I Tracked Every Subscriber Source for 6 Months: These 3 Channels Brought 80% of My Growth
Why I stopped posting on 10 platforms and started focusing on the 3 channels that actually convert
Just a few weeks ago, I was staring at the messiest Google Sheet you’ve ever seen.
Rows and rows of data. Subscriber names. Dates. Sources scribbled in different colors because I kept changing my tracking system halfway through.
Then it hit me: I had no idea what was actually working.
Was that two-hour LinkedIn post worth the three subscribers it brought?
Were those X threads doing anything besides making me feel productive?
Should I keep spending time in Facebook groups?
I was working my butt off, but I was promoting blindly.
That night, I made a decision: I’m going to track every single subscriber for the next six months. No exceptions.
What I discovered completely changed how I promote my newsletter.
(📌 PS - If you find this post helpful, would you consider restacking it? Thanks!)
Why Most Writers Are Promoting Blindly (And Burning Out)
You wake up, check your stats, see maybe 2-3 new subscribers from yesterday. You feel that familiar mix of disappointment and determination.
“I just need to promote more,” you tell yourself.
So, you spend two hours crafting the perfect LinkedIn post. You share it to your Twitter followers. You post in three different Facebook groups.
By evening, maybe you’ve gained 5 subscribers. Maybe.
Meanwhile, you’re watching other writers seem to grow effortlessly while you’re stuck on this hamster wheel. Work harder. Try more platforms. Post more frequently. Still slow growth.
You keep thinking: “There has to be a better way.”
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: most successful newsletter writers aren’t promoting on ten different platforms. They’ve figured out the 2-3 channels that actually work, and they’ve doubled down on those.
What 6 Months of Obsessive Tracking Taught Me
After tracking every single subscriber for six months, I learned something that changed everything.
80% of my growth came from just 3 channels.
The other 10+ things I was doing? They brought less than 20% combined. Some brought basically nothing.
All those hours on LinkedIn? Barely moved the needle.
Those Twitter threads I stressed over? Single-digit subscribers per month.
The newsletter swaps? Most brought zero engaged readers.
I was spending 70% of my time on activities that generated less than 20% of my results.
The Numbers Don’t Lie (And They Surprised Me)
Here’s the breakdown from six months of tracking thousands of new subscribers:
Substack Notes: (50%) This was the biggest surprise. I thought Notes was just a nice-to-have feature. Turns out, it’s the most powerful growth tool on the entire platform.
Recommendations from other Substacks: (30%) I knew recommendations worked, but I had no idea they’d be this effective. One good recommendation brought more subscribers than a month of LinkedIn posts.
SEO/Google Search: (10%) The slow burn that keeps giving. Posts I wrote four months ago still bring subscribers weekly without any additional work.
Everything else combined: (<5%) LinkedIn, X, Facebook groups, newsletter swaps—all of it together brought less than 5% of my growth.
Let that sink in for a second.
Once I saw this data, I completely flipped my strategy. I stopped trying to be everywhere and started going deep on the three channels that actually worked.
Channel #1: Substack Notes (Your Secret Growth Weapon)
Notes brought me nearly half of my subscribers in six months.
Here’s why Notes crushes other platforms: you’re showing up where newsletter readers already hang out.
On X, you’re competing with celebrity drama and cat videos. On LinkedIn, you’re fighting for attention against career updates. But on Notes? Everyone there is already reading newsletters. They’re actively looking to discover new writers.
The algorithm rewards genuine engagement over follower count. I’ve seen Notes from writers with 200 subscribers outperform writers with 5,000+ because the engagement was real.
Here’s what surprises me about Notes: your most relatable moments outperform your smartest takes.
That perfectly crafted insight you spent 20 minutes on? Gets 12 likes. That vulnerable admission you wrote in 90 seconds while waiting for coffee? 147 likes, 23 comments, and 8 new subscribers.
Notes from three months ago still bring subscribers today. Every Note builds your visibility in the algorithm.
Start using Notes today, even if you have zero subscribers.
Channel #2: Recommendations (The Fastest Path to 100+ Subscribers)
Recommendations brought me 30% of my growth.
One recommendation from another writer can bring you 50-150 subscribers in a month.
You’re getting a warm introduction from someone their audience already trusts. That’s so much more powerful than any cold promotion.
Here’s how to make this work:
Start by recommending others first. Give before you get.
Target writers in adjacent niches with 500-2,000 subscribers. Not direct competitors, but writers whose audience would also benefit from your content.
Make it personal. Tell them specifically what you love about their work. Show you’re a real reader.
Suggest mutual recommendations. “I’d love to recommend your newsletter—would you be open to a mutual recommendation?”
Not everyone will say yes. That’s fine.
When someone recommends you, thank them publicly in a Note or post. It shows appreciation and gives their recommendation even more visibility.
Channel #3: SEO (The Growth Engine That Works While You Sleep)
SEO brought me 10% of my growth, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s absolutely free traffic from Google.
This one requires patience, but it’s magic once it kicks in.
Substack has massive domain authority with Google. Your posts can rank without complicated SEO tactics.
I have posts from months ago that still bring me 10-15 subscribers every single month. I wrote them once. They keep working.
The simple strategy:
Write headlines people actually search. “How to Get Your First 1,000 Newsletter Subscribers” not “My Journey to 1,000 Subscribers.”
Use clear subheadings with natural keywords. Google loves well-structured content.
Write comprehensive posts. Longer posts (1,500+ words) tend to rank better.
Link between your posts. Internal linking helps Google understand your content.
Focus on “how to” and problem-solving content. People Google their problems—be the solution.
SEO takes 3-6 months to really kick in. But in six months? You’ll have posts working for you 24/7, bringing subscribers while you sleep.
Permission to Quit the Time Wasters
Once I saw my data, I gave myself permission to stop doing things that weren’t working.
You can too.
Stop posting on X 5 times a day if it’s not bringing subscribers. Leave those time-sucking Facebook groups. Stop doing newsletter swaps that don’t convert.
I know it feels counterintuitive. We’ve been told we need to be everywhere.
But what if doing less actually helped you grow more?
Focus on the channels that work for you and let the rest go.
Start Tracking Today (And Stop Guessing)
Here’s what I want you to do this week…
Grab a simple Google Sheet. Three columns: Date, Source, Number of Subscribers.
Every time you get new subscribers, note where they came from. Substack’s analytics show you this.
Track for 30 days. You’ll start seeing patterns you never noticed before.
Then pick ONE channel to focus on. I’d suggest Notes—it’s the fastest win.
Your quick-start action plan:
Spend 20 minutes daily posting 2 Notes and engaging with 5 other writers.
Reach out to 3 writers this week for potential recommendation swaps. Make it personal.
Optimize your next post for SEO with a clear “how to” headline.
Ready to Actually Implement This System?
Here’s the thing: knowing what to do and actually implementing it consistently are two very different things.
I spent the last year building systems around these exact strategies. That’s how I went from zero subscribers to 14,000+ and $5,000+ monthly revenue.
Not from luck. From strategic implementation of what actually works.
I’ve put everything into my Six-Figure Substack Growth Masterclass—the complete system for growing and monetizing your newsletter.
This week only, when you join the masterclass, you’ll get my Personal Substack Swipe File as a free bonus.
It’s packed with my best-performing Notes, post title formulas, and content ideas—real examples you can model immediately.
There’s been 100’s of writers who have taken this masterclass (which is wild). You can join them below:
Your breakthrough is closer than you think.
The difference between where you are now and where you want to be isn’t more hustle. It’s strategic focus on what actually moves the needle.
Your turn.
SEO has been a gold MINE for me too! Very surprising but real.
With a little surgical creativity, I’m finding success on Reddit too!