At the end of each month, I respond to a reader Q+A. This month, a reader asked me a very important question about growing on Substack. Here’s the question: How to attract more people to sign up for our Substack and to engage and upgrade?
I thought, girl, this question deserves an entire post dedicated to it. So, here we are.
My 3-step process for growing consistently on Substack and reaping the rewards of your work.
(And, even if you are not interested in Substack success specifically, the embodiment practices in this post are useful towards the achievement of any goal.)
You can watch the video for this post here, where I include some additional asides as I read this post aloud, or you can listen to this post as written in the Substack app.
Let’s get into it.
Step One: Envision YOUR Best Scenario
The technical step: Set up your publication for success.
Set your publication branding, align your color scheme, create a logo for your publication. Set a profile picture which shows your pretty face.
All this branding is meant to give an authentic sense of who you are and who your publication serves.
On that note, your bio on your Substack profile is important. Ensure that it reflects who you are and who you serve. And perhaps it also offers a playful glimpse into your other interests.
For example, mine is: writer on a small island. beach + garden fairy. reflections on creativity, whimsy, and embodiment 💗
Once you’ve set up your Substack profile, you are prepared to tailor your publication’s About Page and your welcome emails to your branding.
Your About Page presents who you are to the wider world. People will find it when they visit your site, so make sure that it reflects who you are.
Your welcome emails should similarly present who you are. The welcome email is the first sweet little note that new readers receive in their inbox from you, so be sure that you love what they will receive.
I use my About Page as the template for my welcome email, so that there is recognition and cohesion there.
You can also add bonuses to your welcome emails, such as direct links to some of your most popular posts, or a freebie PDF, if that is something that you offer to new readers.
I recommend checking in on your About Page and your welcome emails at least quarterly. Give it a read-through and make any necessary cuts, additions, and updates as needed.
Keep in mind, none of this is set in stone. So don’t worry about getting started. Create what you like now, and you can always change it later.
Your branding can evolve with your publication over time.
Personally, over my four years on Substack, I have changed my publication name and my branding four times. I think I have finally found what sticks, but each phase was wonderfully beneficial to me.
Just start. Now is the best time to create from.
I offer a Set up Your Substack for Success consultation to writers new to the platform as well as those established who seek my direction in creating meaningful updates. If you’d like support with this step, you can book your Set up Your Substack for Success consultation with me here. Once booked, I follow up to schedule our call!
A side note to respond directly to my reader’s question— If your publication shares primarily scientific research, that is great! And also, it’s important to imbue your publication with your personality so that people get to know you, they connect with the writer behind the information that is being presented. This does not necessarily mean that you need to share personal stories as entire posts, but it does mean that there is perhaps space for you to add in personal anecdotes here and there. Perhaps in your intro or your sign off to your email. A little warm note here and there. And/ or you could focus your personal stories into Substack notes. Whenever a piece of your research from your work comes to mind, springing naturally from a connection in your life, you could perhaps type those up as Substack notes in the moment. I find conversational writing— dialogue between two voices so distinct and interesting, and I think this could work well for your growth on Substack notes. I imagine you have conversations with folks regarding this research in daily life— what interesting bits of those conversations can you copy down and share? Notes that show discrepancies in understanding, and can point to how your publication brings the solution, and how your deep dives into the scientific literature shine a light on the truth — will be so powerful!!
The embodiment practice: Spend some time in silent meditation with the intention to receive clarity on what the best scenario is on Substack for you.
Not for anyone and everyone else. For you.
Prime your mind with these questions— Who am I on Substack? What am I here to share? And who am I here to serve?
If you like, ask your guides and angels to send you clarity. Open your heart and be patient. Clarity arrives at just the right time. Record what you receive. ✨
Step Two: Create w/ YOUR Best Scenario in Mind
The technical step: Post consistently. At least once a week to see steady growth.
Get to know your Substack dashboard. Check in with your analytics. Book a Success call with yours truly. I can walk you through all those details.
To take full advantage of Substack’s network effect, post to Substack notes.
And I learned this rather recently— don’t include direct links to your articles in Substack notes. The algorithm deprioritizes notes with links.
Instead, treat Substack notes as its own form of mini-content.
Perhaps you pull some lines from your recent Substack posts and you paste them into notes. Maybe you even convert them to pretty graphics to catch people’s eyes.
Maybe you ask questions on Substack notes. Maybe you give out calls to connect with your ideal readers, or your next creative community.
By this point, we’ve probably all seen those “Dear Substack, please connect me to…” posts which have gone viral with 12k+ likes and such. If you haven’t yet, check out Substack notes and go connect with folks!
The embodiment practice: Some reflection + mindset work. It’s time to get out your journal and write by hand! Open that creative channel, y’all!
Here are your prompts: If your aim is to grow, how large do you want to grow?
If your aim is to be a full-time writer, what does your schedule look like? Where does writing on Substack currently fit into your life?
What inspires you and gets you writing? What slows down your writing?
Track each mindfully. Notice patterns. Seek more of what inspires you and set an intention to reduce inputs that slow your process. Take the necessary steps.
Change starts with a decision. You’ve made the right decision in taking the time to reflect on these questions.
Positive changes compound over time and with consistent effort. Keep at it.
You’ve got this!
Step 3: Balance Structure + Creative Freedom
Substack is the place where creative people gather for real, authentic exchange. It is the place where writers get to go deeper and become more expressive than traditional news media outlets have allowed.
There’s an authenticity to Substack that I don’t want us to lose. An authenticity worth protecting.
(Side note: I do see bots entering the platform, I do see regurgitated pinterest-y photos, and AI generated content. As a photographer and writer, I share from a place of authentic creativity. All my photography and writing is original. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this — how are you navigating the rise of AI-generated content on Substack? And who are the truly authentic writers I should connect with? Please share in the comments.)
That aside, Substack remains the best place on the internet where writers are creating on their own terms.
The key is finding that balance of structure and creative freedom. I started this publication in complete creative freedom. I started with posting once a month… and in four years, I have pivoted multiple times, and I now operate in a structure that allows me to post weekly, see consistent growth, and feel fulfilled in expressing my creativity.
So, here’s my formula to strike the balance — structure first, then creative flow.
The technical step: Set up structure where it matters, and allow freedom every where else that it is helpful.
Here are two key structures I like to have set up to support my consistent growth on Substack.
Client Archetypes — Know Who You Are Writing For
Most of the popular advice for business owners is to identify their ideal client avatar— write for one person that you serve, basically. I found that difficult to narrow down to one type of ideal client, so I combined the concept of my ideal reader avatar with another concept my business coaches taught me, the four stages of buyer awareness.
Therefore, I use the structure of my four client archetypes — let me know if you want a deeper dive on this topic.
Ideal client avatar + four stages of awareness = my four client archetypes.
This way, I can speak to my readers at each stage of awareness, which in my business, is a natural cycle that we all move through.
This structure helps me know who I am speaking to and when I am speaking to them. Thereby, my content cycles through speaking to each of my four client archetypes. This gives me a natural cadence to move through when I am considering what to post next.
For example, this is the end of the month post and it speaks to my wise-woman reader archetype, the woman who is farthest along in her journey. She knows she wants more success on Substack, and she is here to get it!
However, in each of my posts, I also make sure to include some value to every reader archetype, even if that is weaving in some encouragement, some lightness, and referencing back to other posts.
As another example, my first post of the month is generally written towards my ‘youngest’ reader archetypes, the novices and the seekers.
I don’t subscribe to the belief that we all need to make a “content engine” that serves our business.
Rather, I like to be guided by my creativity and allow space for intuitive posting. My monthly structure allows for that creativity to flow within the cadence I have set out.
Each month makes its own kind of music.
Monthly Cadence
The monthly cadence or ‘posting schedule’ helps me know what to expect and plan for each month. Yours may look different. Take what resonates and leave the rest.
Here’s the cadence that is serving me best this season:
Week 1: monthly themes + reflections post — priming the month
Week 2: free write post — this is maintaining that creative freedom for me to reflect on the monthly themes, share what is on my heart, and perhaps share a book update or two!
Week 3: Podcast interview with an expert guest — showcasing my interview skills + connected to a monthly theme
Week 4: Wrap the month on a lovely note with the Q+A post — you’re reading one of these now!
Structure provides the space for you to create within, it contains the movement, the flow, it holds your creative freedom gently and with care.
The embodiment practice: Spend a bit of time reflecting on how the energies of yin and yang are present in your life. Is there a right balance?
In Taoist philosophy, Yin represents the receptive container (key words: structure, stillness, rest), while Yang represents active flow (key words: flow, movement, transformation).
These two energies form a harmonious and dynamic loop where structure contains energy, and energy reshapes the structure.
You can check the balance of yin/ yang energy in these three key areas of your life:
In creativity, a daily ritual and/or guiding boundaries (Yin) provides your creativity the structure within which to brainstorm, innovate, and flow (Yang).
In exercise, a balance of strength training (Yang) with restorative practices like Yoga or meditation (Yin) encourages physical harmony. Your body needs the stimulation of strength training, and it needs gentle recovery.
In energy work (Qigong), settling and grounding (Yin) before initiating a movement (Yang) ensures that your movement is powerful. I also refer to this as “finding the desired feeling first,” in my birthday post linked here.
Optional Step 4 — Connect, connect, connect!
Substack has a strong network effect. The more you show up and connect here, the more this platform works for you.
So, use this network to find your readers and collaborators!
Connect with folks on notes! Host each other on your podcasts! Cross-post! Collaborate! I’d love to meet more of y’all, so please introduce yourselves in the comments + connect!
Here’s my intro:
If we haven’t met yet, hello, I am Sophia Claire and I am dedicated to co-creating my dream life with my handy tools of embodiment, self-love, and my faith to support it all. I previously worked as a national grants consultant, but I am working now to be a full-time writer and a bestselling author. My first novel is forthcoming.
Who do I serve?
I am passionate about encouraging young women through the developmental years, especially because I know that so many of the embodiment and self-love tools that I learned through my developmental years can serve them.
I am also grateful to serve healers, writers, and creatives who are farther along their healing journey and desire to connect in community. My offerings are always timely, and as a garden fairy myself, I offer wellness guidance that changes naturally with the seasons. 🧚🏻
I am also immensely grateful for the support of wise women in my life, and the way that these women continue to give back to their communities.
We all know that healing is not linear. I see “healing” more as an energy that we carry with us in our day-to-day.
Change is the only constant. I share embodiment practices so that we can respond in mature and/or informed and/or regulated ways to the new things that life presents us, or the old muck that comes up and needs to be processed, transmuted, and transformed.
Instead of reacting, we respond. with awareness.
This work is so valuable and impactful.
I promise, you reap dividends from spending time in this creative inner garden. You have your own, and I welcome you here into mine.
Draw all that you need from the wellspring of inspiration that I share here. ⛲️
Leave anything that does not serve. 🩵
Enter deeper into community if you feel called. ✨
I hope this post was immensely helpful— to those growing on Substack, to those using their embodiment practices towards another goal, and those doing both at the same time!
As always, I’d love to hear what you think.
And if you have any follow-up questions, feel free to send them my way.
with warmth and sincerity,
Sophia
