“I Finally Feel Like My Substack Is Working.”

Chris Burg writes about finance.

By the time he reached out to me a few months ago, he’d basically given up on growing his Substack.

He’d spent months jumping from one strategy to another without much to show for it.

He tried something new, would see very little change, and move on to the next piece of advice.

After enough time, Chris started believing one of two things: either he wasn’t a good enough writer, or he simply wasn’t good at Substack.

Neither was true.

Chris is actually a really good writer. What he didn’t have was a clear way to turn that writing into a newsletter people could consistently discover and eventually buy from.

So, he ended up joining all three of my Substack trainings because he realized he wasn’t missing one random growth trick.

He needed three parts working together:

• A clear newsletter built for the right audience

• A consistent way for new readers to discover it

• Something useful for that audience to buy

But the first step was fixing the foundation.

Inside the Substack Growth Masterclass, Chris became clearer about what his finance newsletter offered, who he wanted to reach, and how all of his content should work together.

He stopped changing direction every few days and finally had a plan he could follow long enough to see what was working.

Then his Substack actually began growing…

At first, it was two or three new subscribers a day. Eventually, it became 10 to 15.

But the numbers weren’t the only thing that changed.

Chris started enjoying writing again.

Before, every full post carried the pressure of needing to grow his newsletter. If he spent hours writing something and gained almost no subscribers, the entire process felt heavier.

Once he understood the different roles his content needed to play, that pressure started to disappear.

His Notes helped NEW readers find him. His full posts helped those readers connect with his ideas and gave them a reason to stay.

That’s when he told me:

“I finally feel like my Substack is working.”

Chris didn’t suddenly become a better writer after joining the trainings.

He finally built the right foundation underneath the writer he already was.

If you’ve been publishing consistently without seeing much growth, don’t immediately assume you’re not talented enough for Substack.

You may need a clearer newsletter, a more focused audience, and a growth plan you can follow without starting over every week.

To celebrate my two-year Substack anniversary, the Masterclass is on sale through August 31.

When you join during the sale, you’ll also receive my Notes Writing Playbook with prompts and templates to help you write Notes that bring in new subscribers.

The Masterclass is where Chris started because discovery and monetization become much easier once the foundation is right.

If you’re ready to make 2026 your year of growth, you can join us below:

Join the Substack Growth Masterclass

Tomorrow, I’ll show you what happened when Chris stopped expecting his full posts to grow his newsletter and began using Notes differently.

Keep writing, Wes