Substack Growth For Creators Who Refuse To Hustle

You Don’t Need to Post More to Grow On Substack

Substack was supposed to be different.

When I started my Substack publication I sought a different way to do things.

It was the start of me prioritizing writing but I was still caught up in the glam of hustle culture and the false perception that I needed to be everywhere to grow my audience online.

Being everywhere got me nowhere.

• I would write a 2,000-word newsletter.

• Film myself speaking it aloud for YouTube.

• Pull the audio for my podcast.

• Pull 3-5 clips for 5+ platforms.

It felt like anxiety filled every waking minute of my life as I would incessantly check my stats every time I picked up my phone.

Starting and ending work in the dark, editing videos between calls, and eating lunch at my desk while I scheduled my content left me with a neverending feeling of not doing enough.

It didn’t last long—before I deleted YouTube and podcasting from my to-do list.

And grew my Substack to 3,135 subscribers and 4,932 followers.

As my calendar opened I began to feel new pressures.

Pressures to replace this newfound time with posting more to grow my Substack.

I quickly became exposed to publications posting 5+ weekly newsletters and people sending daily emails to grow their Substacks.

It was the same hustle culture—on Substack.

I’ve dug my heels in and challenged the norms—sometimes resulting in negative comments.

Here’s the thing: I don’t believe we need to hustle to grow.

The thoughts swirl through my mind regularly. Thinking I should be doing more, could be posting more often, and a little voice telling me I should get back on YouTube, and re-start my podcast.

Maybe, one day—but only when it feels easy.

I challenge myself to explore this regularly:

What would this journey look like if it were easy?

This thought experiment has led me to find simple strategies to grow my Substack publication, not to mention reduce my working hours.

Here are a few ways I grow without keeping up with the Jones’.

I write 1 high-quality post per week.

I’m obviously biased when I say high quality ;-)

I don’t send daily emails, write 5 weekly newsletters, or write 1,000 words per day.

I’ve experimented with higher frequencies but found that 1 (sometimes 2) was my sweet spot.

Anytime I pushed beyond, it resulted in two things happening. First, my stress and anxiety spiked through the pressures of producing that volume while still working. Second, I didn’t notice an increase in new subscribers.

I only explored 1+ when I had 2-3 months of content scheduled in advance. I want peace of mind, not stress and anxiety. If inspiration hits and I write 3 posts, I schedule them over the next 3 weeks instead of posting them right away.

Once we have a consistent posting schedule in place, it can be beneficial to work on improving the quality of your work instead of increasing quantity—at the expense of quality.

My goal is to create content so good people want to share it. Hint, hint ;-)

I wish I had a special formula and framework for this, but for me, it’s been a natural evolution. Over time, I began to work on improving my headlines and titles. Then working on improving my topics. As I write this piece, I am working to improve the depth of my articles.

To me, quality starts small. Focus on incremental improvements.

Writing guest posts exposed me to thousands of new readers.

I didn’t need to post more or run ads for instant exposure to 1000s of new readers. Guest posting has generated me 100s of new Subscribers not to mention building a foundation for our next point, recommendations.

Guest posts and collaborations with other creators are an overlooked source of growth. For years, I tried to do it alone—I had something to prove. I’ve realized that I was misguided. There’s nothing to prove. We’re all working towards similar goals.

As a marketer, I knew the power of collaborations.

Years ago, I wrote guest blogs when I owned a gym and worked as a nutrition coach. I’ve witnessed the power of being interviewed on podcasts and having guests on mine. And I’ve presented to numerous communities and masterminds.

I figured Substack would be no different—and it wasn’t.

I’ve written guest posts for a few publications now. Some had larger audiences, others similar, and even smaller. But they were all new audiences.

Substack is set up to allow for increased exposure through collaborations. You’re listed as a co-author of the post. You can share it to your Notes and Cross-Post it to your publication, which provides added benefit to the other party.

I have a simple process for approaching collaborations.

It starts with identifying potential collaboration partners. Ideally, publications with a similar-sized following, with a similar niche, and where you’re experience and expertise can be valuable.

First, I begin building a relationship with them. Commenting and engaging with their posts. Maybe recommending their publication. This way when I reach out to them they (hopefully) know who I am.

Next, I prepare the article in advance. Remember, you must think of what is valuable to their audience. If they write about Fitness, content on Finance is not likely relevant. I review their content and then brainstorm what value I can deliver. Then I write the entire article before pitching them the idea. This way if they say no, I can post the piece on my publication.

The most important thing is to make it as easy as possible. There should not be any work involved for them. Avoid making them exert effort to help you, don’t ask them what they want you to post. It should be well-researched, valuable, fully edited, and ready for them to copy-paste into their Substack.

Tip: Publications that have previously posted guest authors are generally easy to approach because it’s part of their business model. The other easiest ask is people you have a well-established relationship with.

My goal for every guest piece I write is to make it their top article.

I’ve generated 472 subscribers from recommendations.

Many were gained organically through people enjoying my work. Some have come from friends and relationships I’ve cultivated. But you’d be surprised to learn that some were swaps and some were simply asks—the worst they can say is no.

There are a few ways that I’ve found to generate recommendations.

1. Produce recommendation-worthy content.

2. Network and build relationships with other creators.

3. Ask.

Generally speaking, that’s the order the order I follow.

Asking without a pre-existing relationship or connection is much more difficult. And asking if they are not a fan of or have a similar audience doubly so.

Last week I fired off a message.

“Yo [X]- Curious if you'd be open to a recommendation swap?”

I have been following this writer for over a year. I’ve engaged with their content and we’ve had a few conversations in the DMs. They replied saying they enjoyed my content and were open to it.

It’s not always that easy—but it can be.

I’ve received many recommendations from people that I don’t know. Currently, 87 publications recommend mine. I attribute this to producing content people enjoy for 16+ months. This is something that can’t be shortcut.

My newest strategy, inspired by a conversation with my friend and mentor

Matt Lillywhite 🇬🇧

is going through my subscribers, sorting by people who engage the most, sparking conversations where I will eventually pitch mutual recommendations.

This is one of the most powerful and hands-off ways to grow.

Notes are the growth engine on Substack.

You needed a microscope to see my growth before I started posting Notes.

While I often recommend people start by building a habit of posting 1 long-form post per week, it’s often not enough to grow, at the rate people desire, without a source of traffic.

Many creators leverage platforms like X or LinkedIn to drive people to their newsletters however, Substack has a growth tool built-in—Notes.

Notes allow you to turn Substack into a marketing funnel.

They allow you to generate exposure through the Substack algorithm and reach new audiences with people like, comment, and restack. They generate new followers and subscribers and put your long-form posts in front of more users where you can create depth and build rapport.

Ideas can be pulled from your posts, your experiences, and even the questions and comments you receive. I’ve found short 3-6 line Notes posted daily contribute greatly to my growth.

I generally recommend posting 1 Note per day.

The sweet spot for your publication and rate of growth may vary from 3-5 per week to 1-3 per day. But the most important thing is consistency. Showing up consistency builds name recognition and allows you to see what type of Notes (topic, length, structure) work best.

Comments can help build your publication.

But I don’t spend 30 minutes per day commenting instead I abide by a simple philosophy.

Comment in the margins of life.

Waiting for your coffee at Starbucks, in between sets at the gym, waiting at the barbershop, riding the bus—it only takes 1 minute to post a comment.

The simplest “hack” I can give you is to stop scrolling or uninstall your other social media apps. Instead of thumbing TikTok for 5 minutes, you open Substack.

You can casually comment and engage with other accounts. But if you’re jonesing for a strategy, bookmark 5-10 people you want to connect with in your niche and comment on their posts.

Commenting can increase exposure as well as build and nurture relationships.

Start with what suits you best.

My biggest success lever as I left the hustle culture behind was consistency.

I’ve created a simple plan built off my minimal viable habit of writing and it drives my growth each day.

• Focus on a single platform—Substack.

• Consistently publish 1 newsletter per week.

• Occasionally write guest posts.

• Publish 1 Note per day.

• Generate recommendations.

• Comment in the margins.

Results compound with time.

The magic of this strategy is patience. Consistently executing it without a hyper-focus on short-term results. Allowing the results the time they need to compound.

My biggest realization came one day seeing people citing my work.

I saw someone share one of my posts on LinkedIn. Then I found writers featuring my posts in theirs. I found others writing about or featuring my concepts. I began waking up to new subscribers and product sales.

12 Months after I started writing on Substack this little writing habit was working.

It’s not about hockey stick growth and hustle-and-grind.

It’s not needed.

Hell, I was growing before I even started posting comments.

Start small—focus on what feels almost too easy.

Then, don’t stop—consistently execute.

Find your pace.

Enjoyed this post? Share your thoughts in the comments or spread the word by hitting the Restack button.

Landon