Celebrating 8000+ Subscribers Milestone. Plus, Mini Masterclass: What to Do If You Have Less than 500 Subscribers & Want to Grow Quickly
This Substack’s Mission: Help you grow & monetize your newsletter easier & faster than you thought possible
Around my friends and family, I’m known as the “Chihuahua guy.” Yes, I’m the guy with two little chihuahuas who basically run the house.
I’m not going to force showing dog pics on you, but if you’d like more help with growing & monetizing your newsletter, I do have a few recommendations for you.
These trainings have now helped 100’s of writers grow their Substack and create their first digital products:
Masterclasses & Trainings to Help You Grow
Substack Growth Masterclass - This is my signature training that helps you get a solid foundation on refining your niche and growing your newsletter.
It’s the same strategy that’s helped me grow to 8000+ subscribers in only 8 months:
Notes Growth Workshop – It’s no secret that Notes has been a major growth driver for this Substack. This workshop shares the exact strategy to that brings ~300+ subscribers a month through Notes.
If Notes is a mystery to you and you’re tired of writing them into the void, this workshop will help:
Six-Figure Digital Product Masterclass – Probably my absolute favorite training because it shows how simple it can be to create your first digital products.
This training will teach you the simple strategy I’ve used to generate $5K+ per month with a Substack & LinkedIn audience:
Mini Masterclass: What to Do If You Have Less than 500 Subscribers & Want to Grow
There’re so many writers migrating to Substack. And for good reason, it’s a great community.
If you’re one of the newer writers to the platform and you want to grow, here’s my advice. This is what I’d do if I started over again from scratch:
1 // Combine multiple niches.
Trash the advice that you need one small niche to grow. It’s better to combine 2 or 3 niches into one mega-niche.
For example, if you like writing about side hustles, AI, and investing, combine them. Your niche can show people how to use AI to start their first side hustles and begin investing.
People subscribe because they like your personality. They want to hear your perspective and won’t mind if you write on a few different things. You can refine your niche as you go.
2 // Choose one external platform to help you grow.
For me, it’s always been LinkedIn. For you, it could be Medium, Twitter/X, Facebook Groups, Instagram, etc.
Find one place where you can grow your presence consistently and then link back over to Substack. You don’t need to share your Substack posts on social media. Just create content for that platform and mention that you have a Substack to join.
3 // Also start writing on Substack Notes.
This is one of the best places to grow when you stay consistent.
Write several different types of Notes, from Community Notes to Educational and Motivational. If you don’t know what to post about, find some viral & engaging graphics / quotes. This is a good place to start and it’s a no-brainer.
Also, study other writers’ Notes that are getting traction. Studying others is a good way to figure out what types of Notes work best.
I talk more about these three different types of Notes in my Notes Growth Workshop.
4 // Focus on quality over quantity.
There’re writers with 10s of thousands of subscribers who have a terrible open rate and don’t make much money.
Then, there’s writers with 1000 subscribers who are going full-time. It’s more about the quality of your content and the engagement you have with your audience.
5 // Build a community.
It’s not enough anymore to only write content. You need to build a community.
Don’t stress over this when starting, but just keep it in mind. Think about how you can build a community in the comments, in your own Chat, and through DMs. Create a space where people can join in around a conversation.
Celebrating 8000+ Subscribers: Thank you!
If you focus on these 5 simple insights, you’ll grow faster than you think. Which brings me to our newest milestone here: crossing 8000+ subscribers.
When I relaunched this newsletter last year, I never expected it to grow so quickly. I’m truly grateful for each and every subscriber who opens this newsletter and contributes.
If you’re actively growing on Substack, I’d love for you to introduce yourself in the comments. Tell us in the comments what you write about and include a link to your best post. We’d love to read your story.
I hope these insights and resources help you grow and monetize your Substack faster than you think, too. I’m so excited to see you get going.
-Wes
Thank you for the tips, Wes. I have enjoyed your publication. I am trying to apply the advice you give.
I started a publication with my Mom on art and illustration. We are trying to build a community based on simple drawings. Here is a link to our most recent post on our process of creating art.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ajdoodles/p/creating-vector-doodles?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1v81ju
There is no question why you are so successful here in my mind. I read every one of your posts that I see because your advice is clear and actionable. I’m finding by putting things into action I’m getting some results. And it’s exciting!
I write here as a way to document my faith journey, hopefully help others, maybe make an income. And to hold myself accountable to keep learning faith-related things.
I’ve been an RN for 30+ years and now find myself basically homebound to take care of my Mom with dementia.
It’s a tough row to hoe, but as a nurse I have skills to keep her home as long as possible. Soon though, I think it’s getting to the point where I won’t be able to and that will be another reason to lean into my faith.