Measuring the Silence Between Subscribers

You're making progress even when you don't realize it

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

How many times has this happened to you? You have a big day, get 5 new subscribers when you are lucky to get 1 a day. The next day, you get 3 more.

You’re feeling good about yourself. Your Substack has turned a corner!

Then the next day, no new subscribers. None the day after that, or the day after that.

Finally, on the 3rd day, you get 4 new subscribers.

What’s the deal? Why is your growth only happening in spurts?

Here’s the truth: it isn’t. Growth is happening every day, you just aren’t noticing it.

What Makes Substack Different

“Trust is negotiated daily. One comment at a time.” -

Goodnex

The last few weeks I have seriously upped my engagement game here on Substack. I’ve learned a lot in the process, and most of that I will share in my next issue on Thursday, October 2nd, when I recap September.

However, there’s one thing I discovered that I wanted to share here.

We all love how different Substack is than other social media platforms. It’s not as toxic, and users here are more likely to deeply engage with content. We read long articles and write thoughtful comments. It’s honestly a throwback to the early days of social media when we took the time to listen to each other and have thoughtful conversations.

A byproduct of this is that many of us are also very thoughtful about making new connections.

Substack isn’t about building engagement, it’s about building relationships.

One thing I’ve noticed over the last few weeks is over half of my new subscribers (maybe as high as 75%) have come after I started engaging with them. Either via their Notes or by commenting on their articles.

Sometimes, all it took was one interaction. But often, I would need to engage with someone multiple times over multiple days before they would convert to become a free subscriber.

The point is, you have to invest in engaging with others, even if you don’t see an immediate benefit to doing so. You have to put in the work of building trust, before that trust can convert into becoming a new subscriber.

For instance, let’s say I get 0 new subscribers today. Does that mean the time I spent engaging today was wasted? Of course not, it means that by engaging today, I moved the people I engaged with closer to becoming subscribers. So when I have 8 new subscribers tomorrow, I can check and see that yep…those 8 people are users that I engaged with for the last few days. I put in the work of building a relationship with them, and they decided to convert to a subscriber when I had won their trust.

Consistency compounds. This is why I stress that you should engage with other Substack users as much as possible and as consistently as possible. If you can only spend 2 hours this week engaging on Substack, it’s far better to break that up and spend 30 minutes a day for 4 day engaging than it is to spend 2 hours in one day a week.

The Trust Factor

Think of it this way: Let’s say when you achieve a Trust score of 100 with someone, they will automatically become a free subscriber.

So every positive interaction you have with that person, a thoughtful comment, a restack, a conversation via DM, each of these will increase your Trust score with that person. When it reaches 100, they become a free subscriber.

However, we all trust at different rates. For some people, trust is won very easily. For others, it feels like moving the world to win their trust.

A thoughtful comment left to Jim’s post may add 4 points to his Trust score. While one left to Jessica’s post may add 10. Every person is different, every person is its own relationship that needs to be cultivated and grown at its own comfortable speed.

Keep this in mind when you spend a day engaging and don’t receive any new subscribers that day, or don’t get any new comments. You are still building trust with everyone you positively connect with.

Try This Experiment For the Next Week

Pick 5 people on Substack that currently are not Following you and who aren’t currently a subscriber. Comment on either their Notes or articles (one or both) every day for the next week.

At the end of that week, total up how many of those 5 users are now Following you or have subscribed.

My strong guess is that all 5 will have Followed you, and at least 2-3 of them will now be subscribers.

Once you see this works, it gives you more incentive to keep engaging with others. And in the process, you are not only expanding your network/audience, but you are connecting with people who are already engaging back with you. A win-win!

On Thursday, I will have my monthly recap for September. It will be the biggest one I’ve done, with a ton of stats on how my strategic shift is working, and information on another strategic shift I am making in October. It will be a big deal and I’m super excited about it.

Ready to Grow Your Substack Into a Sustainable Business?

For 20 years I’ve helped everyone from startups to Fortune 500 companies design strategies to acquire, retain, and delight customers. Now, I’m sharing those same proven strategies with you here.

👉 If you’ve found this helpful, consider becoming a subscriber. Paid subscribers unlock access to my full library of 130+ articles, templates, and step-by-step guides—everything you need to grow your Substack with confidence.

Monthly subscriptions are $7.50, or $60 annually (a 33% savings).

Together, we’ll turn your Substack into a business that lasts.

Mack

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Backstage Pass teaches you how to better connect with your customers, readers, clients, or donors. The lessons shared here draw on my experience over the last 20 years building customer engagement strategies for companies like Adobe, Dell, Club Med, Ingersoll-Rand, and countless others. I give you real-world research, examples and tactics that show you how to create customer engagement efforts that drive real business growth.

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