hi from maui!! i’ve been in such an inspiration vortex here, with absolutely zero time to create anything (present mom, doing all the things) so prepare for an influx of heart spills and creative queen-shit overload to spew forth over the next few weeks once we get back and i can gather myself into a little corner and write until i drop!!
but in the meantime, i did want to pop on and share this free post, a bit of a quick-and-dirty one for me (i normally can’t stop myself before 3,500 words minimum but we’re trying here today ok) to tell you a thing or two about how i’ve grown my substack to $350k ARR in about 10 months… and how you can, too.
this post is inspired by a very discouraging article i saw about how “substack is on the decline” blah blah blah because it’s “become too much like other social media platforms” (in quotes, bc not true), it rewards the constant marketing and the newsfeed drips and the quippy, shareable content instead of the long-form deep dives and genuine heart-to-soul writing that drips into people’s minds like warm, gooey honey… and i'd like to offer a completely different perspective:
what if the complete opposite were true, and substack were on the rise? what if perhaps certain people feel like it’s on the decline because… and forgive me if this is crass because i really mean this to be taken as constructive criticism more than anything else… because their writing just isn’t that resonant or alive? because their following just isn’t that dedicated? because perhaps they have something to say (WE ALL DO) but they don’t know how to say it, and they certainly don’t know how to market it?
hi. hello. what’s up. that’s where i come in. because i can teach you (AND I WILL) how to get past this. insert: limitless. but more on that in a hot minute.
first… why trust me? not only am i a writer in my bonessss for life life life, but i am also a born and bred marketer. well, i've been an influencer since i was about 8 years old. i’ve been creating content like my life depends on it since the first time i got my hands on a dial-up computer. and if i MAY give you some tough love big sister advice… maybe just maybe, if your substack is not growing but is instead dwindling to a pulp, maybe you are not living in your most limitless aligned energy yet? maybe it’s time to switch up your content and give more of your soul?
because look. here’s the cold, hard truth: it’s ridiculously possible to grow (like ridiculously, almost painfully easy if you ask me), BUT… not without a lot of hard work. hours, consistency, showing up when no one’s listening, showing up when the world doesn’t care yet and you have yet to magnetize your words to your loyal diehards, creative awakening, reprogramming your mind, spilling your soul onto the page, doing it again and again and AGAIN until, poof, something changes… you start to grow.
it could take a day, a week, a year, two years, five years… and that’s why you have to be in it because you freaking love it. you can’t show up to substack with the immediate notion of “i'm here to get paid” or “i'm not i'm not getting paid yet” and certainly not with the “ugh i'm mad that all the INFLUENCERS are doing so well here, substack is such a sellout” attitude.
not to say you have to do it the way i did it, but i blogged professionally for fourteen years 100% for free before i moved over to substack and turned on the paid feature. every day for FOURTEEN YEARRRSS! and before that, in the AOL chatrooms when i was a kid, obvi also for free. and truly you don’t have to follow this path—i actually encourage my limitless course members to turn on paid in their THIRD WEEK of writing, to show themselves and the universe how capable they are and how willing and deserving they are to receive.
and i absolutely don’t blame anyone who feels like substack is on the decline—if anything, i feel for them. it’s hard to be a true-blue, words-loving, depth-slinging writer out here in the Wild West of the inter web ethers!! it’s not easy to watch platforms get inundated by short form content and for the OG’s of each internet space to get weeded out by the bigger, already famous big guns like glennon doyle, mel robbins, etc. etc.
but just because it’s not easy doesn't mean it’s time to throw in the towel.
just because someone’s follower count may be going down doesn’t mean it’s the end of growth and $$ for them on substack.
all it means is that it’s time for a refresh!!!! the things i would recommend first and foremost would be:
consistency at all costs. don’t give your followers nothing to work with—give them something to pay for and STAY for. (if monetization is your goal.) if you’re giving 50% of you, start giving 100% of you. that’s what your paid subs deserve and also it’s what your inner creative/artist/child deserves, too. (TO POUR INTO YOUR CRAFT.)
stop complaining about the platform. no really… just stop. it’s not something people are eager to follow along with. sure, you may be able to commiserate with people who feel the same way, but your negativity will become a self-fulfilling prophecy because words are spells, we receive what we put out, and what we believe about our lives will always, always, always become our reality.
replace your complaints with a limitless mentality. what does that mean? it means… get rid of the glass ceilings in your mind and heart about what your success could look like. if you made $50,000 ARR last year on substack and you’re upset that you’re down to $20,000 now, instead of trying to get back to 50k, why not try to get to 100k? and beyond? reprogram your mind, see a future that is bigger than your present (and your past), and work toward it every day. if you believe it and work toward it (consistently), it will become your reality.
reinvent the wheel!!!! if it’s not working, and your subscribers are dwindling, what can you do to totally change your strategy? how about start a new series, work on your hooks, create a marketing funnel (IG to substack to your other newsletter and beyond), or write about new topics entirely. not to be mean… but maybe your audience just isn’t interested in the type of content you’re sharing right now? (I teach you how to create the marketing funnel in limitless!)
stop giving us the bare minimum. if there’s one thing that the current state of the social media sphere has baked into us, it’s that… you can put out the bare minimum and it’s enough. no actually… it’s not enough. try harder. give more. if you’re going to complain and feel unhappy with where you’re at, try giving more (to both the writing and the strategy) and see where you are 3 months from now?
remember your why. do it for yourself at the end of the day. most of the time, others will not care about our art as much as we do. when they do, it’s a happy magnetic chasm of magic and understanding—but if they don’t… that’s okay too. when you do it for you, you can show up to the page even if nothing is happening.
all of this to say… don’t give up. you’re not bad at writing, you might just be bad at marketing. and beyond that, you might also just not have discovered your own writing voice yet, or your content pillars, or your WHY.
with that, i want to cordially invite you to join us in LIMITLESS: my substack growth course that teaches you how i went from $0 to $350k ARR on substack and counting!! we are kicking off cohort 2 on tuesday, august 4th, and i am SO excited. doors will close on monday at midnight and i will never be running this course live again. we had ~1,000 members in cohort 1, they are finishing up their 4 weeks as we speak, and they are all absolutely crushing it, supporting one another, and reclaiming their spaces on this glorious platform called substack!
it’s a 4 week container, not a “watch it whenever and let it collect dust” course. although you WILL have forever access and you can take it at your own pace! every week unlocks a new piece of the framework, so you’re actually building your substack in real time instead of just hoarding information you’ll get to “someday.” this keeps you accountable! PLUS you do it with a live group of built-in creative bff’s!
you’re getting 200+ pages of material broken into 8 full post frameworks, so you’ll never be starting from a blank page again. plus 102 opening hooks across 17 different niches, because the hook is where most people lose their reader in the first three seconds and nobody ever teaches that part.
week 3 is where we get into pricing and paid offers, which is exactly the part everyone’s too scared to touch. i walk you through the actual structure i used to turn free readers into paying subscribers, and i encourage everyone to flip on paid that same week, whether you feel “ready” or not. (you’re not going to feel ready. that’s not the prerequisite. showing up is.)
there are 4 bonus posts included too: collaboration, viral notes, price increases, and writing when you’re completely stuck, because that happens to every single one of us, published author or not.
you get TWO live calls with me, kickoff and graduation, plus full replay access to all 4 live calls from cohort 1, so you’re basically getting two cohorts’ worth of live content for the price of one.
there’s a live community chat and support pods, so you’re not doing this alone in a vacuum. you’ll have actual people cheering you on, reading your drafts, following your publication, holding you accountable when week 3 gets scary. this part alone has been the biggest surprise of cohort 1—the friendships that have come out of it are so beautiful to witness.
do i need to already have a substack to join? nope. this works whether you’re starting from zero or you’ve been at this for years and just need the strategy to actually take off. i’ve had total beginners and six-figure writers in the same cohort, learning side by side.
what if i can’t make the live calls? everything is recorded and dropped straight into your portal, right alongside the cohort 1 replays, so you’re never missing a thing even if life happens (and it will).
how much time do i actually need each week? this is designed to work around a real life, not replace one. you’re not glued to a screen for hours a day—you’re showing up, doing the work for that week’s framework, and moving at a pace that’s sustainable, not a pace that burns you out by week two.
i’m scared to turn on paid subscriptions. is this going to force me? never. i’ll teach you the mindset and the exact strategy, and i’ll encourage you, hard, because i believe in you more than you believe in yourself right now. but the button is always yours to press, on your own timeline.
is this only for a specific niche? not even a little. that’s why there are 102 hooks across 17 niches inside. wellness, business, spirituality, parenting, humor, fiction, whatever your soul is actually pulling you toward, this framework flexes to fit it.
is there a payment plan? yes, you’ll find on the checkout page, and i’d rather you use it than let the full price be the reason you sit this one out.
will you ever run this live again? i don’t know, and i’m not going to pretend i do but i highly doubt it. what i do know is that cohort 2 is the one that’s actually happening, right now, with real doors and a real deadline. !!
what’s the refund policy? all sales are final, no refunds on digital products. i want you fully in, not halfway in with an exit ramp already built.
doors close monday at midnight. i would love, love, love to have you in this one with us. join us and/or get more info here!
and if you want more how-to’s on how i actually grew my platform from $0 to $350k ARR, you know where to finddd meee!! what’s your take? are you in camp “substack is on the decline” or on the rise?!?! you tell me and let’s walk through your thoughts together in the comments! also, leave any limitless questions below! xx
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