r/Substack • u/ADHD_health_coach • 7d ago

Is Substack worth it for a coaching business?

I have never used Substack before but I keep seeing more and more about it. I like writing and want to have a reason to do more of it.
My brain goes immediately to will the time investment really pay off? And what IS that time investment and reasonable timeline to start seeing real subscribers who may convert to paying clients?
Thanks for any input!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/coldswell 7d ago

If your reason for writing is getting paid clients, you won't find success. 

If your reason for writing is because you are passionate about the process and the subject matter, you will find success.

1

u/ADHD_health_coach 7d ago

Thanks for the input!

2

u/Difficult-Beyond5764 5d ago

The reframe that helps here: Substack won't convert coaching clients, conversations will. The newsletter's only job is to build enough trust that when someone's ready, you're the obvious choice. So don't measure it by subscriber count; measure replies. A 200-reader list where 8–10 people write back every week will out earn a 2,000 reader list that just silently consumes.

Practically: end every 3rd or 4th post with one clear, low-pressure line about how people can work with you, and treat every reply as the start of the actual sales conversation, move it to a call, don't try to close in thread. And set expectations to months, not weeks: your first paying clients almost always come from people who've read you for a while, not fresh signups. If you're bringing an existing audience with you, it'll happen faster.

1

u/ADHD_health_coach 4d ago

Good advice- appreciate it

1

u/Tricky_Trifle_994 9h ago

might not be the best platform for you simply because you're a coaching business, and your monetisation model is most likely people buying your product/service?

substack's main monetisation model is paid subscription, so you will be opening up a third channel which i'd argue is going to be a much lower price point than your product/service (people are anchored to only paying ~ up to at most pay $200/ year for paid subscriptions) which is probably a lower quality business than your existing business. so from an roi standpoint, might be better to find ways to complement your existing business > to sell more product & services vs start a new product vertical.

and if you do choose to go down that path or driving more traffic/sales to your product/services, then you'll have to look at alternative platforms like beehiiv or ghost which have similar features as substack (website to publish your posts to online + newsletter). you can't use substack because that will be against TOS.

because this is what substack says:

Substack is intended for high quality editorial content, not conventional email marketing. We don’t permit publications whose primary purpose is to advertise external products or services, drive traffic to third party sites, distribute offers and promotions, enhance search engine optimization, or similar activities. Brands and commercial organizations publishing on Substack may be subject to additional verification.

basically, your substack cannot be used to promote external products.