The Substack Algorithm Has No Secret. Here’s How You Grow by 500 Subscribers Each Month

The audience shortcut is hiding in plain sight. You're just too blind to actually see it

You're a loser if you think that the Substack algorithm is some mysterious beast that needs to be “hacked.”

That there’s a trick. A secret. A button hidden in the dashboard.

There isn’t.

There’s just strategy, consistency, and doing what actually works—even when it’s boring, unsexy, and not trending on your newsfeed.

If you’re tired of chasing hacks and ready to grow your Substack by 350+ subscribers each month without selling your soul, here’s exactly how to do it.

(From someone who's actually been doing it for 8 months in a row.)

Treat it like a part-time job

Most people treat Substack like a hobby.

They post “when they feel inspired.” Sometimes 10 times in a row. Then they disappear for weeks. And then they wonder why nobody’s reading.

If you want consistent growth, and ultimately Substack replacing your full-time income, here's one obvious tip: take it seriously.

If you worked at a café and only showed up when you felt like it, you’d get fired by Wednesday. Substack works the same way. The algorithm isn’t magic. It rewards the people who show up, not the ones who dabble.

And yes, it also means keep going when you get zero likes and zero comments.

Now here’s the thing: It doesn’t even have to take that much time.

You don’t need 4 hours a day or some elaborate content calendar in Notion with color-coded labels.

All you need is 1 focused hour a day. I'm writing this daily article at 6:17 AM. One article takes me roughly 45 minutes to write. I'm even live-streaming my writing sessions on YouTube.

Okay, you might be telling me, "Matt, you have been doing this for years, so you know how to do this fast."

That's true. But you just have to start somewhere. I started writing 300-word emails that took me somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half to write.

So even if your first article takes you an hour or two, that's where you start. And you're going to improve. Day after day.

You might not even need to post a daily article like I do. You could just write 5 short-form pieces and reply to 20 notes.

Treat it like a part-time job.

The "nicheless" is the biggest scam on Substack

Nobody subscribes just to “support your journey.”

They hit that subscribe button because they think you can help them with something. Full stop.

So you need to stand for something. Solve one clear problem. And talk about that relentlessly.

You might feel the resistance because you have a lot of things to share. You have a lot of passions. Perhaps a bit of ADHD.

But you need to get over it.

It’s like getting hired at a café to make coffee…

And then you start rearranging the furniture, redesigning the logo, updating the playlist, and offering unsolicited life advice to customers.

You’re doing everything except the job you were hired for.

That’s what being nicheless looks like to your readers.
They came for coffee.
Stop handing them a chaotic buffet of whatever’s on your mind.

People who tell you that you don't need a niche are wrong.

They want you to feel good about being "unfocused." But the reality is that if you confuse people, you'll lose them.

They first come for a problem, and then stay for your personality.

You become niche-less after starting with a niche. That's how it works. Not the other way around.

Stop following stupid advice just because it makes you feel comfortable.

Give writing long form the finger

Substack is not Medium.

It forces you to become a short-form writer. This sucks. But that's the reality.

I'm writing a daily long-form article right now because I want to see whether or not you can grow on Substack by simply posting a lot of long-form content.

Now, don't get me wrong.

I'm actually running this challenge and I have over 5,000 subscribers. So my articles land in 5,000+ inboxes. But when you're just getting started, your newsletter will be invisible.

And focusing on simply writing long form is only going to multiply all your efforts by zero.

So you need to get your first few thousand subscribers. And probably the fastest way to do that is to start writing Notes.

Why? Because there's a newsfeed for Notes. And there is no newsfeed to discover new newsletters.

Become 55% more social

I hope you get it by now.

But Substack = social media.

So if you actually want to get noticed, it's not post'n'ghost. It's also about commenting.

Don't comment randomly. You always want to show up on accounts in your industry so that people can start discovering your work.

Here’s how this plays out in real life: you reply to someone’s Note. They notice. They check your profile. If your writing’s solid, they subscribe. Sometimes they even shout you out or recommend you.

All because you gave them 37 seconds of attention.

Recommendations

40.53% of my growth on Substack came from recommendations. What it means is that other people recommend subscribing to my newsletter.

There are two ways to play the recommendations game.

The first is intentional. You interact with writers in your niche. Leave thoughtful comments. Maybe share their work. Then, once there’s some rapport, you ask: “Wanna swap recommendations?”

The second? You just start recommending. No pitch. No expectations. Just click the button and hope they notice. If they’re paying attention—and not jerks—they might return the favor.

Both work.

Most writers don’t use either.

They sit there wondering why nobody’s recommending them while their rec list is empty.

And again, the best way to be intentional about it is to simply start commenting and treating it like a freaking social media platform.

Learn how to write

If your writing sucks, nothing else will save you.

Doesn’t matter if you post every day, master Notes, or rank on Google. If your writing is sloppy, boring, or just plain hard to follow—people won’t stick around.

Most new writers think writing more will make them better. It won’t. Not unless you’re learning what good writing looks like. Otherwise, you’re just getting really good at being bad.

A shortcut that I've used? Copying great writing by hand.

Seriously. Find writers you admire—people whose words make you stop scrolling—and handwrite their work. No typing. No skimming. Just you, pen, and paper.

It rewires your brain. You start to feel sentence flow. You notice word choices. You see how punchlines land. It’s the fastest way I know to absorb what works.

I did this with sales pages and blog posts. Not because I wanted to steal. But because I wanted to learn. Think of it like a musician playing other people’s songs before writing their own. Same principle.

Writing isn’t just typing your thoughts. It’s knowing how to package them so someone else gives a damn.

That means structure. Rhythm. Voice. Simplicity.

You get better not just by writing—but by becoming a better writer.

So yes, write consistently. But also study. Copy. Imitate until you find your own style. And for the love of clarity—edit.

Stop whining

Substack's algo ain't broken.

You’re just inconsistent, invisible, or incoherent.

Pick a problem, show up daily, and give people a damn reason to care—or shut up about your slow growth.