My Newsletter Just Became a Substack Bestseller (Although I Was Hesitant to Get Paid First)
Spoiler: I'm not an overnight success. About sweat, tears and blood from a part-time creator mom.
OMG!
I became a Substack bestseller thanks to YOU.
That's why I wanted to pause for a moment and zoom out and tell you a bit about how I became a bestseller and share my tips and tricks.
First of all, I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who supported me on my way, because this bestseller badge wasn't an overnight success.
To make sure that this post is valuable for you I’ll share a behind-the-scenes look and information about the bestseller badge in general.
This isn’t the typical milestone celebration post. It’s based on a quick video I recorded on a Saturday morning and ideas that popped into my head in the 30 minutes of recording while my family was downstairs.
Substack has three badges
Badge number one is white and is the one I have now. This means you have hundreds of paid subscribers.
Then we have an orange checkmark. And this orange check mark means you have thousands of paid subscribers.
And the next step, if you can scale up your newsletter business, then you have tens of thousands of paid subscribers and a purple badge.
Subscribers vs. Followers
With Substack’s latest changes and more emphasis on followers, I often get asked:
“Who are subscribers compared to followers?”
Followers: So followers are people just following you. They liked a post on Notes or subscribed to another newsletter and also followed you as part of this writer’s network. Followers want to see your stories occasionally in their feeds.
Subscriber: A subscriber is someone who opts in to get your emails in their inbox. This is a way bigger deal than just someone following you. That's why I always say that an email list is the most valuable asset in your business.
However, the idea behind Substack’s new emphasis on followers is that you convert those followers into subscribers.
Historically an email list wasn’t about paid subscribers
I think it’s important to know that historically the idea of an email list was to gain subscribers and then one day, no matter how big or small this list was, to offer your products and services.
Substack's business model is different. Substack recommends going paid from day one.
Why do they recommend this?
Because Substack only earns money if you do.
That's the biggest difference to a social media platform such as Medium. Medium wants to make their paying members happy, those who pay $5 to $15 per month to read all these awesome stories.
But you are just one of thousands of people writing on this one platform.
I didn’t want to put all eggs in one basket
Writing on the publishing platform Medium is nice. You can gain followers and you can build an audience. But what you want which is much more sustainable and healthy is to build an audience you own.
This is where Substack comes into play and made me one day decide that I didn't want to put all the eggs in one basket and wanted to grow beyond Medium and start writing a newsletter.
There are no shortcuts and I’m not an overnight success
Let's come to the most popular question when I announced that I became a bestseller on Substack.
People asked me:
How long did it take to come to this point?
I could tell you now, it only took three weeks.
You heard that right.
Three weeks.
Because from the launch moment to the day I hit 100 paid subscribers there were only three weeks.
This would be a great headline for Medium:
How I Became a Substack Bestseller in Only Three Weeks - And How You Can Too
But no worries!
This is definitely not one of those stories on how to become a bestseller in only three weeks.
It’s from someone who really put their heart, their sweat and their tears into building this newsletter.
If you say…
Kristina, I'm ready to take action. I'm ready to take this newsletter and list builder game seriously!
…then today’s post and video are definitely for you.
But again, there are no shortcuts.
I was hesitant about going paid
I know that Substack suggests going paid from day one.
Why?
Because Substack only earns, if we do.
They take a 10% cut, which I think is fair.
So the moment you earn money through Substack, the company gets 10%.
Compared to other newsletter service providers such as MailChimp or ConvertKit this is a new and fresh idea.
So that's why somehow Substack pushes you to go paid from day one.
I didn't want to go paid from day one. I wanted to show people my writing and make them fall in love with my helpful stories.
So I didn't enable the paid button. A game changer was when Substack shipped its pledge feature, so people could pledge their support.
Within a few weeks, people on my list pledged their support.
If someone pledges their support, this means that the moment you go paid, this person says:
Kristina, if you go paid, then I will be there. I will pay you and I will support you.
This was a huge confidence boost, which helped me going paid and I’d like to thank everyone who believed in my valuable posts.
So in the backend of your Substack, you can turn pledges on and let people pledge their support.
This is what I highly recommend doing from day one.
When more than 10 people pledged their support, this was the moment I thought:
Okay, now I feel confident to go paid.
And this was in January 2024 when I decided to go paid.
One day I talked with my hubby about it and said:
I think I'm ready. I'm ready to enable this paid button!
That's what I did then in February 2024.
Want to learn how long it took getting from the point where I started my email list to the point I felt confident enough to enable this paid button?
I hear you sing…
YES! Tell me more! Tell me more!
So I created a video for you (no worries, I don’t sing).
✅Engagement BONUS: I love to gamify your newsletter experience, so if you leave a comment on YouTube, you could win a 15 min. coaching session with me in April 2024.
New VIDEO: From Zero to Substack BESTSELLER: How I Got 100 Paid Subscribers! 🥳 🚀
✅Table of Contents:
00:00:00 I Became a Substack Bestseller
00:00:30 Substack’s 3 Bestseller Badges
00:02:34 How Long it Took to get my Bestseller Badge
00:06:16 How Many Issues I Published Before I Went Paid
00:08:28 The 3 Newsletter Models on Substack
00:10:44 What is Substack Notes?
00:12:38 The Importance of Consistency
00:13:49 How to Use a Funnel
00:14:51 Do I Have an “Unfair Advantage”?
00:15:54 Why You Need to Have a Personal Brand
00:20:02 How to Create a Paid Community
00:23:53 My 2 Essentials for a Successful Publication
Wanna join our Substack School community experience?
If you’re on the fence about joining, this might be interesting for you to know about.
Inside Substack School you’ll find:
tutorial videos which cover the basics
Substack Shorts - a new series which helps you stay up to date on all things Substack
you’ll find an A to your Q. I often even record a video and explain things short and sweet.
a community of like-minded writers
mindset trainings
accountability buddy
LIVE sessions with my interview partners. Whenever you watch a YouTube video you also have the chance to meet the expert.
coaching session with me starting in April 2024
goodies! resources, templates, ebooks, checklists…
….
💗A few hours after I published this week’s video
left this wonderful comment:
I’ll see you in our exclusive community, my sweet friend.
With love,
Kristina
P.S. THANK YOU for being my subscriber and making my words part of your week! THANKS to every paid subscriber. Your support really wows me and makes me continue my work.
I never knew about the status with those badges.
Thought they where jus like on other places, a way to see who is more ”famous”
wow, that's amazing. I have not really turned it on and feel like my progress is very slow. I keep learning and wonder if I can make it past that dreaded 6 months point where all teh initial energy and hope is exhausted.