Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
I’ll be here answering questions and sharing insights in the comments today from 1-2 pm ET / 10-11 am PT. Feel free to start dropping items in now to get things rolling, and to help each other out with answers. I also encourage y’all to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
Looking forward to this one. We’ll do this without a format this time and see if it needs some more organization for the next round.
I'm new, trying to grow. Got a good idea of content/brand etc, but wanting to make sure I'm reaching the audience. I've got a format/schedule of when I post, I've also got some social media presence for the page. Looking for any tips and tricks
The podcast is definitely a good start. Having guests from within the Substack network on who can cross-post to their own audience is a big help. And I think any form of that audience sharing is the best place to go. Take advantage of recommendations and find ways to work with people who will start recommending your publication as well. This can begin via DM or engaging with other writers on Notes, which helps with discoverability. You can find the approach that feels right to you. (I'm personally hesitant to reach out to people if it feels like I'd just be using them and their audience to grow, but if it's someone whose work I genuinely love and think there's a cool collab or connection there, I go for it).
Unrelated: Interested in the decision to host and publish the podcast outside of Substack and what went into that. Not trying to get you to move it over here, just genuinely curious. Feel free to DM me about it!
No true comment just want to say thanks for creating this space for all of us to ask, learn, and engage. I tell my student-athletes all the time to hit up office hours if they’re confused or want to learn more so I’ll definitely utilize this!
Not a growth question (though I have many of those): but what’s your favorite Sports substack at the moment, Austin? Could be for any reason at all and could be transient as well.
I'm gonna sidestep the sports requirement for now — we'll do a roundup of the best in Substack sports later this month, and I like to avoid picking favorites lol — but the two newsletters I always open and read no matter what are After School and Feed Me. Casey and Emily do a great job of giving me information I wouldn't otherwise have, presenting it with an interesting and engaging voice, and then adding their own perspective on topics in a way I really value. Their ability to say, "Here's a cool story, and I texted someone about it who knows things, and here's what they really think," makes them must-reads for me.
Hi Austin! Could you please add Tennis Inside Numbers (https://tennisinsidenumbers.substack.com/) to the recommendations list on Substack Sports? It is a newsletter 100% dedicated to professional women's tennis, publishing data-based match analyses. Thank you!
I’m really curious about preferred posting times/days to boost readership. I’ve tried a few different times and I do think there’s (obviously) a higher open rate when something is particularly newsy. Also I’m wondering about tiers vs. just one subscription and if you’ve seen success more with one or the other. Thank you!
Open rates are typically highest in the morning time on weekdays (like before 10am). Having your newsletter hit before then can help. But I think that's also standard practice for many writers, meaning it's when most emails hit. Overall I don't think trying to game the timing will end up making a big difference in performance. I encourage sending when it feels right to you, outside of, like, posting at 10pm on Saturday (unless it's particularly newsy reaction).
And I really like the Substack default of having just one free tier, one paid tier and then potentially one founding tier. That's not just because I work here. I think too many tiers can add friction to those important conversion surfaces and also naturally drive people to the cheapest tier. Like I mentioned last week with the custom domain point, a lot of the value of setting up shop here is making it the one home base for people to get all of your work and support you. I think putting all of the premium content in one paid tier is effective, using the free tier to grow the size of your list, and then you can get creative with some founding tier perks for the people who want to go up to that extra level.
What's the most effective way of increasing the rate at which you convert free to paid subscribers? My conversion rate is around the 1% mark, which (from a quick look at a few Substack threads) looks quite low, but short of inspiration on how to change that! Interested to hear ideas 💡
I haven't gone paid yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but what's your value proposition for paid subs? Bonus content? Access to regular Substack chats? While some readers will be happy to support your project regardless, I suspect most need a persuasive reason to do so.
Yeah, the two pillars for a successful premium content business I recommend are:
+ A knockout elevator pitch that both you and your subscribers can say in one sentence that urgently incentivizes paid conversion
+ Some form of essential community element (active chat, comment section, podcast, or for some it's just writing with a voice that makes readers feel engaged and attached)
And then with each piece of free and premium content, check how well you're promoting both of those pillars. Check the previews to see the free subscriber experience before you send out the post. See how enticing a subscription would be if you only got the free preview. Check all of your important surfaces too (Subscribe, About, Welcome pages, free Welcome emails) and see how well you're promoting your value props and urgency to subscribe.
It can take time, but that's my recommended big-picture approach.
I hadn't considered checking the previews to get a sense of what a free sub would see. Appreciate the tip! I'll have to keep that in mind when I do make the switch.
Hi Vinh. Paid subs get a weekly email, monthly podcast and monthly Q&A, as well as access to an archive of 100+ sport psychology articles spanning best practice, strategy and theory. Free subs get a monthly email. Perhaps that's too much for nothing?
Sounds like awesome value! In that case, conversion might just be a matter of figuring out how to best convey it to your free subs. Tweaking/personalizing your CTAs (Subscribe button, Welcome email, About page) is probably the way to go. I believe Austin touched on that as well.
If you get around to it, please let us know what worked/didn't work!
I'm going to increase my site from $6/month and $60/year to $10/month, $100/year in a few weeks.
Once I do that, I'd do a 50% off annual discount once a week that is only advertised on the newsletter header that day and have that expire at midnight, so that would only be available for about 12 hours. No social media promotion or info in the actual newsletter. Just in the header for free subscribers. I'd also add "exclusive discounts" to the list of benefits for free subscribers.
I thought this would be a good way to both increase annual paid memberships and free subs, so let me know what ya think about this.
I think it's interesting. Like I mentioned last week, I'm fairly discount averse, but we've seen targeted strategies be effective and this is a cool experiment. Very curious to hear how it works, and what the conversion rate looks like after the first couple weeks.
Ultimately, I think continuing to grow the size of your free list is what will lead to more paid conversion.
Thank you for creating this space, Austin! This is super helpful.
I wasn't able to join yesterday, but just went through the different comments and, now that I am planning on going paid, the tips I found here will come in handy.
If anyone has any general advice for going paid, I'd love to read them!
I'm new, trying to grow. Got a good idea of content/brand etc, but wanting to make sure I'm reaching the audience. I've got a format/schedule of when I post, I've also got some social media presence for the page. Looking for any tips and tricks
The podcast is definitely a good start. Having guests from within the Substack network on who can cross-post to their own audience is a big help. And I think any form of that audience sharing is the best place to go. Take advantage of recommendations and find ways to work with people who will start recommending your publication as well. This can begin via DM or engaging with other writers on Notes, which helps with discoverability. You can find the approach that feels right to you. (I'm personally hesitant to reach out to people if it feels like I'd just be using them and their audience to grow, but if it's someone whose work I genuinely love and think there's a cool collab or connection there, I go for it).
Unrelated: Interested in the decision to host and publish the podcast outside of Substack and what went into that. Not trying to get you to move it over here, just genuinely curious. Feel free to DM me about it!
No true comment just want to say thanks for creating this space for all of us to ask, learn, and engage. I tell my student-athletes all the time to hit up office hours if they’re confused or want to learn more so I’ll definitely utilize this!
Happy to hear it! If any of your students wanna talk sports media stuff, I'm always game.
Not directly Substack-related but I'm currently looking for a literary agent. If anyone has a link, there's a first edition in it for you 🙃
Here's hoping the literary agent community is popping off in the Substack Sports hub
Not a growth question (though I have many of those): but what’s your favorite Sports substack at the moment, Austin? Could be for any reason at all and could be transient as well.
I'm gonna sidestep the sports requirement for now — we'll do a roundup of the best in Substack sports later this month, and I like to avoid picking favorites lol — but the two newsletters I always open and read no matter what are After School and Feed Me. Casey and Emily do a great job of giving me information I wouldn't otherwise have, presenting it with an interesting and engaging voice, and then adding their own perspective on topics in a way I really value. Their ability to say, "Here's a cool story, and I texted someone about it who knows things, and here's what they really think," makes them must-reads for me.
https://afterschool.substack.com/
https://emilysundberg.substack.com/
Also, like, sometimes they do actually cover sports! So I think I've effectively answered this one.
Lol Fair game! Going to have to check both of those out.🤝🏻
Hi Austin! Could you please add Tennis Inside Numbers (https://tennisinsidenumbers.substack.com/) to the recommendations list on Substack Sports? It is a newsletter 100% dedicated to professional women's tennis, publishing data-based match analyses. Thank you!
All set! Thanks for the nudge. I was out last week but will catch up on the recommendations over the weekend.
I’m really curious about preferred posting times/days to boost readership. I’ve tried a few different times and I do think there’s (obviously) a higher open rate when something is particularly newsy. Also I’m wondering about tiers vs. just one subscription and if you’ve seen success more with one or the other. Thank you!
Open rates are typically highest in the morning time on weekdays (like before 10am). Having your newsletter hit before then can help. But I think that's also standard practice for many writers, meaning it's when most emails hit. Overall I don't think trying to game the timing will end up making a big difference in performance. I encourage sending when it feels right to you, outside of, like, posting at 10pm on Saturday (unless it's particularly newsy reaction).
And I really like the Substack default of having just one free tier, one paid tier and then potentially one founding tier. That's not just because I work here. I think too many tiers can add friction to those important conversion surfaces and also naturally drive people to the cheapest tier. Like I mentioned last week with the custom domain point, a lot of the value of setting up shop here is making it the one home base for people to get all of your work and support you. I think putting all of the premium content in one paid tier is effective, using the free tier to grow the size of your list, and then you can get creative with some founding tier perks for the people who want to go up to that extra level.
https://sports.substack.com/i/142367808/do-i-need-a-custom-domain
What's the most effective way of increasing the rate at which you convert free to paid subscribers? My conversion rate is around the 1% mark, which (from a quick look at a few Substack threads) looks quite low, but short of inspiration on how to change that! Interested to hear ideas 💡
I haven't gone paid yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but what's your value proposition for paid subs? Bonus content? Access to regular Substack chats? While some readers will be happy to support your project regardless, I suspect most need a persuasive reason to do so.
Yeah, the two pillars for a successful premium content business I recommend are:
+ A knockout elevator pitch that both you and your subscribers can say in one sentence that urgently incentivizes paid conversion
+ Some form of essential community element (active chat, comment section, podcast, or for some it's just writing with a voice that makes readers feel engaged and attached)
And then with each piece of free and premium content, check how well you're promoting both of those pillars. Check the previews to see the free subscriber experience before you send out the post. See how enticing a subscription would be if you only got the free preview. Check all of your important surfaces too (Subscribe, About, Welcome pages, free Welcome emails) and see how well you're promoting your value props and urgency to subscribe.
It can take time, but that's my recommended big-picture approach.
I hadn't considered checking the previews to get a sense of what a free sub would see. Appreciate the tip! I'll have to keep that in mind when I do make the switch.
Thanks Austin. Yeah, just haven't the time to do that, but really useful tips
Hi Vinh. Paid subs get a weekly email, monthly podcast and monthly Q&A, as well as access to an archive of 100+ sport psychology articles spanning best practice, strategy and theory. Free subs get a monthly email. Perhaps that's too much for nothing?
Sounds like awesome value! In that case, conversion might just be a matter of figuring out how to best convey it to your free subs. Tweaking/personalizing your CTAs (Subscribe button, Welcome email, About page) is probably the way to go. I believe Austin touched on that as well.
If you get around to it, please let us know what worked/didn't work!
I'm going to increase my site from $6/month and $60/year to $10/month, $100/year in a few weeks.
Once I do that, I'd do a 50% off annual discount once a week that is only advertised on the newsletter header that day and have that expire at midnight, so that would only be available for about 12 hours. No social media promotion or info in the actual newsletter. Just in the header for free subscribers. I'd also add "exclusive discounts" to the list of benefits for free subscribers.
I thought this would be a good way to both increase annual paid memberships and free subs, so let me know what ya think about this.
I think it's interesting. Like I mentioned last week, I'm fairly discount averse, but we've seen targeted strategies be effective and this is a cool experiment. Very curious to hear how it works, and what the conversion rate looks like after the first couple weeks.
Ultimately, I think continuing to grow the size of your free list is what will lead to more paid conversion.
Nice job
Thank you for creating this space, Austin! This is super helpful.
I wasn't able to join yesterday, but just went through the different comments and, now that I am planning on going paid, the tips I found here will come in handy.
If anyone has any general advice for going paid, I'd love to read them!