Grow your Substack with 7 short modules

Substack's own crash course for writers opens with one session before anything else: setting goals for your Substack. It is the right place to start, because "grow" means something different for a hobby newsletter, a consultant's lead channel and a writer planning a paid publication.

Answer three questions in writing.

1. Why are you publishing? To build an audience for a book, to bring clients, to make writing a paid job, or simply to think in public.
2. What does success look like in 90 days? Pick one number you can check: free subscribers, open rate, replies per post or your first paid subscriber.
3. How much time can you give it every week? Be honest. A plan built for ten hours a week fails in a week with two.

Turn the answers into a publishing promise. For example: "One essay every Tuesday plus a short Note most days." A clear cadence helps readers decide to subscribe, because they know what will land in their inbox and how often.

Free first, paid later. Most writers grow a free list before switching on paid subscriptions. You can decide on pricing later; the growth habits in this course work either way.

Common mistake. Setting a subscriber target without a time budget. The target is a wish; the weekly hours are the plan.

Taylin Simmonds structures his free Substack course in three phases: Position, Produce, Promote. Position comes first, because a reader who lands on your publication needs an answer to one question within seconds: who is this, and why should I care?

Define your positioning with three answers.

• Who do you write for? A specific reader, not "everyone who likes ideas". "Product managers moving into their first leadership role" is a reader.
• What do they get? The change your writing makes for them: clearer decisions, a skill, a weekly dose of something they cannot find elsewhere.
• Why you? Your experience, your angle or your voice. A reason the same topic reads differently when you write it.

Rewrite your publication around those answers.

• Publication name and tagline: the tagline should say what readers get, not just what you are called.
• About page: open with the reader and their problem, then your promise and cadence, then a short story of why you write it.
• Profile bio: the same promise in one line. It shows next to your Notes and comments across Substack.

Common mistake. A clever name with no explanation. Curiosity gets a click, but clarity gets the subscription.

In the Produce phase Taylin Simmonds starts with two steps before any writing: it starts with the idea, then you package it into a title. Most posts that fail to grow a list fail here, not in the prose.

Pick ideas your reader is already searching for in their own head. Good sources: questions people ask you, arguments you have with yourself, mistakes you made and fixed, and the posts in your niche that drew the longest comment threads. Write each idea as a promise to the reader: "How to say no to your manager without hurting your review" is an idea; "boundaries" is a topic.

Package it into a title. The title and subtitle do the selling in the inbox, on Notes and in search. Strong titles usually:

• name the reader or their situation;
• promise a specific result or reveal;
• sound like you, not like a press release.

Write five titles for every post. Then pick the one you would click if a stranger wrote it. Use the subtitle to add the detail the title could not carry.

Before and after.

• Weak: "Some thoughts on burnout".
• Strong: "I burned out twice in three years. The third time I saw it coming."

Common mistake. Writing the post first and the title in the last two minutes before publishing.

The next two steps in Taylin Simmonds' Produce phase are: now write something worth subscribing to, then convert readers into subscribers. The first is about the reader's time; the second is about asking well.

Writing worth subscribing to.

• Open with the payoff. The first paragraph should tell readers why this post matters to them today.
• One idea per post. If you have three, you have three posts.
• Make it skimmable. Short paragraphs, clear subheadings, one example per point.
• End with something they keep: a takeaway, a question or a next step.

Convert readers into subscribers. Taylin describes three CTA types:

1. Soft CTA (plant a seed): a sentence in the middle of the piece that makes subscribing feel like the obvious next step.
2. Hard CTA (ask with conviction): a direct ask at the end that explains what readers get by subscribing, why it matters, and makes it easy. Why before what.
3. Story Bridge (the piece is the ask): the whole post builds toward subscribing as its natural conclusion.

Use at least one of them in every post, and place a subscribe button after the CTA so the ask and the action sit together.

Common mistake. "Subscribe for more" with no reason. Readers subscribe to a promise, not to a button.

Notes is Substack's feed of short posts, where you can share thoughts, quotes, images and links, and restack other people's work. Taylin Simmonds calls it "how new people find you (consistently)": your posts go to people who already subscribed, while Notes reach people who have not found you yet.

How to structure a Note. Taylin uses three beats:

1. Hook: the first sentence, written in the reader's language.
2. Shift: challenge a belief or build intensity.
3. Landing: the final sentence, and your strongest line.

What to post and how often. His benchmark is two to five Notes per day, with at least one subscriber Note among them. Mix two kinds:

• Share Notes expand reach: an idea, a quote from your post, an observation from your week.
• Subscriber Notes turn reach into readers: a direct invitation to your publication, with the reason to subscribe.

Think in weekly arcs. Instead of random Notes, plan a mini-arc: "Now" (what you are working on), "Next" (what is coming in your next post) and "How" (a practical piece of it).

Restack with a comment. When you restack someone else's post or Note, add your own line. It shows your thinking to their readers.

Common mistake. Posting only links to your posts. Notes rewards ideas that stand on their own.

The Promote phase in Taylin Simmonds' course has three kinds of visibility: algorithm visibility, manual visibility through real relationships, and collaboration visibility. This module covers the second one, and it is the one you control fully from day one.

Commenting, 15-30 minutes daily. That is Taylin's own time budget. Choose ten to fifteen writers in your niche whose readers would enjoy your work. Read their posts and leave comments that add something: a story from your experience, a counterpoint, a follow-up question. Your name and publication sit on every comment, so a good one is an introduction to their readers.

Reply to everyone who replies to you. Under your own posts and Notes, every comment deserves an answer. It turns a reader into a regular, and regulars become your first restacks.

Direct messages, sparingly. When a writer's work genuinely helped you, tell them. Keep it short and specific, with no ask in the first message. Relationships come before collaborations.

Before and after.

• Weak comment: "Great post!"
• Strong comment: "Your point about writing for one reader changed how I plan. I started naming my reader at the top of each draft and my replies doubled. Do you keep one reader for every post?"

Common mistake. Commenting only on the biggest names. Writers at your level reply, remember you and restack you.

Collaboration visibility is the third kind of promotion in Taylin Simmonds' course, and the one that compounds the fastest once you have a few relationships. He lists restack swaps, newsletter Recommendations, cross-promotion and Substack Lives.

Restack swaps. Agree with a writer at your level to restack each other's best posts with a comment. Each restack puts your work in front of a new audience with a personal endorsement.

Recommendations. Substack lets you recommend other publications to your subscribers, and theirs can recommend you. Recommend writers you truly read; many will look at who recommends them and return the favour when the fit is right.

Cross-promotion. Swap a short mention in each other's posts, write a guest post, or answer the same question in a joint piece. Pick partners whose readers share your reader's problem, not just your topic.

Lives and podcasts. A Substack Live with another writer introduces you to their audience in real time. Start with one conversation once you feel ready; it is optional, not a requirement.

Measure what collaborations bring. After each one, check new subscribers that week and where they came from in your dashboard. Keep the partners whose readers stay.

Common mistake. Asking a stranger for a Recommendation. Comment, restack and help first; collaborations grow out of that.