Behind My Numbers: Every Strategy That Worked Getting to 14,000 Subscribers (And the Ones That Didn’t)
From zero to 14,000 subscribers in one year—here's every strategy I tried, which ones actually worked (and brought 100+ subscribers in a week), and which ones completely wasted my time.
Last week, someone replied to one of my posts asking me to “be honest about how you actually grew.”
They’d seen my subscriber count. They’d watched me go from zero to 14,000+ in about a year. And they wanted the real breakdown…not the polished, Instagram-worthy version everyone shares.
So here it is: every strategy I used to grow my newsletter. The ones that worked. The ones that completely flopped. The ones that wasted my time and the ones that changed everything.
I’m sharing this because most growth posts cherry-pick the wins. They show you what worked and conveniently forget to mention what didn’t. It makes it seem like they had some magical strategy from day one.
The truth? Growth is messy. It’s full of failed experiments, wasted hours, and strategies that sound great but deliver nothing.
But there are also breakthrough moments. Strategies that unlock something and suddenly you’re not stuck anymore. Growth becomes predictable instead of random.
Here’s everything I tried, what actually moved the needle, and what I’d skip if I started over today.
Why Most “Growth Advice” is Useless (And Why I’m Doing This Differently)
Before I break down the strategies, let me tell you why most growth content frustrates me.
Everyone wants to look like they had it figured out from the beginning. They share their wins, talk about what’s working now, and leave out all the stuff that failed along the way.
But that’s not helpful. Because when you try their “proven strategy” and it doesn’t work for you, you assume something’s wrong with you or your newsletter.
The reality? Not every strategy works for every newsletter. What worked for me might not work for you.
I’ve spent a year testing different approaches. Some brought hundreds of subscribers in a week. Others brought nothing despite hours of work.
So, this isn’t going to be a highlight reel. This is the complete picture…the stuff that worked, the stuff that didn’t, and the honest breakdown of where I’d focus my energy if I started from scratch today.
What Actually Worked: The 5 Strategies That Grew My Newsletter
Let me walk you through the strategies that actually moved my subscriber count, in the order I discovered them.
Strategy #1: LinkedIn (The Slow Starter)
I started here because it felt like the obvious choice. I already had an audience on LinkedIn, so why not tell them about my Substack?
I’d share when I published new posts. I started using LinkedIn’s newsletter feature. I’d mention my Substack in comments and conversations.
Did it work? Yes. But slowly.
This was good for getting my first 50-200 subscribers. Real people who already knew my work and trusted me enough to give my newsletter a shot.
Here’s why it worked at first: warm audience. These people already followed me, already engaged with my content, already had some sense of who I was.
But here’s the ceiling I hit: LinkedIn actively suppresses external links. The algorithm doesn’t want you sending people away from their platform. So every time I shared my Substack link, my reach would tank.
My take on LinkedIn: It’s a great starting point if you already have an audience there. But it’s not a great long-term growth strategy.
Strategy #2: Writer Collaborations & Recommendation Swaps
A few months in, I started reaching out to other writers in my niche.
People writing about similar topics: newsletter growth, writing tips, creator strategies, remote work. Writers who served the same audience I was trying to reach.
I’d message them and propose a simple idea: let’s swap Recommendations. You recommend my Substack to your readers, I’ll recommend yours to mine.
Most people said yes. Why wouldn’t they? It was a win-win.
Did it work? Absolutely.
This is what helped me break through my first real growth plateau. One collaboration brought me over 100 new subscribers in a single week.
Here’s why this worked so well: I was accessing audiences that were already similar to mine. These weren’t random people…they were readers who already cared about newsletter growth and creator strategies. They were pre-qualified.
The key was finding writers at similar subscriber levels.
My take on collaborations: This is one of the most underrated growth strategies. It works. It scales. And it creates relationships that benefit you for months or years, not just a single subscriber spike.
Strategy #3: Substack Notes
This changed everything.
I started writing on Notes daily. Not randomly…consistently. Two to three Notes every single day.
I showed up authentically. I engaged with other writers. I wasn’t trying to be clever or go viral. I was just consistently present in what Substack calls “the town square.”
Did it work? This became my primary growth engine.
Before Notes, I was stuck at 2-3 subscribers per day. After committing to daily Notes, I was consistently gaining 10-20+ subscribers every single day. Some days 30 or 40.
Here’s why Notes works so differently from other platforms: the algorithm is actually designed to help you get discovered.
It’s optimized for subscriptions, not scroll time. When people engage with your Notes, the algorithm shows them to similar readers who are likely to subscribe.
The compounding effect is real. More Notes means more visibility. More visibility means more subscribers. More subscribers means more reach for your future Notes.
Strategy #4: SEO “Pillar Posts”
A few months into my growth, I started thinking about long-term, passive subscriber acquisition.
I created longer, more comprehensive posts specifically designed to rank in search engines. Posts targeting keywords people were actually searching for: “how to grow a Substack newsletter,” “Substack growth strategies,” “how to make money on Substack.”
Did it work? Yes, but it’s a slow burn.
This isn’t a strategy that brings you 100 subscribers overnight. It’s a strategy that brings you 5-15 organic visitors every single day from Google, and some of those visitors convert to subscribers.
Strategy #5: Weekly Notes Boost in Chat
About four months into my growth, I started hosting a weekly “Notes Boost” session in Substack Chat.
Here’s how it works: every week, writers gather in Chat and share their best Notes. Everyone engages (likes, comments, restacks) to help boost each other’s visibility.
Did it work? Not in the direct way you might think.
This didn’t bring me hundreds of subscribers immediately. But it did something more valuable: it built deep relationships with my most engaged readers.
The writers who participated regularly became my biggest advocates.
The indirect growth from this community building has been significant. It’s hard to track exact numbers, but I know for a fact that dozens (maybe hundreds) of subscribers came from these relationships.
Bonus Strategies That Moved the Needle
A few other things worked that are worth mentioning:
Creating simple digital products (workshops and guides) didn’t just monetize my newsletter. It deepened trust with subscribers who bought them.
They saw I overdelivered on value, so they became vocal advocates who shared my work with others. Product customers are often your best growth partners.
Strategic cross-promotions with other writers brought big spikes. One collaboration brought 100+ subscribers in a week. This is higher effort than simple recommendation swaps, but the payoff is significant when both audiences are highly aligned.
What Completely Failed: The Strategies That Wasted My Time
Now let’s talk about what didn’t work. The strategies I tried that brought almost nothing despite hours of effort.
Failed Strategy #1: Trying to Be Everywhere All the Time
Early on, I almost made a massive mistake: trying to be on every platform.
I considered starting to post on X/Twitter. Thought about launching a YouTube channel. Wondered if I should be on TikTok or Instagram.
I’m so glad I didn’t do any of that.
Here’s why it would have failed: spreading yourself thin means nothing gets done well. You become mediocre everywhere instead of excellent somewhere.
The lesson: Pick one or two platforms maximum. Dominate those. Ignore everything else.
For me, that’s Notes (primary) and LinkedIn (secondary, but minimal effort). That’s it. I don’t feel guilty about not being on Twitter. I don’t worry about missing out on Instagram.
Focus beats hustle every single time.
Failed Strategy #2: Facebook Groups
I tried this for about two months before giving up entirely.
The strategy seemed logical: find relevant Facebook groups, share your posts, get new readers.
The reality: most groups are either dead or actively hostile to any form of self-promotion. Even in groups that allowed sharing, posts would get buried under hundreds of other shares.
Time invested: hours of finding groups, reading rules, crafting careful posts that didn’t seem too promotional.
Results: maybe 5-10 subscribers total after months of effort.
Failed Strategy #3: Posting Without Engaging
This was my mistake early on with Notes.
I’d write my Notes, hit publish, and immediately close the app. I treated it like broadcasting…push content out and hope people found it.
It didn’t work.
My Notes would get a few likes, maybe a comment or two, but they weren’t driving real growth.
The turning point came when I started spending 20 minutes after posting just engaging with other writers’ content. Actually reading their Notes. Leaving thoughtful comments. Restacking work I genuinely appreciated.
Suddenly, my own Notes started getting more visibility. The algorithm noticed I was participating, not just broadcasting.
Failed Strategy #4: Chasing Viral Moments
For a few weeks, I got caught up trying to write “viral” Notes that would blow up and bring massive growth.
I’d spend extra time trying to craft the perfect hook, the most provocative take, the cleverest observation.
Some of those Notes did go “viral”, hundreds of likes, dozens of restacks, comment threads going for hours.
But here’s what surprised me: they barely brought any subscribers.
My “quieter” Notes (the ones focused on clear value rather than entertainment) brought 3x more subscribers than the viral ones.
Failed Strategy #5: Waiting to Monetize
This isn’t a growth strategy, but it’s a massive mistake I made that indirectly hurt my growth.
I waited months before creating my first digital product. I thought I needed thousands of subscribers first. I wanted to “build an audience” before trying to sell anything.
That was silly.
When I finally launched my first simple product at around 200 subscribers, I made over $1,000 in the first month. But more importantly, the people who bought became my most engaged community members.
They trusted me more. They shared my work more. They recommended my newsletter more often.
The Real Secret Nobody Talks About
Here’s the truth behind the numbers that most people miss:
None of these strategies worked in isolation.
The real growth came from the compounding effect of multiple strategies working together.
Notes brought daily subscribers. Collaborations unlocked new audiences. Products deepened relationships. Community created advocates. SEO added passive growth.
Everything working together created momentum.
My growth wasn’t linear. It was exponential.
Month 1: 50 subscribers per month
Month 6: 500 new subscribers that month
Month 12: 1,000+ new subscribers that month
That acceleration happened because each strategy reinforced the others.
It’s a flywheel. Each piece feeds the others.
This is what people don’t understand when they ask for “the one strategy” that drove your growth. There isn’t one strategy. There’s a system.
And yes, growth is messy and non-linear. What works for me might not work exactly the same for you.
But these strategies have the highest success rate I’ve seen. They’re worth trying first. Then optimize based on your own results.
Growing Your Newsletter is Simpler than You Think
Look, these strategies took me a year to figure out.
Hundreds of hours testing different approaches. Thousands of dollars in failed experiments. Months of slow growth before I found what actually worked.
You can skip all of that.
I’ve put everything I learned into my Six Figure Substack Growth Masterclass—the complete system that took me from zero to 14,000+ subscribers in one year.
Here’s what you’ll be able to do after going through it:
Stop wasting time on strategies that don’t work—learn exactly which growth tactics actually drive subscribers so you stop spending months on approaches that bring nothing
Turn Notes into consistent daily growth instead of random likes—discover the specific Note formats that convert browsers into subscribers, not just get engagement that goes nowhere
Start making money in your first month, not your first year—create simple products that generate revenue immediately while deepening trust with the subscribers who buy them
Turn your most engaged readers into growth partners—build the kind of community that actively shares your work and brings you subscribers without you asking
Special bonus this week: When you join this week, you’ll get my Personal Substack Swipe File…see exactly which Notes brought me 20+ subscribers each, which post titles drove the most growth, and proven formats you can adapt immediately instead of starting from scratch and guessing what works.
When you’re ready, join 100’s of writers inside:
Growth isn’t about secrets or hacks. It’s about focusing your energy on the strategies that work and ignoring everything else.
All good stuff. What would be really helpful (😉) is to know how to properly set up “google recognition” so that keywords / hashtags / search can be found. I’ve had a couple of half hearted attempts. Each time I save a post that allegedly shows you how to do it, (a) there always seems to be a step / situation missing and/or (b) it’s behind the paywall.
Your point on titles is gold. They need to be clear, not clever. Clear gets search traffic and more engagement. Clever goes over readers head until they finish the letter.