, clarity is non-negotiable.

And the easiest way to be clear is to define what your publication helps readers do.

Complete this sentence:

My publication helps you…

At Write • Build • Scale, our promise is simple:

We help you write confidently, build your audience, and scale your income.

This clarity helps us attract the right readers—educators, coaches, consultants, and creators who use writing as a vehicle to share their message and build or grow their business.

2. Publish for Visibility & Connection

If I were starting again, I’d focus on two types of content:

Content for visibility
Content for connection

On Substack, Notes are the easiest way to get discovered. But your posts are how you build trust and loyalty.

You need both types of content in order to grow your audience reliably and quickly.

But since Notes can’t be scheduled, staying consistent can be hard.

Here’s what I recommend:

Batch your Notes: Pick a day of the week and write 7–10 Notes for the week ahead.
Create a simple posting habit: For example, post one Note every morning after brushing your teeth, or set a daily alarm for 1 PM and post no matter where you are. Make it easy for yourself to show up daily.

3. Offer a Bribe

Even though Substack doesn’t offer traditional lead magnet tools, you can still bribe your readers with a great freebie.

Here’s how:

Announce in your Notes or posts that new subscribers will receive a gift for subscribing to your publication
Deliver that gift inside your welcome email

Your freebie could be:

A PDF workbook (like our Substack Bestseller Workbook)
A checklist, mini guide, or swipe file
An audio guide, template, or resource bundle

Just make sure it’s valuable and tangible for your readers.

4. Collaborate Like Crazy

Substack is a dream for collaborative creators because you can leverage dozens of tools to connect with like-minded people and support each other.

And the best news is that you don’t need a huge following to start. You just need genuine curiosity and the willingness to create win-win situations.

We’ve built Write • Build • Scale through various collaborations from day one:

We’re constantly featuring others in Notes and posts
We’re regularly hosting live streams with other creators
We’re writing guest posts
We’re running cross-promotions
We’ve even built a shared publication with other creators

To build meaningful collaborations, we constantly ask ourselves the following questions:

Who can we feature?
Who can we collaborate with?
What value can we create together?

Start by writing down five creators you admire, follow their work, and leave thoughtful comments to build real connections.

Then explore ways to collaborate by starting small and finding out how you can deliver value to their audiences.

5. Start Genuine Conversations Every Week

Here’s one of the most underrated growth strategies on the internet:

Talk to people.

Ask your readers questions in your Notes and posts.

Start DM conversations.

And pay attention to the answers you receive.

Strong relationships are more powerful than viral hacks.

And sometimes, you don’t need more followers. You just need deeper connections with the ones already paying attention to your work.

The #1 Decision That Helped Us Gain 500 Paid Subscribers

When we joined Substack in 2024, we treated it as a growth and marketing platform, not just a blog or newsletter tool.

That mindset alone made all the difference for our growth and helped us receive the Bestseller badge within less than 60 days.

The truth is, Substack is social.

It’s built for discoverability, reach, and monetization.

If you treat the platform as “only” a newsletter tool or your blog, you’re missing out on the most powerful opportunities to actually leverage Substack as a growth channel.

If you want your publication to grow, treat it like a business.

Be consistent.

Focus on your audience.

Build systems and give your readers a strong enough reason to stick around.

Let me know in the comments which of these five tips you’ll implement first. I’d love to hear how it goes!

— Sinem 🧡

Write • Build • Scale