This is a beginner’s guide to building a publication on Substack. It takes best practices from other writers and Substack itself to walk you through a framework that will help you build a successful publication.

This guide took a good deal of time to assemble. If you find value from it, please share it with a friend and consider giving your support.

Table of Contents

Make Money

<aside> 💡

Define the Following:

• Know your readers: Who does your writing bring together? Why will people rally around your writing?
  • What value do they need that they’re willing to pay for?
    • Why will readers pay for your work?
    • What do these readers need or want more of?
    • What’s a problem only you can solve for your readers?
• Differentiate your writing: What about your voice, format, and content is different from other writing?
• Refine your content strategy: What will you publish for paying readers? What will you publish for free readers?
• Identify your financial goals: How much money do you want to make? </aside>

👉 Set realistic revenue goals

• 5% of free subscribers will become paying subscribers but aim for 10%
• Email open rate is a proxy for conversion
  • Multiply your free email list size by your approximate conversion rate, then multiply that by your price to set realistic revenue goal

👉 Deliver consistent value. Create something of value that people want to pay for. They will naturally pay to subscribe and share with friends.

• Publish 1x per week at the same day and time
• Set expectations for your readers: add your publication schedule to your About page and the Subscriber benefits section of your Settings page

👉 Prepare to Launch. Build a day-by-day plan to execute.

• What are you going to do to make this successful?
• Who are you going to reach out to?
• What emails are you going to send?

👉 5 Step Launch Plan:

1. Build an audience