$0 to $38k/Month On Substack in 12 Months (My Beginner Playbook)

Most of what you read about growing on Substack is wrong.

Sorry, I said what I said lol.

Most of those “10 hacks to grow your Substack newsletter” posts were written by someone who asked ChatGPT to spit out advice…(that Mr. Chatty has never once tested in real life 🤣)

And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE using AI to help me edit + refine my writing - I’ll even show you my exact way, the kind that makes you lazier without making you dumber, later in this article.

But most of what AI will so confidently tell you to do to grow on Substack is, in my humble little opinion, wrong.

First, here’s my disclaimer: I’m not claiming to be a Substack expert. I’m an experimenter. Some (most) of my experiments flop, and I move onto my next hyperfixation in about 24 hours. Others quietly build a $300K-a-year “side hustle” within 12 months.

So if you’re a business owner itching to pivot, or you just want a side hustle that doesn’t feel like a sad second job, pull up a chair and grab your matcha. This one’s for you. Below are my real, slightly unconventional, tested-from-zero tips -

Plus how I actually use Claude to make the whole writing process easier (without stealing your creativity or brain cells).

Now, the receipts (talk is cheap and I have screenshots). I recently crossed $300K in annual recurring revenue from writing. About stuff I’d happily gab about for free at brunch. I posted it on Instagram and my DMs went absolutely feral:

“$300K… from writing?!” “Wait, can a normal person actually do this?” “I have zero followers. Is it too late?” “What the heck do I even write about?”

So I’m breaking the whole thing down for you. Consider this your beginner starter pack, the exact steps I’d take if I were sitting at zero subscribers, zero “platform,” and a whole lot of doubt right now.

(I have written a few other posts on this topic here and here if you want more. But this one is my most up-to-date with 1 year of perspective under my belt)

And before you spiral and talk yourself out of it: EVERYONE starts at zero. There was once a time where I, too, had absolutely 0 followers anywhere online. You’re not special (tough-love Amie has entered the chat lol). The people who actually GROW a following and make a sh*t load of money are the ones who stop talking about ‘being at zero’ and actually hit publish.

And let me keep it real: I have a big social media following, and yes, it helped me grow quickly, I’m not going to gaslight you.

BUT ALSO - I also pull in thousands of new subscribers every single month natively, straight from the Substack platform itself (not from Instagram or Tiktok).

So yes, if you’re truly starting from zero, your growth might be slower than mine at first. BUT - it’s still 1000% doable, and Substack does a shocking amount of the heavy lifting for you.

Most people get one thing wrong before they even start. They wait. They “research.” They convince themselves they need a niche, a following, a perfect plan, 30 posts in the bank, and a personal blessing from the universe before they’re allowed to charge a single dollar.

Yeah, no. You can start with one post and paid subscriptions turned on day one. I did.

Quick math break, because beginners need to SEE how this snowballs:

10 paid subscribers × $10/month = $100/month

100 paid subscribers × $10/month = $1,000/month

1,000 paid subscribers × $10/month = $10,000/month

(i’m currently sitting around 2,000 paid subs @ $19/month = ~$38,000/month)….so, let this be the inspo you needed lol.

Same effort, bigger number as you grow. That’s the magic of recurring revenue. You’re not starting from scratch every month like a normal job. You’re stacking, and it gets a little addictive.

Okay, here’s where it gets good. Behind the paywall I’m handing you my actual beginner playbook. Everything you get:

• 🪜 My step-by-step plan to go from zero to your first paid subscribers (no big following required)

• 🚫 The “don’t pick a niche” strategy that keeps you consistent without boxing you in forever

• 💸 The pricing move that shocked me more than Amanda and West getting together on Summer House: How I raised my prices and got MORE subscribers (I’ll show you exactly why)

• 🤖 Copy-paste Claude prompts that make your writing easier without making you dumber (including one that writes viral, SEO-rich titles in seconds)

• 🔁 How I turn one good post into a whole series (and a fresh stack of paid subs)

• 📣 My exact promo rotation: how I recycle old posts daily and reach a whole second audience for free

• 🎬 My formula for turning one article into 2 to 3 viral reels (free traffic on tap)

• 🔗 A free spotlight: drop your own Substack in the comments and get it in front of my entire audience (!!!)

• 🧠 The mindset shift that separates the girlies earning $300 from the ones earning $300K

This is the stuff I usually only spill to people who pay me. And if you actually follow these steps? You can absolutely do this. Come on, let’s get into it. 👇