Neil Patel 1
Neil Patel 1
Do you love to write? Draw? Create in any way? Do people tell you that you should try using your
creative skills to make a living?
Do you shrug them off because you don’t know how to get started or because you don’t feel you
have the time to commit to unpaid work? After all, many people get their journey started writing
free content in newsletters and blog posts.
That’s where Substack comes in. You get to write and get paid—even if you don’t have a following
yet.
If you’re curious to know more, stick around. I’m breaking down Substack and its many
competitors to help you determine if this is the path for you.
What Is Substack?
In 2017, Substack took the market by storm by allowing creatives, journalists, and bloggers to
make money from their own email newsletters. Substack provides a way to build an email
marketing list, write newsletters, charge subscribers, and manage payments.
This platform offers an intuitive email creator that helps writers create interesting emails with links,
images, content, and more. It lends itself towards all sorts of creators, including:
● bloggers
● comic book creators
● investing and business writers
● podcasters
We will focus on writers and bloggers today, but you should keep this site in mind if you’re involved
with comics or podcasting.
See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your
Website
BOOK A CALL
You can begin using Substack for free. However, as you begin to build a following, you could opt
for a premium option, running $5 to $75 per month.
When you use a premium level, you can charge your readers. Substack only gets paid when you
get paid, taking a 10 percent cut. Stripe takes an additional 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. As you can
likely tell, you need to have a solid following to make a decent buck on Substack.
Even with that amount taken out, Substack has the potential to become a viable profit source.
Substack Features
At the core, Substack is an email marketing platform. Whether you choose to go the paid or free
route, that’s up to you. Here are some of the ways that you can make use of Substack.
Free Newsletters
Using a free Substack newsletter is a great way to grow your brand, develop your voice, and build
a name for yourself. If you don’t have a large following, this is a great place to start. Create
valuable content for your small following and offer it for free.
Don’t use Substack in a vacuum; pair it with a website. This allows you to invite readers to your
site using a CTA and potentially turn them into buyers.
Paid Newsletters
While a free newsletter has the potential to make you money on the backend, you can use paid
newsletters to make money on the front end.
You can publish as many newsletters as you want, and there are little to no guidelines on what you
can write. Remember that people will factor in how much value they’re getting based on how much
you’re charging them. If you’re charging $75 per month but only publishing two newsletters, you
may lose subscribers.
If someone is willing to pay to read your writing, it means they want to read it regularly. Therefore,
getting in the habit of publishing consistently is the best strategy. This way, the readers know what
to expect, and you can plan accordingly.
The best thing about Substack is the wide variety of subscribers for you to tap into. The writers on
Substack include journalists, celebrities, political analysts, food writers, world travelers, and more.
Most of the writing you’ll find on Substack would classify as personal writing, opinion, or research
and analysis.
In the interest of transparency, Substack has experienced some controversy relevant to portions of
its audience. Writers accused of transphobia, harassment, and other negative behaviors have
found homes on the platform, as it isn’t heavily moderated. While your audience is your own and
not tied to any other creator’s, this is something to factor in when considering how your particular
audience may respond.
As for the audience, you have your choice of writing whatever it is you want because chances are,
there is someone out there willing to pay to read your writing if it’s valuable. If you’re targeting a
more niche audience, you may be able to charge more to a small set of subscribers because they
need more resources. If you’re after a broader niche, you could charge less but reach more
people.
You have the freedom to choose the direction you want to go with your Substack newsletters, but
the options are nearly endless.
There is serious potential to make a lot of money and reach a lot of people on Substack, but you
have to know how to do it. So, here are some tips for marketing on Substack.
You can’t introduce yourself out of nowhere and expect them to subscribe for a monthly fee if they
have no idea who you are. You have to provide something valuable.
Eventually, readers could become enticed by your content and want more of it. Once you get to
that point, start thinking about charging people.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is moving from free to paid too soon. You need to be
strategic, making sure your audience is genuinely engaged and would be willing to pay for your
work.
Even if you wait until the perfect moment, you may still lose followers. People used to getting
something for free may balk when asked to pay. But, if you provide excellent content, have a
committed following, and charge a reasonable price, you increase your chances of keeping the
majority of your subscribers.
Offer more than a newsletter; give your subscribers something they can’t turn down. For example,
you could have an exclusive social media group for subscribers or even offer one-on-one
conversations or coaching, depending on your field. You could also offer subscriber-only discounts
for any products you may sell.
Write to your audience and include a CTA to get people to click on your offer. This could be an
excellent way to convert these hot leads.
Substack allows you to have as many newsletters as you want—meaning you could have a free
and paid version. This strategy allows you to continue to engage with your entire audience.
To get readers to move to your paid option, you need to offer a little bit more. Make the content
more exclusive, valuable, and personal.
You can also have multiple free publications if you want to spread yourself across a few different
niches. For example, digital marketing is highly diverse with a variety of different subjects. So, you
could have a newsletter about SEO and another about social media marketing, both driving
readers to your website.
Substack Competitors
There are a ton of Substack alternatives, so making a decision can be challenging. Let’s take a
look at some of their biggest competitors so you can choose the platform that’s right for you.
What separates Ghost from Substack is the way they take payment. Ghost charges nine dollars
per month and takes none of your revenue. This makes the platform highly scalable. You also get
custom email addresses, domains, and access to a referral program.
Patreon’s biggest perk is its tiered package option. You can provide people with various options to
appeal to their budget and how much they want from you, all from one location. For example, at a
$1 level, you could send subscribers one newsletter per week. At a $5 level, you could send them
two newsletters or a newsletter and access to a video.
Patreon plans range from five to 12 percent of your monthly income plus processing fees of 2.9
percent plus 30 cents.
Medium is well-known for being a haven for creatives who simply want to make their voices
known, and much of it is free to access. As a bonus, Medium articles often rank pretty well
SEO-wise.
If you upgrade to a paid Medium profile, you can charge for some or all of your content.
Rather than any kind of flat fee or percentage, Medium pays based on “reading time.” The more
time people spend reading your content, the more money you make. You can also get paid by
referring people to the platform through your unique code.
Substack Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Substack.
Substack is free to write newsletters and build a following on. It only costs money when you
upgrade to paid and start to generate revenue from your subscriptions.
Substack does not run ads. The only way Substack makes money is through their cut of
subscription fees.
Only you can answer this. Do you have great content ideas? Do you have a small following that
you can nurture and grow? If yes, starting a Substack could be a great way to grow that following
and eventually profit from it.
No. You retain ownership of everything published on Substack. While you cannot export content
out of Substack once you publish it, you maintain ownership even if you use a different platform
later.
Building a following is not an easy task, and that’s why we offer assistance to marketers and
creatives looking to build or grow their following quickly.
Whether you’re going it alone or getting help, you need to be consistent and patient as you grow
the following. Of course, building an email list is easier said than done, but with some hard work
and focus, Substack could help you get your writing career off the ground.
What advice do you have for new writers wanting to build a following on Substack?
Share
Hey, I'm Neil Patel. I'm determined to make a business grow. My only
question is, will it be yours?
SUBMIT
He is the co-founder of NP Digital. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web,
Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the
100 most brilliant companies. Neil is a New York Times bestselling author and was recognized as a top
100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age
of 35 by the United Nations.
LEARN MORE
GuidesAgency
● Digital Marketing
● Online Marketing
● Google AdWords
● Facebook Advertising
● Remarketing
● SEO
● Content Marketing
● Blogging
● Growth Hacking
● Affiliate Marketing
● Conversion Optimization
● Marketing Automation
Tools
● SEO Analyzer
● Ubersuggest
● Backlinks Checker
● Chrome Extension
Comments (3)
●
●