I Just Analyzed My 10,000 Subscribers. Here's What Nobody's Telling You About Growing a Substack
The data completely contradicted everything I'd been told about newsletter growth
My laptop battery was draining this afternoon after hours of Substack research.
I've been digging through analytics dashboards since breakfast, trying to answer a question that had been bugging me for weeks: what the heck actually drove my newsletter growth?
Everyone talks about growth strategies and best practices, but I realized I didn’t have concrete data on what was working and what wasn’t. I could tell you my subscriber count, but I couldn't tell you why it grew or where people were actually coming from.
So I decided to find out.
I pulled everything. Subscriber sources, engagement data, conversion rates, revenue breakdowns. I wanted to see the real story behind growing from zero to 10,000 subscribers, not just the vanity metrics I'd been celebrating on LinkedIn.
What I found made me both question (and confirm) everything I thought I knew about building a newsletter.
Turns out, not all of the advice I’d heard about growing a Substack was true…
The Conventional Wisdom That's Actually Hurting You
Before I share what I discovered, let me tell you what every newsletter expert had been telling me:
"You need at least 10% engagement rates to have a healthy newsletter."
"Consistency is everything—publish the same day every week."
"Never email your list too much or people will unsubscribe."
"Social media is where real growth happens."
"You need viral content to break through the noise."
I believed all of this. I built my entire strategy around these "rules."
But when I actually looked at my data—the real numbers behind growing to 10,000 subscribers and generating consistent monthly revenue—most of it was inaccurate.
Here's what actually happened.
Where Subscribers Really Come From (It's Not What You Think)
In my early Substack days, I was convinced LinkedIn was driving most of my growth. I spend time there regularly, share content, engage with other creators. Made sense, right?
nah.
Here's my actual subscriber breakdown:
Substack Notes: 30-40%
Recommendations from other writers: 30%
LinkedIn: 10-15%
Direct traffic / SEO: 5%
Everything else (stuff I don’t even know about…): The rest of the percentages….don’t make me do math.
Notes. Freaking Notes.
Not my carefully crafted LinkedIn posts that took an hour to write. Not my guest posts on other Substacks. Not my viral social media moments.
Quick Notes I'd write between calls brought in nearly half of my subscribers.
The most frustrating example? I spent two hours writing what I thought was a brilliant LinkedIn post about newsletter monetization. Got over a thousand likes, dozens of comments, felt amazing about it.
It brought in maybe 10 new subscribers.
That same week, I wrote a Note in five minutes about almost quitting at 400 subscribers. Didn't think much of it.
It brought in over 100 new subscribers in two days.
Same me. Same general audience. Completely different results.
While everyone's burning themselves out trying to crack the LinkedIn algorithm, the biggest growth opportunity is sitting right inside Substack. And most writers are ignoring it.
"Viral" Content Is a Lie
This one stung a bit.
I tracked every piece of content I published over six months. Likes, shares, comments, new subscribers, revenue generated—everything.
My most "successful" posts—the ones that got hundreds of likes and tons of engagement—consistently brought in fewer subscribers than my boring, practical content.
The pattern was brutal and consistent:
High engagement ≠ High conversion
My controversial takes that sparked debates? Lots of likes, few subscribers.
My step-by-step tutorials that felt "basic"? Fewer likes, way more subscribers.
The post about my unpopular opinion on newsletter pricing? Went mini-viral, brought in almost no one.
The post where I shared my exact content planning process? Barely got shared, converted like crazy.
People love to engage with entertaining content. But they subscribe to useful content.
Your audience will like and share the fun stuff. They'll pay for the helpful stuff.
Most of Your Subscribers Don't Actually Matter
Here's the number that made me rethink everything: only about a third of my subscribers regularly open my newsletters.
One third.
That means roughly 7,000 of my 10,000 subscribers basically don't exist from an engagement perspective. They signed up, maybe read one post, then disappeared into the void.
But here's what changed my perspective completely: that engaged third generates 100% of my revenue.
Every product sale, every coaching client, every meaningful conversation—it all comes from maybe 3,000 actively engaged readers, not 10,000 total subscribers.
This completely shifted how I think about growth. I'd rather have 1,000 people who read everything I write than 10,000 people who signed up and forgot about me.
Most analytics dashboards are lying to you. Your real audience is much smaller than you think, but also much more valuable.
Revenue Has Nothing to Do with Subscriber Milestones
Everyone obsesses over subscriber milestones like they're magic numbers.
"I'll start monetizing at 1,000 subscribers."
"You need 5,000 before you can make real money."
"10,000 is when things get serious."
My revenue timeline tells a different story entirely.
I made my first significant monthly revenue at around 500 subscribers. By the time I hit 4,000, I was consistently generating $5K+ monthly.
From 4,000 to 10,000 subscribers? Revenue stayed basically the same.
More subscribers didn't automatically equal more money. Better products and systems did.
I could probably make the same income with 3,000 highly engaged subscribers as I do with 10,000 mixed-quality ones.
Start monetizing way earlier than you think. Your early, engaged subscribers are often your best customers.
What This Actually Means for Your Strategy
After digging through all this data, here are five insights that will change how you approach newsletter growth:
1. Notes Matter More Than External Social
If you're spending hours perfecting LinkedIn posts and ignoring Notes, you're doing it backwards. My data proves Notes drives more real growth than any external platform.
Start writing 1-2 Notes daily. Engage with other writers. Build community inside Substack instead of trying to drive traffic from outside.
2. Useful Beats Viral Every Time
Stop chasing viral moments. Start solving specific problems.
Write more "here's exactly how I do X" and fewer "hot takes about Y." Your audience engages with entertainment but subscribes to utility.
3. Quality Over Quantity Always
1,000 engaged subscribers who read everything beats 10,000 passive followers who never open your emails.
Track engagement and replies more than subscriber count. Build for your active readers, not your vanity metrics.
4. Monetize Early and Often
Don't wait for some magical subscriber threshold. Your early, engaged subscribers are often your best customers because they found you when you were small.
If you're solving real problems, start charging for solutions.
5. Email More, Not Less
This goes against most advice, but my data shows frequent emails get better engagement than sporadic ones.
Your engaged subscribers want to hear from you more often, not less.
The Metric That Actually Predicts Revenue
After analyzing every possible number, I found one that correlates almost perfectly with income growth.
It's not subscriber count. It's not open rates. It's not social media metrics.
It's engagement.
When people started engaging with and replying to my content more often, revenue followed. When replies dropped, sales slowed down.
Makes sense when you think about it. People who take time to respond are genuinely engaged. They're invested in what you're building. They become customers.
Track this obsessively. Optimize for responses, not just opens.
My Biggest Mistake (That Almost Killed My Growth)
Before I share what to do differently, let me tell you about the dumbest thing I did based on "expert" advice.
Three months into my newsletter, I was following every growth guru on Substack & LinkedIn. One of them insisted that "email fatigue is real" and you should never email your list more than once a week.
So, I cut back.
I went from emailing 2-3X a week to once a week, thinking I was being respectful of my subscribers' time. I felt so professional and considerate.
My engagement tanked. Not slowly—immediately.
Open rates dropped. Replies went down. Revenue from my digital products basically stopped.
I thought people were losing interest in my content. Maybe I was boring them. Maybe I should quit.
Then I decided to post a bit more. 3-4X in one week.
The response was incredible. Higher opens than I'd seen in months. Tons of replies. People saying they'd missed hearing from me regularly.
Turns out, my most engaged subscribers wanted more from me, not less.
I immediately went back to 2-3X weekly, then eventually to daily Notes plus weekly newsletters. Best decision I ever made.
The lesson? Most "best practices" are designed for average newsletters. If you're creating genuinely valuable content, your audience wants more of it, not less.
Side Note: Here’s the thing…the people who complain “you’re emailing too much” will never, ever be your client or customer or paid subscriber anyway. So, does it really matter what they think?
Why are you catering to a freebie seeker who just complains too much?
Your tribe wants to hear more from you.
"But My Situation Is Different"
I know what you're thinking: "This is all interesting, but my niche is different. I write about [insert topic], not newsletter growth."
I thought the same thing. Surely newsletter growth was a special case, right?
nah.
I've reach out to and quietly analyzed data from writers in completely different spaces:
A finance newsletter (12K subscribers): Notes drove 38% of growth, boring educational content converted 3x better than market commentary.
A productivity newsletter (8K subscribers): 35% of subscribers never opened emails, but the engaged third generated all the revenue.
A tech newsletter (15K subscribers): Email replies predicted revenue better than any other metric.
A personal development newsletter (6K subscribers): Started monetizing at 400 subscribers, revenue plateaued around 3K subscribers despite growing to 6K.
The patterns hold across niches. The percentages might vary slightly, but the fundamentals are universal:
Most growth comes from platform-native content (Notes for Substack)
Useful content converts better than entertaining content
A small percentage of engaged readers drive all revenue
You can start monetizing much earlier than you think
Your niche isn't special. Human behavior is remarkably consistent.
Whether you're writing about crypto, cooking, or career advice, people subscribe to newsletters that help them solve problems. They buy from creators they trust. They engage with content that speaks directly to their challenges.
The tactics might change, but the strategy stays the same.
Start Growing This Week: 3 Simple Changes
Enough theory. Here's exactly what to implement right now:
1. Flip Your Content Strategy
Look at your last 10 posts across all platforms. Which ones got lots of likes and shares? Which ones actually brought subscribers?
This week, write one "boring" helpful post instead of chasing viral content. Something like "How I [organize/plan/solve] my [specific process]." Skip the hot takes and controversial opinions. Focus on solving one specific problem your audience faces.
The goal isn't engagement—it's subscribers who actually care about what you're building.
2. Start Writing Notes Consistently
Instead of spending an hour crafting the perfect LinkedIn post this week, write 2-3 quick Notes. Keep them simple: behind-the-scenes moments, quick insights, or genuine questions for your audience.
Don't overthink it. The Note I wrote about almost quitting brought in more subscribers than months of polished LinkedIn content.
Engage authentically with other writers' Notes while you're there. The algorithm rewards genuine community participation.
3. Track What Actually Matters
Stop obsessing over subscriber count and start tracking email replies. Create a simple note or spreadsheet and record how many people respond to each newsletter.
This is the metric that predicts revenue growth better than anything else. When replies go up, sales follow within weeks.
If you get more email responses this week than last week, you're moving in the right direction—regardless of how many new subscribers you gain.
Your Success Metric This Week: More email replies and Note engagement, not higher subscriber numbers.
The subscribers you get from this approach will be infinitely more valuable than the ones you get from viral content.
Look, I get it…
…maybe your experience is different. Maybe LinkedIn crushes it for your audience. Maybe your subscribers are way more engaged than mine.
But here's what I know: most newsletter advice is based on theory, not real data.
I've shown you the actual numbers behind growing to 10,000 subscribers and generating consistent monthly revenue. The patterns might surprise you, but they're based on reality, not guru theories.
Your subscriber count means nothing without the right strategy behind it.
Ready to Build Something That Actually Works? Join the Substack Growth Masterclass
Understanding what works is one thing. Implementing it consistently is another.
If you're ready to stop chasing vanity metrics and start building a newsletter that generates real income, I've put everything into my Six-Figure Substack Growth Masterclass.
This is the complete system behind the data I just shared. Not theory from someone who's never built a successful newsletter—this is the exact strategy I used to grow from zero to 10,000 subscribers and consistent monthly revenue.
Inside the masterclass, you'll discover how to:
✅ Turn Notes into your biggest subscriber source without burning out on external social media (my data proves this is where real growth happens)
✅ Create useful content that actually converts instead of chasing viral engagement that brings no one
✅ Build around your most engaged readers rather than chasing passive followers who never buy anything
✅ Start generating significant monthly revenue with fewer subscribers than most people think they need
✅ Scale your income without scaling your workload (the real secret behind sustainable growth)
This isn't about working harder or creating more content. It's about working smarter based on what actually works, not what sounds good in theory.
Remember: You don't need 10,000 subscribers to build a profitable newsletter. You need the right subscribers and the systems to serve them well.
Question: Are you actively growing on Substack? Share your best post below and let’s help get some new eyes on it…
What surprised you most about these findings? Are you tracking the right metrics, or chasing numbers that don't actually matter?
I analysed my 21 subscribers and found three of them were me.
As a newcomer to Substack, the information you have shared here has been incredibly useful thank you. I've taken notes.