What to Do When Your Substack Isn't Growing (At All)

This will fix 92% of your growth problem on this platform

I remember that day of January 1st, 2023, when I sat down and mapped out 52 Substack newsletter ideas in under an hour.

I was excited. I saw other writers grow here.

But then reality hit: I posted 10 newsletters and quit.

Why? I had too many things on my plate.

Add to this what I saw:

• No growth.

• No traction.

• Just silence.

I thought Substack was broken.

I came back to Substack in July 2024, and since then, my subscriber count has been growing by at least 500 new subscribers each month.

Let's see what had to change.

You're trying to monetize too early

Everyone's obsessed with making money with their newsletter.

But when you're just starting out, you’re trying to squeeze juice from a fruit that hasn’t even ripened.

And that’s the exact reason your Substack’s stuck.

Most people rush to slap a price tag on their content. $8/month sounds cute… until you do the math.

~3% of your free subscribers are going to turn into paid subscribers.

At that rate, you’d need around 600 paying subscribers just to hit a humble $5K/month. Do the math. You know what gets you there? Roughly 10,000 free subscribers.

If you're growing by 500 subs a month (like me), you'd need 2 years to hit these numbers.

That's hard when nobody can share your best stuff.

Because paid content can’t go viral. It’s invisible. Hidden behind a wall no one can peek over.

So when someone lands on your Substack, they don’t get a taste of your value. They get a gate.

Instead? Give your content away for free.

Because Free content spreads. Free content gets shared. Free content builds trust.

Then, charge for implementation. Charge for the personalized advice.

Because it's only after people see you, like you, and trust you, that they’ll pay for implementation.

Go free first.

You're not writing about a painful problem

Most of you writers are selfish jerks. Sorry. But nobody cares about your passion or what YOU want to write about.

If your Substack isn't growing, it's probably because you're writing for yourself—not for the people you're trying to reach.

You're sharing your interests, your musings, your latest rabbit hole obsession. But people don’t subscribe to watch your journal unless you're Lady Gaga.

They subscribe (and pay) to get help.

And help means solving real, painful problems.

Problems that keep them up at night. Problems that make them feel stuck, dumb, or behind.

Think about it. Would you subscribe to a newsletter called “Stuff I Think About While Drinking Coffee”?

Exactly.

But “How to Grow A Profitable Newsletter Without Burning Out In Just 2 Hours A Day (Even If You Have a Full-Time Job and Kids)”?

Now we’re talking.

That’s a problem people feel.

When you don’t, you’re like a street performer playing jazz flute in a food court. Technically impressive. But no one cares. They’re hungry.

So here’s what to do right now:
Scroll through Reddit. Amazon. Or some competitor in your niche.

Look what people complain about in the comments.

Then write about that.

Write about the pain they’re already feeling.

You're all over the place

If your Substack looks like a buffet, you’ve got a problem.

I get it—you’ve got range. Multi-passionate. Maybe even some ADHD.

And you want to write about EVERYTHING. One day it’s productivity tips. The next, is your thoughts on AI. Then a personal story about your dog’s digestive issues.

Cool for a diary. Terrible for growth.

People don’t subscribe to “variety.” They subscribe for consistency.

If they don’t know what they’re gonna get next week, they’re out.

I made this mistake on my YouTube channel back in 2020.

I thought I was doing everything right—talking about how to build a successful business online.

But one day I’d talk about getting testimonials for your online courses…
The next, I’d go deep on Google Trends…
Then I’d switch it up with a video about passive income.
And in between, I also posted some content about how to build a second rig.

It felt productive because I was banging out 6 videos a week. But it murdered my growth.

When you’re all over the place, you confuse the algorithm. More importantly, you confuse people.

A confused algorithm doesn't know who to show your content to. And confuses people.

So both bounce.

If you want your Substack to grow, pick one clear theme. Not five. Not three. One.

That doesn’t mean you have to write the same post over and over.

It means you write about the same problem, from a hundred different angles.

Sometimes when you're just getting started, you actually don't know what you want to write about. It's okay to start three different projects and just see the one that excites you the most.

I remember talking to

Derek Hughes

on my podcast. He told me that when he first got started on Medium, he also wrote about investing because that's also one of its areas of expertise.

But what really resonated with him and the audience was writing about writing. Sounds meta.

But who cares?

Sit down. Make a list of all the topics you're juggling. Then choose the one you want to be known for.

Build a binge-worthy archive around it.

Send one clear signal to earn attention.

You don't understand the platform rules

Most people just don't get it.

But building your online business requires more discipline than your 9-5. If you can't commit to a content schedule, forget about it.

The problem is that most people's content schedule is broken.

Writing one newsletter a week? LOL. You’re playing the game without reading the rulebook.

Every platform has its own way of working. Substack’s no different.

Substack writers treat it like a blog from 2005. Write a long post, hit publish, and cross fingers.

Meanwhile, the ones who grow are using every tool Substack gives them.

Notes. Comments. Recommendations.

If you ignore those, you’re basically walking into a chess match and trying to play poker.

Totally different ballgame.

Substack favors interaction. It rewards engagement. Growing with long-form alone? I'm waiting.

And I used to be the guy who’d write the weekly essay and disappear.
Zero engagement. Zero growth.

Then I started showing up in Notes, dropping real comments on other posts, and actually replying to people.

Things changed. Fast.

Substack isn’t Medium. It’s not X. It’s a hybrid. And if you treat it like a passive publishing tool, you're leaving attention (and subscribers) on the table.

So if you’ve been posting into the void… now you know why it’s so quiet.

Want to grow? Spend 15 minutes a day reading Notes, replying with actual thoughts, and leaving meaningful comments on posts you like.

Posting without itneraction = 0, baby.

Your brain is silently destroying your growth

The fastest way to kill your growth? Don’t post.

That’s it. That’s the trap.

But most people don’t call it what it is. They dress it up.

“I’m outlining.”
“I’m researching.”
“I’m brainstorming angles.”

Nah. You’re procrastinating.

Avoiding because you don’t feel ready. You don’t feel clear. You don’t think it’ll be good enough.

I used to spend hours tweaking headlines, rewriting intros, and jumping between five drafts—none of which got published.

It feels productive. But it's just glorified procrastination.

Here’s what I figured out:

• You don’t need more time.

• You don’t need better tools.

• You don’t need a new system.

You need to press publish.

Right now, I write and post one Substack article per day. It takes less than an hour. I'm streaming my writing sessions on YouTube.

And no, I don’t have some magical productivity gene.

The secret? Constraints.

I open a timer. I write. I hit publish. Done.

Is every post a masterpiece? Absolutely not. Some have typos. Some would make your copyeditor scream "MURDER!" But some hit hard. And those only exist because I showed up daily.

Growth comes from momentum—not perfection.

Block 1 hour. Write something. Post it. Repeat tomorrow.

Human 101

I’m an introvert to the bone.

If you saw me in public and said “Hi,” I’d probably panic, sweat, and pretend I didn’t hear you.

That’s why I love the internet. I can sit in my briefs, and say smart things from behind a screen, and no one asks me to make eye contact.

That's why I love writing.

But here’s the problem: Substack isn’t just a writing platform. It’s a social platform.

And social platforms run on interaction.

Publishing a weekly article and ghosting the rest of the time? That’s the equivalent of whispering into a hurricane.

You have to interact. Even if you're shy. Even if you hate it. Even if it feels awkward.

Because that’s how people discover you. That’s how you earn trust. That’s how the damn algorithm notices you exist.

But let me be clear:
You don’t need to turn into a networking robot.
You don’t need to spend 3 hours writing performative comments either.

Just 15–30 minutes a day.
Skim Notes.
Comment on stuff you genuinely care about.
Respond to other writers.

That’s it.

But don’t drop lazy comments like “Nice post.” That’s useless. Add something. Continue the conversation.

Think of it like this: Substack is a dinner party. If all you do is talk about yourself and then leave the room, nobody invites you back.

Stick around. Contribute. Be human.

Show up in the conversation if you want to be remembered.

Stop Crying, Start Posting

You’re not shadowbanned. You’re just hiding.

Substack isn’t broken—you’re just treating it like a diary instead of a platform.

So stop whining, show up daily, and make people give a damn.