Everything You Know About Substack Is Probably Making Your Growth Harder (Seriously)
take 10 minutes to read this and decides if you want to continue on Substack...
A few years ago, the dream for writers looked something like this:
Get lucky on social media.
Go viral.
Maybe get noticed by a publisher.
Maybe build an audience.
Maybe somehow turn writing into income.
Which honestly sounds a little bit like trying to become a millionaire by buying one lottery ticket and âmanifesting abundanceâ in your bedroom
But the internet changed.
And most writers still havenât realized it yet.
Right now, there are writers quietly building real audiences, real communities, and real income streams without posting 7 TikToks a day, without dancing for algorithms, and without needing millions of views.
Theyâre doing it through owned audiences.
Mostly on Substack.
And I genuinely think a lot of people are underestimating how big this shift is becoming.
The one I will expose to you in this article and the 3 main obstacles keeping you stuck from growing.
Letâs go!
The Real Shift Happening Right Now
This is why I became obsessed with Substack.
Not because itâs âtrendy.â
But because it fixes the biggest problem writers have:
You finally own the connection.
When someone subscribes to your newsletter, theyâre not just liking a post.
Theyâre giving you direct access to them.
Their email.
Their attention.
Their trust.
That changes EVERYTHING.
Because now:
you donât need to go viral every week
you donât need millions of views
you donât need to beg an algorithm for visibility
You can simply build relationships over time.
And honestly?
Thatâs how the biggest creators online are winning now.
Not by chasing random traffic forever.
But by building ecosystems.
One subscriber at a time.
(and with Substack, itâs way easier than any other social media!)
Hey! If you donât know me, Iâm William, a 20-year-old creator who spent months posting into the void before figuring out how to actually grow on Substack đ
Since then, Iâve grown my newsletter to 1,500+ subscribers, helped 40+ writers improve their growth, built the Growth Lab community, and tested hundreds of growth experiments while juggling school, work, training, and content creation at the same time.
Now Iâm documenting everything Iâm learning so you can grow faster without wasting months figuring it out alone.
Every Monday, I break down big Substack creators and why they grow. Every Wednesday, I share a practical growth article. And every Friday, we have real conversations inside the community. Subscribe and build with us đ€
Why Most Writers Still Stay Stuck on Substack
Now hereâs where people mess up.
They hear:
âSubstack is growing fast.â
So they create an accountâŠ
Write 2 articlesâŠ
Get 14 viewsâŠ
Then disappear into the shadow realm forever.
Because they think growth magically happens by posting.
It doesnât.
Substack is NOT magic.
Itâs leverage.
Big difference.
The writers growing fast usually understand 3 things:
1. Clear Positioning
People need to instantly understand:
who you help
what problem you solve
why they should care
If someone lands on your page and your bio says:
âThoughts about life, creativity, philosophy, entrepreneurship, fitness, culture and random things.â
âŠI have absolutely no idea why I should subscribe đ
You need clarity.
Not complexity.
For example:
helping beginner writers grow on Substack
helping students become more disciplined
helping creators monetize small audiences
Simple wins.
2. Consistent Visibility
Nobody discovers invisible writers.
And this is where people underestimate Notes and comments.
Comments are honestly one of the most underrated growth systems on Substack.
Because every big writer already has your audience sitting in their comment section.
Thatâs crazy when you think about it.
You donât need to âfindâ your audience from scratch.
You just need to consistently show up where they already are.
This is literally what I did early on.
I would:
leave thoughtful comments
ask good questions
connect with smaller writers
DM people naturally
restack content I genuinely liked
Nothing fancy.
But over time people started recognizing my name.
And familiarity builds trust WAY faster online than people think.
(Which is also why you somehow know random internet people better than your own cousins at this point )
3. Systems > Motivation
This one changed everything for me.
Most writers rely on motivation.
Thatâs dangerous.
Because motivation disappears the second:
school gets stressful
work gets busy
your post flops
life punches you in the face for a week
Systems survive bad days.
Thatâs why instead of asking:
âHow do I stay motivated?â
Ask:
âHow do I make growth easier to repeat?â
For example:
writing 1 main article weekly
turning that article into 5 Notes
spending 20 minutes daily commenting
DMing 3 new people per day
collecting audience problems inside a document
Now growth becomes predictable instead of emotional.
Thatâs a HUGE difference. (and a difference not a lot of people are willing to build)
Join the Newsletter Growth Labđ for FREE and unlock a growing audience of loyal readers in the next 90 days. Include: mini-courses, real growth breakdowns, experiments, and a community of writers building together instead of trying to figure Substack out alone. Free for early members before it becomes paid.
The Part Nobody Wants To Hear
Iâm gonna be honest with you.
If I had to restart from 0 today on Substack, I would NOT obsess over writing the âperfect article.â
Because the biggest lie online is probably this:
âJust write great content and people will find you.â
No they wonât
I genuinely wish that were true.
There are brilliant writers sitting at 42 subscribers right now⊠while average writers with stronger systems quietly build massive audiences.
Because growth is rarely just about writing quality.
Visibility matters.
Connection matters.
Consistency matters.
And honestly? Thatâs the part most writers underestimate.
They think one good article will magically fix everything.
But then the real questions appear:
how do I actually get people to SEE my writing?
how do I build relationships with readers and creators?
what do I say in DMs without sounding awkward?
how do I turn attention into loyal subscribers?
what happens if people subscribe⊠then disappear forever?
how do I stay consistent when growth feels slow?
how do I build systems so Iâm not relying on motivation every week?
Thatâs where most writers get stuck.
Because what I just shared with you is only 10% of the complete system to turn your Substack into a real growing place!
The writers winning long term are usually not the most talented.
Theyâre the ones who:
stayed visible
built systems
learned audience psychology
kept improving
kept showing up after bad weeks
Thatâs the real game.
And honestly? Most people reading this still wonât build an audience.
Not because theyâre dumb.
But because theyâll:
overthink for 4 months
redesign logos 17 times
consume productivity videos all day
wait until everything feels âperfectâ
Instead of simply:
writing
connecting
testing
improving
Over and over again.
That repetition is the boring secret nobody wants to hear.
But itâs also why growth eventually compounds.
Itâs kind of like going to the gym once, looking in the mirror, then getting angry because you donât look like a Marvel superhero by Thursday đ
Thatâs exactly why I created Newsletter Growth Lab.
A FREE community where I share the complete systems I personally use to grow on Substack while balancing school, sports, writing, content creation, and everything else life randomly throws at you.
Because I genuinely believe everybody should have access to this information instead of trying to figure everything out alone for years.
Inside Growth Lab, I break down:
how to consistently grow on Substack
how to build relationships with readers and creators
how to create engagement systems that compound
how to use AI without sounding robotic
how to structure your newsletter for retention
how to turn subscribers into loyal fans
how to build systems instead of relying on motivation
and how to eventually monetize your audience authentically
Not fake âgo viral tomorrowâ advice.
Real systems.
Real testing.
Real execution.
And Iâve already seen these systems work for other writers too.
One creator inside the community went from around 400 subscribers to over 1,100 subscribers while making her first money online after applying the systems consistently.
Not because she magically became more talented overnight.
Because she stopped guessing and started building intentionally.
Thatâs the difference.
And honestly? The writers learning these skills now are going to have a huge advantage later.
Because while most people are still endlessly preparing and waiting for perfect conditionsâŠ
Others are quietly building:
trust
systems
audiences
relationships
communities
That compound every single month.
So if youâre tired of overthinking, growing painfully slowly, and trying to figure everything out aloneâŠ
Join us. đ„
Growth Lab is completely free because we genuinely believe everybody should have access to this information.
And your future audience is probably built more by the systems you repeat consistently than the âperfect strategyâ you never actually apply đ
Final Thought
A lot of writers are trying to become âcontent creators.â
But I honestly think the future belongs to people who build communities instead.
People are tired of fake optimization.
They want real voices.
Real stories.
Real connection.
Thatâs why newsletters are becoming so powerful.
Because readers are no longer just following content.
Theyâre following people.
And if you start building that relationship now?
Youâll have a massive advantage 2-3 years from today while everyone else is still trying to win the dopamine Olympics on social media đ
So if youâre starting today:
stop waiting to feel ready
simplify your niche
talk to readers like humans
build systems
stay visible
And most importantlyâŠ
Keep showing up long enough for people to finally notice you.
Because sometimes the difference between the writer who âmade itâ and the one who quitâŠ
is literally just 6 more months of consistency.
Every Monday I break down successful creators.
Every Wednesday I share practical growth strategies.
And every Friday we have real conversations with writers trying to build something meaningful online.
So if youâre tired of shouting into the voidâŠ
Subscribe!
See you next post,
â William đ