Content material advertising and marketing in 2025 is much less about consistently reaching new audiences than constructing stronger relationships with those you have already got. That’s why one platform I’ve had my eye on for some time now for small companies and creators is (drum roll, please) Substack.
Substack is a web based running a blog platform that lets folks learn your content material for a month-to-month subscription charge. It additionally routinely sends your blogs as newsletters to your subscribers every time you publish. However it’s also possible to publish blogs without spending a dime. It’s fully free to create an account and begin publishing blogs — the quantity you earn is predicated on the subscription charge you set.
One of many causes I like to recommend it to small companies and creators, particularly the latter, is it provides you a direct income stream from followers as a substitute of counting on an algorithm to get your content material found. I break down what’s Substack and the way does it work in additional element beneath.
Substack key information:
It’s a web based publishing platform for bloggers, writers, and journalists to achieve readers straight.
Subscribers pay a month-to-month subscription charge (minimal $5) to entry paid content material, though it’s also possible to publish free blogs. Substack takes a ten% reduce out of your earnings.
Provides a direct approach to attain and earn from subscribers as a substitute of counting on an algorithm.
Go to Substack
What’s Substack?
Substack is a web based publishing platform that lets creators publish blogs for subscribers. Many impartial writers, journalists, bloggers, and influencers use Substack to publish and ship articles on to subscribers’ inboxes, making a direct line between them and their audiences.
As a advertising and marketing instrument, it may enable you to construct an engaged viewers and receives a commission straight by your subscribers. As such, Substack is an effective instrument for impartial writers, bloggers, and journalists to attach straight with audiences. Creators may also join with fellow creators through the house feed, constructing a creator neighborhood.
…In addition to different publishers you possibly can observe. (Supply: Substack)
How does Substack work?
I discussed above that Substack presents a direct approach to earn cash out of your subscribers by way of your content material. Likewise, it’s additionally a means for subscribers to learn content material straight from the creators they care about.
That’s the core of how Substack works: It gives a direct line to attach creators with readers with out search engine algorithms getting within the center (I’m taking a look at you, Google’s ever-changing algorithm).
generate income on Substack: As a Substack creator, you possibly can have paid subscribers, free subscribers, and non-subscribed readers (mainly everybody else on the web). You generate income by charging paid subscribers a minimal of $5 month-to-month to learn your paid content material.
Nevertheless, you possibly can solely begin charging a subscription charge upon getting 50 subscribers. It’s also possible to publish free content material, which each paid and free subscribers can entry.
While you publish a weblog on Substack, you possibly can set it as a subscriber-only publish or make it free for everybody to learn. Subscriber-only blogs will routinely be despatched to your subscribers as an e mail e-newsletter and revealed in your Substack profile. It’s also possible to share their hyperlinks on social media. In the meantime, when non-subscribed readers learn a free publish, they’ll see a sign-up kind on the finish of your article.
How does Substack generate income? Substack takes a ten% reduce from its creators’ earnings. So you should publish persistently to take care of an energetic income stream.
Non-subscribed readers can join your Substack after studying a free article. (Supply: Substack)
Publishing on Substack
Publishing on Substack is fairly simple. In case you’ve ever used a running a blog platform, you’ll simply discover your means round. Inside your dashboard, choose “New Put up,” then select between a textual content, audio, or video publish. For the aim of this text, let’s fake I’m making a weblog publish, so I’ll select “Textual content publish.”
In your Substack dashboard, select “New Put up” and choose the content material you need to publish. (Supply: Substack)
What follows is a typical weblog publishing platform the place you possibly can kind or paste in your weblog publish, add photographs, and embed movies. When you’re achieved along with your publish, hit the “Proceed” button within the upper-right nook, then select whether or not to have it as a free or subscriber-only publish (you’ll want at the very least 50 followers to activate subscribers).
In case you set it to subscriber-only, your publish will routinely be despatched to their emails. If it’s a free publish, it’ll be revealed to your Substack profile and viewable to everyone. It’s also possible to share it on social media.
Add your content material, then choose “Proceed.” (Supply: Substack)
Set your publish to be seen to everybody or subscribers solely. (Supply: Substack)
Substack solely takes funds through Stripe for the time being. Stripe accepts credit score and debit playing cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and financial institution transfers.
Substack execs and cons: What I like and don’t like about it
Being a author and content material marketer, Substack is a kind of platforms that’s at all times on my radar. I discover it doubtlessly helpful for small companies and small-time creators who desire a direct line to their audiences.
It’s the perfect platform to this point for those who’re a author or blogger of any type, whether or not journalistic, literary, or artistic, who needs a direct income stream out of your readers. Conversely, for readers, it’s a direct approach to help their favourite writers, creators, and influencers.
That’s one in every of Substack’s largest property. It additionally makes it simple to develop your on-line presence with built-in sharing instruments to your content material. However on the flip aspect, the interface may also make it a bit of tough to work together along with your neighborhood.
The nice about Substack
Substack provides your content material a direct line to your readers with out counting on an algorithm. It additionally provides you a direct income stream from readers.
Signing up for an account and publishing blogs is free, and upon getting 50 subscribers, you possibly can set your personal month-to-month subscription charge.
You’ll be able to publish blogs for subscribers solely or have them free for anybody to learn.
All free blogs have a e-newsletter sign-up kind on the finish to encourage readers to subscribe. They’re additionally routinely shareable on social media and might even be repurposed as photographs or movies.
Considered one of my favourite issues about Substack is that it simply makes free blogs shareable on social media. (Supply: Subtack)
The not-so-great about Substack:
The house feed isn’t nice. It’s like a mixture of Reddit and X that doesn’t give me blogs I need to learn or newsletters I’d need to subscribe to, however relatively a feed of posts from different Substack publishers that aren’t at all times related to my pursuits.
There’s a way that it tries to mix the features of a social media platform and a publishing platform, however not at all times efficiently.
In contrast to Medium, its author neighborhood isn’t as energetic, so it gained’t be very useful if you wish to community with a web based author neighborhood.
Substack takes a ten% reduce out of your subscriptions. This implies you should consistently publish content material to maintain a relentless income stream, which might result in writing burnout for those who don’t handle your self effectively.
The subscription-based mannequin makes it tough to develop an viewers organically — you’ll must actively promote your weblog to draw extra subscribers.
Substack’s platform is a component publishing platform and half social media, which might typically make for a complicated expertise. (Supply: Substack)
Can Substack assist market your model and earn revenue? My ideas (and who it’s finest for)
So, with all Substack’s options, each nice and never so nice, is it nonetheless a viable platform for rising your model on-line? Actually — with the proper know-how.
Finally, Substack’s benefits as a platform far outweigh its drawbacks, and it’s the most effective running a blog platforms for constructing a sustainable fanbase and income stream for those who’re a content material creator of any type.
For instance, for those who’re searching for methods to generate income on Substack, it makes it simple by supplying you with full management over your month-to-month subscription expenses. You’ll be able to cost as a lot or as little as you want, from $5 a month.
use Substack to develop your model and earn revenue
As talked about, Substack’s finest options are its capacity to construct an engaged subscriber base and create a direct income stream out of your followers with out an algorithm getting in the best way.
Finally, Substack is finest for content material creators, influencers, indie essayists, small companies wanting a content material advertising and marketing platform, and journalists and creatives searching for someplace to construct their very own publication.
In case you’re a content material creator with an viewers, use Substack to begin monetizing your content material. In case you publish content material on different free platforms, like WordPress or Medium, and have already got an viewers, Substack is an effective platform to begin monetizing your content material. Publish on Substack, inform your followers to seek out you there as a substitute, and upon getting greater than 50 subscribers, publish unique content material to entice paid subscriptions.
Use Substack to construct e mail newsletters and maintain your viewers engaged. Want a free publishing platform with a built-in e mail e-newsletter characteristic, however don’t need all of the bells and whistles of a full web site? Substack is an effective different. You’ll be able to simply arrange an account for your enterprise and publish newsletters to maintain your viewers engaged along with your model, after which share your blogs in your model’s socials — all without spending a dime.
Use Substack to broaden your model presence past your web site or social media profiles. Web sites and social media profiles are a great way to get your enterprise observed on-line organically on Google. Nevertheless, e mail newsletters can take that additional and switch your web site guests into engaged audiences. If in case you have a web site, invite folks to enroll in your e-newsletter for extra content material out of your model straight to their inbox.
Use Substack to supply unique memberships (aka loyalty packages). Substack is usually a nice platform for constructing a loyalty membership program. Invite followers to enroll in your loyalty program, then ship them unique content material, offers, and vouchers through their emails.
In case you’re an impartial author or journalist, use Substack to construct your private model and earn direct revenue from followers. Journalists additionally use Substack to construct an impartial voice and following outdoors of the publication they write for. It’s a great way to maintain shut contact along with your largest readers, proceed publishing content material in your area of interest, and provides your followers a direct avenue to help you.
In case you’re a artistic, use Substack to construct your private model. In case you’re an impartial artist (digital or conventional), filmmaker, photographer, or different artistic, Substack can also be a great different to constructing a full web site for creating a web based platform.Publish your work on the platform and develop your distinctive artistic identification, then begin charging paid subscriptions everytime you’re snug (and have over 50 subscribers).
Use Substack to share unique content material with followers and construct model authority. Substack’s subscriber-only characteristic is a superb instrument for providing unique high-value content material to your followers. Use it to share trade insights, case research, or knowledgeable ideas.
Use Substack to construct an engaged model neighborhood. If in case you have an present buyer and social media neighborhood, use them to create an e mail record for focused newsletters like thank-you and evaluation request emails, and construct an engaged model neighborhood. You’ll be able to even use emails to reply regularly requested questions. After all, in case your subscribers have feedback or questions, be sure that to answer to them.
get began on Substack
In case you’ve decided that Substack is usually a good platform to your wants, all that’s left is to begin publishing. Fortunately, it’s simple. You’ll merely create an account on the web site, observe a number of Substack publications as a part of the onboarding course of, after which begin posting.
1. Go to Substack and create an account
First order of enterprise: Navigate to the Substack web site and choose “Create account” within the higher proper nook. As a part of the onboarding course of, you’ll want to pick out a number of publications to observe, which is able to present up in your house feed. After that, kind within the e mail deal with to make use of to your account.
2. Discover your property web page & publish your first publish
After creating your account, you’ll be directed to your property web page, the place you’ll see all of the publications you signed up for.
On your property web page, navigate to “Dashboard” within the higher proper nook. That is the place you’ll be capable to view all of your posts, subscribers, and income. Choose “New publish” to publish your first publish, then select a content material kind (textual content, video, or audio), create, and publish.
3. Achieve subscribers to begin monetizing content material
After publishing blogs, you’ll additionally be capable to share their hyperlinks on social media or repurpose them into photographs or brief movies inside Substack. Benefit from these options to assist your blogs attain extra audiences and acquire subscribers. When exterior audiences learn your weblog, they’ll see a sign-up kind on the very finish to subscribe to your content material.
Your weblog may even be revealed to the Substack neighborhood, the place different creators can subscribe to your content material. When you attain 50 subscribers, you possibly can activate paid content material in your settings and provide paid subscriptions.
Your blogs might be revealed in your Substack profile, however it’s also possible to share their hyperlinks on social media. (Supply: Substack)
Go to Substack
Greatest options to Substack
Substack is likely one of the finest content material publishing platforms, however there are different choices for publishing blogs on a extra energetic author neighborhood, monetizing artistic work with subscription tiers, and sending subscriber emails. Among the finest options to Substack are Medium, Patreon, and MailChimp.
Incessantly requested questions (FAQs)
What’s Substack used for?
Substack is used to publish content material, particularly blogs, and earn cash through paid subscriptions. Substack’s key asset is it provides you a direct income stream from subscribers as a substitute of counting on algorithm to get your content material discovered. It’s used primarily by impartial bloggers, essayists, and journalists to earn from their weblog posts, however small companies may also use it to construct model authority by way of content material or for sending e mail newsletters.
What’s the draw back of Substack?
The primary draw back of Substack is its sometimes-convoluted interface, which tries to mix a publishing and social media platform however finally ends up complicated. It additionally has a subscription-based income mannequin, making it tough to earn cash out of your weblog for those who’re nonetheless beginning out and don’t have an viewers but. You’ll be able to solely begin charging subscriptions upon getting at the very least 50 subscribers, and Substack takes a ten% reduce out of your earnings.
Is Substack higher than Mailchimp?
Substack is best than Mailchimp in case your foremost goal is to publish blogs and essays recurrently and earn a direct income stream out of your subscribers. In case you’re a author at the beginning, Substack is the higher selection as a result of it has an intuitive content material publishing platform, not like Mailchimp, which is primarily an e mail advertising and marketing instrument. Substack additionally has social media sharing options and the power to publish free and paid newsletters.
Backside line
In case you’re a content material creator or model planning to begin a weblog, positively look into Substack. It’s the most effective content material publishing platforms, particularly for offering a direct income stream out of your subscribers as a substitute of counting on Google’s ever-changing algorithms. Consequently, it provides subscribers a direct approach to entry your content material and help your work.
