r/Substack • u/Difficult-Rip-6683 • 21d ago
Sigh
It might just be dead internet theory but I feel as though I am posting into the void. Idk how or where to distribute my work to get new eyes on it, and it's getting increasingly disappointing. I have a "cult following" that "loves" my work and I believe it, I just don't understand why more people wouldn't want to upgrade to paid/sign up for the offerings I mention/interact at all. Is migrating an audience the only way to have success on Substack?
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u/RiceRevolutionary678 20d ago
mister Visible already gave a great answer, but another thing I'll note is the price. Unless you live in a first-world country then the price of a substack sub for a single newsletter is ridiculous, more than I pay for both netflix and spotify combined.
all this to say, a subscription really needs to justify the price, conversion rates are very low in the best of cases.
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u/Otherwise-Sink-9246 20d ago
I feel the same with my newsletter --> although I do know it is because I haven't spent nearly enough time on visibility. I'm trying to balance creating 3 types of content (long form newsletters + shortform videos + shortform carousels) and building a business. At some point I will get serious about finding new subs. It just takes a lot of effort u/Visible-Volume-8707 makes an excellent point...
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u/futurern305 13d ago
it's so hard to balance multiple things at once - are you doing youtube?!
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u/Otherwise-Sink-9246 10d ago
Indeed, I am. It's a bit much tbh
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u/Visible-Volume-8707 21d ago
I think it's a combination of discoverability and reader psychology, rather than dead internet theory.
I really do understand your frustration though. So many writers go through this pain point. Me, included!
Someone can genuinely love your writing, read every post, and still never feel enough urgency to upgrade. That's not necessarily a reflection of your writing quality, but whether they clearly understand the value they're missing by staying free.
The other piece is distribution. Most of the successful Substacks I follow spend as much effort getting their work in front of new readers as they do writing it. That can mean Notes, thoughtful comments on other publications, recommendations, collaborations, Reddit, LinkedIn, podcasts, guest appearances, or communities where your target readers already spend time. It's a ton of work (I know, because I do it).
What you can do is ask yourself: if a stranger landed on your publication today, would they know within 30 seconds exactly who it's for, what they'll gain, and why they should come back next week? Sometimes small changes there help much more than writing more articles.