I run a monthly meetup for Substack bestsellers. It’s casual, just an opportunity to connect and brainstorm.
At this month’s meeting, many talked about what they were having the hardest time with.
You’d think bestsellers—many of them mega-bestsellers—would complain about having too many paid subscribers (sigh) or being unable to keep up with their growing revenue (woe is me).
But no. The main issue was getting and keeping paid subscribers.
I see this with my private clients who have thousands of paid subscribers and those who just got (or have yet to get) their first one.
Note: Yes, yes, not everyone wants paid subscribers. If you have the luxury to play on here, blessings—and don’t expect people to pay to watch you play.
Still, read on because paid subscriber growth is personal growth. It will tap into all your insecurities and—if you go about it the way I’m inviting you to—help you value your work and your readers way more than you ever have before.
Earning an income on Substack is as much about growing personally, professionally, and creatively as it is about making money.
It’s also a long game—a fun one if you stay with me.
10 steps to making money on Substack
As we discussed in last week’s post, there are 10 steps to making money on Substack. (If you didn’t do steps one, two, and three, you can catch up here later but do this first.)
A quick recap of steps 1 through 4:
Admit you need a long-term paid strategy. It won’t just “happen.”
Understand the different roles you play on Substack, including CEO/publisher.
Draw from the three paid strategies that work on Substack.
Maybe tap into other monetization possibilities:
Affiliate advertising
One-time support via a “tip jar” or “support” custom button (I highly dislike the idea of people “tipping” creators or buying them a coffee—this is my job—but that’s just me)
Bundling with other Substacks, i.e., offering a month free on each other’s Substacks as a perk
Now, step 5: The 9 things people pay for on Substack
You don’t need millions of subscribers to have paid subscribers
Before we get to why people will pay you to do what you love to do on Substack, I really want you to think about something: You don’t need millions of subscribers to have paid subscribers.
It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game and chase subscribers.
We’ve been conditioned by social media to senselessly go after more and more “followers.”
But on Substack, you don’t need millions of subscribers to have paid subscribers.
You just need to find your people and keep them.
Valuing your work and your readers equally
Keeping them isn’t easy. It takes valuing—but not overvaluing—your work. Newer writers tend to overvalue, seasoned ones tend to undervalue.
It’s challenging to strike a balance between loving what we do and loving our readers—and it’s not a bad problem to have.
The 9 reasons people will pay to subscribe to your Substack
Many of us have heard marketer’s ideas about why people subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, or Cat Fancy magazine (perhaps). Typically, it’s convenience, emotion, fear, and FOMO.
But in working with over six hundred Substackers one-to-one, I’ve seen what people pay for on Substack.
There are three main categories: content, access, and fandom.
Content
I’m using the word content to include writing, media, and workshops, etc.
People pay for content that solves a problem or fills a need.
This doesn’t mean you have to offer investing advice.
Netflix is one of the biggest subscription-based companies in the world. Problem solved: boredom, loneliness, discomfort. Need: Entertainment, comfort.
Masterclass is another. Problem solved: Not enough knowledge. Need: information.
And The New York Times. Problem solved: Not being informed. Need: information.
The same is true on Substack.
The top Substack in every category solves a problem or fills a need, usually, the top problems and needs people have. Here they are:
Time:
’s The Pragmatic Engineer aggregates what software engineers need to know in tech, gives what people need to improve performanceMoney, e.g., investment and business advice and professional training like in
’s SubstackHealth, feeling better, having better relationships, e.g., pretty much all self-development and health and wellness like
Satisfaction, e.g., entertainment, adventure, inspiration like
—it’s hard to find people in the fiction category actually writing fiction, but one of the few isStatus and/or significance or gives them a sense of purpose, e.g., beauty and fashion like
’s Big SaladProvides safety, e.g., news/information, education—
, , and Jessica Reed Kraus’s
Resonate with your readers
Bottom line: If you’re on here to write for yourself, you’re going to have a hard time getting paid.
It’s easy to get discouraged when people like your posts and tell you how much they love what you do.
People pay us with their email addresses and hard-earned money is something else entirely when we produce quality writing, podcasts, videocasts, artwork, etc. that resonates with them.
Resonate: When something feels true or has meaning for them.
For someone to pay for a Substack, it has to resonate, i.e., feel true and have meaning for them.
What if I’m just writing literary essays? How do I write in a way that resonates?
Simple:
Voice
Know your people/niche/audience
Access
You will grow paid subscribers much faster if you give people access rather than content.
Even if you solve a problem and fill a need, most of the paying public doesn’t understand paying for words on the internet—yet.
Paywalls on Substack often don’t make sense: Wait, why are these words free and those words paid?
Access is different. People understand getting access (live access typically) to you or to your community.
This doesn’t mean giving them a “backstage pass” to how you wrote your last book or your life. We’re not James Patterson or Taylor Swift.
There are two ways to do this:
Access to you in workshops, Q&As, etc.
Access to the community in comments, challenges, chat, and threads. (If you don’t know about chat and threads, watch my very concise video here.)
Fandom
Fandom: Yes, your fans/superfans will probably pay for whatever you do no matter what it is—but even T-Swift gives her fans the best every time.
Practical exercises to boost your subscriber value:
Now you’re going to put this into practice. Substack Writers at Work isn’t a newsletter. I offer a membership. My job is to help you build a platform and earn an income. Passively reading won’t do that; you need to do the work.
Get out a piece of paper or open a new document.
Do as many as apply (content, access, fandom).
Content
1. In your written/audio/video posts, which problems are you interested in solving or needs do you want to fill? Write it down.
Time
Money
Health, feeling better, having better relationships
Satisfaction, e.g., entertainment, adventure, inspiration
Status and/or significance or sense of purpose
Safety, e.g., news/information, education
2. Free write for three to five minutes on how you might approach your content differently with these in mind.
3. Go back through and circle ideas that seem valuable and test them in upcoming posts.
If you’re having trouble with this, check out the examples above or the leaderboard in your category. Which Substacks feel most like yours?
Access
1. If your Zoom workshops, challenges, and Q&As aren’t getting the kind of traction you want, which problems are you solving or need are you filling in each one?
Saving them time
Helping them make/save money
Giving them avenues to health, feeling better, having better relationships
Providing satisfaction, e.g., entertainment, adventure, inspiration
Giving them status and/or significance or a sense of purpose
Offering safety, e.g., news/information, education
✓ Free write for three to five minutes on how you might approach your content differently with these in mind.
✓ Go back through and circle ideas that seem valuable and test them in upcoming posts.
2. The same goes for access to the community. Don’t just “start a thread” or ask three random questions at the end of a post and expect community to “happen.” With each one, ask What problem am I solving or need am I filling with this?
Saving them time
Helping them make/save money
Giving them avenues to health, feeling better, having better relationships
Providing satisfaction, e.g., entertainment, adventure, inspiration
Giving them status and/or significance or a sense of purpose
Offering safety, e.g., news/information, education
✓ Come up with ten questions/prompts for the comments, threads, or chat that would solve a problem or fill a need.
Fandom
Some of you are famous and do have a platform. You may not be Taylor Swift (if only!), but you can also prevent overindulgence by asking yourself if what you’re posting is doing one of the following:
Saving them time
Helping them make/save money
Giving them avenues to health, feeling better, having better relationships
Providing satisfaction, e.g., entertainment, adventure, inspiration
Giving them status and/or significance or a sense of purpose
Offering safety, e.g., news/information, education
✓ Write it down.
Now go to it!
P.S. Paid members to Substack Writers at Work, don’t miss the niche workshop, plus our deep dive into why people don’t pay to subscribe and how to build community.
9 Reasons People Pay to Subscribe on Substack and How to Deliver