The Only 4 “Tricks” to Success on Substack

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Substack is so exciting right now

The platform is exploding. More and more people are reading and subscribing.

The other day, in my apartment building’s laundry room, someone asked me what I do and I told them I help writers and creators build a platform and get paid to do what they love on Substack, and for the first time, the person didn’t respond, “What’s Substack?” and instead said, “I subscribe to one of those.”

Why some people might not be excited

With all that excitement, we’re also attracting a lot of new people. (It’s like everyone at Medium and LinkedIn just got the memo.)

The stats are compelling. I don’t have exact figures but it’s something like:

• In 2024, everyone and their brother started a Substack. :)

This stat can provoke all kinds of emotions like jealousy (fearing someone will take what I have) and envy (wanting what someone else has) and insecurity (lack of self-confidence) and general uncertainty, overwhelm, unease, and malaise.

Having more people starting Substacks isn’t a bad thing; it just is.

How to make the most of what Substack offers right now

Despite claims from many of the new people trying to sell you on how to get rich quick on Substack, success on Substack

• is a long game,

• doesn’t come from crunching numbers or over-analyzing metrics or begging people to follow or subscribe to you or pay you, and

• doesn’t happen by copying what the top Substacks do or when other people post or what they write or how long their posts are.

It comes from these four things.

The Only 4 “Tricks” to Success on Substack

1. Know the platform—really understand how it works because having subscribers and communicating via email is totally different from having “followers” on social media or Medium

2. Know yourself—get clarity on how your gifts, talents, and expertise will work best on the platform and how to communicate what you do to subscribers

3. Have the support of a community of totally amazing, inspiring writers and creators (ahem, all of you!)

4. Receive real guidance from an expert in Substack strategy and the writing skills and craft techniques you need

Which is why I’ve designed all Substack Writers at Work posts, lives, and workshops with all the recent platform changes and your success in mind.