Three Strategies You Need to Create a Successful Substack
Let's lay a foundation for your Substack to make it successful
Last week I wrote about the growth surge that’s heading to Substack in 2026.
Today, I want to help you get ready for it.
Because when that wave hits, the creators who already have a foundation in place will see the biggest lift. And for the next couple of months, I’m going to help you build that foundation step by step, so you can take full advantage of the moment when it arrives.
Otherwise, the growth will hit, and you will be scrambling to catch up. When did Noah build the ark? Before the rains came.
The Three Systems That Make Substack Work
Every successful Substack has three core systems running underneath it.
Think of these like the engine, the steering, and the momentum.
Content.
Conversions.
Community.
But here’s the mistake I see again and again:
People try to build their community first.
Then they throw content at the wall.
And conversions are an afterthought, if that.
That’s backwards.
Your content defines your brand.
Your conversion strategy defines the relationship.
Your community strategy defines the environment where everything grows.
These systems stack on each other in that order.
If you build them out of order, you end up doing double the work later.
Let’s walk through each.
1. Content: Your Positioning Engine
Content is where everything starts.
Your content strategy answers three questions:
What do you write about?
Who is it for?
Why should they care?
When I first started on Substack in 2024, my content strategy looked nothing like it does today. Honestly, I was all over the map.
I didn’t clearly define my audience, or my content. I broadly wrote about customer experience and general marketing.
It was honestly frustrating as hell. I had no idea what to write or who I was writing for.
Once I decided in August to lock down and focus on helping creators improve their Substacks, everything became easier, immediately. Suddenly, I knew exactly who I was writing for, and exactly how my content could help them.
A good content strategy is like snapping a camera lens into focus, suddenly every shot is crisp.
Clearly defining your audience and the type of content you will create to serve that audience is the best move you can make to grow your Substack. It’s so important that it will be the main focus of my content here in January.
2. Conversions: The Relationship Builder
People don’t upgrade to Paid because you ask.
They upgrade because they see where you’re taking them, and they want to go there with you.
Your conversion strategy answers:
What’s the Paid offer?
Why does it matter to my audience?
How does it deepen the relationship you’ve already built with your readers?
For example, when I refined my Paid offer earlier this year, my conversion rate jumped immediately. Not because the price changed, but because the value did. Readers understood exactly what the upgrade unlocked.
A strong conversion strategy doesn’t “sell.”
It clarifies.
And by the way: if you want the detailed breakdown of how I structure my own conversion system, that’s something I walk through inside the Paid subscription, and again, price increase incoming, so now’s a smart moment to join.
3. Community: The Growth Engine
Community is where the flywheel kicks in.
But it’s also where creators get stuck, because they try to build community before they know what their content is or what they want readers to convert into.
When you build community last, it becomes simple:
You know who your ideal reader is, so you know who you should be engaging with.
You know how you want to serve them.
You know how you’ll guide them deeper into your world.
A single thoughtful Note can spark 10 new relationships.
Five of those turn into recurring commenters.
Two of those convert later.
Community is the compounding effect on everything else.
How to Put This Into Action This Week
Here’s a simple 7-day plan to start building your systems:
Day 1: Write your one-sentence positioning. Here’s a starter: “I write about (topic) to help (my audience) do (outcome).”
Days 2–3: Pick three content topics your ideal reader cares deeply about. Ideally, these three topics will be closely related, if not subtopics of the same larger topic.
Day 4: Sketch your Paid offer in one paragraph, what it delivers and why. Try to tie your offer back to helping your audience reach the outcomes it desires.
Day 5: Audit your archive: Which posts already support your positioning?
Day 6: Engage with five readers in comments, Notes, or replies.
Day 7: Review what resonated, adjust, prepare your next steps.
That’s it.
Simple.
Doable.
Immediate impact.
On Thursday…
I’ll do a breakdown of how Substack’s algorithm decides which creators to boost and why. In a clear, and easy way to understand. Along with a daily checklist that you can use to make sure you are boosted and ready to grow every single day here on Substack!
If You Want More Guidance…
The next few weeks of my content will be a deep dive into these three systems — the exact ones I’m using as we head toward Substack’s coming growth window.
If you’re serious about getting your Substack ready for 2026, now is the time to upgrade, especially before the price increase rolls out.
You’ll get:
Direct access to me via DMs for feedback and support
Full access to all 180+ archived posts
The private paid-member chat
Monthly deep-dive guidance with real examples, not theory
Backstage Pass will be my only revenue channel here, which means everything I build, test, or discover shows up here first. No courses, no upsells, just one subscription and my best work every month.
No plan for an offer yet, but making room for one.
I’m looking forward to figuring out your conversion path.